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tøom extra: Toom Extra Season 1

2011-11-17T11:21:00.000+02:00

tøom extra: Toom Extra Season 1: يسرّ أعضاء فريق توم إكسترا دعوتكم إلى حفل توقيع كتابهم الأوّل: توم إكسترا الموسم الأوّل وذلك نهار الخميس 1 كانون الأوّل 2011 إبتداءً من...

You Cannot

2011-11-04T17:13:00.000+02:00

"Niaak" | © Samah El Hakim 2011

You cannot remain indifferent & be irresponsible facing all the atrocities that happen in our world daily:

You cannot throw half of your 20$-worth-platter when millions are starving and specifically someone in your neighborhood.
You cannot throw a can/paper/trash bag and leave it on the ground because you are in a hurry and missed the trash bin.
You cannot open the water tap for 5mns while brushing your teeth while millions have no access to drinking water / or have no teeth left for that matter.
You cannot buy more than you need, spend more than you earn or throw more than you give.
You cannot retreat to your safety bubble and think it will last forever, because it surely won't my friend.

I say "cannot" knowing that we are doing all of the above and more.
I surely am a long way from being the illuminated & the ultimate savior of the planet, I just write, am conscious of what is happening around me on all sides and feel responsible while trying to act no matter how insignificant any action I do might seem relatively to the vastness of the world.

What if, just imagine with me, every one of us does insignificant actions on a daily basis?
I say it will all build-up into something significant following this simple example:

(1 insignificant 10 kg monthly plastic collection

+ taken to the recycling plant)
x
100 households (as insignificant as my action)
=
1000Kg of plastic waste going to recycling

-------

It doesn't cost to be involved, to engage, to act, to live, to feel the wind on your face and the people around you, to have compassion, to be responsible and to be conscious.

It would be sad to have another species write one day: "... and due to their indifference and lack of responsibility, the humans got extinct."

The Earth is ours, the solution is us and the worse is yet to come.

Drink water... while it lasts.

A Thought About Pain

2011-08-23T20:35:00.000+03:00

No matter how short our lives can be, pain is always there.

It's not a negative-vibe-post I am trying to conceive here, it's a projection of what's inside my head right now: an infuriating pain of knowing that I am most of the time helpless facing all the pain I see around, whether it inflicts me or not.

There's the physical pain, the moral pain, the psychological pain, the plain pain, the sexy pain, the made-up pain, etc...

You think the ultimate pain is hitting your left thumb with a hammer only to discover that breaking it is much more painful.

You think breaking-up with "the one" is painful only to find that losing a loved one in a silly accident a million times harder.

Then you think that witnessing the death of millions of people for food shortage is painful and makes you feel helpless, until you know that thousands of tons of food are being destroyed in order to maintain a proper market price...

-------

It's been a while now I've been observing people around me:
we've become a self-centered-ego-maniac-driven humanity.

What Hesperides said might be true:
"No pains, no gains.
If little labor, little are our gains:
Man's fortunes are according to his pains."

However, my dear Hesperides, if you were living in our world today, I can only imagine what you might have said about gain & pain...

What future awaits us, I do not know, what I know is that the worst pain is inflicted by humans -to any other living creature- when they lose their humanity, no matter how insignificant they think the act/word/thought/idea is.

Drink water.

"Rage" | © Samah El Hakim 2011

An Advice

2011-06-15T14:40:00.003+03:00

"An Advice"
© Samah El Hakim 2011
Please feel free to download & share.

Mother Earth

2011-04-11T13:20:00.000+03:00

Last Saturday I planted a tree.
A pine tree it was, around 12 years old.
As I was preparing the piece where it would be planted,
I felt a strong connection with Mother Earth.

This small act of 20 minutes while thinking about how this tree would grow in its new place and finally "breathe", when it's been imprisoned for 12 years in a small flowerpot, gave me so much satisfaction.

Once finished, images of destruction came to my mind.

-------

Nature is a beast sometimes, it's true,
but Man is even more savage:

How easy it is to cut down an 80-year-old tree
"because its falling leaves are littering our backyard".

How simple it is to raid a forest using a bulldozer
"to clear the view".

How fast we can pollute a nearby river
"to keep our house/factory clean".

How can we ever regain what we destroyed?
We can't...

All the beautiful mountains that we transformed into ugly buildings.
All the water that we polluted.
All the forests "evaporated".
All the extinct species.
Then...
All of us.

This is far from being an alarm, it's more of a cry
during my "semi-mourning" for our dear Mother Earth.

We are slowly dying with Her.
For any possible resurrection, believing is not enough.
Start acting.

