Sunday, March 24, 2013

My Diary 7:



                  Dear Diary, Friday and Saturday were the best days ever!! On Friday me and my two younger sisters had our best friends over for a Breakfast/Tea party/ movie. We had breakfast at 11:00 then we hung out and I did my essay. At 3:30 we had a fabulous tea party with mini sandwiches, macrons, brown sugar and butter tart and Aroob's amazing strawberry short cake (all home made! yum). After that we played catch with my little brother till sun set. Later, we made our pop-corn and set up our set up and watched a movie (Easy A). When we ran out of things to do, we played some music and danced till it was time to say goodbye. The next day we got up early and started getting ready for "The Third Dream Rendezvous"; it is a rendezvous for all otakus (anime/manga fans)! We bought our tickets almost a month and a half ago, it was where we would have submitted our Manga (if we finished). It was Victorean aged themed, so I was dressed as a lady and my friend was a butler (get it?). My sister Nora was cosplaying (to dress like a character)  as Portagas D. Ace and her friend was Trafalgar Law (both from the same anime One Piece). Wafa my youngest sister wore a T-shirt that we drew on one of her favorite characters Kida Masaomi from Durarara and her friend was a pirate with a really cool Jack Sparrow hat. IT. WAS. AWESOME!! I screamed my head off for all the amazing girls and their epic cosplays. Not to mention I got to spin around in my dress on stage. All in all, it was fun. Too much fun. Then reality hit me hard. I woke up sick with a fever today, I have two presentations to work on AND a girl from one of my groups sent me a text reminding me (like I need reminding) that there are Emails that need to be sent. All the fun I had seems like a distant dream, but it was still AWESOME.

  Me and Aroob did a lady and her butler look
 Nora was Ace and she looked epic ^*^
 Mishael was Law and she totally rocked the looked
Wafa wore the shirt we drew Kida on

Friday, March 22, 2013


Lemony Snicket

Lemony Snicket is a pen-name for the American author Daniel Handler, who will always be one of my favorite writers. He wrote many children books under the name Snicket including "A Series of Unfortunate Events", where he also serves as the narrator. The name may refer to Handler or the fictional character in the books, which causes confusion among readers. In his works, in the section "about the author" he writes: "Lemony Snicket was born before you were and is likely to die before you as well. He was born in a small town where the inhabitants were suspicious and prone to riot. He grew up near the sea and currently lives beneath it. Until recently, he was living somewhere else."

Snicket has a humorous and witty style. He has a habit of interrupting the narration to share his thoughts with the readers.  For instance, he starts each book by warning the reader that these series are miserable and never have a happy ending and. He disrupts the narration to make up a happy ending right before the last chapters and advises his readers to just go with that ending and burn the book! He always provides a shockingly hilarious example to make his point clear. For instance: "Taking one's chances is like taking a bath, because sometimes you end up feeling comfortable and warm, and sometimes there is something terrible lurking around that you cannot see until it is too late and you can do nothing else but scream and cling to a plastic duck." Another thing is he always explains the difficult vocabulary he uses so that you wouldn't need to look something up when you read his works.  As the case of the word "composer", he says: "Composer" is a word which here means "a person who sits in a room, muttering and humming and figuring out what notes the orchestra is going to play." This is called composing. But last night, the Composer was not muttering. He was not humming. He was not moving, or even breathing. This is called decomposing." He also likes to make his readers experience some of the things the characters go through.  He expresses that in this passage: "The book was long, and difficult to read, and Klaus became more and more tired as the night wore on. Occasionally his eyes would close. He found himself reading the same sentence over and over. He found himself reading the same sentence over and over. He found himself reading the same sentence over and over."

He has a very dark and gloomy view of life and he sees the world as a cynical place. He repeatedly expresses it and says things like: "perhaps if we saw what was ahead of us and glimpsed the crimes, follies, and misfortunes that would befall us later on, we would all stay in our mother's wombs, and then there would be nobody in the world but a great number of very fat, very irritated women." Snicket's paranoia and no trust to his surrounding also add to the feel of hopelessness he gives in his books. He often says thing like: “Strange as it may seem, I still hope for the best, even though the best, like an interesting piece of mail, so rarely arrives, and even when it does it can be lost so easily.” He dedicates all his books to Beatrice; his dead lover. He once wrote: “It is a curious thing, the death of a loved one. We all know that our time in this world is limited, and that eventually all of us will end up underneath some sheet, never to wake up. And yet it is always a surprise when it happens to someone we know. It is like walking up the stairs to your bedroom in the dark, and thinking there is one more stair than there is. Your foot falls down, through the air, and there is a sickly moment of dark surprise as you try and readjust the way you thought of things.” He never takes a picture that shows his full face. He does that because he is afraid he might be tracked down by his pursuers!

