Filed under: Rants & Raves, Second Spiral Sketchbook, Sketchbook | Tags: sketch
i saw a guy in a huge hummer this morning, phone in one hand (against the law) and throwing garbage out his window with the other. a kuwaiti. how can i accept that he and i originate from the same country? the problem is, people like him are breeding like bunnies
I am a Kuwaiti. Am I proud to be a Kuwaiti? No. Before you take out your punching gloves, I want you to think hard about the term ‘proud to be’ and what it is to be proud of this country, my country. Now, do I love Kuwait? Yes. Passionately. And every day I fight for it. I fight by honking my horn when I increasingly see people rolling down the windows of their fancy cars to throw out a tissue or crumpled up cigarette box. I fight for my country by minding my garbage output. I fight for it by raising three decent (well, most of the time anyway) individuals who I hope will follow my lead as a Kuwaiti fighting for her country. But until the majority of the people of Kuwait start loving it the same manner I and many like me love it, I can’t bring myself to say that I’m proud to be Kuwaiti. But I sure as hell am trying to make it a place my children will be proud to say they are from. (more…)
Filed under: Rants & Raves, Sometimes I think I'm a photographer | Tags: car, crash, photo, wreck
it used to be a car. now it's a story
Yesterday, I took these photos of a terrible car wreck. I debated with myself whether these are considered ‘art’ or not. I did post them on Facebook. But am I being lewd and exploitative by posting them here (or there, for that matter!)? I may be sick, but I find great beauty in this wreckage. It’s not cool that it happened, and it’s not cool that most likely the person who was driving this is dead. But if I remove that from the final result- the wreck and these photos-is it possible to filter out the tragedy and be left with a painful reminder in the form of an onsite installation? People were actually driving to what’s left of this Lincoln Town Car to take photos. Many of these people were with their uniformed kids (this is where I park to pick up my children after school) who had brought along cameras (the crash is three days old today). I saw at least three dads come through with their children, commenting on the wreckage, shaking their heads and tut-tutting. Would they have gone to an art gallery to see this specimen of modern day ruins? Or is it up to the artist to dub this a work of art, take it to its next evolutionary stage? I don’t know. I just feel strongly that I have to hope I’m forgiven by whoever it was in this car for posting these photos. (more…)
Botamba continue to display their professional ineptitude and outright rudeness. A few days ago I posted this and this. I have to say that I apologize to the blogs that I mentioned because as of today, one of them has been removed from this so-called aggregator. The owner of the freshly removed blog contacted me today with his grievances towards the site. He forwarded me both his letter to the site’s owner concerning preferentialism and the owner’s response. Apparently Botamba is selective to what they deem worthy of retweeting. This is an excerpt from Mr. Stillsearching’s second letter to Botamba:
listen, you either offer a service, or you don’t.
what about the tweets?
speechless
These are the morons who are empowered to tell you what you should and should not see on the net. I originally posted this and then deleted it when I got a comment that my PrettyGreenBullet blog was in fact on Botamba. But Raw Epistle was still rejected. I finally got their reply and this is it:
Dear Ghadah,
Sorry I could not reply on time cause I am on travel.
anyone for a round of irony?
reject reject
A few days ago, I submitted my two blogs to Botamba, an RSS aggregator for Kuwait and the Gulf’s blogs. Yesterday, I checked their site to find that my babies were rejected. I was both upset and amused. Someone actually went through my blogs and thought: hmmm, no. Not good enough. So I’m thinking maybe I should start my own feed. Only problem is I’d probably only have two or three blogs on mine, including thestillsearchingblog, raine’s rants ‘n raves and thuraya lynn. Everything else just seems to be a sub-aggregator of everything else in the whole wide world.
A friend of mine asked me, ‘Does it really matter that you’re not on Botamba?’ And my answer was no. Of course no. But I need a reason why. I wrote twice to them and no reply, not even an acknowledgment that they have received my emails. So for some shitty little nerdy chicken shit to reject two of what I consider higher quality blogs, I need an explanation.
Filed under: My Friends & Me, Rants & Raves | Tags: 50, charity, give, states, volunteer
Queen Me
I want to change the world! How about being more specific? How about starting small? How about taking teeny tiny steps instead of making gigantic proclamations? I hear it everyday. And that’s all I do. Hear it. I never see anything materializing whether I’m involved or not. The number of times I’ve been asked to be a part of something: design a logo, write an article, paint a picture for someone, and not have it followed up is astounding; the rule rather than the exception. I’m sick and tired of the bullshitters who just waste my time.
Now here is the way things ought to be done: 50 Give, launched by Keith Donohue last February: Keith says:
“My name is Keith Donohue and I will be driving, flying, or boating to each of the 50 states, as well as Washington, D.C., Mexico, and Canada, to volunteer in each location for a different non-profit, charity, or worthy cause.”
I admire Keith, who I know through my brother Mohammed (the original bromancers), for going through with and being so passionate about his dream. I so respect the way he had this well thought-out vision which he solidified with a well thought-out plan. He didn’t want to change the world. He just wanted to do whatever he was put on this earth to do, to make whatever difference he could, wherever he went. And he’s doing it in a Honda which gives him extra marks in my book.
He is not congratulating himself for what he is doing. He does not regard himself as some kind of a Messiah. He is just doing what he is doing. And I hope he gets all the support he needs to get him through the trip. It’s not about self-glory or getting silly votes (ahem). It’s just what it was, is and hopefully going to be.