"Forgive Us"
© Samah El Hakim 2011
Please feel free to download & share.

Goodness On The Spot

2011-03-22T18:34:00.000+02:00

I was coming back home the other day by car.

On one of bridges that I took, stood an old man with some bags, waving to the passerby, wishing someone would give him a lift.

He seemed really helpless.

Although I saw him from afar,

it took me 3 seconds to realize that I wanted to give him a lift,

but it was too late, since I was in the fast lane.

I decided to make a u-turn and pick him up.

While doing this action (that took nearly 30 seconds),

I thought of how I might have missed my chance in doing a good deed

and that I will arrive only to see that the man disappeared.

I wasn't wrong.

I arrived just in time to see another guy picking the old man up.

It felt as if we were racing for doing the good deed, it made me smile.

-------
Never think a good action twice.

If you feel it, do it on the spot or else you will lose your chance.

إلك يا بيّي

2011-02-19T12:18:00.000+02:00

فيّي قول إنّو حظّي حلو خلقت من/ولأهل فنّانين وحسّاسين، مع إنّو العيشة بس يربى الواحد بهيك بيئة بتصير أصعب مع بقيّة الناس بحكم إختلاف النظر للأشياء،
صغيرة كانت أو كبيرة وللحياة كلّها بشكل عام. الليلة في أشخاص حكيو عن مارون الفنان، أنا بدّي إحكيلكن شوّي عن مارون بيّي.

بلّش بيّي يحبّبني بالتأليف واللّون والشكل قبل ما إخلق، بيقلّي كان يحلم فيّي كيف رح كون وبما إنّي كنت الأوّل،
غنّجني يمكن زيادة عن اللّزوم واليوم، وقت يلّي سماجتي وتقل دمّي بيزيدو بيقلّي: "الحقّ عليّي خلّفتك!".

بتذكّر كيف من زغرتي دايماً الألوان موجودة، باللوحات، بالتماثيل، عالحيطان، بفضل إيدينا إخواتي وأنا أكيد، وبتذكّر كمان البابا بعدّة حالات عم يشتغل:
بالصالون قدّام الشومينيه عم يرسم مناظر كلّا نور وفرح وحلم بالرغم من تلبّد الغيوم بسما لبناننا على مرّ السنين،
أو عم ينحت بأوّل الربيع بالخشب أو الحجر ومبسوط قدّ الدني،
أو عم بحضّر لشي مشروع كبير بيبدا من رسمة ليصير مجسّم لآخر شي يصير تمثال ما بدّو إلّا يحكي.

أكتر شي كان وبعدو بعجّبني عندك يا بيّي هوّي كيف بتنفح حياة بهالشقفة الصخر أو الخشب،
بعلمكن بتكون ملقوحة بهالأرض لكن من بعد فترة بتصير قطعة فنيّة مميّزة عن كلّ شي بهالدني.

بفوق لمّا كنت إنزل لعندك وصير إلعب بهالغبرة المجمّعة على الأرض أو آخد المطرقة والزميل
وصير أعمل حالي إنّي عم بنحت، ولو شو كانو تقال...

بفوق كمان على الكزدورة اللّي كنت تاخدنا نعملها بالمزدا بالشتي.
ياي شو تكون حلوة هالكزدورة اللّي نروح نشقّ فيها على عمتو ماري
أو حدا من القرايب مع إنّو إنت تكون مشتوي من التعب.

"الله يرضى عليك ما إلي جلادة العالم وتقل دمّن وسخافتن...
تركوني بهالأتولييه أنا مبسوط وإنتو شو بدّكن عملو، ما هودي كلّن إلكن..."
هالجملة صرت إسمعها أكتر وأكتر أنا وعم بكبر وشوف إدّيش تعذّبت وضحيت لتوصل ليلّي إنت اليوم،
وصرت إفهم أكتر إدّيش التعامل مع الناس صعب ومتعب. صرت إفهم كيف "هودي كلّن إلنا"
وهلّق بعد ما عطيتني شرف كون "مدير أعمالك" بلّشت إشتغل لوصّل شغلك المتنوّع والمتجدّد والغزير لكلّ العالم،
مش لأنّك بيّي بل لأنّ هيك أعمال حرام ما تطلع عالنور وتوصل لأكبر عدد من الجمهور اللّبناني أوّلاً والعالمي في ما بعد.

