Happy (?) Eid

Eid, at least for me, usually lasts no longer than a few hours in which we visit our relatives. But that’s not how it should be. That’s not how Eid should be.

The most exciting thing about Eid shouldn’t be comparing the number of Eid greetings you receive on WhatsApp or Facebook, or what relative has the most delicious chocolate..

I think a family dinner to gather all the members of the extended family would be a good idea, or even a small family dinner would be nice. We could even arrange for a family movie night, or a trip to the mountains. There should be some sort of family ritual to decorate the house, at least to make the little kids be engaged in the holiday spirit. The town should be decorated and cleaned (they do that in Zahle on Christmas, and people volunteer to decorate the streets and trees). Those things can even be done in addition to the regular visits we usually do on Eid. 

Eid is slowly becoming less and less exciting that it was before. Maybe it’s because I’m growing up; but I sure used to get more excited for Eid at my sister’s age than she does now.

There isn’t a person that told me they had a good Eid when I asked. Eid should be the day in which we celebrate, have fun, enjoy ourselves… What really drove me to write this post was an innocent comment from my sister, when she told me that Christmas seems like a nice holiday [because families have dinner together and decorate pine trees, I suppose].

Don't get me wrong; I, and a lot of people, look forward to Eid. But what is it we really look forward to? New clothes and good chocolate and a break from our work/ school. Not that we shouldn't look forward to those things, but there should be more meaning and depth in our Eids and holidays..

Happy Eid to everyone who celebrated, hopefully your Eid was more exciting than mine was!

Life of An Architect: A Blog

Man, do I love this guy's blog! In case you don't know this, and you probably don't, I'm seriously considering majoring in architecture. So a while ago, as I was randomly googling something about architecture, I came across Bob Borson's blog, Life of An Architect. I then came across it again two days ago, and stayed up till 1 AM reading (and rereading) blog-posts. And if staying up late is not enough, the next day (yesterday) was the first day of Eid and I needed all the sleep I could get because I had to wake up early.

Anyways, Life of An Architect covers various aspects and topics concerning architects and architecture. Architects can relate to Bob, students studying architecture/ aspiring to become architects can benefit from the posts, and if you don't happen to fit into one of the two categories, then you might just enjoy Bob's posts!

Below, I included some of my favorite posts from Life of An Architect:

1. Top Ten Reason NOT to be an Architect
2. Top Ten Reason to be an Architect
3. Design Studio: Top 10 Things You Should Know This post discusses architecture and design studios (yeah, yeah. I know it says that in the title). However, I think every student can benefit from this post as it has some pretty useful advice.
4. What Does an Architect Do? In this post, Bob talks about a variety of tasks/ different fields of architectural work.
5. 10 Tips to Conquer Procrastination If you tend to procrastinate sometimes (like I do), then check this post out!

Aaand, because who doesn't like to take a sneak-peak into other people's working space:

• Architecture Students Work Desks
• An Architect's Desk
• An Architect's Office (This is Bob's office, and it's everything you'd want an office to be!)

What really struck me about most offices and work spaces in those posts is how well lit and clean they are. However, some desks were literally covered by papers all over, and I don't know how people can focus on their work on such messy desks.

Did you visit Life of An Architect? What did you think about it? And what are your thoughts on Architecture? :]

TGIF (?)

From Mondays till Thursdays, I anticipate the arrival of Friday. Fridays mean I don't have school, I don't have to wake up at 6:30, and struggle to keep up with teachers while I'm half asleep. Fridays mean I can have a proper breakfast (instead of the apple I have every other morning, or the single piece of gum I chew when there are no apples and I'm late), I can sit and read or draw or watch TV... But to what extent is that true?

Being in grade 12, I'm supposed to study each and every single lesson the day I take it, not stack them all up until the exams. What I do is that I postpone the studying till Friday. I postpone homework till Friday. I postpone copying notes till Friday. I postpone cleaning my room till Friday. I postpone blogging till Friday. And then....

Friday arrives. With so many things to do.

I do have a relatively healthier breakfast. I do wake up a little late. I don't struggle to keep up with boring teachers. But then, I get my school bag (which probably weighs more than 10 kg with my books in it), and spread my notebooks and pens and graph paper and calculator on my desk. (It's not a nice thing to look at).

That's Friday for me.

TGIF, I mean it. Thank God it's Friday, even though I have so much homework to do on Fridays.

The bright side is that, even though I have to study, I can do it in the warmth of my own house (not too far away from our fridge. I can still text my friends and sing and scribble and doodle..
    

Thank God it's Friday.

Arabs Got Talent- Where You Might Just Lose Your Dignity

     Arabs Got Talent, the infamous talent show almost everyone I know watches. I won't lie, I love the show, and every Saturday at 9 o'clock, I turn the TV on to MBC4 and watch it.

    On yesterday's episode, a Syrian dude, named Ayman, went on stage to sing and... let's just say that singing is not his thing. That's not what I want to blog about though- the boy's lack of talent- but the judges reaction towards this gutsy guy.

    They laughed, they teased him, and humiliated him on TV. One of the judges, Nasser, told him that he (Ayman) is the first person he sees that sings horribly but with so much passion. And he said it sarcastically. They even gave him another chance to come up again and sing, and then act.

   They do not get people on this show to humiliate them. Or do they? It's not the first time, either. I remember the first or second episode, where they similarly made fun/ laughed at other people. It is not professional, not humane, and it's disrespectful.

   Although, this time, Najwa (another judge) whispered something in Ayman's ear when the other two judges told him to sing again, and it was later revealed that she told him not to sing because if he does they will only laugh at him. It was, at least, a kind attempt to save him the humiliation.

   I respect Ayman's courage, the guy has got some serious guts to go on stage, over and over again. I laughed, and I think everyone/ almost everyone who watched that episode laughed, too. But this is not the purpose of the show. The purpose is not to make people laugh at other people, it is to give talented people a chance to reveal their talent, and this should be done in a professional, polite manner, not a rude, vulgar one.
   Did you watch yesterday's episode? You can check Ayman on Arabs Got Talent in the video below (in Arabic).
   What do you think of what the judges did? Is it justified? Are they qualified to do that?