Category: Social

  • A pleasant encounter

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    2-asking-directions

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    3-question

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    4-yes

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    5-suddenly

     

     

     

     

     

     

    6-pull-over

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    7-why

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    8-block-traffic

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    9-burglar

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    10-source-of-problem

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    11-what-problem

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    12-playing-smart

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    13-papers-now

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    14-here

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    15-insist

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    16-end

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    17-imbecile

     

     

     

    I was pulled over by a stuuupid darakeh (policeman) today just because I was asking an adjacent car for directions in the middle of the TRAFFIC! (meaning that the cars were stopped anyway!). At first I thought he stopped us because the car I was addressing didn’t have a plate number, but as it turns out “I” was the source of his problems, while he let the non-plate-car go. Very efficient I must say. After investigating and checking my papers, and asking endless questions about why I want to go to horsh tabet, he eventually laughed at me saying I wasn’t close, and let me go. All that, and I was late already. What a beautiful encounter it was!

    I think this is going to be my last post before the signing, so I hope to see you all at the signing, can’t wait to get to meet you! I now have to prepare the cookies and candy and marshmallows,  as well as the posters that will be hung around the room (yes, yes like a small exhibition). Don’t forget, if you need directions you can check the map here or, in worst cases you can call this number 03 866 007, but I cant guarantee an answer 😛 With that, I wish you the loveliest of days, in the hope to see you tomorrow! 🙂

  • What's wrong with Sin-el-Fil?

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    2-hot-day

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    3-surprised

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    4-seasons-greetings

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    5-christmas-tree

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    6-time-flies

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    7-global-warming

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    8-calendar-august

     

     

     

     

     

     

    9-time-freeze

     

    If you’ve been to sin el fil, you’ll know what I’m talking about. It’s surprising how it’s so much easier to add posters, than to remove them. I guess it’s easier to let time fade the colors away from the posters until they’re not visible anymore. Really awkward to have christmassy decoration in the middle of august’s killer-heat! Please someone remove the christmas decoration until December! Anyway… I should go back to the preps for the big day!!! Hope to see you all there ^^

    To those who were tanning at the beach while I was stressing in MTV studios, here’s the interview in Kitab section, with Karen Boustany. Thank you Karen!

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

    [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0K7AtH10u8]

  • Modern slavery

    1-meeti-saifi

     

     

     

     

     

    2-car-stops

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    3-woman-out

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    4-woman-pays

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    5-woman-leaves

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    6-man-shouting

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    7-man-still-shouting

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    8-maid-locked-up

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    9-shocked

     

     

     

     

     

     

    10-forgotten-maid

     

     

    Just another example of modern slavery… I stood there for a whole minute not believing what i had just seen! The woman left the car forgetting about the maid. When I saw the man who was driving making signs to her that she forgot something, I directly thought it was a suitcase, until I saw the maid hop out the trunk, and the woman laughing that she forgot her. Click here for an interesting article about the topic by Maysam Ali.

  • About traffic lights

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    2-old-traffic-light-lebanon

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    3-new-traffic-light-lebanon

     

     

     

     

     

    4-civilized-lebanon

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    5-new-traffic-light-lebanon

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    6-green-light-lebanon

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    7-honk-honk

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    8-blind-driver-lebanon

     

    I”m sick of having to constantly honk to cars in front of me when they stop Egal ob beim Live Roulette oder den anderen online Roulette Varianten – die Spiele sind sehr liebevoll umgesetzt und gehoren sowohl graphisch als auch von der Spielqualitat zum absoluten Spitzenfeld der Online Casino s. 1 meter after the red light and can”t see it anymore. It”s really not a race, and going 1 meter forward will NOT help them or make the traffic smoother. Why don”t they get it? Having to honk at the green light is becoming a norm that i do NOT want to conform to! Walaw! It”s really annoying!