بشكرك على كلّ هاللّيالي اللّي غمرتني فيا وتمشي فيّي بالبيت تنام.
بشكرك على "العنزوقة" اللّي نصبتلّي ياها بالأوضة لإغفى أحسن.
بشكرك عالقلام اللّي عطيتني ياها وتركتني إنزع فيها حيطان البيت.
بشكرك على حفلات الأعياد اللّي كانت أشبه بكرنفالات على الرغم من الحرب والضيقة.
بشكرك على كلّ الصّبر اللّي كان عندك نحنا وعم نكبر.
بشكرك على كلّ الفلومة والصور اللّي مصوّرنا ياها شو ما كنّا نعمل.
بشكرك على النّكات اللّي دايماً بتبلّش من آخرها وبتكون جديدة و"أوّل مرّة بسمعها".
بشكرك لأنّك كنت تخلّيني إسقي الجنينة وما زعلت منّي لما كبرت وما عاد إلي جلادة إسقيها.
بشكرك على خوفك علينا اللّي لو أوقات بيزعجنا بعرف إنّو بيجي تلقائيّاً مع حجم الحبّ اللّي بتحملو إلنا.
بشكرك على صحن الفواكه اللّي بيحضر فجأة وقت كون بالبيت وغاطس بالشغل.
وآخر شي بدّي إشكرك يا بيّي على حنيّتك وحبّك اللّي هلّق صرت شوفن، إفهمن وقدّرهن أكتر.

انشالله بيجي نهار بصير متلك بيّ مثالي وبتصير إنت جدّو مثالي أكتر: بينزعلي ولادي،
لأنّو متل ما بتقول: "انتزعو بالبيت لتكونو أوادم ومهذبين برّات البيت."
شكلها ظبتت معك يا بابا، بحبّك.

Questions Of The Heart

2010-11-04T16:44:00.001+02:00

The following is a series of questions
noted during a discussion with a well-known heart:

* Why is it that some people totally are insensitive
to this energy that I diffuse?

* Why do some people think a zillion times before saying or doing
something that might hurt someone while others
would stomp over anyone to get something done or heard?

* What's that thin line between delicate senses and savage actions?

* Why are some people cursed with the heightened delicate senses?

* Why am I an illiterate?

* How can I find that part I lost at Life's beach so so long ago?

* What if I stopped beating?

* Why am I so complex while engineered to do the most basic task?

* When can I have a break?

Then, this heart stopped asking questions.
It was nighttime.
I never heard him speak ever again since...

And now?

2010-10-04T22:48:00.001+03:00

I always have this recurring thought:

Whatever you do, say, hear, buy, eat, see, smell, try, smoke,
want, kill, build, learn, throw, destroy, share, play, etc...

Whoever you love, kill, help, do, destroy, hear, miss,
want, meet, forgive, forget, hurt, adore, etc...

You end up dying.
No, no wait, I'm not that pessimist, read on please.

But then another thought takes form:

Anything's worth doing, saying, hearing, buying, eating, seeing, trying, smoking, wanting, killing, building, throwing, destroying, sharing, playing, et cetering...
&
Anyone's worth loving, killing, helping, doing, destroying, hearing, missing, wanting, meeting, forgiving, forgetting, hurting, adoring, et cetering...

It is all intricately linked to the present, the moment you are in and ready to take any of the above. That fragment of eternity will never be again, while in it, take whatever action, now.

This surely needs exercise, trials, experiences, but you'll end up "and-nowing" pretty well :)

"And then?" is not the question, "and now?" is the new question to be asked.

So no matter what happens, instead of letting the first thought win you over... keep on reading.

Relation Ships & The "Red Ocean"

2010-08-01T14:34:00.001+03:00

Is it possible that the word relationship is a metaphor to an actual ship?

Of course it is.

--

In the ocean that is life we sail upon infinite relation ships.
Some ships are well equipped, some are too crappy, others might look awesome on the outside but stink once in them, others require special equipment in order to be allowed on board, etc..

Imagine your every day encounters that might end you up in a ship with someone sailing from any of the following docks: friendship, business, casual, likeness, love, drunkenness, etc...

Each ship taken from any dock you might start with is a new adventure, a hope for a new horizon to be discovered.
Sadly, very few get far beyond the dock they sail from
and fail eternally to view that special horizon linked to them.

I guess life's beauty is this infinite choice of ships that we choose to take and the things we learn from each one's experience:

1. The long swim back to the dock after the ships wreckage.

2. The "near-death experience" after you get trapped in a sinking ship that took off from the love-dock, swim back the very long distance back to the dock, where you spend several months/years to rehabilitate and make your "lungs" work properly again.

3. The collision of two ships that you tried to be the captain of at the same time.

4. The high-speed boat experience; that rarely gets you anywhere due to fuel-shortage.

5. The pirate-ship adventure.

And so on...

