There's gotta be more to life: Personal Thoughts

Snow in Amman

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 19:35:05 GMT

And it snowed in Amman...

It's been snowing since last night and it snowed like last week, so looks like my prayers where answered! If I have known, I would've blogged sooner

Too bad I'm not there to enjoy it

sk8er boi

Reflections on the Weather - Part II

Thu, 17 Jan 2008 15:28:01 GMT

Here is an article published in today's paper from Al-Rai. This is so how I feel:

http://www.alrai.com/pages.php?opinion_id=7459

It's in Arabic, so I don't know if you'll understand it or not; that's if anyone reads this blog

sk8er boi

Reflections on the Weather

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 15:17:23 GMT

To start, it's been a while since I've been here. I'm glad that the blog is still up

Have you noticed how is no longer the same in Amman? It doesn't snow anymore, and it barely rains. I hate this, I miss snow! Not that I would feel it living in Kuwait, but I would like to know that there is a realistic chance of catching some snow in Amman on one of my visits! Which doesn't look promising at all!

Hmmm, perhaps I should go to Baghdad to see the snow! Nah, I don't miss snow that much! Maybe Oslo or something. What do you think Hurryman?

Anywayz, just wanted to stop by for a bit and say HI! I'm still alive!

sk8er boi

Super excited

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 21:20:25 GMT

Man, I can't wait; I'll be in Amman tomorrow for a week, eid holiday :)

I am super excited that I'm going back home, I can't wait till I be there! I have so many things planned, with this one special thing that I'm particularly super excited about, I hope it will work out perfectly.

One other thing that I'm excited about is that today I've got a package that I've been waiting for for the past month. I've ordered a bunch of books from Amazon, and they are finally here. I can't wait till I get to read them. Will start doing that on the plane tomorrow night, and I'll let you know what I think about them.

sk8er boi

Meet My Daemon

Mon, 01 Oct 2007 23:09:57 GMT

Meet Bryanna

sk8er boi

The way it all ends

Sun, 30 Sep 2007 14:10:24 GMT

I was going over some old papers I have, when I found this piece of paper an old good friend of mine drew on a small sketch of me and what I'll be in the future. Anas, if you are out there, where the hell are you? 6ammena 3annak?

P.S. I have no current or future plans to do anything from the above (other than being the richest guy in the world), I've seen the ending and I'll miss life out, and I'll miss some of the people out, some more than others

sk8er boi

Quarter a century

Thu, 13 Sep 2007 21:10:55 GMT

Oh shit, I forgot to tell you that I became 25 yesterday!!!!

Anywayz, I don't mind late gifts

sk8er boi

Boycotting Dilbert

Fri, 07 Sep 2007 17:16:19 GMT

That's it, am not reading Dilbert anymore. Java App my ***

MS ROCKS,

sk8er boi

My True Self Revealed

Fri, 31 Aug 2007 08:06:42 GMT

I came across yet another one of those personality tests, they say that I am an:

Animated Inventor

This is my full report

sk8er boi

I'm back

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 17:41:00 GMT

Yes, my laptop is back

I've had it with me since lastnight, and I can't believe how much I missed it!

sk8er boi

Assembled at last

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 20:26:47 GMT

Almost 7 months ago, while I was still in the process of moving to my current apartment, I bought a set of side tables for my apartment on the assumption that they are an essential piece of furniture. A couple of days later, I opened the box to assemble the side tables and make them usable. When I opened the box, I started taking the parts out only to find that the screws are missing, which renders the whole thing useless. So, I've put the parts back in the box and said to myself that I'll go and get the missing screws the next weekend. Four months later, I actually went and got them.

Today, after I ended up with nothing good on TV to watch and no one online to chat with, I decided to make the courageous move and assemble the side tables. And so I did. This is how the box looks like after I took out from under the couch where it lay still and out of sight for the past seven months:

After a boring process of putting the pieces together, and one tough job trying to make them tight and even, I managed to glue the pieces together and end up with this:

After I was all done I thought to myself: what the hell do I need side tables for?!!!!

sk8er boi

Lesson of the day

Sun, 22 Jul 2007 09:09:20 GMT

Lesson of the day: "Never Go Shopping During Sales!".

This is something that I have to keep reminding myself, so I thought maybe if I get it in writing I might not forget it this time.