  • Major dilemma

    1-funny-things

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    2-lebanon-tour

     

    3-poster-sticking

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    4-perplexed

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    5-orthodontist-name”

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    6-dilemma

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    7-thinking-summer

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    8-thinking-night

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    9-thinking-autumn

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    10-thinking-winter

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    11-dilemma

     

     

    I found this sign in souk jounieh really funny. Are the brothers competing with each other? Two adjacent orthodontists who are brothers… HOW is this supposed casino online to work? It didn”t make sense to me at all! On what basis should new clients approach the one or the other?

    Now in other news.. I”m sorry I”ve been slow in posting, but I”m preparing the book launch so please bear with me! Here”s a small “avant-première” exclusively for you 😉 See you soon!

     

    Book_MayaZankoul

    I RECEIVED THE BOOKS!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Time travel

    1-young-neighbour

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    2-old-neighbour

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    3-old-age

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    4-reverse

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    5-years-ago

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    6-young

     

     

    I noticed something that perplexed me on my way home. A huge billboard of a Lebanese singer that I remember from my early childhood. She still looks exactly the same (if not younger!). I linked it to a statement that a friend of mine had made earlier during the day: when we see a young person we haven’t seen in a while, and that we remember as a kid, and then (s)he suddenly is a grown-up.  I guess the reverse phenomenon happens with singers.

    In case you were on another planet yesterday, I would like to re-announce that the launching of the book will take place on August 12th, 2009, at Art Lounge at 6:30 PM. You can click here to join the Facebook event. See you there ^^

  • Mundanité

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    2-give-me-a-magazine

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    ..3-universal-encyclopedia

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    ..4-heavy-magazine

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    ..5-reading

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    ..6-mondanite

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    ..7-marriage

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    ..8-brunch

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    .9-sickening

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    .10-inversely-proportional

    Did you ever have a chance to flip through a typically social Lebanese magazine? (bala ma nsammeh 😛 ) I have to say that I found the experience quite nauseating. Is this what happens in the private social gatherings in our country? Do people really look so fake in real life? Do fifty something women really have that much time on their hands for brunches and dunches and birthdays? I wish they would invest all their money in matters that are worthier than gossiping and showing off.




  • Perfumes & fragrances

    1-insecticide

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    2-can't-breathe

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    3-nearby-cafe

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    4-cheers

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    5-suddently

     

     

     

     

     

     

    6-choke

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    7-super-perfume

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    8-perfumes

     

    Easy on the perfumes lady! Perfumes smell great when used in reasonable doses. They add a special mysterious scent to people. However, sometimes, some people forget to read the instructions on how to use perfumes, and puff the whole bottle to show how distinguished they are. I’m not sure anymore which smells better: insecticide or overused perfume! With this, I wish you a lovely saturday! 😀

  • On gender unfairness

    1-beard

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    2-major-burden

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    3-women

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    4-eyebrow-plucking

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    5-ouch-ouch

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    6-mask-cucumber

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    7-sacrifice

    And the next day I came to work to find out that he removed it… men! If you think about what the lebanese society’s obsession inflicts on humans who are born women on the “socially-acceptable-beauty” level and compare it to what it inflicts on men, you find yet another proof of gender unfairness… Anyway, let’s not worry about that now. Hope you all have a lovely week-end! 😀

  • Every person to her taste!

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    spanish-guitar

     

     

     

     

     

    spanish-day

     

    It was very disappointing to attend the “Day of Spanish” so called and find a trance mode there! After endless centuries of beats, the band finally arrived. This caused most people to start chatting and expressing extreme annoyance to the beautiful, authentic music that was being played!! I mean, you’re not supposed to go to “day of spanish” if what you want is moving to repetitive beats. Some people probably confuse celebrating with partying. Anyway, as they say in spanish “sobre gustos y colores, nada han dicho los pintores”, meaning that no rules are written about tastes and colors, and everyone is free to enjoy what (s)he thinks is right!

    With this thought, I wish you all a lovely tasty week-end !  😀

  • 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! 🙂

  • Nag Sessions

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    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…