One thing is essential in all this:
one learns to swim the hard way once he/she is in that ocean,
because very few are the ones who sink in it,
since it's basically a "Red Ocean".

Irony

2010-03-15T00:01:00.002+02:00

I know there has been songs, movies, plays and even brands based on it.

'd like to share this:

You need something urgently.
But, it's in your brother/sister's room.
Your brother/sister's sleeping and you don't want to wake him/her up.
You enter the room trying your best not to make any sound.

Everything you touch, or even look at, creaks and squeaks.

Why?

Irony!

Yes, irony.

So you end up with your eyes closed and walk back towards the door
in order to minimize the damage but Irony continues its game:
you trip on a shoe,
fall on something that does a lot of noise,
try to get up, still wanting to keep it low, and hold to something
that eventually is linked to another thing that falls on your head,
you curse silently and
make it to the door.
On the way out, you bump into your brother/sister.

Ha-ha.

Irony always makes good use of idiocy.

Compassion

2010-02-22T11:44:00.002+02:00

It is so easy to surrender to your basic instincts.

One of these instincts: pride.

Yes pride is an instinct when we feel it was touched
someone else's action, an action that isn't justified; at the time.

Then later, when we cool down from the "pride-wrath", why this action was in the first place taken and say to ourselves "what the fuck... what was I thinking... He/she/they must have been in a really shitty situation to take such action...". Then we start patching.

I am one who surrenders to pride sometimes
I am slowly learning to have a bit of compassion.

A bit of compassion is all we need
in this wretched world of ours.

Fanelline

2010-02-15T15:04:00.003+02:00

It happens that my studio is equipped with a land-line.
The actual line of this land-line is visible to the human eye outside of the studio as well as inside it.

It also happens that I have pretty obnoxious upper-neighbors.

Just today, I was in the studio working when the phone line starts to wriggle.
It never happened before, and I thought I was entering a metaphysical experience especially when the WC's door opened and a cat shrieked outside.

Then I remembered that my phone line is exposed outside.

I went out to check it out (haven't done that since I got it 5 months ago) and to my surprise I found this:

Yes.
It's a piece of wet clothing, hanging on my "line".

I cannot but express the following in Lebanese:
"كان بعد ناقصني فانيلّة الجار ال**** تعلّق على خطّ التليفون"

yallah... Carpe Diem.

Nothingness

2010-02-14T21:57:00.000+02:00

Merry Christmas

2009-12-24T15:12:00.001+02:00

click for bigger view.

Believe

2009-12-16T19:38:00.004+02:00

click for a clearer view.

Parking

2009-12-12T13:28:00.002+02:00

Today, I experienced a different side of ego-centrism.
Where?
In a supermarket's parking.

There are yellow parking lines that clearly shout in your face
(no matter how ignorant you were; God forbid)

HEL•LO MIS•TER/MAD•AM!
YOU CAN ON•LY PARK IN THE FUCK•ING SPACE
FORM•ED BE•TWEEN US, IN OR•DER TO LEAVE
A SPACE FOR THE PEO•PLE COM•ING AF•TER YOU.

Next time you park anywhere, think of the yellow lines
or their cousins the white ones.

Life & Vegetables

2009-12-05T15:42:00.003+02:00

I witnessed something at the beginning of last week
but left the idea to brew in my head till today to write about it.

After a long day, I was heading home on what we call "the seaside road"
where you can live traffic in its pure form from 7-10 am/ 5-8 pm.
The traffic was kinda low but there was something jamming the road in its middle (where usually nothing out of the ordinary happens with only factories on both sides of the road).
"There seems to be a fucking accident.." I thought.

As I was passing the jam spot (due to over-Lebanese-curiosity of course)
I witnessed, for the first time in my life, a dead man on the road.

One glance sufficed me.

He was lying there, old, face literally splashed on the tarmac and next to him,around 3m away, a nylon bag with vegetables in it.

For 5 mns I was in a coma.

Then I realized what I had seen and thought about the fragility of life in this surreal scene.

Amine going home trying to cross the "seaside road" when a car hit him.
It sent him flying 2m away, where he landed on his face, motionless.
The bag of vegetables was still in the air, rotating, gloriously and lights shone from the skies as it landed gracefully next to the corpse.
Fade out

In a split second, a life was wasted and a"vegetables-bag" made it.

About life, surprises, doves and eyes, recently.

2009-11-04T22:06:00.002+02:00

Surprises occur at the most surprising moments in your life.

What a total waste of space with that first sentence.
You're still reading!?

