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| Something Beneath Men (Apparently)I don't know if this goes for all households, but in mine, it definitely does.
In this day and age, you see wives taking on roles that husbands once took on. Like being the breadwinners of the family. Becoming doctors, lawyers or just in general having a job that earns money. In the past, that was husband's job, while the wife was the house maker.
"My only role is to cook, clean, and make you comfortable!" Of course, the fifties are long gone. Because now women have jobs. And its not being a domestic engineer. Women don't consider having a job beneath them.
But for some reason, people think that being a housewife is the lowest job you can ever have. I don't understand this way of thinking at all. Just because you're not making money, doesn't mean its the worst job in the world. It just bothers me that in order to command respect you have to get degrees. And those same people who study their whole lives to get a degree don't even know how to make plain rice. Or how to clean and organize the house. Because somehow this job is beneath them.
In fact, you rarely ever see the husband taking on the homemaker role. And if they do, they're ridiculed. In my 7th and 8th grades, there was a boy I knew who used to love to cook. He really wanted a cooking class as part of our curriculum (He was the only boy who wanted it). But I also remembered how all the boys in my class used to be unkind to him because apparently "cooking is girly", never mind that a lot of the famous chefs out there are guys.
In my house, its even worse. The extent of what my brother does is like vacuum once every four months when my mom tells him to. When my brother is finished vacuuming roughly two rooms my mom starts praising him as if he passed his MCAT. My dad is far worse. Unlike my brother, who puts things back where they belong, and puts things the way it was before he came (Which is basically all I ask for), my dad leaves everything sitting out there.
This morning, I found a knife with banana smeared all over it lying on the island kitchen table. I found a bowl of cherries taken out, and the seeds and stems spat on a half plate lying there. And at least five cups that once held tea in it all strewn around. There are probably more outside... We do tend to lose cups here and there. Oh and a bunch of books lying around the place. And then he comes up to me and says I need to organize the place because its dirty. I CLEANED THE HOUSE THE DAY BEFORE!! Do you seriously see something wrong here?! Its not that hard to rinse a plate and put it in the dishwasher.
It's like men consider housekeeping beneath them or something. I don't mind cleaning the house regularly, but the fact that you just have to mess everything up after we're all done cleaning the area drives me insane. Isn't cleanliness supposed to be half of our Iman?
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| The Mortal Instruments: Review'd *BEWARE CONTAINS SPOILERS*For the past week, I've been mainly reading one series to pass the endless stretch that's called "Summer Break".
The series is called "The Mortal Instruments" by Cassandra Clare and spans three books with a prequel series that is soon to follow.
The first book is called The City of Bones.
Mindless Idiot Teenage Girl: Whee, sexy body as a front cover? Wow, now I HAVE To get it! Props to whoever designed the front cover. They probably knew that the tween population would have the same reaction or something on par to that. Because the body means hot hot characters, and hot hot characters was why Twilight got popular in the first place. Besides, nobody wants the main character to be ugly, am I right? Okay, enough about ripping on the dumb cover. When Iman got the book, I have to admit, I was pretty skeptical. I read through the first chapter and was, surprise, surprise, rather unimpressed. I was ready to dismiss it as another series doomed to be a Twilight or Harry Potter wannabe success thing. But I reminded myself that Harry Potter began much the same way; In fact, the first half of The Sorceror's Stone is rather a dull piece of work. So I ploughed onto the rest of the book. The first book left me with mixed feelings. Certainly it wasn't like Twilight. It was better than that. Certainly it wasn't like Harry Potter. It was worse than that. But I expected that one. The book centers around a girl named Clary, which is short for Clarissa. She is first introduced as your typical 17 year old with red hair and an exceptional artist, like her mother. She has virtually no friends save for her best friend Simon who also appears frequently in the series. Her normal life is cut short when she is introduced to a magical world concealed by glamour. The world is full of Children of the Moon (lycanthropes AKA werewolves), Children of the Night (vampires), the Fair Folk (fairies), Lilith's Children (Warlocks), demons (parasitic creatures that destroy any world they come onto) and most importantly Shadow Hunters (Humans who are turned into warriors who kill the demons and those that break the Law that all magical beings abide by with the use of runes and awesome weapons). Clary meets new people, and we become more familiar with the following characters: Jace: Who is indeed the cover of the book. He is described as having the face of an angel, though he doesn't act like one. He seems to care for nobody, except perhaps Clary (Yes, they do fall in love). He's also arrogant and a really good Shadow Hunter. Yes, everybody falls in love with him because he's a tortured soul and stuff. But he's different from Edward because he's not... Perfect. We find out later that he and Clary are siblings (LOL incest hawt) which is why he's always a tortured soul and stuff, and because of his father, the evil Valentine. Alec: I like Alec. He's described from Clary's point of view as somebody who would have amazing looks if he didn't try downplaying them. He's sullen usually, doesn't say much and we learn later on that he's... gay. In the City of Bones we find out that he loves Jace. Woot. He's also socially awkward. Alec is a Shadowhunter as well, but he's never killed a demon. There are many theories that are presented such as he's a coward, or that he's too softhearted, but in the end, I think its because he'd rather just help Jace and Isabelle. He hates Clary because she and Jace are in L-O-V-E. Isabelle: Isabelle is Alec's brother. She's veryyyyy pretty with her long black hair and blue eyes, and unlike Alec knows how to mingle and dress up, so she's like vain and stuff. She's a vicious Shadow Hunter and her preferred weapon is her whip. I guess she's ruthless because she's a girl and wants to prove her worth. In the beginning she dislikes Clary, but they become friends much later. Hodge: Hodge is some old guy who lives with the aforementioned Shadowhunters because he's cursed. He has some pet raven named Hugin who we find out later on is Valentine's pet bird. Hodge is cursed, because he can never come to Idris, the country of Shadowhunters, because he was in alliance with Valentine. This is why, later on he betrays Jace and Clary. Magnus Bane: Pretty much the most awesome character in the book. He's a warlock, which translates as "badass magical being". He's part asian and also... very gay (him and Alec eventually become lovers, but you don't really know that until books two and three). He's been alive for like 700 years. He's very... ostentatious, and odd. Which is why he's so cool. Anyway, that's pretty much it. When I first read City of Bones, I did not want to start the other books. Because I didn't enjoy City of Bones so much. But then I saw City of Ashes and City of Glass in Sams and I thought, "Well I'm not going to be doing anything else..." so I bought them. Yes, that's Clary. She's redheaded and cool and whiny and boring. Why is it that all girls apart from Isabelle are whiny and boring?! Maybe because it makes it easier to hate on her because she captures itty bitty Jace's heart, which as we all know is the fantasy of the tweens' hearts. CURSE YOU CLARY. CURSE YOUUUU! After this book, I was like, "Cool." I was semi-interested. Interested enough to start the last one, at any rate.
There is something visually appealing about never seeing the people's eyes. You have to wonder about their expression. Props to the person who designed the covers once again. And no that one wasn't sarcasm. In any case, no that's not Alec, like I thought. Its some new guy named Sebastian/Jonathon. Also.... Eye candy. This book, made me like the series. Maybe because in the end, Jace and Clary find out they're not siblings after all, and it made things less nauseating. Maybe because in this book, Isabelle becomes a little more human. Maybe because there's an epic battle that lasts 10 minutes. Whatever the case, its cool. Everything comes together. Well most of it does. Oh and Alec finally comes out of the closet to his parents and tells them about Magnus Bane. Yay.
I give it a B+ because of the end, which is better than what I give Twilight... which, before the fourth book was a C-, but after the horrendous conclusion to the series, it became an F+.
Twas a good book. Read it, only if you have nothing else to do.
This book is full of cliches, but then I guess love is full of cliches?
But its also full of attractive people, clothes, and weapons. Its full of quotes. Oh and cultures from around the world. There's a bit of Romanian in the third book too, but I don't know what it means.
There are a lot of twists, which is good. I just wish Cassandra Clare had spent more time developing the twists. Everything happens really fast, and there's just too much to drink in. The characters, for example, develop pretty fast. Clary seems to accept all that is happening to her with relative calm for some odd reason. The only people who seem real to me are Alec, Max and Maia. Maybe Hodge. And maybe Imogen Inquisitor, but there isn't enough character development for them The rest are entirely too calm for everything that happens.