Though this doesn't make much sense; if any, I've never been lucky shopping when stores have sales. I rarely find anything that I like, and when I do, it never fits and it's always the last piece that they have!

sk8erboi

Amman - Week One

Sat, 21 Jul 2007 11:07:11 GMT

So, I've been in Amman for a week now. So far it has been fun and nice to be here. Great weather, good company, and just being here; everything just feels right!

Amman looks great, great weather, great vibe, great people, but I need to go out more, I still didn't go to most of the places yet, I just felt like taking it slow at the first week. I need to tour more and see the latest openings and road detours to get the true feeling of Amman. It looks like that every couple of months, a tunnel and a bridge are finished, and 3 more are started. Some of them feel right, and some of them feel weird, like the new bridge near Bluefig in Abdoun, It just felt weird going from an open space to a cluttered bridge; on the other hand, it might just be me!

During this week, I got the chance to go and try out a couple of places I've never been to before in Amman, The Jordan Speed Center and the Jordanian Gliding Club.

The Jordan Speed Center was simply an amazing Go Kart place; great service, very good track, good for a getaway. But for JD12 per 10min ride, I'd except all cars to be at the same quality; if you are unlucky, you might end up getting a bad car that will make you finish last, even if you are Michael Schumacher. But there is a workaround for that, just buy your own Go Kart and store it there. I'd give it 8/10. If you are into cars and speed, then you have to go there.

On the other hand, the Royal Jordanian Gliding Club was pretty disappointing. We got there around 6:20pm; it was pretty late to go there, but thank god we were late and didn't get a chance to fly. They only have 1 air glider, and you have to wait in the queue for your turn to fly for 3 minutes! We were going there under the impression that you get 15 may be 30 minutes of fly time over Amman, but it turns out that you only get the 3 minutes over Marka airport; I'd give it a 3/10. Just the wrong place for me to be at, I have better ways to waste my money!

There are plenty of other places that I am interested in visiting over the next couple of weeks, like the Royal Automobile museum, Wadi Al-Mujeb Reserve, and whatever crosses my mind. I'll keep you posted.

sk8er boi

Amman, here I come!

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 19:42:43 GMT

At last, it's vacation time

Tomorrow, around this time, I'll be on the plane heading back home to Amman for a 3 week vacation.

Though the last time I was in Amman was in the end of April, I really can't find the words to describe how I feel about going back there. This time just feels special. Though some of my original plans were cancelled, I think am gonna enjoy the rest of them; fingers crossed

So, looking forward to seeing you all there.

sk8er boi

It ain't a sin to buy a Ferrari

Sat, 23 Jun 2007 21:33:08 GMT

For some reason, the Vatican issued a document listing its rules of the road. One of the rules warns against using cars "as a means for outshining other people and arousing a feeling of envy."

In response, Ferrari's GM said: "Unless having fun has become a sin, I don't believe it (to be wrong),". When asked if if buying a Ferrari is a sin, he said: "I hope not -- but you should commit at least one from time to time,".

Being the sinner I am, there is no way am removing the Ferrari from my shopping list for my 35th birthday

sk8er boi

Amman's hottest summer

Tue, 19 Jun 2007 22:13:43 GMT

I was just reading a headline on Al-Rai newspaper; which is a Jordanian paper, saying that Amman will face the hottest heat wave in 65 years. So, as a curious as I am, I clicked for details.

The news was that a heat wave is hitting Amman next week and the temperature will reach a whopping 39 degrees celsius; around 102 fahrenhite. So I thought, DAMN!!!

Living in Kuwait, the weather is still nice for this time of the year, with the temperature is still in the low 40s celsius. So am thinking, why did I move to Kuwait?!!!

sk8er boi

Am I greedy?

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 14:11:57 GMT

Another one of those sites that try to analyze you, and you know how much I love to try them out! So I gave this one a shot.

This one tries to find out how you rate against the se7en sins, so that you can work on yourself before your sins kill you. Remember the movie se7en? This is how I scored.

Discover Your Sins - Click Here

As you can see, my deadliest sin is greed, I never thought of myself as a greedy person. Ok, I like to own nice things, and won't mind having more (is this greed?), but this doesn't mean that am not happy and can live with what I have. So, to sum it up, this was a fun test that I decided to take it twice, you know, may be I'll end up less greedy, but it didn't happen

But at least, I won't be envious of all of you who ranked low on greed, as you can see; Envy is the least of my concerns

sk8er boi

Visual DNA

Mon, 23 Apr 2007 16:50:50 GMT

This is a cool test hinted out by a fellow blogger, check it out, these are my results

Read my VisualDNA™Get your own VisualDNA™

sk8erboi

Waking up on weekends

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 05:35:09 GMT

Don't you just hate it when you wake up early on weekends and can't force yourself to fall asleep again? Last night, I went to bed around 0200, and some how I was up 0700'ish, by 0800 I gave up and jumped out of bed.