Seriously now.

Life's surprises are nice, especially when they lead to meeting new people.
New people are also nice to meet especially when they make you feel a certain connection with them, whatever its nature and vibes: respect, care, joy, laughter, love, serenity, etc...

Most of our relationships with people surrounding us
have become emotionless, work-centered, self-centered, shallow, etc...
All in all: fake.
That's what I've noticed.

I try hardly to achieve the contrary of that:
to have deep meaningful and true human interaction with all the people I meet.
Of course in most cases I hit the "fake wall" and change direction.

Then again, when I find a certain warmth among all these cold walls,
I hang on to it and care for it, as I know it will last and be here no matter
how long I roam till I get back to meet it again.

Warmth is these eyes with white doves in them, faces radiant like the sun beneath all the tired organs, voices that warm your soul and touches that make you feel lighter.

To happiness...

Boa Sorte.

Love

2009-10-22T16:37:00.002+03:00

First sketch on my new Intuos4.

Level 1

2009-10-05T00:16:00.003+03:00

After a 20day euro-trip, I acquired a new perception of the world I live in.
It's like I got my eyes opened to so many new things I didn't know about.. me.
Quite a nice experience leading one to know:
what one's priorities are,
what's worth it in this life,
where one is of all this massive mix on this planet,
what one really wants to achieve,
etc...

Level 1 accomplished
New perception acquired.
Horizon expanded.
Roots deepened.

Tune

2009-07-16T16:58:00.003+03:00

Sometimes, a tune just touches your heart, you can feel it...
At least I do.

Nut Love

2009-06-28T13:51:00.003+03:00

I cannot understand how this feeling still exists.
I stress on the "how" as the "why" could have
some answers to it; but the "how"...
I can't seem to have any answer for that.

Despite everything (and everything was bad enough)
it's still there in its purest form... a bit like kryptonite?
Yeah, it weakens me at times.

I think the healthiest way is to admit it and move on.
I like to move it move it!

Goodness

2009-06-18T15:59:00.002+03:00

I discovered today how hard it is for me not to be good at/towards something/someone.
It's as hard as trying to cut a piece of paper with a pair of shoes:
you end up stressed wearing the shoes in your hands and the paper in your mouth.

God I hate not being good.

Spotless mind,

2009-05-18T00:29:00.002+03:00

I wish I had.

There are times in one's life where he stops & realizes that all he's doing is, well, nonsense.

No matter how important you are,
how much money you make,
how many houses you own,
how much popularity you have,
how many friends you've got,
how much dreams you build:
it's all nonsense.

Today is one of those days for me.

I am thinking of Fix You - Coldplay, coz I need some deep fixin'.
Here's the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEPK8jK8AFY

><

2009-05-04T21:52:00.004+03:00

I just snapped yesterday while reading an online pdf file
concerning the "photo recommendations" of the UK embassy.

They do not permit you to:
smile,
wear glasses,
open your mouth,
be too close to the cam,
be too far to the cam, etc...

The verb "permit" just made me snap.
I remember the two times I had to wait
like a fucking-sheep-waiting-to-get-a-shave
in the embassy premises for like 4-5 hours
in order to be asked: "... are you a terrorist?".

I would like to express my feelings towards what is cited above & more:
(Please stop reading this post if you would be offended by my vulgar language.
"Your" in the following refers to any of you, part of "greater" countries,
blind believers in stinking systems & carriers of ego-related diseases.)

I would put the following:

1. The UK, and all those fucking "Advanced" countries along
with your visas, your stereotypes and your fucking over-protective
systems that keep failing decade after decade.

2. Your leaders, with their ego, their greed for power,
their short-sighted visions & their fucking technologically advanced armies.

3. Your "culture" that has infested our heritage & keeps degrading
our standards for a proper living under the slogan of:
"aww we want to help you advance!"

4. Your bullshit talk about "freedom, equality, prosperity"
as slogans while you throw any surplus of production you
have because you fear on the "Economy".

5. myself, my lifestyle and the established communication system
(with all its languages, dialects, scripts, media, mediums, technology, etc).

In a big pile of hot dog shit, leave it to dry in the sun,
then place it in a concealed barrel, tie it to a spaceship
that will eventually explode during a failure to launch.

Pressure released... a bit.

P.S.: I meant in no way to demean the people of any country,
I just am sick of all these systems that are making our life
on this earth more complex by the minute.

----

On some other level:
I would give anything to live in some quiet land, with animals for friends, fruit trees and vegetables for advisers and a TV set for an enemy.

Masterpieces of The Creator I

2009-03-31T20:54:00.000+03:00

A beating heart.

