Anonymous

Friend: Do you have a blog?
Me: No. Should I?
Friend: I don’t know. You look like a person who has a blog.
Me: Do bloggers have specific looks?
Friend: No, I mean you, as a person. I can imagine you as a blogger.
Me: Hehe.. Yeah, so I’ve been told. But I don’t have one.

I’m lying of course. Why?

For two main reasons only:

1. I prefer to remain anonymous, so that when readers read what I write, they are not influenced by who I am, what I am, or what I do. I don’t want my background, race or religion to be taken into consideration when reading what I write. I know that these things make up the person that is me, but I don’t want people to read what I write and interpret it differently from what I intended.
I write about issues that affect me, myself and I. I also write about social, political and global issues when they come to mind. However, somewhere in between, I might write about certain people, and how they have affected my life. Out of respect for these people, I never say their real names, and I prefer to remain nameless because I don’t want their identities to come to light.

2. There is only one person, and one person alone, who I’ve told about my blog. If anyone else comes to know of my identity due to certain events that I report that make it obvious it’s me who is writing, I wouldn’t mind. I just wish they would remain discreet only out of respect and nothing more.

I am very proud of what I write because it is a creation that only I can make, being that the words and ideas are from my mind. MY mind only.

There is nothing that I write that I probably haven’t already said or talked about to the people surrounding me. Often I am a very transparent person. And sometimes I may be a bit of a puzzle.

I hope this makes things clear for you, readers.

This lady is very grateful.

Atonement

Yesterday, I went to the movies, all by myself. I don't like going to the movies alone, because I like turning to the person next to me and complain/whisper/amaze/drool and so on..

So anyway, I went to see the film Atonement, starring Keira Knightly and James McAvoy, with an appearance of the legendary Vanessa Redgrave. I have to say that the movie was absolutely thrilling. It was exciting, beautiful, romantic and most of the time, very grave. I won't spoil it, just tell you the basic storyline.

The movie is an adaptation of Ian McEwan's novel Atonement and tells the tale of a young girl Briony Tallis, who sees something, interprets it wrongly, and makes a wrongful accusation which leads to many disastrous events in the lives of Cecilia (Briony's sister) and Robbie, the housekeeper's son.

The romance and lust in Robbie's character is almost tangible, and you feel extreme pain at the events that affect every character in the film. Saoirse Ronan, who plays Briony, amazed me with her magical acting abilities. James McAvoy will probably make every woman leave the theatre wanting him. His eyes, gestures and not to mention insanely brilliant acting, say it all. I was a bit dissapointed by Keira Knightly, though. She seems to have grown up as an actress, but to me, a brilliant performance is one where I forget that the person is acting. In between all the pouting and stiff body movements, there was a strong character in her, but all in all, Keira failed to make a beleiver out of me.

The movie is worth seeing if you like to watch fables that make you think. The music in the background and the sound of the typewriter will make your heart beat faster at times. The director and editors spun this movie brilliantly. Great possibilities for this film in terms of awards.

Note 1: There are sexual scenes in the movie. They are a CRUCIAL part of the film. So if you're in Kuwait, DON'T WATCH IT! You will definitely not get the point of the story.

Note 2: If you're a hopeless romantic (like moi!), remember me when you reach the library scene.*Sigh*

English Lit, Not Chick Lit!

I've been busy running around London, checking out different universities and their Masters programs. I'm planning to get my masters degree in English literature. It was a tough decision to make, mainly because I made a vow not to go back to university after I graduate, but hey, that's just me! But with Literature, the varieties are endless, and I just feel so alive discussing things like books and stories.. Its like gossip, but with an intellectual aspect to it! Yeah, I said it. I like gossip. What can I say? I'm a sucker for gossip, people!

I've always thought that English literature, among other things, was my calling. In fact, all types of literature are my calling. I'm not afraid to admit that I enjoy the occasional chick-lit novel now and then. Its simply one of my guilty pleasures. Romance novels are also a secret guilty pleasure as well, although THAT I hate to admit! Hahaha..

I prefer reading and writing in English. Many of the books I've read have been simply translated into English. I've recently read that Paulo Coelho, the popular international best-seller novelist (The Alchemist, Veronica Decides to Die), writes in his native Portuguese, and that his novels are translated into different languages.

Ever since I was in middle school, I would start writing rough drafts of my short stories on my then-huge-and-noisy desktop computer. But then, when I wanted to revise them, I would just get so overwhelmed that I would delete the whole thing. I still remember my first short story entitled "Mama".. I cried while I was writing it ( I wont get into that!)..

It makes me so proud to hear about novels that broke boundaries, whether they were by unknown writers, females venturing into new horizons, or maybe an Arab making it into the New York Times best seller list. Could that be me?

Maybe some day I will start writing, or shall I say, rewriting "Mama" again..

Who knows, maybe I might make it into Amazon's best seller list? Or maybe even The New York Times?!

This lady thinks that it's not too impossible.. Is it?

Bye, Bye London

London. The weather is beautiful. Cear, blue skies with a touch of sun now and then, and the occasional clouds moving together every so often. This is the London I know and love. The crisp cool weather and the collectively composed atmosphere in general.

The Khaleejis are gone. Well, the majority at least. Gone to spend their beautiful month of Ramadhan in their home countries, thank goodness. I don’t think I can take more of their loud roaring engines cruising down all the key streets of London. And not to mention the entourage of men and women walking around in all the department store. As if London wasn’t crowded enough!

Now don’t get me wrong. I am a khaleeji, Kuwaiti to be precise, and I’m damn proud of it. But it doesn’t make me any prouder to see these people act in the silliest way ever. Why should I ship my car all the way to another continent, just to park it in front of Harrods? Why should I wear a long floaty abbaya and shailah, if most of my hair is so visible to everyone, and my face is plastered with a scary amount of makeup? And my ultimate peeve is when most of these Khaleejis sit in the same cafes at exactly the same time everyday only to stare at other Khaleejis. You can do that in your own country for God’s sake!

I mean that’s just embarrassing. The same thing happens in Paris, Geneva and Spain. The majority of Europeans probably think that we travel to their countries carrying suitcases of money and credit cards with no limits. It gets to the point where the woman at Immigration (who stamps your passport) in the airport, told me “I’m sure you’re here for the shopping” and I replied “No, I’m here to study”, and she said “and to shop of course! Hahaha..”

This lady is not laughing.