I'm on a diet.
Again.
The reason that I mention it is because whats the point of getting on a diet if you are not going to moan about it out-loud- in a the very annoying smug manner :)
So you all would hear updates every so often.

Its been exactly 1 day today since I started.
Nothing crazy. Just spending a ton of time and money at the grocery store planning and stocking up the kitchen on the right food stuff , buying healthy snacks, making the lunch instead of buying it, making 0 cal veggies soups for dinner etc. I have my whole week's meals planned.
I also planned to take the stairs up my apartment everyday instead of the elevator.
So thats 3 flights of stairs. I can do that. Easier than the 6 flights at work.
So I bound up the stairs today.
Deep breaths....err I have turned up on the 4th floor instead of the 3rd.
Damn.
My building has those annoying nomenclatures of designating the ground floor as the first floor.
So two flights of stairs everyday.
Thats so easy it almost wont even be a workout.
I might as well take the elevator eh?
I know my high heels boots would thank me for it ;)






Interesting and a Sad article about the Muslim Problem on AltMuslims. It talks about Europe's continued marginalization of its Muslim citizens, most intensely brought about by recent the murder of Dutch film-maker Van Gogh :
" Unlike America, which is an immigrant nation at its core, the European psyche is still obsessed with notions of purity. Muslims are seen as foreign bodies that are contaminating Europe. Abu Rishe Al-Mawali wrote, "Muslims are not the Borg. There is no central hive mind where all Muslims are controlled. I tire of Muslims always having to apologize for their very existence."
Statements about France being over-run by "sheep-slaughtering Muslims", calling Arabs "suicide bombers, limb-amputators, women repressors."- Is is the face of the liberal, anti-Bush, anti-Iraq Europe we had been applauding all this time ?

"Why don't the Americans think like the French, who obviously see how wrong the Iraq war is?", I had thought. Now I say thank-goodness it hasn't come to that here in North America. I guess I'd always be against this need for liberals to be anti-religion. Being anti-State-sanctioned religion I understand, but not this vehement opposition of the idea of God in any form. But then the European nations do have their own baggage of being under the Ottomen empire and hence their fear of 'Turks and Muslims' is understandable. But that was centuries ago!
I wonder what the reaction of the non-Muslims be if the murder of someone similar had happened here in North America, Canada even. I'd like to think the people here won't jump to such absurd generalizations.

Okay, don't get me wrong, I agree that the Muslim scholars and people in power should re-examin the germ of extrimist idealogy thats sweeping the Muslim community of the world and find a way to solve it and not always blame the west. In some ways Islam has been undergoing its own revolution of re-interpreting the various decrees of the Quran (much of it in N.A), and this combined with the branching out of the communitiy into different sects have obviously threatened the 'Purists'- i.e. the ones who think all Muslims should follow exactly whats written in the Quran and what the Prophet did his life centuries ago. The West just got caught in the middle of it all.
But on the other hand what Mr Van Gogh had done with his film 'Submission' in the name of artistic liberty is pretty heavy-handed too. Showing an Muslim women in a semi transparent dress, with her face and head covered and body covered in Quranic writing- is more than artistic liberty; its crass and cruel. A muslim won't let his feet be at a higher ground than the Quran and he went and lecherously coverd the women's naked bosom with it. Its not only an insult to Islam but s_xed up, unhelpful to any abused muslim woman and done purely for shock value.
And all this for a woman who was forced into a marraige and raped by her uncle.
I'm honestly growing sick of this Taslima Nasreem type women and their stories of how the horrible events of their life was a direct result of some doctrine of the religion they happen to be born into. Do they not see its all about Power and how men of their lives had used Religion as a power to weild them in to submission? Ofcourse they are not the only ones this happen to and nor is it right. But can the religion in its divine form be really blamed for it? I personally know the example of one young girl who was s_xually mollested by her own Quran instructor at an wee age of 6 years for over two years. As far I know it didn't stop her for reading the Quran later nor did it turn her off Islam. Ofcourse there are degrees of 'submission' but in the end its the Men that are doing the subjugating- not God.

What I'm trying to say is that to me it seems of the anti-God ideology of European nations is just as extremist as the supposed 'terrorists' they are objecting against. None of it can be good.





For all the anger and excitement over the recent US-election results (I'm guilty of the same), Tagore's rebuke seem fair:

"If anger be the basis of our political activities, the excitement tends to become an end in itself, at the expense of the object to be achieved. Side issues then assume an exaggerated importance, and all gravity of thought and action is lost; such excitement is not an exercise of strength, but a display of weakness."
-Rabindranath Tagore.

He's right you know. Sure anger against Bush and his policies was what got us young folks in the political frame of mind, but to continue with that anger would be foolish.
Its time for action.

