a random favorite

cheers to college days

Another Question to Get You Thinking

My grandson is about as many days as my son is weeks, and my grandson is as many months as I am in years. My grandson, my son and I together are 120 years.

Can you tell me my age in years?

music sites to bookmark

I was recently told about 2 sites, Et Musique Pour Tous and The Hype Machine. Classified as a "boutique music & culture blog" you'll find reviews, music and much more on Et Musique Pour Tous. You'll also be entertained daily as it is constantly being updated. On the other hand, The Hype Machine finds thousands of songs that are blogged about daily and posts them up. Definitely great places to find new tracks you might not stumble upon otherwise.

A Little Puzzle to Refresh Your Brain

If: 

7 + 6 = 13

9 + 1 = 810

5 + 3 = 28

9 + 6 = 315

Then, 

7 + 2 = ?

*Arabs Gone Wild Tour*

Recently the 2^nd Annual Amman Stand-Up Comedy Festival took place and was a big hit. Some of the press can be seen in several articles such as The New York Times, Lebanon's "Daily Star", and a segment on CNN. I feel so lucky to have worked with a lot of the people involved in it back in New York and am so proud that they're successfully bringing more comedy and performance to this part of the world. I am sure this sort of festival will inspire many more performance-based festivals.

Next up for these comedians is the “Arabs Gone Wild Tour,” which I highly recommend you catch if you’re in close proximity. Brought to us by Dean Obeidallah and Maysoon Zayid, co-founders and executive producers of the New York Arab American Comedy Festival  and Aron Kader, founder of the Axis of Evil Comedy Tour. They’re tour involves DC, San Fran, Los Angeles and Anaheim in February, then Muscat, Oman in March. I’m hoping they’ll be able to share some laughs in Dubai as well. They’ll be sure to give you an entertaining show you won’t forget so keep your eyes open for them!

Evolution of Women in Egypt

i wonder what things were like before the Pharaohs...

*Moment of Silence for All Haiti Victims*

Sending prayers for all those who have been affected near and far...

Is Your Social Network Getting You Down?

Clearly, you're not alone. Check out the web 2.0 suicide machine and you'll see why. I do hope you never have to consider it...

Random Joke

A man was riding his Harley along a California beach when suddenly the sky clouded above his head and in a booming voice the Lord said, "Because you have tried to be faithful to me in all ways, I will grant you one wish." The biker pulled over and said, 'Build a bridge to Hawaii so I can ride over anytime I want.'

The Lord said, "Your request is materialistic, think of the enormous challenges for that kind of undertaking; the supports required reaching the bottom of the Pacific and the concrete and steel it would take! It will nearly exhaust several natural resources. I can do it, but it is hard for me to justify your desire for worldly things. Take a little more time and think of something that could possibly help mankind."

'The biker thought about it for a long time. Finally, he said, "Lord, I wish that I and all men could understand women; I want to know how she feels inside, what she's thinking when she gives me the silent treatment, why she cries, what she means when she says nothing's wrong, why she snaps and complains when I try to help, and how I can make a woman truly happy."

The Lord replied, 

"You want two lanes or four on that bridge?"

boys n girls: a Quick Story Google Shares

Google isn't evil... just a bit too honest. Too too funny imo. Click photo to enlarge.

Melectric - Ramona Falls

i love this... 

part ways with the health craze

I stumbled upon an article in the New York Times and it really struck a cord with me. It basically covers the idea that people are TOO health conscious these days. I really speak to myself when I say I need to calm myself with trying to be too healthy. The truth is, if we don’t get all our vegetable and fruit servings a day, and if we don’t make it to the gym 3 times a week, it’s really not the end of the world. As long as you’re eating a variety of different foods you’re on the right track. 

It can never be said enough… live in moderation, and you’re set.  

A Kind Brûlée

I recently found out my father had a torch in his workshop (don’t ask me why, I have yet to find out) which really resembles that of a crème brûlée torch… how could I not grasp the opportunity? I adapted a recipe I to make a delicious custard without using the typical heavy cream etc. I was so tempted to eat it warm but behaved myself, which I’m glad I did because the chilled version turned out superb. There’s just something about breaking into the thin delicate crisp of the caramelized sugar into the smooth custard and getting that crunchy-creamy combo with one sweet bite. This recipe will definitely hit the spot without being too heavy. 

Ingredients:

Music: Caramel - Suzanne Vega

Mood: looking for an easy recipe to prepare a day ahead of the time it’s to be served.

