Blogging on the go

This will be a short short post.

I thought I'd give blogging-on-the-go a try (after much procrastinating). Anyways, I have to do a presentation next tuesday and submit two chapters for my dissertation by monday. The amount of work I have to do is gigantous. (Imagine from one end to another end of the Great Wall of China). Ontop of all these, my eyes and thoughts always creep back to the books that I've been putting off to read.

In the next post I'll share the books I have on my desk (begging me to read them).

Have a good weekend!

Instant Blogging

Good morning gorgeous people! I have approximately 30 minutes (that includes thinking time) to blog before leaving for lecture that's at 9. So, like the instant noodles, i've to speed it up a little. 

I'm one of those chicas who love gadgets. My sony ericsson phone died on me and plus I thought it was about time i get a new phone. Muhsin has this idea that girls change their phones every 2 years - with better functions and sweet applications, i can't help but think how can we not? Well, either way, I still had to eye the market for a good phone since mine died on me. I was looking for a phone that's not too pricey and also not too fancy for a student to use, me being the student. And then like a bollywood movie, time froze. A phone caught my eye (and the fact that the plan isn't expensive). My jaw drops and a helpless sigh escaped my lips....

How can i not fall in love with this gorgeous beauty? The service provider had a promotion for this blackberry. I was doing a mini dance and didn't exactly stop when they told me the flipside of this blackberry. I had to downgrade from my 3g to 2g for this baby. This affects call quality sometimes and also the speed of the internet. I'm not fussed about the speed cos after using it for about two weeks, it seems pretty alright to me. As for the call quality, yeah it can get annoying. Nevertheless, its functions suits what i need. Emails, internet, instant messaging are the priorities after bluetooth and wifi.

With Bailey (yes, i named her. and yes, it's a her), I could do alot of things on the go. Other than the obvious sms and calling, I could read the news from different sources via my bb, check my emails (with a bb, you can set up to 10 emails), stalk people on facebook, read blogs, chat with my loved ones on instant messaging and a whole load of awesome applications too. I got twitter on Bailey but I didnt have a twitter account...wanting to maximize my bb, I actually created one! For those of you who want to continue stalking me elsewhere it's at liyanaberry

I'm also actually figuring out how to blog on the go using Bailey. I'm a geek so i've been told.

Well, that's my instant blogging for you! Have an awesome awesome day everyone!

Just to share

I am appalled at the discovery of 'circumcision' practiced by some cultures. How can anyone not think of it as monstrous?

So drastic is the mutilation involved in the latter operation that young brides have to be cut open to allow penetration on their wedding night and are customarily sewn up afterwards.

The aim of the process is to ensure the woman is faithful to her future husband. Some communities consider girls ineligible for marriage if they have not been circumcised. [Source]

I sat for a cross-cultural psychology module and was taught that mutual respect has to exist between people of different cultures, even if they have bizarre practices (like the Inuits offering their wives to visitors). Of course a line has to be drawn between tolerance and acceptance. Just how much of this practice from the cultures can we tolerate? I can't read and not be outraged by the practice mentioned above. Just like how some non-muslims are outraged that female circumcision are encouraged in Islam.

Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) has empathetically stated that female circumcision should be done "as minimally as possible". Yes it is encouraged in Islam. However, not to the extent where females are put through a great deal -like the total removal of the clitoris in some cultures. Like how some people conveniently "overlooked" certain teachings, choosing instead what suits their purpose (whatever that may be), they also conveniently overlooked what the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) has stated. I digress.

Below is the link to an article of a viewpoint on female circumcision. This article may be a wee bit old but the message transcends time. I share the same sentiments as the author of that article and hope that you'll take some time to read it as well. By empowering the masses, we can spare the female species from such monstrosity caused by people who distort the proper teachings. And ultimately, avoid misconceptions. Question now is, how do we do our part?

Female Circumcision: A Viewpoint 

Daddy's little girl

One fine evening a father and his daughter roughly about 7-8 years old were seated at a coffeeshop. He had a glass of hot milk tea (teh tarik) for himself and the girl was drinking her plain water from her water-bottle. The man was swirling a pink cup in his hand. He swirled and swirled the contents in the cup. A good 5 minutes later he passed the cup to his daughter, who like a manager applauding an employee for a good job, gave her dad a thumbs up.