I wonder if the Political pundits are aware of the gold-mine they are sitting on.
Post march 2003(aka invasion of Iraq) , the youth of the world are far more politically savy and pro-active than they have been in a long while. But we have no guidance.
What can someone of the world over the age of 18, not affiliated with a political party nor with a career in journalism do?
We join the Army, to help out with the rebuiling of some war-torn bombed out country and come back in a flag-draped coffin.
We spend $13 to watch Mr. Moore's movie and then learn ...err ..he might have stretched the truth a bit.
We join the protest rally and then are told we are actually hurting the system by projecting the crazy hippy picture.
We drag our low-rise jeans to vote and find out that its the vote by some dolt in Iowa that 'really' counts.
And now that Bush is elected again, are we done?
Should we just curl up in our cocoon of 'studying and building a career' and only wake up when our neighbour down the street gets blown to bits?
No?
What can we do though?
Rally against the corporate monopoly?
Boycott Tommy/Dolcy Gabana/Gucci/Proctor and Gamble?
Converge in Ottawa when he comes for the official visit to Canada or any other country for that matter?
Or take the indirect path making ourselves more knowledgeable through the right books/documentaries/media and then write about it in our blogs or favourite internet forum?
Is anyone doing anything?
Can I join?

Sure there were a lot of cute and funny scenes.....some smouldering looks and shots of our man-of-the-hour Mr Darcy aka Colin Firth. The scene with Bridget pretending to know how to Ski was too funny....with a hilarious 'stuck in the ski chairs' take. Definitely can relate to that one- my friend had to push me off as I refused to jump. (Though I wouldn't be caught dead wearing a pink parka and pink wool cap like her)
Yes, they took broad liberties with the story, the 'Persuation' link unfortunately cropped; but somehow this Bridget was even sillier and not in a good way either. Ofcourse they repeated the 'fight', if you can call that, scene- looked very staged this time around. Though it did get Darcy wet ;) mm.
And then there was the ending. A shot of Bridget and Mark walking in the snow by a church cemetary of all places, a backdrop of a very painted looking purple sunset, birds flying in the horizon etc.......and voice of Bridget "Remember happiness is still possible even if you are 33 and have ass the size of two bowling balls"
GNAG
Excuse me but that was far too contrieved and not to mention conceited for my pallate!

Speaking of endings, can someone please tell me what is up with all this 'chasing' around in EVERY freaking romantic comedy? Its quite tiresome.
Think of any of the romantic movies (guys read chick flick) from the last decade, you'll notice that the last 5 minutes will invariably consist of either the guy or the girl chasing the other on foot/taxi/bike/horse/bus/plane/car/donkey (okay I made up the last one)...to make a surprise/long drawn out confessions ......'o I love you', hug, kiss...etc.
Yes its all very dramatic and romantic, maybe for the first 10 times........but come on now! Every freaking movie? Be a little inventive for fucks sake! Even if there is a last minute realization on the character's part, dont end the movie with the 'chase'......and no not with a 'wedding scene' either......and definitely not a 'dashing out of one's wedding to chase one's lover' business!
Gawd and people accuse 'Bollywood movies of being filled with clichés'!

Maybe I'm just too jaded to be lulled by romantic comedy's anymore.
Nah....for the first Bridge movie I like the movie version better than the book.......definitely not the case here. 3 stars.
*sigh* Mark Darcy is still the Man-I-want though :)

Finally Eid on a weekend! If only they would agree on if it'll be saturday or sunday. But then that will be too much to hope for....the entire muslim community in NA agreeing at to have seen the crescent moon at the same time! puleez that will be like the evagelicals agreeing that Israel is wrongfully occupying Palestine.
I'd yelp with joy for not having to go to work on Eid, but then I think will the upcoming Eid parties be any different from all the neverending dinner parties our parents like to throw once (some more than that) a month?

New clothes- check. But we get new clothes all the time now as opposed to when we were kids. In fact I can buy new clothes whenever I want too, even tradional ones for the above mentioned dinner parties.
Lets see there are supposed to be over 150 people coming to my cousin's house Eid night...and a whole stream of people expected at my parent's house all day sunday.
Then some 300 people get-together of Bengali's at some Banquet hall next weekend.
So a lot of showing-off of new saree/jewellary styles, cries of 'OMG you look awesome' peppered with same musical performances!

hmm been there done that.

I guess what sets apart Eid day from othere days IS the morning prayer.
With 99% chance of snow (always on Eid), the large mounts of shoes in the mosque lobby, the stink of socks, all the jostlings for a good spot, the cries of babies whose mothers are stupid to go the room with a sign 'For mothers with small children' ; its excitement all right.
The cries of 'Eid Mubarak's followed by fervent hugging are quite nice though....even when you run into people you don't like- all is forgiven.

I'm too old of Eidee now which deprives of the other pleasant aspect of Eid : free money- as in money given without a sideorder of 'good advice' and 'guilt'.
I am supposed to GIVE Eidee now- which has its own benefits of a significantly lighter wallet.

Well there is the food aspect. But the chances of anything out of the ordinary fare of -'Biriyanis', 'beef/chicken', omnipresent 'fish' and 'sweets' - are slim.
Sweets are good though. Someone better make some 'Kalojam' and 'Rasmalai'. yum.

Meh, its alright I guess.
I miss the 'visiting-all-the neighbours-in-the-block and having sweets all day' from my Eids of early years in Bangladesh and Kuwait.
But its a different Eid here in Canada.
From the excitement of the kids who never experienced Eid anywhere but in here, our parents must be doing something right to keep up the traditions.

Eid Mubarak everyone!







Kierkegaard: "One does not mourn over the loss of a loved one, but rather over oneself without the loved one. "

hmm interesting.