Thursday, February 5, 2009

I've learned

My lovely blogger friend Ahan, posted this wonderful piece on her blog Ahan in the Afternoon, and I would like to reproduce it below verbatim with her belated (I hope) permission...jangan mare...

I've learned- that you cannot make someone love you.

All you can do is be someone who can be loved. The rest is up to them.

I've learned- that no matter how much I care, some people just don't care back.

I've learned- that it takes years to build up trust, and only seconds to destroy it.

I've learned- that no matter how good a friend is, they're going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that.

I've learned- that it's not what you have in your life but who you have in your life that counts.

I've learned- that you should never ruin an apology with an excuse.

I've learned- that you can get by on charm for about fifteen minutes. After that, you'd better know something.

I've learned- that you shouldn't compare yourself to the best others can do.

I've learned- that you can do something in an instant that will give you heartache for life.

I've learned- that it's taking me a long time to become the person I want to be.

I've learned- that you should always leave loved ones with loving words. It may be the last time you see them.

I've learned- that you can keep going long after you can't.

I've learned- that we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel.

I've learned- that either you control your attitude or it controls you.

I've learned- that regardless of how hot and steamy a relationship is at first, the passion fades and there had better be something else to take its place.

I've learned- that heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.

I've learned- that money is a lousy way of keeping score.

I've learned- that my best friend and I can do anything or nothing and have the best time.

I've learned- that sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you're down will be the ones to help you get back up.

I've learned- that sometimes when I'm angry I have the right to be angry, but that doesn't give me the right to be cruel.

I've learned- that true friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance. Same goes for true love.

I've learned- that just because someone doesn't love you the way you want them to doesn't mean they don't love you with all they have.

I've learned- that maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you've had and what you've learned from them and less to do with how many birthdays you've celebrated.

I've learned- that you should never tell a child their dreams are unlikely or outlandish. Few things are more humiliating, and what a tragedy it would be if they believed it.

I've learned- that your family won't always be there for you. It may seem funny, but people you aren't related to can take care of you and love you and teach you to trust people again. Families aren't biological.

I've learned- that it isn't always enough to be forgiven by others. Sometimes you are to learn to forgive yourself.

I've learned- that no matter how bad your heart is broken the world doesn't stop for your grief.

I've learned- that our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become.

I've learned- that a rich person is not the one who has the most, but is one who needs the least.

I've learned- that just because two people argue, it doesn't mean they don't love each other. And just because they don't argue, it doesn't mean they do.

I've learned- that we don't have to change friends if we understand that friends change.

I've learned- that you shouldn't be so eager to find out a secret. It could change your life forever.

I've learned- that two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different.

I've learned- that no matter how you try to protect your children, they will eventually get hurt and you will hurt in the process.

I've learned- that even when you think you have no more to give, when a friend cries out to you, you will find the strength to help.

I've learned- that credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being.

I've learned- that the people you care about most in life are taken from you too soon.

I've learned- that it's hard to determine where to draw the line between being nice and not hurting people's feelings, and standing up for what you believe.

I've learned- that people will forget what you said, and people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

Hope you've learnt something too from this post of mine, eh?

Yes Ahan, we sure did!

Latest 60-year Palestinian Holocaust Victims


Name of martyr: Bilal Isa Al-Batran.

Age: 8 years old.
Date of murder: Friday , sunset time; January 16, 2009.
Place of murder: Their house at Al-Burayj R.C., middle of Gaza Strip.
Weapon used: A (Fire 2) Rocket, weighing 45 kg., capable of penetrating 8 cm. iron objects, fired at people.
Details of the last hours: Through their window, Bilal and his younger brother were pointing at Israeli aircraft. Suddenly, the aircraft aimed at the window through which the kids were looking and bombed the house, killing the kids, shattering their bodies on the tree branches outside their house. It took their family three days to pick up the torn bodies of the two kids.

The mother (Manal, 35 years), the eldest daughter (Islam, 14 years), and the twin (Ihsan and Iman, 11 years) fell martyrs when they were in a hurry packing their suitcases to go to the house of their grandpa, Hassan Al-Sha`rawi who lives in the same camp, for fear that they may be endangered under the Israeli offensive assault.

In the meanwhile, baby `Abdel-Hady was in the reception hall, to the west south of the apartment, playing with his toys. When he saw his father starting to perform maghrib (sunset) prayer in Al-masjid Al-Kabir mosque, the baby crawled descending five stairs. The father had to carry the baby in order to take him to his mother. But before he took one step into the room, a missile bombarded the house killing all its inhabitants, save the father and his baby. The mother and the rest of her children were dead.