Why does this happen? Is my biological clock's alarm set to ring @ 0700? Why it ain't set to ring after sleeping 9 (or at least 7) hours?

I hate this, I feel that I need more sleep, but I just can't do it . Hmmm, may be I should grap me a sleeping pill!

sk8er boi

Barca out

Tue, 06 Mar 2007 21:58:36 GMT

am feeling the blues, barca are out, but I guess I have to move on.

sk8er boi

Counting Minutes

Wed, 21 Feb 2007 15:15:14 GMT

1487........

1486........

1485 minutes to go

sk8er boi

Next step!

Sat, 10 Feb 2007 18:27:24 GMT

Next step! has been my personalized message on Live Messenger and Gtalk for a couple of weeks now, and people have been asking me all sorts of questions regarding this; what is your next step?

Well, like I said yesterday, I still don't have an answer, am just relaxing and trying to live the day and enjoy it as far as I can.

People have speculated a lot about this, some ask me: are you getting engaged? Well, as much as I'd love to fool around with you for a while (and it's been a while since I've done that) the answer is no. Am still the most eligible bachelor around

Some people asked if I've gotten a new job offer, the answer is always no. Though any chance for a better future is always welcome, but I don't think I'll be looking for a while.

So, just to let myself off the hook, I think I'll be changing it tomorrow, I just need to figure out what to change it to. Any ideas?

Well, what do you know, I've just figured out what my "Next step" is; to change my moto

sk8er boi

Me and Blogging

Fri, 09 Feb 2007 20:21:50 GMT

Well, I've said that I'll be back, and I still haven't proved that. Well, hope this helps

I've started blogging as one of the pastimes that I have when I first moved to kuwait. I thought I'll just keep a journal of my thoughts, share my "wisdom" with the rest of the world, and just go with the flow.

After that, things just shifted, I started to find myself without any thing to blog about, I lost my creativity, so things just started to slow down. I guess this has to do with the fact that I was making some decisions that time and my mind was just pretty overloaded with thinking.

Well, after that, I just had plenty of things that took me away from the blogospher and into a different world. I missed some blogs, though I remained to act as a silent passer by occasionally.

Recently, I have settled everything, career wise, life wise (switched apartments) and settled down at last, and now, it is time for the next step.

The next step is still unidentified, but I'll keep you posted if I figure it out, but one thing for sure is coming up. I need to get me a car.

Enough rambling right now, I have people on Messenger that I need to chat with before falling asleep.

c ya,

sk8er boi

Long time no see

Wed, 24 Jan 2007 17:30:00 GMT

Damn! It's been like a gazillion years since I've last been here!

Well, 2006 is gone, 2007 is here, am still living around working, switched apartments last weekend, still planning to unpack my stuff, the keyword here is planning

Anywayz, whoever passes over here, have an amazing 2007.

Hope to be back here soon, and see you around.

sk8er boi

Wanna play football?

Fri, 29 Sep 2006 11:40:02 GMT

It's been like 4 or 5 years since I've last played football (aka soccer); but we have a game scheduled tonight @ 10, so it will be nice to see if I can still play the ball as bad as I used to; or even if I can run those 15 minutes?

Let's see if I survive tonight ;-)

sk8er boi

24 @ last

Tue, 12 Sep 2006 21:36:10 GMT

I've just turned 24 years old, so if you are gonna surprise me with a gift , note that I LOVE Ferraries

sk8er boi

1 more day

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 17:21:06 GMT

I can't belive it, just one more day of being abe to say: "Am 23 years old".

Getting older, is it a good thing or is it a bad thing? Am still undecided, what about you?

I'll let you know how I feel about not being 23-years-old later on.

sk8er boi

What's up

Fri, 02 Jun 2006 15:05:21 GMT

Hey, it's been too long since I've been to the blogosphere!

So, to give you an update, Early May, I've made a career move. I have switched jobs and moved "permanentaly" to Kuwait; where I've spent the past 8 or so months. Hopefully, this change will turn out well. It is an improved career path, with more responsibilities, challenges and money ;-) So far I am at peace with this decision.

