If Schespear was a blogger

Resolutions? What resolutions

This year, I decided to make one promise which is...no more 'New Year Resolutions'.

The good news is...so far so good, I am doing what I said I will do.

Happy New Year everyone.

How...?

To blog or not to blog...

A go on the slide anyone?

Some things could be so much fun but you need to see where
it all leads.
Could be all as innocent as going on the slide (just like this little boy) but sure it will end in tears (or shredded body parts).

Things can sometimes 'slide' out of control, we cant stop it. We say the wrong thing, we make the wrong turn or decision. We stay so determined that we are right and the other is wrong and we loose it all at the end. We let things "slide" out of control and out of our hands. Relationship deteriorate for not wanting to back down when we still can and then we suffer the consequences. We say an unkind thing, we make bad comments, we sneer at a friend, we enjoy some gossip, the list is endless.
 And yet, in every situation, there is always a window where we can go back and save the relationship, the job, the situation etc. There is always a point of "return" (comes before the point of "no return"), once we pass this, then it is too late to save the situation and we have to suffer the consequences.

So ...do you know when to stop?

Wish you were 'THERE'

You know the deal, you go on holiday, you are having a great time and you pick up few post cards and send them to a select group of people with the words “wish you were here”. But why do we do that? While running around on holiday enjoying yourself, you think of those who could have made it even better and more enjoyable. You imagine the good times that you could have with someone who is not actually there in this lovely holiday spot and wish they could be there to share this time with you.

So what do we miss? We miss the fun times, the laughs, the jokes, the silly faces and the kind words. We remember how late we stayed out or how much fun we had with someone. Although we remember the bad things, we do not miss it. I never heard someone says: ‘I miss going to get treatment for my teeth’, or ‘I miss the shouting I used to get from my nasty teacher’. We remember it all, but we do not miss the ugly things. As we pass through each other’s lives, we will leave lots of memories, good and bad, but for people to miss us, it will be the good things they have to miss. So, do not work hard to leave bitter taste in people’s mouths by leaving them with bad memories otherwise you will get a card that says

Wish you were ‘there’…away from me!

Shall we play fair?



A great book by Steve Turner

I make castles           You be ghost

I kick football            You be post

I play teacher            You be taught.

I play crime squad     You be caught.

I play tag chase    You be it.

I play kick box     You be hit.

I play hero           You be man.

I play film star       You play fan.

I play farmer         You be pig.

I play doctor         You be sick.

I play leader          You be led

I play soldier         You play dead.

Only In Egypt

Only In Egypt...

- people get disappointed when they call for a demonstration and only 100.000 turn up!

- people really hate you when you tell them to do something for "the stability of the country"!

- the Nile Hilton rooms overlooking Tahrir square are now more expensive than rooms overlooking the river Nile!

- the formally banned politicians are forming political parties and the previous minister of justice in under arrest!

- people succeeded in toppling their government for corruption but the Italian president is the one who shows up in court to defend himself!

- people clean up after they finish demonstrating!

- and only in Egypt, people know that at last the last Pharaoh has been thrown out for good!

A Different Kind of Revolution

As I was so busy following all kinds of news' channels online and on satellite, I noticed that our hamster was a bit quite. I went over to check and found it on the floor looking up to me with his cute little eyes outside its cage!!

What I did not realize that our little hamster was planning his own revolution and carried out his plan for his great escape. He did not hand in any demands for his revolt and did not chant or ask for anyone of us to leave :)
To cut a long story short, I managed to put him back in his cage after a siege that lasted for 2 hours with all excites closed (not to stress him and not to stress me of course) and there was no use of any violence or tear gas. There were no casualties and the household went back to normal and the economy did not suffer much.

Long Live The Revolution (The Egyptians one that is and not my hamster's).

Happy retirement to every dictator

I have been watching the events in Libya very closely and can't help but feeling outraged at the brutality of the regime against its own people. It seems that all the Arab leaders had -at some point- a crash course on how to cope with any revolution. I think it was all in all a one day training course and it must have covered the same old points:

1- how to use scare tactics (weapons, machine guns, thugs, brutality, etc)
2- keep everyone busy hating one another (tribes against each other, Muslim against Christians etc
3- burn all government offices and police stations to remove all evidence when the going gets tough
4-use threats like: if i go; it will be chaos, if i leave; the country will be occupied by foreign forces, etc
5- accuse everyone who criticise the system of being an agent and a spy working for Israel or the USA (this one always work against anyone)
6- maintain the media under your grip, broadcasting calming music, Tom and Jerry, patriotic songs in the middle of any million man marches that come your way

Other general points include, withdrawing your police force and arming thugs to frighten people and keep saying that you -as a leader- will NEVER leave until you finish your time in office (which is usually lasts for 50 years).