Hobbies: Playing football.

Dreams: Aspired to become a teacher.

(the father, an UNRWA school teacher, is wandering and sleeping in the streets in his grief, unable to come home to his sole surviving baby son)


More victims here

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Click on image for larger pic

Lenticular Clouds Above Washington
Credit & Copyright: Tim Thompson

Explanation: Are those UFOs near that mountain? No -- they are multilayered lenticular clouds. Moist air forced to flow upward around mountain tops can create lenticular clouds. Water droplets condense from moist air cooled below the dew point, and clouds are opaque groups of water droplets. Waves in the air that would normally be seen horizontally can then be seen vertically, by the different levels where clouds form. On some days the city of Seattle, Washington, USA, is treated to an unusual sky show when lenticular clouds form near Mt. Rainier, a large mountain that looms just under 100 kilometers southeast of the city. This image of a spectacular cluster of lenticular clouds was taken last December.

from: Astronomy picture of the day

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Tailgaters Beware

Everyday, I have some idiot or another tailgating me at over 80km/h...really pisses me off...I wish I had one of these Superliner Macks...so I can brake. HARD. And then reverse 10 times over the remains of my roadkill.

Monday, February 2, 2009

The Evil Eye

What is El-'Ayn?
Fataawa Esh-Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen, 2/117, 118
Many people suffer unexplained illnesses, break up of marriages, childbirth defects or stillbirths, breakup of communities, failed businesses etc. never understanding why. Many of us in the West are unaware of the harms of Hasad (Envy) or El 'Ayn (the Evil Eye). The 'ulamaa' (scholars) of the El-Lajnah El-Daa'imah (Standing Committee for Islaamic Research) were asked to define al-ayn. They responded with the following:
"The Arabic word El-'Ayn (the 'ayn) refers to when a person harms another with his eye. It starts when the person likes a thing, then his evil feelings affect it, by means of his repeated looking at the object of his jealousy. Allaah commanded His Prophet, Muhammad (Sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallem) to seek refuge with Him from the haasid (envier), as He said:
"And from the evil of the envier when he envies" (El-Falaq 113:5)

Full article here....must read...

Sunday, February 1, 2009

A Night in Al-Maghreb

Three cups of tea in Al-Maghreb...

Last night, I went to Morocco...somewhere I always dreamt of...along 1 Lorong Damai 9, in Ampang, KL...the pictures say it all (albeit a bit blurry...shaky hands do not make great night shots)

Inside...

Outside dining... above and below...look at the gorgeous chairs...



1001 nights dining...

Wall decos...



Dream arches are made of these....


A slightly unkempt garden...maybe on purpose?


Upstairs is heavenly...sans cheesy lampu lip-lap outside the window...looks even better actually, but my camera phone didn't capture it well...you gotta see it...



L.O.V.E.L.Y lights...

Wall hanging upstairs...


Takes 5 men to carry this one table...worth RM4, 000 for this size...(I think Jawad Faisal, the Palestinian-Moroccan manager was trying to thwart my thoughts about carting it off...haha)


This huge mosaic beauty is worth RM12,000....lovely designs


I want this light and ceiling deco for my house...NOW!


Outside again...


The Moroccan tile fountain against the wall...great for my small courtyard (nama glamor for "airwell")...


Bye Morocco...till we meet again...


Take me home please...I need a loving, warm home... says the Black Little Nimr...

to this house in Morocco...

An Appetite for Foie Gras

My friend told me about her movie night with her husband last week...she said he craved foie gras after...and she, wagyu beef (one of them rich couples lah......but he works hards, no free lunch and he deserves what he earns now...much more than I can say for the UMNO insta-riches types).

I told her...do you know how they make foie gras? No...so I told her. Didn't seem perturbed. Sigh. Foie gras is a SICK delicacy...read here why and puke. I don't even think it's halal, or could obtain halal certification due to the pain and suffering inflicted on the animal. We can't eat an animal that has been kept in cruel conditions even if slaughtered according to Islamic rites. That's part of the requirement of halal meats.

(animals have more rights than human beings nowadays in the West...they have people fighting for them in an organised way and lawmakers listening...better deal than the poor Palestinians, the Congolese, the Iraqis, the Afghans, etc)