The downside of this move is finding an apartment. I have been looking for an apartment; not extinsively though, and so far, I couldn't find a "perfect" one, a place where I can say: Am home. Though I found an almost perfect apartment, it was taken away from me a couple of days later, what a bummer! Every apartment I've seen so far is either: families only, too below average, too small, or all of the above. Well, c'est la vie! It looks like am gonna settle for a small apartment with what seems to be a good quality finishing. Let's hope it will be the right thing to do.

So, as all of you know, the World Cup is about to kick off, so, am gonna be blogging about that more than anything else for a month or so. And as you should know by now, am supporting Holland, so Oranje Boven! Which team are you supporting?

Well, enough mumbling around for now, I'll hopefully be back soon. So, wish you all a happy hot summer and an enjoyable World Cup.

sk8er boi

Back to Amman - Temporarily

Mon, 01 May 2006 16:30:55 GMT

So, what's up people?

Nothing much going on on my side, though I'll be updating you with the latest changes in a couple of days, it is enough to say that I'll be in Amman this weekend. And for a whole WEEK. Yeah, no more "am just there for the weekend" like it has been for the last couple of months, am gonna spend a whole week, Yey!

Those last couple of visits were really short, with no time to get bored, or to go wander around Amman looking to see if anything has changed since I last been here.

Though it might get boring at times having to set home do nothing especially when everyone else is "busy" and buried under tons of work, I'll try and make the best out of it. Wish me luck.

sk8er boi

How rich to buy a Ferrari?

Wed, 05 Apr 2006 16:46:39 GMT

First of all, I miss being here. I miss having the desire to blog, and god knows how much I miss visiting your blogs.

I was just checking my space to see if it is still up and running, when I found a few unanswered comments by a couple of friends, which made me wanna sign in and reply and let every one know that am still alive.

While I was looking around, checking that everything here is ok, I've seen a hit that came from a search on Google on "How rich to buy a ferrari?", what's funny is that I've been thinking about that recently. Am a big Ferrari fan, and it is one of my "goals" to buy me one by the time am 35 years old; that's like 12.5 years far, so am glad I still have time to save some money.

I don't know who was looking for an answer to that question, but am glad it led them to my space. If you have found an answer and you happen to pass by my space again, feel free to drop me the answer. If you haven't, here is what I think the answer is.

A brand new Ferrari costs at least $180,000 in the US, so let's say that it costs the same where you live. The Ferrari will also cost you half of that amount over the period of 5 years for fuel, maintenance, registration, insurance, and other operational costs. In other words, it will cost you around $300,000 over 5 years (This assumes that you will pay 50% of the car using instalments, and I recommend that you do). This means that you will need to spend $60,000-a-year. So, you will need to have at least 4-times that in income, at least that's what I would recommend. Cause you will need to have to pay for the house, the summer vacation, and don't forget the income tax that will take a big bite out of your pay check.

Of course, you can buy a 3-year old Ferrari, and it could cost you half of that number. But, for me, it won't be the same as buying a brand new one, I mean, if you are gonna do something then do it right. After all, how often do you buy a Ferrari? Am planning on once.

sk8er boi

Piracy, Ethical?!!!

Sun, 19 Mar 2006 19:36:24 GMT

This post tries to discuss a point of view on piracy that I feel is popular in Jordan and the Middleast, a view which I get critisized some times for critisizing it.

Today, while driving home from work, the radio played Natasha Bedingfield's "Unwritten", which is one of my current favourites. The song led to the following conversation between Me and Me 2:

