May 2012
14 posts
1 tag
69.
I never feel like doing what I don’t want to do.
3 tags
68.
If you put something in quotation marks, add a dash followed by your name at the end and spread it around, does it become inspirational?
I’ve tried that one, and no one has quoted me yet.
5 tags
67.
Sometimes you just have to let people laugh at you.
Sometimes it’s the only way to get where you’re trying to go.
10 tags
66.
On forever being a FOB and a TCK:
Home is where the suitcase is?
Home is where the latest passport stamp is?
Home is where my books are?
Home is where my friends are?
Home is where my parents are?
Home is where the heart is?
Trying to avoid cliche as usual, home is none of these. Or, home is all of these places and more. One never knows, but it is kind of fun that way.
3 tags
65.
We are constantly told to try and be content with what we have in a world that is constantly measuring itself in terms of progress.
2 tags
64.
Continuing in the vein of 55.
New York City is the thickest and thinnest place on Earth. It signifies progress and it signifies decay. It’s ugly and it’s beautiful. It’s good for you and it’s bad for you. It works and it doesn’t. I love it but I hate it. I just don’t know about New York.
I think I prefer London.
3 tags
63.
Is democracy always the best form of government? Is (bloody) revolution always the best way to achieve it?
Just putting that out there.
3 tags
62.
How do people develop hobbies anyways? Where did I miss out on this key aspect of growing up?
1 tag
61.
I once told a kid that I didn’t add people on Facebook right in front of someone I’d added the night before.
I hate Facebook.
2 tags
60.
I’d like to feel like I don’t need to be included but I hate to be left out.
5 tags
59.
If you really have faith in God, then why are you so afraid to read The God Delusion?
3 tags
58.
I love winning the lottery. It makes for a fun afternoon of daydreaming.
6 tags
57.
Where is there an end in sight for a war that is making the world a more dangerous place rather than a safer one?
6 tags
56.
What kind of influence do you want to have on the world? The kind that comes from being at the head of a development agency, or the kind that comes from being, say, Eike Batista? One gets you further morally, the other just gets you further. Thoughts?
April 2012
1 post
9 tags
55.
I’ve been lucky enough to travel far and wide only to discover that without fail, the two thinnest places for me - where heaven and earth collide - are anywhere I can find the ocean, and the bench in front of the firepit under the stars in the back garden of our home in Bahrain.
Other places do exist, but I’ve realised that one doesn’t always need to go hunting to find them.
June 2011
1 post
4 tags
54.
From ‘Missed Connections’ on craigslist:
Ad: It’s a shame that things are the way they are now. I really miss you and I haven’t seen you in so long. You being around made my day seem to be so much better. Hopefully someday you may change the way you feel and come around again.
Response: They are the way they are now. In order to change how I feel things will have to...
March 2011
1 post
6 tags
53.
On airports; I want to know every single person’s story. Every single traveler I see in an airport interests me. Where are they coming from? Where are they going to? Why? Is it a quick weekend getaway, a day trip for business, or a vacation for which they’ve been saving up and anticipating for ages? Are they sad, or happy, or just tired and annoyed by security checks?
It never ceases...
October 2010
2 posts
52.
What’s wrong with buttons, Apple?
5 tags
51.
Orange juice without pulp isn’t orange juice. Also, flavours and variety and different fruits are great, but it is so hard to find plain, good old orange juice anymore.
September 2010
4 posts
14 tags
50.
You don’t need to understand this to be mesmerized by the sheer, unadulterated power emanating from Saieen Zahoor’s voice, from the lines etched in his face, and from the perfect blending of instruments.
Pakistan and politics don’t often mix, but Pakistan and music so very, very clearly do. It is devastating to see the potential that lies within the arts in Pakistan go (relatively) unused...
5 tags
49.
Sense of purpose ≠ sense of direction. Know the difference, and always have both.
6 tags
48.
So I knew it was a long track, at least eight minutes. I felt pleased about that, because I knew after the song ended, we wouldn’t dance anymore, but go in and eat the casserole. And for all I knew, Emily would re-consider what I’d done to her diary, and decide this time it wasn’t such a trivial offence. What did I know? But for another few minutes at least, we were safe, and...
5 tags
47.
‘Can you fall in love without fashion?’
-Professor McNamara
Why can’t McDonald’s be a romantic date?
August 2010
1 post
17 tags
46.
I love books because everyone has a different version - we read the same words but see different things. I love movies too, but not when they tamper with my imagination like adaptations do.
Nothing can fascinate me more than the daydreams I have while reading Harry Potter - not the movies, and especially not the theme park. And I will not pay £200 for wizarding robes (but I might try my hand at...
July 2010
3 posts
15 tags
45.
Today someone I was saying farewell to turned to me and said, Good luck, remember to chase your dreams. I cringed at the cliche, but smiled at the encouragement. And always, always keep changing your mind.
I find it hard to understand how some people are so goal-oriented as to know exactly what they want in life, and go for it so determinedly when there are so many wonderful distractions along...
17 tags
44.
Human error and bad calls are a part of the game. They’re often unfortunate (but often really lucky as well) and can impact the history of a sport so to speak, but nonetheless they are a part of the game. Where is the excitement in relying on a camera to call a shot that’s barely in the lines anyway? If you have to fight for points like that, you’re not playing your best.
