Disclaimer: Somewhere on this blog are multiple grammatical mistakes, spelling errors and obscure Star Wars references.

Friday, March 30, 2007

One Year...

You know, a lot can happen in one year. I can pull out so many memories that happened within the past year and then when you sit back and actually think about those you go, 'Wow, that's really a lot for one year.' But I guess that's what time is. Time is the stuff that you notice only when you're not doing anything. Otherwise time doesn't really exist. It really is a paradox to me. Have you noticed how sometimes you recall an incident that could have happened years ago but are able to recall every detail. Yet sometimes when asked about some stuff that happened maybe even a few moments ago, your mind goes blank.

One year is a lot of time. But at the same time it's really less too. I remember 1998 as recent. But, think about it now, and it's almost a decade ago. A decade. That' ten years. But you already knew that. In one year it's possible for a human to experience all that he wants to, and those that he didn't want to. But at the end of that one year do you live to regret it or not? I'd say not. But that's just a personal opinion and I don't expect everyone to think the same way as I do.

One year ago I had freshly acquired my driver's license, was a noob scuba diver, was barely working at MAWF, living in the living room of my house and had barely any facial hair. A year since then, I've had about 3 road accidents, have done 6 more dives, did some of my most fulfilling work at MAWF ever, have my own bedroom with an in-suite bathroom and, unfortunately, still barely have any facial hair besides maybe a moustache and a little muzzle on my chin.

One year ago, I was beginning to gather all my relevant and neccesary details and letters so that I could apply to Universities in the USA, Canada and Australia. Recommendation letters, certificates, past grades, predicted grades, affadavits, bank account statements, essays, etc etc. One year since then I know that due to my father retiring from the business soon enough, I won't be able to leave the country and have to start filling his shoes. I also now know that for University, I'll be going all the way to the neighbouring city and back.

One year since I began another venture in my so far eventful journey through life, I look back at all the events since and wonder how it would have been different had I done things differently. That's the beauty of hindsight I guess. It's never wrong. Then again, different may not neccessarily mean bad. Bad is not different either. Different is just....well....different. It doesn't have to be bad. But maybe I'd rather have not done it differently at all. Maybe I'm at peace with the way things are now, and am enjoying myself.

One year ago, my definition of the words, 'best friend,' would vary from what it does now. I now realize that it takes a lot more. You have to give more. A Lot more. A Whole Lot more. Expect a lot less. Because maybe when you expect less and then, you get some, you think you've gotten more and so actually end up happy with what you have.

One year ago I would never have started a blog on the internet to utter these ramblings.

But I guess a lot can happen in one year.

xx

M

Saturday, March 24, 2007

Bob Woolmer, Born 1948. Murdered 2007. A repost

Just a few minutes ago, I called up on of my Pakistani friends to discuss a possible recreational plan. However I was almost immediately exposed to a tirade of, "I have some serious criticism about your blog, I'm gonna swear ," etc etc etc. I asked what the problem was almost knowing what it would be. Turned out to be just that.

The gist:

Zuberi said...

died for the passions of another country?

did i just miss the news? no where does is state that it was a Pakistani fan or Pakistani suspect that was responsible or claimed to be responsible for bob's death.
Please don't state something that you aren't sure about and have in fact no proof to justify it..

good day!

Saturday, March 24, 2007 1:55:00 PM

My response:

If you misinterpret not my fault. I will change the post so as to not "offend" your patriotic feelings.

Now, logic. Check to see WHEN the post was written. Wednesday, March 21, 2007. One day BEFORE it was confirmed that he was murdered. Till I wrote this post, it was still speculated and to a larger part believed that he was killed due to, and I quote, a, "stress-induced" heart attack. (And I'm quoting you and Ahad btw).

So yes, when I wrote that post, I DID believe that it was the passion of Pakistani people and all that was riding on Woolmer's shoulders that caused him stress, and hence killed him. Cause and Effect. Read the post again with this in mind and it makes perfect sense. And till then you could not have called me a blaspheme by posting your comment because what I said made perfect sense. However TODAY, on the 24th of March, when it was confirmed that he was in fact murdered, my comments seem derogatory to the country. For that I apologise. If I seemed to blame a Pakistani for it then I'm sorry too. However, were you even the little bit logical you would see when I wrote that post and understand that in those circumstances, my comments were infallible.

Coming to the second issue. Convenient that you comment on this only after it was confirmed that he was murdered and not until it was thought that it was either a suicide or natural death. In the light of murder my post suddenly seems to be pointing a finger at Pakistanis. I mean, if you DID comment earlier you would just seem stupid. Oh well.