Lemony Snicket's writing is so close to heart, that readers (such as me) are never bored of his books.  He makes readers feel like they know him on a personal level. He does that by adding the letters to his editor at the end of each book, which are hilarious! His constant concern for his readers is also very touching. He keeps warning them about the misery his books tell and sometimes he gives sound advice like, “If you are allergic to a thing, it is best not to put that thing in your mouth, particularly if the thing is cats.” His charming timid character also plays a key factor. He often says very unexpected things like, “I suppose I'll have to add the force of gravity to my list of enemies.” Readers get so attached to him, that they forget he is a fictional character! Well you can't blame them, it is very confusing.

    Lemony Snicket will always have a special place in my heart. Everything from his writing style to his quirky character to his captivating language interests me as a reader. He writes in the last book of the series entitled "The End": "The end of The End is the best place to begin The End, because if you read The End from the beginning of the beginning of The End to read the end of the end of The End, you will arrive at the end."




"Lemony Snicket" Skeleton:



1)Thesis statement:  Lemony Snicket is a pen-name for the American author Daniel Handler, who will always be one of my favorite writers. + opening paragraph.

2)GS: he has a humorous style.

SP: he interrupts the narration.
SP: he gives shocking examples.
SP: he explains his vocabulary.
SP: he lets his readers experience what his characters go through.

3)GS: he has a very dark and gloomy view of life.

SP: He repeats his views.
SP: he is paranoid.
SP: he dedicates all his works to Beatrice.
SP: he never takes a full photo of himself.

4)GS: readers never get bored of his books.

SP: readers feel like they know him.
SP:his concern for readers is touching.
SP: His timid character is appealing.
SP: they forget he is a fictional character.

5)Closing statement:  Lemony Snicket will always have a special place in my heart. + a concluding paragraph.


Tuesday, March 19, 2013

                            If I Became Wealthy Overnight



         In the one in a million chance I become wealthy overnight, I would do all the things I always wanted to do. The first thing I would do is pack my bags and my family and head straight to the airport. I would go around the world visiting museums, historical land marks and make memories that would last a life time. After I'm done sight seeing, I would give a huge donation to charities. For instance, The United Nations Development Program. Third, I would provide for myself and family.I would make a savings account for myself, buy my parents an estate and help my sister open a private clinic. Money can't buy everything, but it could make life a lot more easier. As Blair Waldorf once said: "Whoever said that money can't buy happiness didn't know where ti shop".


                               How Movies Have Changed


     Movies change according to the viewers' interest. Take the case of early 1990's, movie theaters were mostly visited by families and children. At that time the most famous movies were Disney animations and family comedies like "The Adams Family". During the late 1990's, theater visitors switched from families and kids to young adults. Movies like "Clueless" and "She's All That" were the most memorable. By the early 2000's, comedies were at their peak.  "Me, Myself and Irene" and "Legally Blond" are good examples of that. Interests changed from comedies to cut throat action and crime movies from 2005 to 2008. At that time we see a lot of movies like "The Da Vinci code" and "The Dark Knight". From 2009 to 2013 movies developed with the development of technology. Fantasy films and historical movies with HD and 3D technology took center stage. The movies "Oz: The Great and Powerful" and "Lincoln" are examples of such movies. Who knows what will interest the audience next. But one thing is for certain, there will be movies that satisfy their interests and meet their expectations.


Monday, March 18, 2013

                             The Greatest Books of the Ages



      "King Lear"by Shakespeare, "Alice in Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll , "Pride & Prejudice" by Jane Austen,"Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte, "Wuthering Hieghts" by Emily Bronte, "Sherlock Holmes" by Arther Doyle, "Matilda"  by Roald Dahl and "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee are, in my opinion, the greatest of mankind's production. The stories these books tell are timeless. Not only did they entertain readers for generations, they also inspired many genirations of writers. As we see in "Pride & Prejudice", the main character struggles against unnecessary social customs, beneficial marriages and class distinction. The characters themselves are portrayed in a realistic manner which make the readers sympathize with them. For instance, we have Alice in "Alice in Wonderland", she is a small child who, bored of studying, drifted off to a dream land of her own creation. Although she is dreaming, we still see her struggling to remember the Mathematics and Grammar lessons she was taught, but to no success. The presentation of the plot had made millions of readers who were entranced in these novels laugh, cry and wonder. Take the case of "To Kill a Mockingbird", at the end of the book, the reader is left wondering about the meaning of humanity and how many innocent souls have been lost due racism. The lesson in these works are not to be taken lightly, for they all have an important message to convey. Specifically in "Sherlock Holmes", Mr. Holmes always says that there is no such thing as a perfect crime or an unsolvable crime and his existence alone is a prove of that. The immortality of these books is enough to prove their significance in Literature  They were not written for a simple period of time, they were written to last till the end if time.  
"Alice in Wonderland" quote


