Project 365

This place is a dream, only a sleeper considers it real. Then death comes like dawn, and you wake up laughing at what you thought was your grief.

— Jalal ad-Din Rumi

I was suddenly asked to be photographed for a friend’s portfolio few weeks ago. I never ever did it before so I was like, uh?! I didn’t know how to pose. The most difficult thing was to do a "bitchy" pose hahaha. I seriously couldn’t do it. My face was just not meant for that. I love to smile and laugh so that was hard. Somebody had to make me angry first.

But then, there was this random thought (as usual) running through my mind about modeling. It was: HOW BORING IT IS! I just couldn’t think myself of being a model. Well, I’m not pretty, beautiful, tall, or whatever. I’m sure nobody would want to see myself in the magazine. LOL. But if I were, I would have NOT been interested in modeling at all. I found it so boring. The only thing you’d do is posing, posing, and posing. What else, seriously? Oh, being famous, of course. But that’s not always the case. It’s nothing challenging.

(UPDATE: I think the most challenging thing was to be able to stand in the COLD place for hours!!!)

Just my random and useless rants :).

A lot of interesting things post on Twitter. But one that I remember the most is these tweets by Dan Nolan, one of Al Jazeera’s correspondent.

The faces of the guys defending square last night are images I’ll never forget. Freedom really is a struggle people, don’t ever forget that!!

My life was pretty much in hands of those protestors defending the square last night. If pro-Mubarak thugs found me inside, well u know…

Struggle for freedom is etched in their faces. Last night u could also see fear – maybe the taste of freedom on Tuesday is all they’re gonna get?

Protestors with me were pharmacists, lecturers & students – nicest people you’d ever meet. One cried because I had to see his nation like this.

No updates from me for awhile. Kinda overwhelmed with everything that’s been happening in the Middle East, especially the two countries that have close relationship with me, Egypt (where I was born) and Saudi Arabia. I’ve been tweeting and tweeting. So go ahead, read my tweets (don’t want to link my account here though).

I decided to put my twitter account on public as it’s hard for me to reply those tweets by people who do not follow me. I’m still considering whether it will be temporarily or not.

Off for few days.

It only contains my name, email, and website URL. But hey, I got one! 😀

Be occupied, then, with what you really value and let the thief take something else.

— Jalal ad-Din Rumi

So I was asked to create a logo for an Indonesian restaurant in Jeddah. I kinda like it! Hehehe. What d’ya think?

*Posted on my Twitter, but I gotta put it here too…

2000 was the year of freedom. I got the opportunity to live far away from my parents for the first time in my life. It felt great to finally be the pilot of my own life. I was in control of everything.

2004 was about getting away from my comfort zone and experiencing things that I never experienced before. My love for cultures started here.

2007 was the important milestone of my life. I was one of the proudest kids around. But farewell was the hardest thing. I had to do it…

2008 was a dream come true. I had been wanting to step into this continent since high school. I finally made it! Alhamdulillah.

What will 2011 be for me? Insya Allah I’ll pass yet another milestone. And it’ll be the year when I’ll be searching for my passion and my home.

I used to be passionate about one thing that I wanted to do for the rest of my life. But that passion was gone. I’m searching for a new one. And how about home? I haven’t found one. And that’s okay. Coz that means I won’t stop exploring 🙂

I still remember the comment in my blog by a blogger friend of mine, Mulia, loooong time ago. "Luck is not for free. The more you get, the more you have to give." That comment struck me. And I’m determined to pay it back. That’ll be my focus from 2012 onwards. Amin.

I may not be certain about what exactly I’ll do in the future, but I know that I’m going to work in an NGO somewhere outside of Java, preferably Aceh. If I have enough money, I’m seriously considering volunteering in Palestine, but that’s still impossible.

I realize now that the only reason for me feeling rather hesitated to go back to Indonesia is because of Jakarta! I don’t want to live there. I’m not excited to live there for too long. So now I have to find a place somewhere outside of Java to live in. Friends suggested me Bali or Balikpapan. Well, let’s just see where I’ll end up in :).

To conclude: there isn’t anything in my life that I regret. I’m grateful for everything. Alhamdulillah. Allah is great.

Finished exam but I expect to retake the same one this April! 😛

Published a new blog post. Beware: it’s SOO long!

The Queensland Floods & Can The Indonesians Learn from Them?

Reading too much tweets and news about the Queensland floods made me realized (again) that Australians are soooooo obsessed with abbreviations! Here are some of them that I came across:

Australian: Aussie
Mosquito: mozzie
Television: Telly
Kangaroo: roo
Barbeque: barbie
Woolworths: woolies (a supermarket chain)
Brisbane: Brizzy
Football: footy
University: Uni
Afternoon: arvo
Sunglasses: sunnies

So what about having a barbie this arvo? LOL. It sounds funny now since it’s been so long that I heard these words appear!

Next week I’ll be hosting a CouchSurfer from Brisbane. I’m so looking forward to it. A little bit of reminiscing about the good old days, perhaps? 🙂