The CHRONICles: comic relief

- I couldn't agree more!

Egypt's "People's Revolution" comes to Toronto

I've been so caught up trying to find out all the information that I can about the current movement taking place in Egypt right now.
I've been flicking through mainstream news channels, searching for independent media sources, and clicking away at various websites.

Today, I was very excited to take part in Toronto's own show of solidarity with the Egyptian protestors.
People started gathering at Dundas Square (Yonge & Dundas, Downtown Toronto) well before 2:00, the hour the demonstration was slated to start in.

I was definitely feeling the crowd's energy-which by some reports, numbered over 600 at some points. I instantly had an overwhelming sense of pride as I watched people of all ethinicites chant along in the crowds. I wore my huge Egyptian flag proudly, and just took in the collective force that I swear I felt.

Snapped some of these photos before my battery died:

The CHRONICles: convos between my psyche

As I sit here inhaling the sweet smoke, allowing ever puff to tickle the back of my throat before it slides its way through the rest of my person, I am consciously allowing her to penetrate my psyche, too.
That familiar hazy feeling slowly washes over my mind, and I think about the effect she will behaving on my thoughts.
Kid Cudi's psychadelic "Marijuana" track is playing quitely in the background, but save for the manual clock ticking away to remind me of the time constraints that control my (and indeed your) life, I am surrounded by silence.
Silence and smoke.
And, of course, my consciousness. And right now it's asking: What of my relationship with mary j? On the one hand I have Cudi (who is at this point just the phsyically audible manifestation of one part of my mind)- "pretty green bud... I know you want to smoke..."
Perhaps the alluring voice of mary j, herself, i ponder...

That same side is the one who propels me to hook up with mary j everytime I do. It tells me that its never really a big deal, anyway- lotsa adults do it regularly, plus you're still functioning in life. It reminds me how good that effect will feel, how it'll calm me down, allow me to think in a different dimension, reassure me that things will always be okay, even if it doesn't seem that way in the moment. Most importantly, it reminds me that this very act of consuming mary j is simultaneously allowing me to hook up with other people, too- people with whom the only common denominator in our relationship is mary j.

But that leaves the other side.

Thats the one who scolds me, asks me- since when was functioning good enough? At which point do you snap out of the literal and metaphorical high and "smell the roses" (vs. the kush-bush?)... Thats the side that attributes to some of my insomniac spells...

It tells me that I can be doing better things with my money, energy, time, and focus.

That's probably the thought that resonates most...

"Cabs are Hea" and other reasons why I LOVE Jersey Shore

I was talking to a couple of friends today and the conversation randomly turned to Jersey Shore. Apparently, out of all those present during this conversation, I was the only person who'd watched more than 20 minutes of Jersey Shore. And believe me, I've watched A LOT MORE than 20 minutes of this (I think) hilariously entertaining show. But when push came to shove, I really cannot explain my fascination with guidos and guidettes of the Shore.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not really a "TV person" anymore (I get in a like 5 hours a week), and I don't even really watch that "genre" (can you call it that?). As a matter of fact, there's only a small handful of shows I actually follow. Most all of those are documentary type shows (Discovery Channel, anyone?)

Yet something draws me to these over-tanned, overly-dramatic, publicity whores.
I mean I get it. I'm sure "Snooki" doesn't go home to her adoptive parents' home dressed like an overweight cougar, chugging on a bottle of Patron. Just like I'm sure (or at least, I sure hope) Mike isn't actually the douchebag he appears to be every week.

But there's something that's appealing, hey even satisfying, about watching these over-exaggerated characters on TV. They make me laugh, they're in-your-face, they drink like fish and party like, well, guidos- AND, they're harmless. They may get drunk on every episode, sing catchy cab-themed songs, fight and bang each other, but the worst crime they commit (aside from their innumerable fashion faux pas) is to churn out annoying catch-phrase after annoying catch-phrase.
Plus, that accent is just so damn catchy. It's like a never-ending "Goodfellas" (minus the incredible cinematography, classic roles, grade A acting, and well, mob-themed content). But the big hair-dos, chit-chatty gossip, Italian references, and charming Jersey-style goofing around are all there.


The Jersey Shore is the 21st century equivalent of pulp fiction. 

So maybe I don't have the best reasons, but whatever the case, you can say that Jersey Shore is a guilty pleasure of mine ! And the next time you find yourself fist-pumping in the club, I remind you that there's a little tanned, hair-gel-abusing drunk in all of us...


I leave you all with this HILARIOUS interview, done by MTV Canada's Paul the Intern and Jersey Shore castmate Ronnie.

30 Day Challenge: DAY 13: My favourite artist

Day 13: A picture of your favorite band or artist.

"Nas is like..