"Matilda" quote

                           Why Men Are Inferior to Women


 
           Not to be a feminist, but in my opinion women are far more superior then men. It starts at infancy, it is a known fact that baby girls are more developed then boys. As infants, baby girls gain the ability to focus, vocalize and make eye contact, while baby boys prefer to sleep. Not to mention that girls are always a few years ahead of boys in mental and physical growth. We can see the difference in elementary classes with both boys and girls. Most girls would always get the lesson the first time, while the majority of boys would need it to be repeated a few times. Studies show that in the human brain, the corpus callusum  (the thick group of nerves that allow the right and left hemisphere to communicate) is larger in women then in men. This is the reason why women are better moltitaskers then men and how women can hear clearly with both ears, while men usually use one. Women have higher social and emotional intelligence  They can read expressions better than men. Researchers discovered that women are less violent and much less likely to be a serial killer. Recent research states that male criminals who commit dreadful crimes have almost zero percent of feminine hormones!! Women score points in longevity as well. It had been proven that women live longer than men by ten to twenty years! Men's only advantage points are physical strength and reaction time (fast reflexes), which I think can be fixed. All women have to do is exercise more and play sports, which they do now!! As the saying goes "You educate a man; you educate a man. You educate a women; you educate a generation", so who is the more superior gender? WOMEN.

Scores: Men: 1 (-1)   Women: 7


Sunday, March 17, 2013

                            Tom Riddle Vs. Harry Potter


       In the book series "Harry Potter", Tom Riddle (Later known as Lord Voldemort) and Harry Potter grow up in the same environment, but turn out VERY differently. They are both orphans who lost their parents (or one of them) during infancy. Riddle's mother died after giving birth to him, while Potter's parents were both killed by Voldemort when he was barley one years old. They were both raised with the feeling that they were a burden or unwanted in a muggle ( non-magical) society. Riddle was brought up in a muggle orphanage where his superiority was scorned, in contrast to Potter who was raised by his aunt Petunia (from his mother's side) and her husband who would do anything to "snuff the weirdness out of him". Both of them didn't know about their magical abilities or the existence of the magical world till months before their enrollment to Hogwarts (a magical school for underage wizards and witches) at the age of eleven. They both met a representative from the school to teach them about the magical world and rules. Unlike Potter who was very surprised when he leaned about his abilities, Riddle first reaction wast that OF COARSE he was a wizard, why else would he be better than all the other orphans in the orphanage? he was born superior then ALL of them. They are both parseltongues (they posses the rare ability to communicate with snakes). Indecently, both are half-bloods (pure-blood; with a long solid family line of wizard on one side and mud-blood; muggle or being born in a muggle family with magical abilities). Riddle's mother was a pure blood descendant from the proud Salazar Slytherin; one of the three great founders of Hogwarts, who fell in love with a muggle,Tom Riddle and eloped with him but later he abandons her. Riddle resented his mother for her poor choice of partner and HATED his name. Potter's father James Potter was a pure blood descendant from Godric Gryffindor; another founder of Hogwarts, while his mother Lily Evans is a witch born in a muggle family. Unlike Riddle, Potter takes pride of the name his parents who sacrificed their lives to give him a chance to live. Both Riddle and Potter share the same wand core, a phoenix feather. It is a very rare wand core, and whats more is that both featheres are from the same phoenix! In the sorting ceremony (where  students are sorted to be in one of the four houses in the school, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin in their first year) the sorting hat (a magical hat that reads a students character and decides which house would suit them best) wanted to place both in Slytherin, so they would be "great". Riddle was thrilled to be admitted in the house that ONLY accepts those of pure family and pride. In contrast to Potter who wished to be placed in anywhere BUT Slytherin! He was later reluctantly placed in Gryffindor. They were both expected to be great by their professors and peers. The more Riddle spent in the magical world the more he resented the muggles that once looked down on him. On the other hand, Potter learned to forgive them and later sympathize and support them. Riddle was very popular in his school years; he was smart, charming, good looking and had a commanding air about him which made him the center of attention from both instructors and students and he enjoyed it very much. Potter who was a nobody in the muggle world, but he was famous as "The boy who lived" in the magical world, and the lightning scar on his forehead didn't help him to blend in, he avoided unnecessary attention whenever possible. Riddle was very arrogant and the group of students who he refers to as his "followers", later known as "death eaters", nicknamed him "Lord Voldemort", but they addressed him as "the dark lord" out of respect didn't help deflate his ego. Potter on the other hand was humble and would become uncomfortable when students approached him wanting to be close to "the chosen one", he didn't even like being called that as a joke! At some point in Riddle's school years, he tracked down his muggle father's whereabouts and murdered him then framed the murder on his grandfather (from his mother's side), thus finishing off all his remaining relatives and any reminder of his past suffering. On the other hand, when Potter's relatives safety was in danger, he helped protect them and hide them from the death eaters. The biggest difference between Riddle and Potter is their view of death. Riddle feared death and went to extremes to lengthen his life. He used a black magic method prohibited to wizards and it is to split ones soul into two, but Riddle was not satisfied with just one spare soul. He successfully managed to split his soul into SIX (and later seven) parts! Although Potter feared death at the beginning, he later willingly "embraces death as an old friend" for the sake of the people he loves. And last but not least,Tom Riddle had definitely met people's expectations of "greatness", but in a horrifying manner. However, Potter's "greatness" was achieved by destroying the former's greatness and putting an end to the once powerful Dark Lord. 