However now that we know he was in fact MURDERED I believe my comments are obsolete. For the mistiming, I'm sorry. As to your comment: Balls to that.

Good Day!

xx

M

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Bleagh... Life just caught up with me...

Ever since just before my post on the American dialect, I seemed to have enough time for a lot of things, if not everything. You know, those moments when you seem to have life under control and you know exactly what's gonna happen tomorrow and the day after and the day after that even. Well, all of that ended for me around that long ago.

A good friend of mine asked me something the other day. He asked, "Mali man, why haven't you posted anything on your blog? I'm WAITING to comment!"

What struck me then was that I was doing the exact same thing that I had done to all my other blogs / diaries / personal memory things. I was beginning to *God Forbid!* lose interest. And I thought to myself that I couldn't afford to lose interest in this for two reasons.

1) I had put a lot of work into this and I don't want to see it go to waste.
2) I made that little promise in my very first post that I would not let this site fade.

Eniwhoo I plan to make up for the lack of posts by explaining exactly what's been going on ever since to possibly try and justify the lack of activity on this blog. For those of you who noticed, the QOTD was not changed for a few days at a time for some time. But now however I have resumed actively updating it and I will do my best to keep it going.

Lately I've felt that there's never enough time to do all the things you need and want. You either do those that you need to be done. Or you do those that you want to be done. And normally the things that you need to be done are the important life-depending ones. The things that you want to be done are the fun ones. So, as you can tell, it's a tough call to make. Obviously I chose the things I want to be done. Now I'm paying the price.

Math is going way, way, way, way, waaaaaaaaaay over my head. Integrals and forces and coefficients and bits and yeeeeaarrrggghh. That's one of the things that I needed done and I didn't do. So now I'm cracking up the books at home, burning that midnight oil. Another thing that fell upon my head allofasudden was my English Coursework. A week ago I knew almost nothing about what I was doing, and as of 5 minutes ago, I've got down around 1,500 words already and have another 1,000 or so words to go. Odds are I'm gonna overshoot the limit and gonna have to cut down once I'm done. The scary bit is that at times I actually enjoy doing Math and English. C4 & M1 get more and more challenging and as you finish a problem correctly it's the most ultimate boost to your ego. Analysing Francis Bacon's Essay on Love seemed to be inane and mundane at first but is actually interesting and appealing now.

Life works in strange ways. Ways that I'm guessing were never meant for those who live it to fathom. And I think it's best that we leave trying to figure out how life works, and get on with living life. I guess the moment that I actually sat down to seriously start doing the things that need to be done, everything seemed to fall into place. Maybe that's the way that life works. Or maybe I'm just being over-optimistic and something bad is gonna happen tomorrow.

Meh, we'll find out I guess...

xx

M


Bob Woolmer, 1948 - 2007

The ICC Cricket World Cup went under way a while ago, but unfortunately was terribly tarnished by the unfortunate death of the Pakistani Coach, Bob Woolmer, after they were eliminated by Ireland. He was found lying in a pool of vomit after a suspected stress-induced heart attack. Speculation is wild though, that Bob Woolmer was, in fact, murdered.

In that regard, let us all keep a minute of silence for a man who died. [EDIT] text removed [EDIT]

RIP Bob Woolmer, 1948 - 2007.

xx

M

Saturday, March 03, 2007

Eye Ran

You know what I've always wondered? Why westerners pronounce Iraq & Iran as "Eye-Rak" and "Eye-Ran" respectively. Or why they call it, "Aye-Rab" instead of Arab.

I guess, I can understand how they manage to change their pronunciations of the, 'a' sound, but never the, 'i' sound. I mean, hasn't anyone else thought about this as well? How can it not come off as strange to the rest of the world? I've met all kinds of Europeans, Canadians, Brits, and even Australians who can pronounce it just fine. Then you walk up to an American and they go, "Eye - Rak is a victory for democracy!"

Lookit, they can say, 'idiot, 'imagine', 'intense', 'initiate', 'invent' just right. But ask them to say the names of these countries and all of [edit] a [edit] (Thanks Farhan!) sudden they develop a drawl. Of course, I'm not stereotyping here, and I've met many Americans that DO pronounce it the way it should be but this is something that pops up in your mind...

Oh, and for all those of you who would say, "it's a proper noun, it can be pronounced any way we want it to," here's a newsflash. Iran and Iraq are NOT ENGLISH WORDS! They can only be pronounced in one way. Learn.

Eye'm outta here...

xx

M