Me: Did you know that this song is currently number 2 on the list of most downloaded songs on MSN Music?
Me 2: Wait, you can download songs from MSN?!!
Me: Yeah, you can buy it for like 99cents.
Me 2: And there are people who are actually so rich and don't care about their money to buy these songs and pay for them, and not forget that there are too many people doing this that they keep statistics on these downloads?!!!!!!!!!
Me: Yeah, but 99cents a song does not mean that you are rich and don't care about your money.
Me 2: Yeah it does! Especially when you can get it for free from any P2P service.
Me: Well, some people think that it is unethical to do this, it is piracy.
Me 2: So what?
Me: It is like stealing something, it is wrong.
Me 2: No it is not, I didn't steal something, I just took a copy of what someone else has, he still has his copy.
Me: What about the artist that created the song? You are not paying him for his rights?
Me 2: So? I can't afford to buy a song for 99cents. If they don't want me to copy their music, then just provide it for a lower price may be like 1cent, then we'll take. All that these artist care about is getting filthy rich; they can do this by selling their music for less money and get more people buying their music.
Me: 99 cents is cheap, it is not too much.
Me 2: May be for someone who lives in the US, but not for me. I can't afford to buy a book that sells in the state for 100$, income gaps between countries should be taken into account when calculating the price of an item.
Me: If you can't afford it, then you don't need it. Simply don't steal it. You can't afford to buy a Ferrari, does that make it ok to go and steal one?
Me 2: Again, am not stealing, am copying, if you can find a way to copy a car, then go a head and do it, it will be ok.
Me: Ok, so bad example may be. But what about the artist? Doesn't he deserve to be paid for being creative and innovative and coming out with his work? Are you saying that it is Ok to copy someone's work and not paying him for it? So, I can just open an e-version of "The Da Vinci Code", copy it, paste it to another file, rename it and sell it.
Me 2: No, this is wrong, am not talking about taking credit for someone's work, am just taking a copy of what I can't afford to buy, am copying what someone else has, not taking the only existing instance of that. It is on the internet, and nobody owns the Internet.
Me: But the artist who created the song owns his work, and deserves to be paid for it.
Me 2: Then don't overprice it, and make it available at a cheap price.
Me: Who are you to say if something is overpriced? What are the measures to base this on? A creator has every right to name whatever price he wants for his work.
Me 2: And we as people who use the Internet have every right to **** the artist and copy his work if it is overpriced.

After that, the discussion automatically stopped when I got home, no decision has been made on who is right and who is wrong.

As for Me 2's last argument, overpricing an item makes it right to "copy" it. I might sympathise with this point of view if the matter in question was a necessity of life without an alternative, not an accessory such as a song or a movie.

Bottom line is, piracy is wrong and cannot be justified in any means. That's what I think, but I would love to hear what you think.

P.S. Though am still not 100% piracy free, it is work in progress. Clean up is progressing.

sk8er boi

Coming Soon

Mon, 13 Mar 2006 18:03:45 GMT

After being down and slow for almost a month now, I have finally started to come around again. All of the negative carma surrounding me has started to fade away. Though a depressing storm looms on the horizon, I'll try to be prepared and wash it away from my skies. (I think we all learned our lessons in preparing for storms from Katrina).

Sometime towards the end of the week, I will be fully operational once again. So stay tuned.

sk8er boi

Technocrati

Mon, 27 Feb 2006 17:51:00 GMT

Technorati Profile

Away from the blogosphere

Sat, 25 Feb 2006 10:00:28 GMT

For the past couple of weeks, I have been some how away from the blogosphere. I wasn't so much active either here at my space or with other blogs I visit regularly. Just bare with me for another few days and then I'll be back; hopefully ;-)

P.S. A couple of days ago, I was out biking by the sea, and I saw people walking their "goat"!!!! It wasn't just any goat, it was clean, shiny and wearing accessories. I never thought that any one would have a goat as a pet! Am used to cats and dogs, but goats? I wanted to take a photo to share that scene with the world, but I was afraid it might be rude.

sk8er boi

In the spirit of Valentine's

Tue, 14 Feb 2006 17:08:21 GMT

A couple of days ago, I was taking one of those online tests that try to "analyze" or "figure out" your personality. One of the questions was: Today, you'd feel like the luckiest person alive if you:

1. Met the perfect spouse
2. Raised the perfect children
3. Bought the perfect outfit
4. Got the perfect job

Without thinking, I instinctively went for option 4.

It didn't hit me until I moved to the next question, I was totally shocked. I never thought that work comes first for me. I always thought that living and having a personal and lively life outside of work was the most important thing for me!!! I always thought of myself as a guy who will go for either Option 1 or Option 2, I never thought of myself as an Option 4!

So much for "A quest for more life in my life".

I think it is time for me to take a pause and take a long deep look into my life.

sk8er boi

Sat, 11 Feb 2006 18:11:43 GMT

sk8er boi; by Avril Lavigne

He was a boy
She was a girl
Can i make it any more obvious
He was a punk
She did ballet
What more can i say
He wanted her
She'd never tell secretly she wanted him as well
But all of her friends
Stuck up their nose
They had a problem with his baggy clothes

He was a sk8er boy
She said see you later boy
He wasn't good enough for her
She had a pretty face
But her head was up in space
She needed to come back down to earth

5 years from now
She sits at home
Feeding the baby she's all alone
She turns on tv
Guess who she sees
sk8er boy rockin up MTV
She calls up her friends
They already know
And they've all got
Tickets to see his show
She tags along
Stands in the crowd
Looks up at the man that she turned down

He was a sk8er boy
She said see you later boy
He wasn't good enough for her
Now he's a super star
Slamming on his guitar
Does your pretty face see what he's worth?