Sex to a nympho, but nothin sweet
I'm like beef, bustin heat through your windows
I'm like a street sweeper, greenleaf reaper
Like Greeks in Egypt, learnin somethin deep from they teachers
I'm like crime, like your nine, your man you would die for
Always got you, I'm like Pac, dude you would cry for
I'm like a whole lot of loot, I'm like crisp money
Corporate accounts from a rich company
I'm like ecstasy for ladies, I'm like all races
combined in one man; like the '99 summer jam
Bulletproof Hummer man
I'm like being locked down around new faces, and none of em fam'
I'm the feelin of a millionaire spendin a hundred grand
I'm a poor man's dream, a thug poet
Live it, and I write down and I watch it blow up
Y'all know what I'm like, y'all play it your system every night

"Nas is like life or death.. I'm a rebel.. "
"My poetry's deep, I never fell.."
"Nas is like.. half man half amazing.."
"No doubt.."

- NAS

The CHRONICles: munchie time

The Chronicles: munchie time

Just a midnight munchie #BecauseIGotHigh:

- Mint-Chocolate Chip ice cream sandwiches

- Goldfish Crackers

- Peach Rings

stupid shit Americans buy

THE "OPENER-HAT": for convenient beer-popping activity

Yes, I randomly Google stuff (can you tell my choices are a little odd, with no cohesion/rhyme or reason to them whatsoever)...

Luckily (lol), I came across the OpenerHat!
That's right folks, CoolerGadgets.com features a line of one-size-fits-all caps with bottle openers built right into the brim!









Plus, the hat comes in a variety of colours/designs! (sigh...)

... God bless the families of the people who decide to purchase these hats to make their drinking experiences easier...

30 Day Challenge: DAY 12: I love...

Day 12: A picture of something you love.

 I love travelling.
If you know me, you know how obsessed I am with speaking about places I'd love to visit, and asking people questions about different places they've visited.
I'm just so curious. I get bored very easily, and I'm consumed with imaging different places I can possibly visit or travel through.
I wanna know how other people in the world live, and I like waking up and not knowing what to expect.
Maybe its all the books I read as a child, and the incredible imagine I had. Perhaps it's all the summers spent travelling to, and then around Egypt ever since I can remember. Or, maybe its all of my father's romanticized, idealized stories (that I can recount by heart) of the whimsical cities he's seen.
I think its a combination of all these and my need to explore what's around me.


I've always thought I was a restless kind of soul, and when you really think about it, don't most of us spend our lives looking for the fulfilling feeling of being home?
I guess that might be what I'm looking for...

(K, fine. I cheated with 2 pictures.)

The River of January

Random fact of the day:
On the first of this month in 1502, the island of Rio De Janeiro (or River of January), was first explored...

The city is one of the largest in Brazil, and ever since my childhood obsession with everything associated with rainforests began, I've been dying to visit it.
Thus, today I thank those Portuguese explorers all those years back that set sail to this beautiful city...

The city is set to host the 2016 Summer Olympics (taking place mostly at this district, Barra da Tijuca).

Its no wonder the city is nicknamed Cidade Maravilhosa (or "Marvelous City").

Rio de Janeiro is known for it's Carnival, probably the most famous in the world.

Aha, so this is what  a "New" Wonder 
of the World looks like...
("Cristo Redentar" statue)
















Again, it's clear why this is the most visited city in the southern hemisphere (true story)...

Martin Luther King Jr.- the man, the dreamer

"I don't know what will happen now, we've got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn't matter with me now, because I've been to the mountain top..." 

-(Martin Luther King, Jr.)

For those of you who are unaware or simply don't give a damn, today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
On April 4th, 1968 the world lost one of it's foremost non-violent freedom fighters and revolutionaries.

By now, its almost impossible not to have heard MLK's famous "I have a dream" speech, either in reference or in its entirety. But while that particular speech may serve as a testimony to the kind of man King was and what kind of vision he had for the future of Americans and anyone who struggles worldwide, it is by no means his only engaging presentation.

Thus, I will share another excerpt from a speech that King delivered in 1968, his last public speech before his own untimely assassination. In this clip King speaks about America's involvement in foreign wars, the complete dismissal of human rights, and then comments on the increasing aggression against his non-violent civil rights movement.

What is especially touching are the moments in which he almost seems to prophesize his own death:

"... I just want to do God's will. And he has allowed me to go up to the mountain, and I have looked over and I've seen the promised land.

I may not get there with you, but... we as a people WILL get to the promised land. 

... I'm not fearing any man, my eyes have seen the glory..."

(MLK)

In true MLK style, he ends the speech with a Bible quote in regards to the Vietnam War that the US was involved in at the time:
"For I was hungry and you fed me not..." (Matthew 25:35)

After watching this speech in it's entirety I'm left with some lingering thoughts:
How can a man that preached about love, equality and basic rights be seen as such a threat to the Hoover regime? And better yet, how is this same scenario being spawned out in the 21st century?

I'm especially troubled by how relevant MLK's speech is in this day and age, and how the more things change, the more they stay the same.
How long will we allow MLK's legacy (and by this I speak of the man behind the legend) to be tarnished by our unwillingness to improve these situations globally?

With that in mind, have a thoughtful Martin Luther King Jr. day, and please allow yourself even a few moments to reflect on his contributions, his selfless courage, and the plight that one mortal man took upon himself (because he was after all a person like you and I, and not a saint like they would have us believe) to improve the situation for himself and others...