Think.

Voting and that whole political/social/democratic "thing in Lebanon

2009-03-27T20:31:00.002+02:00

In Lebanon (and maybe in the whole world), the concept of voting in order to elect your representatives is just shitty: it is WHO you're against rather than WHAT you stand for.
Isn't it?
Everywhere?

Wouldn't Be Easier?

2009-03-16T22:55:00.002+02:00

Whenever you're having your breakfast in the silent morning (even if you live on a busy street), or just stealing time off-work to have this piece of dessert in the shop around the corner or even day-dreaming stuck in the midst of the eternal 5 o'clock traffic jam, didn't it happen to you?

Gazing at some object:

a chair, a painting, a wheel, a light, a rock...

and wondering how easier it would be if you were it.

But then again, who knows if these so called "objects" aren't envying us...

-

2009-03-12T23:24:00.006+02:00

How can one sit and be invisible for 2-3 hours almost daily in one place?

This is daily suicide, unless he's just been invisible his whole life?

Sad, so sad.

I hate Starbucks!

I love this website/idea

2009-03-06T18:59:00.001+02:00

www.dayswithmyfather.com

life's short, let us use it to show everyone we care about how much we really do...

Good 50x70

2009-02-23T14:08:00.000+02:00

Good 50x70 project summary from Good 50x70 on Vimeo.

Touched by the hem of His garment

2009-02-07T20:09:00.002+02:00

We were touched by the hem of His garment...

Right now I am listening to Faithless' song "Hem Of His Garment" and I received an sms that made me happy and the whole seemed as an answer.

Faithless - Hem Of His Garment - Him - Me - Faith
What do we call that?

...drinking's good but I found what's better:
pray.

Public Introspection

2009-01-21T22:56:00.004+02:00

When you fail, admit it and continue, it's something.
Even though at times you feel like you've been crushed by a free-falling fridge,
you keep on standing unbalanced, hoping.

You sweat, you suffer, you sacrifice, you dream;
you make others dream with you, hope with you, be proud of you;
then it's all gone...

All is gone but the rage inside me.

" It's better now than later!"
" Thank God you're in good health and you have family and friends around you!"
" ... but you learned a lot and gained experience!"
" It's all for the better!"
bla bla bla

I know all that, I am grateful for all that I have not lost but:
Q: What the fuck do you know?
A: Nothing.

Q: Who the fuck really cares about what shit I've been to?
A: No one.

I don't need comforting, void slogans, pep-talk or a tap on the shoulder.

I need to focus on my rage.
I need not pour my rage on you.
I am not to be tested by simple people or matters.
If you:
are shallow, give me a headache, are fake, are negative;
I will stay out of your way.

zero.
that's where I am now, it's good to be at zero,
an infinity of choices lie ahead..

Thank you for taking the time and reading my gibberish,
you have officially attended an introspective show of Samah El Hakim.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-24T17:41:00.003+02:00

Click to enlarge.

When Collision Occurs

2008-12-15T22:32:00.004+02:00

I have my own small world, I bet each one of us has.
Whenever I leave it to encounter "new worlds" I'm worried
but then I get stronger with the first collision.

Collision...

The collision leaves a trace in you and opens doors
to questions you never thought of before.
It can leave you satisfied, happy, sad, depressive, laughing, lost, etc.
The most important thing is for it being just a slap in your face
in order to think things through again without it being a major
turning point: you just think after collision.

I love collisions.
Hiccup'...

In Dependence

2008-11-23T17:40:00.001+02:00

...we are.

Simple Things & People Revisited

2008-11-04T16:58:00.004+02:00

What is it about these simple things that satisfy the inner-you,
heal your soul in a way
and just wipe all negatives that have been
messing your day, week or life in general...

Then come the simple people
-here simple=negative, pure simplicity isn't being discussed;
it is dumb-shit-stupid-chicken-narrow-under-educated-thinking that is the case-
that sadly represent the largest portion of our society,
they are here just to breath, eat, shit, breed, sleep and intoxicate...
The trigger of that was:
"HAA ACHOU HEDA L IFTITE7 KEN ? AN? TOLE3 7AJRA! HAA! ANN?"

God forgive them for not committing suicide
& me for not lynching them...
Amen.

Killed by a jasmine

2008-10-20T11:52:00.004+03:00

I wanted to smell that beautiful jasmine in front of my house,
it was past midnight and I was so sleepy.
I stepped forward to inhale the perfume with a smile on my face.
With the first step, my smile faded.
I had crushed an innocent snail.
Got me real pissed off, I forgot the jasmine and slept in a bad mood.