3 cups low fat milk

¼ cup honey

6 egg whites

2 tsp vanilla extract

¼ tsp salt

¼ cup plus 1 Tbs granulated sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Warm the milk in a saucepan on medium heat and add the honey for around 10 minutes, stirring occasionally so that the milk doesn't burn. Remove from the heat and let cool. Meanwhile, whisk together the egg whites, vanilla and salt in a bowl then slowly add in the milk, a little at a time while whisking so that the eggs don’t curdle. Strain the mixture into another bowl to get out the clumps, I poured it into a large measuring cup I had to easily pour it into the ramekins. Next, lightly grease 8 ramekins and pour the mixture into each ramekin. Place the ramekins in a deep pan and carefully pour boiling water into the pan until the water reaches to the level of the custard. This hot water bath baking method makes sure that the custard is cooked gently and evenly. Bake in the oven for around 30 minutes, until a knife comes out clean if poked in the center of the custard. Remove from the oven and allow the custard to chill then cover with cling wrap and refrigerate overnight.  Servings: 8 small ramekins.

Caramelizing the Top:

Sprinkle 1-2 teaspoons of sugar on top of the custard and spread it evenly so it covers the whole surface. Using a crème brulee torch, move the flame around slowly so that the sugar is melted evenly. This part takes patience and please don’t go too crazy with the torch. Enjoy xx

Extensions, Weaves, Wigs, Flowers....

A couple days ago I experienced presenting for the first time in Dubai, it was such an educational opportunity. I got to meet so many wonderful people and got a taste of what presenting is all about. I’ve never considered presenting but it was actually a lot of fun, the only part I dreaded was when we had to shoot the whole thing in Arabic. My Arabic is not as strong as English... yeah.. I'm one of those unfortunate souls who are from a country and aren’t fluent in its language. I'm changing that. So anywho,  saying it was scary is an understatement. Somehow I got out of it alive without being hated, or so I hope....

Part of this educational experience was learning about the local women in the UAE and their sense of style when it comes to wearing their shayla, or head veil. There was a local lady getting prepped in the make-up room and after getting her hair blow dried and tied in a bun, she clipped on this huge ball-like cotton flower that wrapped around her bun. I've never really been a fan of the flimsy flowers in the hair and so when I saw this flower that probably belonged on it's own planet I freaked out a little for her. Then to my surprise and relief, after all the hard work and styling her hair went through she put on a veil and covered the monster flower. It gave an appearance of a bump underneath and I've ALWAYS wondered what that bump was! 

Apparently, women here compete with each other and work hard to maintain "the bump." The way she put it was that every girl wants to have “Burj Dubai” underneath her shayla. There are so many different styles and ways to wear a shayla, this way by far is most interesting imo. I always wondered why the bump was there, I never would have thought it would be a symbol of glamour and fashion. Now every time I see that bump I’ll know it’s not a thick flowing bun of hair, but an oversized tacky flower (and seriously this would be small in comparison).

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not putting down the bump, just find it really interesting that even when women cover their hair they still find ways to enhance it to somehow trick the eye :)

I've been hearing a lot about the xx lately, have had this song by them on repeat. Apparently their whole album  is worth obsessing about.

Time for the Resolutions!

1.  Gain 5 lbs
2.  Ignore debts for another year
3.  Pick up a new habit… perhaps smoking

Unfortunately, resolutions are never that tempting to keep…

The history of the New Year’s Resolution apparently goes back to 153 B.C… because people have been unsuccessfully trying to lose weight since then. My guess. Apparently there was a Roman mythical king, Janus, who was placed at the head of the calendar. He had two faces and could see the past and future events and became the symbol for resolutions. So the Romans started the trend of seeking forgiveness from enemies and exchanging gifts before the beginning of each year.  This makes sense since a resolution is pretty much finding a solution to a problem. A fresh start and step in the right direction to a healthier, prettier you is what we mainly focus on these days. Not so sure if people are “seeking forgiveness” from a higher power for eating all those twinkies. Just curious, do people actually follow through with their resolutions anymore?

The three most popular resolutions as you might have guessed: 

1. Lose weight
2. Pay debts
3. Stop Smoking

We've already grasped that resolutions are generally selfish (not SO much about helping others) and are just a fad that dies out a couple weeks into January. From what I see, people don’t really feel too bad about being chubs, broke or potentially knocking on cancers door. In this case it's good people are more concerned with making resolutions to help themselves, if you have been making the same resolution for more than 5 years please don't attempt to help someone else. Clearly the start of a new year is not incentive enough to make changes. If you really want to be realistic why not:

1. Eat half the portion of your dessert, we’re talking half a palm sized, not PF Chang’s Great Wall of Chocolate.
2. Wait a couple days and think real hard how much you need something… No, I don’t believe you'll get the job because of those new shoes... life isn't always like the movies. 
3. Smoke ½ of your usual cancer sticks per day. 

Some other resolutions to try going for:

• Stop bbming while having a convo. with someone face to face.
• Avoid chocolate three times a week.
• Smile more. 
• Use the stairs instead of the elevator/ escalator.
• Stick to one credit card and leave it at home when window shopping.
• Don't stress about gaining weight, you can lose it when you really want to. 
• Try to stick to no more than 2 (single) shots per night.
• Have at least 1 convo about something that happened in the news a day, ie at least skim the news first thing in the morning.
• Buy a cigarette pack at the beginning of a week and budget your smoking. 
• Get your caffeine fix once a day only.... you decide when you want it.