Author: Maya Zankoul

  • A walk that makes you smile

    al-younbouh

     

    Today, Sunday May 3rd, was the yearly walk organized by Al Younbouh to support children and people with special needs, and help them integrate more efficiently in the society. Nour and I participated, and enjoyed it. This post is dedicated to all the people with special needs, starting with my sister Nour: I love you all, you make our world better and make our life worth living. If only more money was invested in helping them develop their wonderful skills, instead of those useless pieces of cardboard used to promote old fat politicians…

    Here’s a lovely song dedicated to you: I’m sticking with you, by the Velvet Underground. Enjoy 🙂 (don’t mind the video, I couldn’t find a way to add audio to wordpress!)

    [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iw27qzoCmE&feature=related]

  • Lost in Marina

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    2-closed-road

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    3-mamma-mia

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    4-weird-car

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    5-jack-nicholson

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    6-help-me

     

     

    I won’t tell you how I eventually got out of this labyrinth, but I clearly did because I’m telling you the story  right now… And as a conclusion, the following points need to be made: Marina area in Dbayeh needs SERIOUS re-designing. It took me exactly 32 min to get out of it and take the highway. At night the lighting is so weak you can barely see the parked, turned-off cars (which also explains the great amount of tragic car accidents that unfortunately happen there regularly, now I know why!).

    As a side note, to those of you who recognized my badly drawn Jack Nicholson character from the shining: Respect! 😉

  • Amalgam FAQ's

    1-interview-request

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    2-replay

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    3-what-is-blog

     

     

     

     

     

     

    4-daily-hassles

     

     

     

     

     

    5-how-how-often

     

     

     

     

     

    6-technique-daily

     

     

     

     

     

    7-feed

     

     

     

     

    8-answers

     

     

    Hope this answers (some of) the questions that I am often asked about the blog, its functionality, its purpose, etc. If you have other questions, don’t hesitate to ask me (I’m sure Oprah would be glad to have me again on her show! ;)) Have a lovely week-end!

  • Damn business cards!

     

     

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    2-one-week-later

     

     

     

     

     

    2-options

     

     

     

     

     

     

    4-this-one

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    5-2-weeks-later

     

     

     

    6-final-designs

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    7-hmph1

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    8-comparison

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    9-ugly-design

     

     

     

     

     

    10-disclaimer

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    11-torture

  • ATM's and I

    1-not-my-day

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    2-out-of-gas

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    3-out-of-money

     

     

     

     

     

     

    4-atm-1

     

     

     

     

     

     

    5-atm-2

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    6-one-last-chance

     

     

     

     

     

     

    7-drum-roll

     

     

     

     

     

    8-atm-3

     

     

     

     

     

    no

     

    I have a pretty bad history (and luck) with ATMs. Today was the pinnacle. I went to three ATMs in a row, at a time where I badly needed money to pay for the gasoline, otherwise my car would stop in place and I would be late to the (going-to-be-boring) meeting, and not one was working properly, and I don’t think there were other ATMs in the region.  Hope you have a lovely day for a change! 😀

  • MSN emoticons

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    2-beautiful-emoticons

     

     

     

     

     

    3-rebus-time

     

     

     

     

     

    4-step1

     

     

     

     

     

     

    5-step2-copy

     

     

     

     

     

    6-step3-pase

     

     

     

     

     

    7-stop-emoticons

     

    PEOPLE PLEASE! Easy on the emoticons! It would really save me around an hour a day if you used regular letters and words instead of the beautiful rebuses I keep receiving for sentences… Make an effort, it’s very easy to delete the dancing question marks, or the jumping “OK’s”. Thank you from the heart! 😉 In case you still don’t know how to delete them, you can learn by clicking here.

    *PS. The bus emoticon is designed by: Alain!

  • Strawberry salad

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    2-ingredients

     

     

     

     

     

     

    3-accidentally-add-strawberry

     

     

     

     

     

    3-woops

     

     

     

     

     

     

    4-finest-cuisine-invention

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    5-disgusting

     

     

     

     

     

     

    6-waste-of-palates

     

     

     

     

    7-you-try

     

    It’s no harm to try new recipes from time to time. I guarantee you that this one is absolutely refreshing and a perfect meal for spring time. Since all (or most of all) the reactions I have received so far are extremely negative and amateur, I’d like to have your input in this… 😉

  • So happy together!

    1-arrival

     

     

     

     

    2-cuddling

     

     

     

     

     

    3-weirdos

     

     

     

     

     

    4-i-can-see-you

     

     

     

     

     

    5-facebook-love

     

     

     

     

     

    6-privacy

     

     

    I would absolutely rather watch a romantic comedy, with background music and all, instead of watching two of my friends cuddling in a very personified way. Trust me people, you don’t look CUTE when you over cuddle when your friends are around. Why don’t you try keeping your weirdo pet names and cuddling manners for yourselves? Some privacy always adds value to your relationships!

  • Up and running

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    2-food-on-table

     

     

     

     

     

    3-c-u-tmrw

     

    I love this blog, and I love you all, but Im just too overloaded today to tell you a real story… Just bare with me one or two days, and I”m all yours 🙂

  • Let's work it!

    1-world-news

     

     

     

     

     

    2-local-news

     

     

     

     

     

    3-dont-like-gym

     

     

     

     

     

    4-next-morning

     

     

     

     

    5-stairs

     

     

     

     

     

    10-min-later

     

     

     

     

    must-start-gym

     

     

    Summer is coming soon, and we all need to fit into last year’s swimming suits so it’s the season for sports! It’s  such a pity I had the intention of never stepping in a gym for the rest of my life, because it’s just another system to follow and we already have enough rules… But unfortunately, I think I might be obliged to do so urgently. I was breathless at climbing the stairs to our FIRST FLOOR office this morning… This is serious… And no time for walks or runs in the countryside… What other alternative than the gym machines???

  • Elections, elections, elections…

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    2-real-election-ads

     

     

     

     

     

    3-soit-belle-et-tais-toi

     

     

     

     

     

    4-bookstop-ads

     

     

     

     

     

    5-not-even-enough

     

     

     

     

     

    6-beer-ad-elections

     

     

     

     

     

    7-phone-ad-election

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    picture-1

     

     

     

     

     

     

    9-nba77-sawteh

     

    When I asked about the date of the elections, they told me in JUNE! If the elections pressure is already THAT strong mid april, I wonder what will happen the week before the elections–if we survive till then! All the billboards and unipoles are covered with elections, people talk about elections all the time, radio, TV, internet, everywhere! Its starting to get quite annoying… Please people just take the elections easy, and let’s not make a big fuss about them alright?

  • Street P•rn

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    2-billboard

     

     

     

     

     

    3-dt-jeans

     

     

     

     

     

     

    4-change

     

     

     

     

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    7-lebanon-map

     

     

    What’s with all the porn-oriented ads? Is that all we have to offer? Are belly-dancers and nude (or semi-nude) women the only thing that catches our attention? I wonder if the Lebanese people are as sexually-frustrated as the marketing intended for them lets us think. There are millions of possibilities to explore for beautiful attractive visuals that do not necessarily deal with the  ‘femme-objet’ approach. I recall an art director once explaining -her- approach for a poster promoting an electrical item that had a semi-nude female on it: ‘both men and women will look if they see a female nude, even if not for the same reasons, so whenever we integrate a female body presence in our ad, no matter what the ad is, we can guarantee that the audience will be interested’. 

    Well… I’m sure there are MANY other visuals that would attract both men and women and that would be a little bit more mentally-challenging and less basic in their approach. Please advertising people try to make an effort.