He was a sk8er boy
She said see you later boy
He wasn't good enough for her
Now he's a super star
Slamming on his guitar
Does your pretty face see what he's worth?

Sorry girl but you missed out
Well tough luck that boy's mine now
We are more than just good friends
This is how the story ends
Too bad that you couldn't see,
See the man that boy could be
There is more that meets the eye
I see the soul that is inside

He's just a boy
And Im just a girl
Can I make it any more obvious
We are in love
Haven't you heard
How we rock each others world

I'm with the sk8er boy
I said see you later boy
I'll be back stage after the show
I'll be at the studio
Singing the song we wrote
About a girl you used to know

I'm with the sk8er boy
I said see you later boy
I'll be back stage after the show
I'll be at the studio
Singing the song we wrote
About a girl you used to know

don't you just hate it when this happens?!!

sk8er boi

FIFA says No

Fri, 03 Feb 2006 21:36:56 GMT

I've just got an email from the 2006 FIFA World Cup Organizing Committee informing me that I was not allocated any tickets for the World Cup.

How sad!! I was building up hope on spending a few great days in Germany watching Holland beat Argentina 3-0. There goes one of my 2006 Fantasies flying out of the window. I guess now I can start planning a vacation some where else.

Better luck next time,

sk8er boi

Meme of four (more or less)

Tue, 31 Jan 2006 21:03:12 GMT

Per Tololy's request, here comes the meme of four.

Four Jobs I've had: (since I worked for one company, I'll put in the roles I took; randomly)

Software Quality Engineer
Software Developer
System Designer
Consultant (may be!)

Four Movies I could watch over and over:

Independence Day
Brave Heart
Ocean's Eleven
When I saw Tololy's Notting Hill, I said: "I must have seen this like 5 times already!!!!!"

Four Places I have lived: (I am not sure what qualifies a place, so I will put all places where I've spent 3-months or more; or with too many sleepovers)

Amman, Jordan
Zarqa, Jordan (too many sleepovers)
Riyad, Saudi Arabia (3 months)
Kuwait (4 months and counting)

Four TV Shows I Love to watch:

Friends
World Sport
Frasier
24
Las Vegas

Four Places I've Been on Vacation:

Aqaba
Petra
Syria
Turkey

Four Blogs I Visit Daily:

Four Favourite Foods:

Magloobeh
Pizza
Chocolate
Koftah

Four Places I'd Rather Be:

Since am away, I'd say Amman
New York
Switzerland
Hawaii

Four Albums I Love:

I don't think that I have ever owned four albums!! I have a collection of individual songs taken from mutiple albums, with multiple genres, but I think the following stand out at the moment:

Let Go, Avril Lavigne
Songs About Jane, Maroon 5
Under My Skin, Avril Lavigne

Four Vehicles I've Owned:

Fortunately, am not that old, am still a 23-year old kid But, for the sake of argument, I was once using a Honda Civic for transportation.

Four People I would pass the chain to:

Well, I don't have any blogger friends (but I hope am making some), so am gonna pass the torch to some of the people who stopped by my blog:

sk8er boi

"Classic" cartoons

Mon, 30 Jan 2006 15:49:35 GMT

إذا عشت أيام طفولتك في الأردن (أو في أي بلد عربي) خلال الثمانينات(و ربما أول التسعينات) من القرن الماضي, فإنك قد تستمتع بهذا

If you grew up in Jordan (or the Arab countries) in the 80s, then you might be interested.

I have received a link today by email, the link was to a web site hosting a collection of classic cartoon jingles, cartoons that we grew up on as kids. Cartoons like:

جراندايزر
الرجل الحديدى
السندباد
كاليميرو
سيده ملعقه
الحوت الابيض
سازوكى
And others more

It just brought back some good old memories.

babyish?

sk8er boi

Business blogs

Wed, 25 Jan 2006 20:32:17 GMT

I am currently hunting for a business blog to add to my daily readings. I have turned on Google to send it out sniffing for a prey to catch. But of course, since I was expecting to run into a stampede of potential preys, I decided to narrow my search to "best business blogs 2005". The search led me to locating the "2005 Business Blogging Awards".