Hogwarts is divided into four houses, each bearing the last name of its founder: Godric Gryffindor (Red), Salazar Slytherin (Green), Rowena Ravenclaw (Blue) and Helga Hufflepuff (Yellow)


Thursday, March 14, 2013

My Diary 6:



                   Dear Diary, I don't have a life anymore. I didn't go to the book exhibit, I'm not spending time with my family and to top it all off I'm doing my homework on a WEDNESDAY!! and whats worse, I'm not doing so well in that department either. My educational conscience is dying, I feel nothing. If their wasn't a break after a week, I might have considered  officially turning emo. Whats the point of life when your not living? I know all this studying will be worth it when I graduate, but it doesn't feel like it right now. I haven't seen TV in ages. Plus, I'm WAY behind on my anime shows. What I'm trying to say is, I miss life. 



Saturday, March 9, 2013

My Diary 5:

         Dear Diary, March 8 was yesterday and guess what? We didn't make it to the deadline! my sister and I couldn't finish the manga on time (big shocker, NOT!)  and we have decided to finish it for ourselves and even make an entire volume composed of several one shots ( a volume is what a manga is published in). do we feel bad? Yes, since we could of made it if it hadn't been for our crazy weekend. I wont go around blaming other people though, since both me and my sister are at fault too. We spent so much time on the plot and ignored the actual work (drawing) which takes A LOT of time.I have read my fair share of Mangas ( maybe more than my fair share XD) and always at the end, the Mangaca (a person who writes/draws Mangas) complains about how hard it is and how energy absorbing it is. After experiencing what it feels like being a Mangaka, I started appreciating them more. It is very, VERY difficult. I don't get how they can publish chapters monthly, let alone weekly!! Anyway, I'm up till here (points to her neck) in work, assignments and mid-terms, so the Manga business will have to wait. 

this is one of the pages we (my sister) drew.


Wednesday, March 6, 2013

My Diary 4:


           Dear Diary, about a year ago, my mom got us a couple of rabbits. Bugzy /b^g'ði:/ is the male and he has white fur with black marks. Chopper /tʃʊ'pɒ/ is the female and she has beautiful gray fur. We keep them in our back yard free to do as they please. I always wanted rabbits for one reason only; to make a rabbit hole. Why? to get to Wonderland, duh! My parents were thinking of getting rid of them, but after hearing my plans on spending the summer in Wonderland, they agreed to keep them. So far, they made three holes. My sisters keep making fun of me! they are SO not getting any souvenirs when I get back!





                              What I Hate About Myself


      When I'm angry, I have the bad habit of targeting my anger on the first person in sight. I hate being that way because I end up hurting an innocent bystander's feelings . My baby brother is the usual victim. The poor thing is afraid to breathed around me when I'm in a bad mood. The worst part is that I don't know how to fix this. I tried taking deep breaths when I'm on the verge of snapping. It helps, but it doesn't make it go away. They say exercise and Yoga makes a person calmer. I guess I'll try that.

   

Sunday, March 3, 2013

My Diary 3:

          Dear diary, today was the opening of the athletic center in the university. Me and my friends (Ala'a, Zohoor and Shaikhah) went as a group. The weather was fantastic and the stadium was stunning, but being under the blazing sun and cool breeze combined for too long is never good news. What was worse was that they were late in the "ceremony" ( I had another word in mind, but I'm a lady), so they wrapped it up pretty quick with some fancy words and poetry. Then they told us that the metro was down! We had to take the buses and go to our station from OUTSIDE the campus. All this was in between the short period of 8:00-10:30. I was so mentally and physically drained that I honestly don't remember the rest of my day. The only good thing in this entire "adventure" was that I pumped into my old high school friend!   

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Paragraph Skeleton: 

An outline for "My Favorite Book"



GS: Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte is by far my favorite book.
SP1: Captivating plot.
SP2: Unique characters.
SP3: The way it was written was very clever.
SP4: The themes are interesting.