Freedom Vs. Tyranny in the land of the pharaohs...

"No cause is left but the most ancient of all, the one, in fact, that from the beginning of our history has determined the very existence of politics, the cause of freedom versus tyranny."

(Hannah Arendt)


Some weeks ago, I was googling (as I regularly do) news stories from my home land of Egypt. One particular story that kept coming up was about Kareem Amer, a blogger from Egypt who was imprisoned for such crimes as "insulting" the president. As a blogger and writer myself, and someone who has spent her summers in Egypt since a young age, you can understand why this particular story spoke to me. 
Kareem Amer, a former law student, was released from Egyptian jail in November after being imprisoned for 4 years.  He was the first Egyptian convicted specifically for his writing online, a trend that has been on the rise as the internet becomes more accessible and citizens grow increasingly weary with the critical political situation. Kareem was convicted of publishing "anti-Islamic" writing, and posts meant to incite insurrection against the government. Amongst his charges, he also got one year for referring to President Hosni Mubarak as a dictator (which, by any real standards, he is). 


Kareem has been on the radar of Egyptian authorities since 2005, when he was first arrested for his posts, and his writings were confiscated and destroyed. He was also booted out Al-Azhar University for criticizing some of his professors. Aside from the fact that he was first illegally detained and assaulted while in police custody awaiting the most recent trial, his experiences in the prison have been less than pleasant. Anybody who knows anything about state force and authority in countries like Egypt understands how devastating and life-changing a term in prison can be. Abuse at the hands of police and prison guards, all-out neglect, dangerous living conditions and torture/illegal interrogations are all routine things prisoners must deal with in these countries. 


During the trial period, Prosecution lawyer Mohamed Dawoud was quoted as saying:

"I want him [Amer] to get the toughest punishment...I am on a jihad here ... If we leave the likes of him without punishment, it will be like a fire that consumes everything."

Imagine that. A "jihad" against freedom of expression for fear that personal opinion will "consume everything" like a fire. A quick Google search will show you that this is by no means an isolated case, nor is it exclusive to Egypt or even the Middle Eastern region. An examination of such stories shows just how fundamental to human history the struggle of freedom vs. tyranny is.
Safely writing from my desk at home about anything from politics, to anti-government policies is such a common practice over on this side of the world. In fact, from an early age we're encouraged to think for ourselves, to question what's around us, and to express dismay when a government we the people have elected is not working for the people at all. Every empire has been founded on rebellion, revolution, or political dissent.


So imagine living in a country in which your basic human freedom to express how you think and feel is punishable, sometimes even by death*...
(*Note: if you've been paying attention to an global news over the past year or so, you will have surely come across stories of activists, writers, and bloggers who have been killed from the crime of having a different opinion. Just this past summer when I was visiting the city of Alexandria in Egypt, I was shocked to learn of blogger Khaled Saeed who was brutally beaten to death by 2 police officers in front of a crowded Internet cafe. In case you're wondering, amid angry protests and photos published of the victim's fatal injuries, both officers were released.)

To live with no struggle is to never have lived at all...

In the great narrative of the human experience, struggle is a chapter (or 2, or 3, or 12 chapters) that we can all relate to. If you have lived a complete life without ever meeting with struggle, if you've never met a boundary or hurdle that seemed impossible- then you have never actually lived.
But once you start examining your own struggles in the broader scope of comparison, you might begin to rethink, as I have, what struggle really means.

Growing up without a father, now that is difficult. Having a kid when you yourself are a young teenager whose still trying to figure themself out, that shit is difficult. Trying to compete with fellow peers when you have a disability or don't learn the way the majority of the world does is hard as hell. And being raised in a less-than-fortunate household and watching all your friends get what they want when they want it is hard, too.

But despite these hurdles and difficulties that my friends and I must deal with in our lives, we are also very fortunate. We live in a wealthy country, we're (for the most part) surrounded by friends and family, and we all have a warm spot to call "home". We have a good chance of going to school or getting a job and overcoming some of these hurdles.

But what about people who don't have these kinds of opportunities. I can barely manage the thought of waking up everyday without greeting my mom and dad, much less never having known what it means to have a family. Hell, the very thought of growing up freaks me out. So what if one day those were factors I really did have to face? What if I was born with a fatal illness, a crippling disability, or an un-mendable broken heart?

Would I then understand what struggle is?....

30 Day Challenge: DAY 11: I hate...

Day 11: A picture of something you hate.

I HATE feeling under-, or un-appreciated. Whether it's in relationships, at work/school, or in any other aspect of my life, I hate when I don't get the praise or recognition I feel I deserve.

I mean, its not like I do favours just so people can owe me favours, or just for that self-righteous feeling of doing good, but when they go unnoticed its discouraging. 

My parents have never really been the type to pat me on the back everytime I did something good or exceeded at a task. In fact, my accomplishments are usually overshadowed by their persistent pushes that I do something better and beyond. 

Maybe that's why I over-kill the "thank-you"s... Hmm...

(p.s: finding a picture to express "unappreciation" is really difficult)