Play...
17 tags
43.
The eruption of Eyjafjallajökull cost the airline industry over £1 billion while disrupting thousands upon thousands of flights. Millions were stranded and kept from weddings, funerals, meetings, vacations, and other appointments of varying urgency. Money was lost and productivity had to take the back seat.
But let’s think differently for a second. A three-day birthday celebration turned...
June 2010
2 posts
7 tags
42.
Cupcakes drive me insane.
Don’t get me wrong - I love them, but I just really miss good, old-fashioned cake. It seems so much harder to find now. Birthday cupcakes? Wedding Cupcakes? Boring. What are you supposed to cut after making your wish?
13 tags
41.
Interesting how the expansion of our communication capabilities has in turn restricted our attention spans. The 24-hour news cycle doesn’t necessarily mean more news, just more information. We’re constantly thirsting for more knowledge, but we limit our sharing of it to 160 characters and such. Interesting, but also terribly tragic.
May 2010
2 posts
7 tags
40.
Apparently 40 is ‘over the hill’ so a note to myself for 18 years from now - I don’t intend on my life going downhill at any point before I die. Big words to fill but I like a challenge.
4 tags
39.
On the concept of survival of the fittest - what constitutes survival, and who is fittest? These days, especially, I’m curious.
Have we taken over the nature part of natural selection?
April 2010
5 posts
10 tags
38.
There are always more economy class seats on a plane, yet Duty Free prices and shops in most airports rarely seem to cater to the shoestring traveler. How is this profitable?
9 tags
37.
The world-famous Panama hat is actually from Ecuador. It got its name when President Theodore Roosevelt donned one on a visit to the Panama Canal. Leaders become style icons and style icons become leaders.
I’ve been trying to get away with hats for a long time now.
9 tags
36.
The Work of Art in the Age of Biocybernetic (read: Mechanical) Reproduction:
Copy becomes an improvement on the original
Acquires more aura.
The relation between artist and work changes, becomes more distant and yet more intimate?
Temporality is transformed, accelerated stasis.
11 tags
35.
I came out of Up in the Air wanting one of those platinum 10,000,000 miles cards really badly. Who wouldn’t want a telephone line solely dedicated to their service? Just not on American Airlines.
I might have missed the point of the movie. Is it bad that I feel at home in Heathrow?
5 tags
34.
AND
Who are you?
You can’t be all things to all people.
March 2010
5 posts
7 tags
33.
‘I don’t really know what freedom is, but I want to test the boundaries.’ -Aaron Graham Freedman, Panama 2010
My motto in life, my adrenaline rush, (sometimes) my biggest fear, but always my goal.
9 tags
32.
If I didn’t have a home to come back to, then I wouldn’t love the places I go half as much. If I experienced the things I do all the time, then the memories wouldn’t be half as valuable. Too much of a good thing can become a bad thing. It’s knowing what to let go of, what to hold on to, when to pursue and when to simply let it be that makes all the difference.
4 tags
31.
…and I felt a certain sense of shame as our eyes met, but immediately looked away and erased it from my mind. And then I felt an even greater sense of shame for doing so. Yet I’m still not getting a job sweeping floors in the middle of the night. Why is that?
4 tags
30.
No hesitation. Spontaneity and hesitation don’t mix. Just, no hesitation.
4 tags
29.
The Buddha was asked, ‘Are you a saint?’
‘No.’
‘Are you a guru?’
‘No.’
‘What then?’
‘I am awake.’
February 2010
14 posts
4 tags
28.
DC-NYC-DCA-MIA-CUN-HAV-CUN-EWR-LHR-BAH-RWP-KHI-BAH-LHR-IAD.
Summer + Photos = FOB Spot + Tool Status?
9 tags
27.
One day, I will go from London to New York on the Queen Mary 2. One day, I will travel on the Orient Express across Europe. Not only are we forgetting the charms of simpler modes of transportation, but let’s face it, air travel’s a bitch these days.
And while we’re being old fashioned, I miss regular post. Send me a letter:
Maher Ali
Villa 748, Road 2033
Barbar 520
Bahrain
3 tags
26.
The next time I have a party, I’m handing out actual invites. Facebook and e-convenience are far too overrated.
1 tag
25.
ser o no ser
ser o no ser
ser o no ser
ser ser ser ser
5 tags
24.
I love to spend money but making a little money go a long way is so satisfying. I just hope I never have to do it for a living.
5 tags
23.
dream of control over life
its reduction to calculable processes is here projected as the ultimate fantasy
5 tags
22.
dinosaur is a metaphor for multinational corporations
copyright dna
commodification and property rights of human genes
he copyrighted his own dna
4 tags
21.
I’ve found avoiding cliché to be a nearly impossible reality. Things are cliché for a reason, and with six billion plus people on the planet, it’s no wonder. We’re just so intolerant and hungry for change that anything that’s not new becomes trite. Accept the joys of cliché sometimes and take comfort in regularity. Just don’t get stuck in a rut.
7 tags
20.
temporality is transformed
present is erased
constant innovation and obsolescence
disconnection