"How is it?" he asked.
"hmm Okay!" she replied. She passed him the cup and asked for some more of his tea. He poured a little bit into the pink cup and started swirling the cup again. He didn't notice I was observing from a nearby table. His attention was fixated on the cup and his eyelids narrowed a little, full of determination to accomplish something so minuscule. The girl crossed her arms and waited, wearing the expression of an impatient adult.

Once the tea in the pink cup is cooled enough for his young daughter to drink he passed it to her again and caught me looking at him. He gave the most sheepish grin, like a child caught with chocolate smeared around his mouth and denying he had eaten the chocolate cake. The whole scene tugged at my heartstrings. He hadn't  drink his own tea. Instead, he took the time to cool some of the hot tea for his daughter and waited till she don't want anymore of it before drinking it. When they were done, the little girl slipped her tiny hand into that of her father's and swung it as they walk away.

It reminded me of an incident where a fellow blogger, Siras, blogged about how she saw a man picking up his daughter who had ice-cream all over her face and kissed her, not minding the fact that he'll have ice-cream on his face.

Little things like these tug my heartstrings and pull up the corners of my lips. My heart and brain would in unison belt out an "Awwww".

I know this is cliche but i'm going to say it anyway - the best things in life are free. I hope it makes your day as it did mine.

"With all that I've done wrong,
I must have done something right,
To deserve her hug every morning
And butterfly kisses at night"
~Butterfly Kisses, Bob Carlisle~

Have a nice day!



ps: image was gotten somewhere online, i just can't remember where i got it from now :S

2010 already

Just a post to wish everyone a good year ahead.

I've never been big on New Year's, or new year's resolutions. Figure now is as good a time as any to do things. After the excitement of New Year's dies off, most people tend to go back to old habits.

Even reflecting back on the previous few months, I tend to do that whenever I feel I need to. This year I tried to make it a quiet new years. Work has been hectic and I needed the mental break, so I spent the night at home playing games and dozing off. Nice. I did wake a little before 3am to wish someone else who was very excited about New Year's a happy new year though.

Looking back at where I was this time last year, I'm very content. Just before Christmas 2008, I was told my contract wouldn't be renewed because there was no money available to keep me there. So I had to look for work during what was called the worst recession since the Great Depression, getting increasingly worried cos I'd need money to see Liyana again. It took 5 months but now I'm in a much more secure position. I just need to wait for my leave to accumulate and I can go. A nice blessing in disguise.

I didn't go on a single long road trip just because I could. I needed to save my money. This year I can and I look forward to that. These trips will probably remain solitary journeys for as long as I'm able to take them. The aboriginals have a similar tradition called walkabout. My journeys are driveabouts since I use a car, maybe someday they'll be rideabouts (using a motorcycle). People irritate me when I'm trying to refocus, so it's best for everyone if I do it alone. I need one soon too.

I'm working on riding to work everyday by bicycle. That would make it a 72km round trip. So far, I've gotten to riding in one day, and leaving the bike overnight and then riding home the next day.

What else am I looking forward to? I haven't really planned much yet. This month we got 2 big events happening. My brother is leaving for South Africa for work, possibly for 3 or more years. It's 'back home' for us, so there'll be lots of extended family around to help him. It'll actually 7 years now since I last saw them. Everyone else in my immediate family has been back at least once, except me.

The other event is my one sister getting married.

My youngest sister is also in her last year at high school.

September will be another big month. My parents will be flying down to Singapore to meet Liyana's parents and family. Liyana's graduation ceremony is sometime around then too (October I think). I'm hoping it's close enough to the planned visit so I can attend that too.

Otherwise, I'm just taking the year as it comes. One day at a time, regardless of the date on the calendar, just as I always have.

"We are not the same persons this year as last, nor are those we love. It is a happy chance if we, changing, continue to love a changed person." ~ William Somerset Maugham