If all this fail, pack your bags, move your billions abroad and book one way flight to Saudi Arabia, the whole revolution thing usually takes about 3 weeks max!!

Ahh, one last tip, after you leave office do not forget to spread rumors that you have suffered a coma and that you are on your death bed.

Happy retirement to every dictator.

The last few days were filled with tear gas, burning, attacks with camels on peaceful protesters, some 500 killed and over 2000 injured. However, since the start of this revolution, the Egyptians always found hummer in the way they put their demands and in their slogans. Here are some of the comedy side to the protesters making their demands very clear.

A sign in the shape of school report, student name: Mubarak, scoring zero in every subject (health, education, security, etc) with a stamp that says "failed".
In the last few days, the state TV mentioned that some of the anti Mubarak protesters were paid to be in the square and given a meal from KFC! This sign reads: "this person is wanted as he belongs to the Muslim Brotherhood and he gave meals in Tahreer square. Wanted cooked or alive".
A sing with an equation: nation+freedom -"someone"= stability.


مكاسب الثورة المصرية حتى الآن :
١. اقالة الحكومة الأردنية
٢. رفع قانون الطوارئ في الجزائر
٣. اعلان الرئيس اليميني عدم ترشيح نفسه للرئاسة
٤. تعديل الدستور الصيني
...٥. قمع الشعب السوري قبل ما يفكر يثور
٦. بقاء الرئيس المصري ولا كأن حاجة حصلت

These are the results of the Egyptians revolution so far:
1- The removal of the government in Jorden
2- The stop of the state of emergency in Algeria
3- Declaration from the president of Yemen that he will not stand for elections again
4- Change in some part of the constitution in China
5- Oppression of the people of Syria before they start to think of a revolution
6- The Egyptian president still here as if nothing has happened.

Church time

An excellent cartoon from the Asbo Jesus website.

One evening in Avenue Q

People's dreams, trying to find your purpose in life, finding love, ahh and finding a place that is affordable…welcome to the neighbourhood in Avenue Q. A funny and sweet (and at times rude) musical that I enjoyed very much last night. The use of puppets was superb and the ideas although simple, were addressed so nicely. One of the main characters –Princeton- spent all his time trying to find his purpose in life and “Kate monster” was always trying to help. There were also the “bears of bad ideas” who always chip in at the wrong time with bad ideas that often made things worse.
Avenue Q was great fun and as always there is something about the theatre that is so magical, powerful and highly enjoyable.

Montpellier .... très jolie

Spent few days in Montpellier, south of France and it is really a lovely, beautiful place to be. One of the nice things I liked very much is the grass that is so neat on the tram rails which adds a nice feeling to the roads and to the journey down the busy town. Lovely coloured trams as well to cheer everyone up throughout the day. Certainly, a place to visit again and again.

what can I say?

How much I love Elephants

Happy Birthday

This is the time of year when I thank God that birthdays are only once a year! just purely for the fact that I needed to organise a birthday party for my daughter. As usual we went through various ideas ranging from the utterly expensive to the ones that will send me to an early grave with worry and bypassing any ideas that involve the words "woods survival skills" or "adventure camping" !

At this point of the planning, I often think about government departments and how they reach ANY kind of decisions as I struggle to reach a decision about a birthday party.

At the end we made a decision and D day arrived and I am glad to report that it was GREAT. We decided to go for a sports party involving canoeing and crate stacking. It was wonderful the the kids had a fantastic time. I also remained calm and in one piece, staying strong on my objection to "jumping in the river after the canoeing".

Just a small question, should organising successful birthday parties be a skill that I should include in my CV in the future? I think so :)

And what is your shoe size madam?

Last week was officially the most depressing week in the year, some believe. As Christmas seems like a distance memory and the bills are coming in thick and fast and still no sight of pay day. However, here is something that will put a smile on so many faces and certainly a dream come true to many women :)

Some genius thought that as women love shoes and chocolate, what not combine the two together? So, welcome to your designer chocolate shoe collections. Fantastic art and comes at a great price as well. You will need to find a strong heart to face eating these designer shoes! and the good thing is, You can buy only 1 shoe and not a pair.

I had the chance to go and attend the El Divo concert. It was FANTASTIC. The whole production was great and the group were amazing. The energy in the Apollo was electric and people (mainly women) were over eager to see them and hear them sing. On the way to the theatre, we can see the marks of husbands and boyfriends been dragged to the venue :). But the majority of men in there were on their best behaviour except one gentleman who sat at the end of my row who let us say, had more drinks than he should (and I am not talking about orange juice). Midway into the show he was shouting things out load to those in front of him and 10 min later the lady who was with him took him outside and they never returned. I think she just needed a word with him!
For me, the whole night was wonderful and the performance was one of their best ever and I can not wait until I have another chance to see them again, better start saving!

IL DIVO...I CAN NOT WAIT !