Watch your steps while following your instinct.

Drink.

In my head...

2008-10-13T21:48:00.002+03:00

In my head there's a storm.
In my head there's a fire.

In my head there are crashes...
there is mud, there are ashes.

There's a windmill crashing down
There's an ass with a crown.

In my head there's a void.
In my head there's a mess.

In my hea---BAM!
SHUT THE FUCK UP WILL YOU??
WE HAVE TO WAKE UP EARLY TOMORROW!

stupid..

Wrath Hazard/Violent Vision

2008-09-28T18:18:00.006+03:00

When you are sitting somewhere public and someone begins talking,
a "Wrath Hazard" takes form... I have experienced it myself last week.

I was sipping my drink when these two loud guys began getting louder.
For a moment I had a vision in my head that had completed the wrath in me:

I finish my drink.
I turn to the guys.
I jump on them taking them to the ground with the stools.
I take the one who is louder by the back of his shirt.
I swing him behind the bar on to the shelves of bottles.
I take a leap behind the bar using the second guy as a support.
I land on the first guy and finish the vision off by shoving his pack of cigarettes in his mouth.

"A violent vision in the 37"

That feels good,
cheers.

About Lebanese Knots and Mickey Mouse

2008-09-22T10:18:00.005+03:00

I find myself in awe whenever I face a tight knot
in our richly formed web of human life.

(By a knot I define a strong custom, belief or political party
upon which is built a whole class or "sacred" social dogma).

On a local level:

I have been, since my early teenage years, some sort of rebel
against the infinite knots that are found in our Lebanese community.

Just yesterday I faced one.

I was heading serenely to the beach, the weather was clear, sun was shining,
birds singing, you know a typical end-of-summer day.

Suddenly, I remember -upon facing the massive crowd and being caught in a colossal traffic-jam- that there's a mass taking place on that day for the souls of all the martyrs in Lebanese (Forces) history.

I tried to be cool, but the people were in such a frenzy that drove me to the verge of rage.
Buses full (inside, outside and on top) of people from all classes with flags and anthems and all that jazz.
Cars ranging from 30 year-old-Renault to the all new BMWs, Range Rovers and Mercedes, full with people and flags and...

I appreciated the engagement and belief embodied by these masses
yet I was cursing every one of them and their leaders and their mass and the martyrs...

Call me an heretic but facing such a knot makes you think
about the others found in our poor country.

I will take you on a quick knot-tour:

The Christian "Forces" Knot:
they think they are the base of Christians in Lebanon and have been blinded by their own beliefs as to make them completely blind to the fact that everything's evolving around them and even belief have to be updated and recycled. Led by a war-lord and an idiot.

The "Free Movement" Knot:
they also think they are the base of all christian resistance in Lebanon and strongly believe that they are on a higher pedestal than their "fellows" in the "Forces". Led by a crazy retired general who thinks he's the Lebanese Bonaparte.

The "Party" of God:
All I know is if God wanted a party he would have created one himself that wouldn't have an AK-47 as part of his visual identity. Whenever they throw a party, more than a million come down to the streets and sadly have the ability to act as a swarm of locust. Led by a strong and charismatic yet disillusioned man who thinks he rules the Lebanese "underground".

The March 14 Salad:
A salad, one that is badly cut, garnished and mixed. Led by business and money tycoons who get lost where does their allegiance reside putting aside the fact that they have the ability to babble and eat shit extensively.

The Mystics Mount:
This knot is a tough one knowing that they are lost in their own identity and have the ability to change color, allegiance and belief in a glimpse. Led by crazy monkeys who babble, twitter and ride motorcycles.

Man I've had enough with these knots...

On a regional level:

A friend forwarded me a link to an article on an arab news site that transferred the sayings of a well known sheik who demanded the head of Mickey Mouse, treating it as an object of the Devil that aims to destroy the minds of our children and advised all televisions to ban it...

WHAT THE FUCK?!

I laughed for 5 minutes..
Q: Why now does he choose to kill Mickey Mouse?
A: There's a new saudi character preparing to invade the market.

Q: What was he doing the last 70 years?
A: Studying Walt Disney's works in depth.

Q: What on earth does this guy think about whenever making such a statement to the public?
A: Mickey Mouse humping Minnie Mouse while Pluto is filming.

Q: How many people actually will do as he says?
A: Sadly... a lot.

The link
How about that sheik and every sheik and priest and patriarch
and pope declare the ban of Lebanese knot-leaders?

Drink.