I know that it will take me some considerable time to decide on a favourite from the list, and I might even end up with a favourite from out side the list; who knows. Wish me luck.

If you are aware of any business blog out there that is worth noting, please let me know .

Thanks in advance,

sk8er boi

The Old Days

Tue, 24 Jan 2006 21:19:36 GMT

Over the last couple of days, I have realized how much I miss my days at college. I miss the laughs I had with my friends in the science square, I miss sitting under the tree by the old mighty dinosaur. I miss waking up at 9 or 10 am only to decide that I will be skipping class because I simply didn't feel like going out of bed. I miss skipping class so that we can sit down and make fun of the doctors or tease one of those Java or Oracle lovers.

I miss rushing from the Medical complex all the way to the humanitarian complex or even to the "Tarbieh" college in 10 minutes so that I can make it to the my next class, and I miss being 10 minutes late because of that.

I miss sitting out the class for 10 minutes waiting for the doctor not to show up. I miss those stolen laughs and record breaking snake games we had during a boring lecture.

I miss those "emotional" last 30 minutes before the exam where almost 300 students coming from different backgrounds and with different ambitions and dreams shared the same "what the hell is this supposed to mean" thought. I miss hanging out after the exam with nearly complete strangers to complain about how unfair the exam was.

I miss not having to go to work tomorrow.

Over all, I just miss seeing every body every day.

sk8er boi

Windows Live Messenger

Sun, 22 Jan 2006 21:06:17 GMT

Dear Windows Live Messenger Team,

Do you know what will really make my day? Getting an invitation to use Windows Live Messenger Beta.

I am a huge Messenger fan, and I would really love to get a sneak peek at what Windows Live Messenger has to offer.

I just hope that the product team passes by this post, if not, then I will just have to live with MSN Messenger 7.5 (not that it is bad; I love. It just seems that Windows Live Messenger is 10 times better). I would sign up, but sign up seems to be restricted to people living in a small number of countries, and unfortunately, I live in none of them!

I can't wait till I run Windows Live Messenger on a Vista machine; how cool would that be? Any hints on Vista Beta 2 release date? Any body?

sk8er boi

15 hours to go

Thu, 05 Jan 2006 14:53:14 GMT

15 hours, that's how long it will take till my planes lands at Queen Alia Airport in Amman.

Yeah, it is true; I'll be coming back to Amman to spend the holiday at home with my family and friends. Though it's been 6 weeks since I last came back to Amman, I sure miss being there.

Glad I'll be home soon, and I just hope to have a few days of warm weather so I can enjoy it. And a snow cover at the last couple of days would also be cool

sk8er boi

Spirituality and Belief: Is it encoded in our genes?

Tue, 03 Jan 2006 14:19:48 GMT

What makes some people have more faith and spirituality than other people?

I have just seen a Barbra Walters special report called "Heaven -- Where Is It? How Do We Get There?". The report tried to investigate the reasons that make some people believe in God, and believe in heaven, and some people don't. Why some people have more spirituality than other.

What caught my attention was what one researcher said. Dr. Dean Hamer, a geneticist at the National Institutes of Health, said that he suspects that spirituality might be a personality trait encoded in our genes. He conducted a survey on more than 1,000 people that included questions regarding spirituality and belief. He then studied the participants' DNA and found that those who scored highest on his survey had a mutation of at least one gene that seems to affect their level of spirituality. This "God Gene" as he called it is known as the VMAT2 gene.

There was also another study by Dr. Andrew Newberg, a neuroradiologist at the University of Pennsylvania. The study showed that people engaged in an act of intense prayer or meditation show a marked increase in brain activity in the frontal fegions of the brain, while showing a decrease in brain activity at the parts that control our sense of time and space.

Watching the show, I remembered a verse from the Quran saying: (

إِنَّكَ لَا تَهْدِي مَنْ أَحْبَبْتَ وَلَكِنَّ اللَّهَ يَهْدِي مَن يَشَاء وَهُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِالْمُهْتَدِينَ). (Thou canst not guide aright everyone whom thou lovest: but it is God who guides him that wills [to be guided]; and He is fully aware of all who would let themselves be guided.). Then I looked at what Dr. Hamer said, and though: "Well!! Could it be?"

God Knows الله أعلم

Full story can be found at AbcNews

Quran English taranslation taken from IslamCity

sk8er boi

Jordanian Customs - for Jordanians Only!

