Author: Maya Zankoul

  • The delights of working on a computer

    Computer

     

     

     

     

    2-screen

     

     

     

     

    electricity

     

    Last week the electricity went off for about an hour and a half in a row… I’m not complaining! That was a very timely break from the screen. I noticed that in this aspect of our work (only able to complete it using the computer), electrical rationing can be quite useful! It’s true that 8 hours a day (minimum) in front of the computer screen can be quite frustrating, but at least in Lebanon we get the breaks we deserve!

     

    P.S. Please do forgive me if I’m a bit slower in posting this week, I’m sooo overloaded with work, and doing my best to finish ASAP to get back to YOU!

  • Behind the curtains

    going-live

     

     

    horra-interview

    To those of you who haven’t watched the interview, you can find the youtubes below.

    I want to thank Roula and Mona who made this experience much easier on me! You were wonderful… I have to  admit that this might have been the scariest experience I have EVER gone through… Hating the stage, and hating camera pressure, it wasn’t very confortable to go live, where mistakes are not allowed. One of the conclusions of this experience: being a tv presentor is one of the hardest jobs in the world!!! 

    Part 1:

    [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bwzlqTXmds&feature=channel]

    Part 2:

    [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZ_ZdpmHe6Q]

     

    Warm greetings to all of you, and thank you so much for your support 🙂

  • Beachin'

    beach

     

     

     

    And those were my preliminary beach observations… Not very positive I must say. You can add to them the cleanliness of the water, the cleanliness of the shore, the cleanliness of the people, and the list goes on. Oh yes not to mention the ardent need for TRANCE ‘music’ for the mood to be “wel3aneh”… I just can’t stand trance, and don’t think that it’s the best choice for a beach setting where people are supposed to be relaxing! Anyway you’re welcome to add any beach annoyances you might have faced… Until then, have a great day! 🙂

  • Gallantry still exists

    1-gallantry-still-exists

     

     

     

     

     

    2-no-sunglasses

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    3-where-are-they

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    4-days-later

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    5-prince-charming

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    6-coup-de-foudre

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    7-medieval

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    8-marriage

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    9-his-name

     

     

     

     

     

    I was very surprised to see a young neighbour-man I never knew existed bring me my lost sunglasses back home! Not to say I always lose sunglasses that’s why I never spend more than 20,000 LL on them. But still he valued them like a priceless object and insisted on bringing them back to their owner! I must say I was very impressed by the level of gallantry… I thought those days were long done, but I guess not ! 🙂 

  • Beauty and sufferings

    1-warning

     

     

     

    2-morning-work

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    3-work

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    4-no-way

    5-my-colleagues

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    6-cant-see

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    7-where-am-i

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    8-question-mark

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    9-nail-cavalry

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    10-nails

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    11-anti-cerne

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    12-blush-tsunami

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    13-who-am-i

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    14-save-the-day

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    15-hopeless-girls

     

     

     

    And that, my darlings, is the story that happened right before the interview for the reportage with al horra. I want to thank my colleagues through this post for their constant support! You’ve been wonderful! Now regarding al horra, it was supposed to broadcast the interview today but someone decided to make elections in Iran (since when are international politics more important than the blog? 😛 ) So i guess it’s postponed till later. I’ll keep you updated anyway. Now the moral we can retrieve from this story, or the questions we can ask ourselves: who cares about make-up and anti-cerne and whatnot. Honestly, I had never used those tools before my colleagues inflicted them on me 🙂 … It felt kind of weird, I personally don’t believe femininity lies in make-up or in colors. It lies in expressions, behavior, actions. I wish more girls in Lebanon would follow this belief!

  • Nag Sessions

    1-hate-bank

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    2-lebanese-nag-session

     

     

     

    3-coffee-sugar

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    4-nag-catalyst

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    5-identification

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    6-bank-nagging

     

     

     

     

     

     

    7-bank-nag-again

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    8-miss-where-are-you

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    9-stop-nagging

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    10-lebanon-better-place

     

     

    Wherever I go, all I hear is nag, nag, nag.  What I would like to see more is act, act, act. It’s easy to complain about how life was so much better abroad. Well, then why are you here? Why don’t you just go back abroad if it was that much better? I must say it was somewhat fun to watch three middle-aged men sharing a nag session at the bank while waiting in a long queue. It was actually fun to the point that I turned off my iPod to watch them complain. The nag process usually starts with a catalyst: the first nagging element/person. All the other naggers naturally follow. I so wish it was the other way round. If for every person who acted, or tried to make a difference, the others followed, our situation would be so improved. But well, I guess a lot of us take the easy way out…

  • Sorry phone

    1-hate-my-phone

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    2-voodoo-doll

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    3-phone-suicide

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    4-dont-leave-me

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    5-disconnected

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    6-phone-hospital

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    7-moral

     

     

     

     

    Suddenly last night, my phone stopped working. I decided to sleep on it, but when I woke up the next day, it was still dis-functional! 🙂 So I nostalgically remembered all the times I cursed my phone and wished I could just throw it off the window. I have to admit taking it to the phone hospital gave me a day off burburry-lady phones and the such. But I also have to admit that it felt kind of empty and disconnected without it! Just got it back from the shop– uh hospital, and it’s doing much better thank u~! ;Cheers!

  • I hate shopping!

    1-women-love-shopping

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    2-i-hate-shopping

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    3-usual-shopping-process

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    4-select-prey

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    5-dressing-room

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    6-still-hate-shopping

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    7-no-mirror

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    8-vendor-opinion

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    9-vendor-opinion-again

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    10-i-choose-my-clothes

    11-shout-at-vendor

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    12-hate-it

     

     

     

    First. Yes I really hate shopping and I only do it to avoid going out in my PJ’s when I’m out of real clothes. I don’t get people who count it as a ‘hobby’. I once had some girls ask me as a normal topic of conversation if I think  for example that “june is a good month for shopping”. Evidently I didn’t know the answer. And whenever I go shopping I like to choose my clothes based on self-expression. I don’t care where they were made, or what is “fashionable” this time of year, of what Paris Hilton was wearing in her latest TV appearance. So as a result I also cannot stand vendors giving me their opinion about which dress makes me look thinner or which dress goes better with my skin color. And that was today’s statement.

  • Elections preparations

    1-election-day

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    2-election-materials

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    3-cheers

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    4-breakfast-at-tiffanys

     

    Oh I just can’t get enough of this movie! Perfect for elections day. Takes your mind off all the fanaticism manifestations and so on… What about you, what will you be doing on elections day? 😛 In case you missed the recipe, click here to get the strawberry salad instructions. 

    Now go check what’s happening on maw2af.org today! We’re talking about election offices:

     

    makateb-entikhabiyya_home

    Ohhh the suspense,  what could be happening in election offices ONE DAY before the elections? 😀 Click HERE to know!

  • Maya's Amalgam & Youth for Tolerance in the DAILY STAR

    Maya’s Amalgam and Y4t’s latest youth website project:  www.maw2af.org made it 3rd page on the daily star this morning. To read the online version click below:

    http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=102693

    Thank you Marc for the lovely interview 🙂

  • And my vote goes to…

    my-vote-goes-to

     

    Click here to continue!

     

    As I told you, this week is the last week before elections, so I will be posting daily election cartoons that I worked with Elie Awad. His ideas, my illustrations of them.

    Have a great day! 🙂

  • Maya's Amalgam in THE NATIONAL

    http://www.thenational.ae/article/20090604/FOREIGN/706039796/1002