Big Bang/ Bang Bang/ Glou-glou

2008-09-10T19:56:00.002+03:00

Tomorrow, CERN is going to perform, after 40 years of research and preparation, a mini-Big Bang, somewhere under the French-Swiss countryside, the data that will be generated after that experiment is massive, leaving them millions of Gigabytes to be analyzed.

OK.

They want answers they say.

I'm fearing 2 possible things:
1. They're going to produce new infinite questions after their experiment leaving them in a psychological mess.
2. Someone's gonna use whatever positive outcome of this experiment and turn it into some weapon of mass destruction.

My advice:
Drink water.

Bam!

2008-09-01T22:46:00.003+03:00

... he fell heavy on his knees;

eyes hurting,

lip bleeding,

soul exhausted.

It approached him with the usual

"you're-on-your-knees-again-&-I'm-gonna-rip-your-goddamn-soul-out-of-you" grin.

He waited, suffering.

It lifted its brutal arm then hit him with all its might.

He took the blow, face to the ground,

shit in his mouth; but unlike the other times,

something awoke in him.

He gathered all his power.

Jumped to his feet with a swift movement,

took his pants down

and..

BAM!

He pissed all over it, making it melt like an ice-cube.

Water had saved him this time.

Drink water.

Familiar Noise & Silence

2008-08-29T10:09:00.004+03:00

It is strange how some familiar noises drive you into silence;
inner-silence that is.

Household ever-changing racket.

Neighbors shouting in the morning with the eternal symphony of cicadas.

Frogs' lullaby every summer night before you go to sleep.

The unchanged hullabaloo of your extended "tribe".

Familiar noises are good to your soul.

Making Your Path

2008-08-26T11:42:00.004+03:00

I believe in action in life and consequence afterwards.
We take decisions in our path, we make choices, we succeed, we fail, we're up, down, it's a roller coaster of a path...
In the end, I believe that we are going to get where we are willing to.
It might be from a totally different path from the one that we have put at the beginning; but we will ultimately get there.
If I take the big picture in every obstacle that I face, I see an infinity of choices and past obstacles that have drilled, sculpted, cracked, melted, filled and transformed my path till the present minute.
I love life's surprises and hits, they made me grow and still are, everyday.
Hope is my engine, dreams are my fuel and life (even though a bitch) is my love.

Beggar

2008-08-21T19:21:00.002+03:00

Failure & Birth

2008-08-21T19:18:00.001+03:00

With every failure -or something close to that- is a new birth.

hmmm...

Long live failure!

Communication

2008-08-18T15:37:00.002+03:00

Communication is a close subject to my heart and mind.
Something happened two days ago that had left me wondering and smiling:

I was in bed at around 1 in the morning and wanted to connect to the internet but the wireless network was down because the hub was off in the other room, being too lazy to get up and turn it on I rang once on my brother's mobile, who also was lazy so he told my little brother to get u to me and see what I want. He came and I got my internet connection in a minute.

Kom-myu-nee-kay-chen

On simple things/people

2008-08-16T10:15:00.002+03:00

On simple things:
they can be as simple as observing an ant move a grain; it makes you wonder and eventually leave you in a peaceful state.

On simple people:
they can be as simple as a chicken, living their lives happily with themselves but an encounter with them could be of the worst in your life; they'll eventually make you want to kill yourself.

In the water..

2008-08-15T14:26:00.004+03:00

..there are clouds to look at.
When your head is bowed in suffering, look at the water.

BeaTch

2008-08-15T13:59:00.002+03:00

It's quite funny how stuff can happen to turn your day upside down.
You are heading to the beach then your car breaks down (the one you spent a fortune on just last week), the sun disappears, the "freelance" mechanics rip you off, then you head back home.
It's quite miserable but when you face it all with a smile it turns into a big comedy.
Life surely is a beaTch
:)

Serenity

2008-08-14T17:56:00.002+03:00

The concept of serenity changes with time.
Serenity for me, now, is:
a. sitting in some land full of trees somewhere in the mountain with a view to the sea on a sunny September afternoon.
or
b. sitting in a buzzing pub full of Lebanese people (Lebanese because we have every possible social character out there..and more) and I'm gazing into her eyes, happily sipping my beer.

On a sofa

2008-08-14T12:26:00.000+03:00

On my way to work today, I got stuck in a traffic jam.
While in a traffic jam, you get to notice all the things that you usually don't.
It was this small store, under a big carob tree.
Seemed to me like time stopped in this place a long time ago.
Under it was the owner, a young-old man, sitting serenely in the shades.
On a sofa he sat.
The whole world was buzzing in that moment while he..
well, he was there on a sofa.