Mon, 02 Jan 2006 18:08:05 GMT

I have received this by email today, and thought that it is worth sharing with the world.

P.S. Sorry if you can't speak Arabic, but this will loose its meaning in any language other than Arabic with Jordanian flavor.

عادات من الاردن

أنك تكون ماشي عال الخط السريع .. وفجأة الشارع يصير أزمة، ولا هي ترويحة موظفين ولا هي سيارة بتقزدر على اليمين تطقّس عال صبايا، وبعد نص ساعة من الازمة، بتكتشف انه صاير حادث! بس الحادث على السايد الثاني .. وكل هال الازمة لانه العالم بتهدّّي عشان تشوف كيف ووين ومين وليش صار الحادث! وبيحاولوا يحللوا انه الحق على مين وهاد ضاربوا من ورا "بلا قافية" وهيك، المشكلة انّك بتصير تسبسب وتلعن، وبس توصل بمحاذاة الحادث، إلا ما تهدّي عشان توخذ نظرة انت الثاني

أنه العالم تاخذ الامور بشكل مسّلم به، ويا ريت بس هيك، لأ لازم شوية إضافات من كل واحد .. يعني بيجي "أ" من الناس بخبّر "ب" أنه: الجمرك على السيارات راح ينزل باخر السنة! بيروح "ب" مخبّر "ج" .. و "ج" مخبّر "د" وهكذا .. المهم بالاخر بتقعد مع "ع" من الناس وبيحكيلك: يا زلمة راح يلغوا الجمرك كلّوا من هون لشهرين! وعرظ اختي قرأتها بالجريدة من يومين !ا

أنك تكون بعرس، المعازيم بحدود 300، وفجأة .. بعد ما يخلص البوفيه، ما بيضلّ غير 30 واحد تقريبا، اللي همّه المقربين، والباقي بياكل اخر لقمة وهو على باب الأوتيل! طب ارقصولكوا رقصة قبل ما تروحوا .. مش انه عشان تفرحوا بالعرسان، اقل ما فيها تهضموا الصخماط االلي طفحتوه !

إنك مستحيل تطلع مع شوفير تكسي وتفتح معه أي موضوع، إلا يكون بيفهم فيه أكثر من أي حدا تاني، حتى المختصّين بالموضوع أنفسهم، ومش بعيدة يطلعك حمار بالاخر! طب مهو انت ليش فتحت معه الموضوع من اساسه؟ معه حق يطلعك حمار بلا مؤاخذة

ناس بتفهم هاد الشي كتير ملاحظ بالشعب تبعنا، بيفهم بكل اشي اسم الله حولو، من الكتكت تبع ماسورة الحمام، لسياسة جورج دبليو بوش بالشرق الأوسط، شو ما حكيت، بينطلك واحد بيقولك "غلطان!" الشغلة كيت كيت كيت كيت، واذا كنت فاهم شوي بالموضوع، او بلشت تفهم، بتبطل فاهم اشي والمشكلة، انه احنا كتير (فريندلي سمتايمز)، يعني بتشوف جارك وانتا طالع، بسألك "عا وين يا جار" بتحكيلوا " والله رايح اجيب واحد ايزبطلي هالماسورة" بجحرك وبيقولك " يا زلمة هيي صنعة، هسه بنسوكجلك اياها" وبروح بيفكفك كل اشي في براغي، بتصفي عايش بسيل الزرقا مش بداركو، وفي الاخر بيقولك: "اه والله، شكلوا بدها واحد شاطر" .. يا فرحتي، بيكفي القهوة والشاي اللي صفقهم . ويا حبوا بالسياسة، كلها بتحكي سياسة، يعني لو ابو نورس، الشوفير تبع باص رغدان – السلط رقم 29، كان محل صدام حسين ايام الحرب، كان مش بس هزم الامريكان، وبيجوز رجّع فلسطين بطريقه

كيف؟ طقع؟

sk8erboi

Me on the 9th of July (from Yehya's perspective)

Sun, 01 Jan 2006 20:56:25 GMT

I've just got this email from my friend Yehya to comment on my new year's resolutions:

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man imagine this ....

its 9 july 2006
you managed to go for a while to the gym and got a chance to watch
the final game between Holland vs. Argentina

and guess who you met in the streets of berlin ????

check the pic

hehehehe

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I guess every thing can happen, thumbs up dude