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| 100 Freakin' Truths1. Last beverage→ Aguaa 2. Last phone call→ Mama 3. Last text message→ None 4. Last song you listened to→ Some old Indian song. 5. Last time you cried→ Don't remember. HAVE YOU EVER: 6. Dated someone twice → Nope 7. Been cheated on? → Not that I know of 8. Kissed someone & regretted it? → Nevarrrr. 9. Lost someone special?→ I think so. 10. Been depressed?→ Yes 11. Been drunk? – Nooo LIST THREE FAVORITE COLORS: 12. Green 13. Blue 14. White/Black? They're tied THIS PAST YEAR HAVE YOU: 15. Made new friends → Yes 16. Fallen out of love → No 17. Laughed until you cried → Siii 18. Met someone who changed you→ La Duh 19. Found out who your true friends were→ Yes :) 20. Found out someone was talking about you→ Don't know, don't care <-- Coach Simmon's philosophy. :) 21. Kissed anyone on your friend's list → Siii TRUTH: 23. How many kids do you want to have → Char, I can count in Urdu! 24. Do you have any pets → I wish :'( 25. Do you want to change your name→ I just wish my name wasn't so popular. 26. What did you do for your last birthday- Went out to Ocean Primeee 27. What time did you wake up today → 7:59 28. What were you doing at midnight last night→ Talkingg, and watching "Australia" and "The Princess Bride" 29. Name something you CANNOT wait for → Summerrrr 31. What is one thing you wish you could change about your life → Wish I was 21, and awayyyy from this house. 32. What are you listening to right now → My mom's Indian dramas. Some wise old lady is saying something profound. I know because of the music. 33. Have you ever talked to a person named Tom → Tom Xue? 34. What's getting on your nerves right now? → Not being able to sleep in my room. 36. Whats your real name → Mariam Nurani Ahmed 37. Relationship Status → Pretty happy with whatever. 38. Zodiac sign → Pisces 39. Male or female→ Female... The smarter sex ;) 40. Elementary→ Montessori World School, Bay Meadows Elementary, Madrasah Miftahul Uloom, MACF. 41. Middle School – MACF, WPS 42. High school → WPS 43. Hair color → Blackkk 44. Long or short → Shorrttt 45. Height → 4'11? Or 5'0? 46. Do you have a crush on someone? → Yes, and no its not Redick, or Jackman or whatever else is on my list! 47. What do you like about yourself? → Dunno. 48. Piercings → Ears 49. Tattoos → Henna? 50. Righty or lefty → Leftyyy FIRSTS : 51. First surgery → None... Do stitches count? 52. First piercing → Ears 53. First tattoo— none 54. First best friend → Maaria 55. First sport you joined → None 56. First pet → Bunnyyy in New Orleans 57. First vacation→ I don't remember... Probably New York. 58. First concert → If you could call Temptation 2004 a concert... Then okay, that was it. 59. First crush→ Some guy who knew a lot about Pokemon, and won the Reading Award. I'm still kind of jealous. 60. First alcohol drink→ Yeah, no. RIGHT NOW: 61. Eating → Nothing 62. Drinking → Nothing 63. I'm about to → Take a shower. 64. Listening to → Still listening to that heartfelt moment on that Indian Drama. I think its called, "Phir Bhi Saas Kabhi something Thi" 65. Waiting for → A way to escape.
YOUR FUTURE : 66. Want kids? No duh 67. Want to get married? More than anything. 68. Careers in mind? Still a little iffy. WHICH IS BETTER WITH THE SEX OF YOUR CHOOSING?- 69. Lips or eyes → Eyes 70. Hugs or kisses → Kisses 71. Shorter or taller → Definitely taller, preferably giants. 72. Older or Younger → Older? But I prefer my age. 73. Romantic or spontaneous → Romantic? Spontaneous? Ehh, dunno. 74. Nice stomach or nice arms → I don't know! 75. Tattoos or piercings— Neither! 76. Sensitive or loud → Sensitivo, but I'd rather have a bit of both in one. 77. Hook-up or relationship → Relationship 78. Trouble maker or hesitant→ Whatever the situation calls for ;) HAVE YOU EVER : 79. Kissed a stranger → Nope 80. Drank hard liquor → Nope 81. Lost glasses/contacts → Yes 82. Sex on first date → Yeah, right. 83. Broken someone's heart → Probably not. That's a horrible thing to do! 84. Had your own heart broken → It breaks my heart to see your face. OHHHH! 85. Been arrested? → Wow, my life is so boring. No, I haven't. 86. Turned someone down → Si senor/ita 87. Cried when someone died → Yes? 88. Liked a friend that is a girll? → Um yes? Not in the like like sense though. DO YOU BELIEVE IN: 89. Yourself → Sometimes 90. Miracles → No duh 91. Love at first sight → Maybe like at first sight, or lust at first sight, but love grows over time, unless you're more awesome than that. <-- So deep, i know. 92. Heaven → And hell! 93. Santa Claus → Psycho... No. 94. Kissing on the first date? → No way! Kissing should be on the second date, becauseee the first one's about getting to know each other. The second one's about getting into a person's pants duh. And it proves how patient a person can be if they can stick around for a second date. 95. Angels → Yes ma'am ANSWER TRUTHFULLY: 96. Is there one person you want to be with right now? → Yes :( 97. Had more than one boyfriend/girlfriend at one time? → No way 98. Do you believe its possible to remain faithful forever? → In this Day and Age, if you're awesome enough, yeah. 99. What's the one thing you cannot live without? → Air <--Tell me how I'm supposed to breathe with no air, no air, no aiiiiir. Jordin Sparks was telling the truth. Its kind of hard to breathe with no air. :\ 100. Posting this as 100 Truths? → No, I shall post it as, 100 Freakin' Truths!
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| Being a BitchI can never sleep when I'm sick. After spending a sleepless night just thinking about stuff and sniffing, blowing, doing whatever I could to take the snot out of my nostrils, I came to a conclusion. A rather... Profound conclusion. Well... I guess its not that much of a shock. People have been telling me this, and I guess its been in the back of my head all along. I just never really addressed it.
I'm the most backward person ever when it comes to being a bitch. Realizing this however, probably won't make me change.
When most people are mean, they are mean towards those that they don't know. A rude person who accidentally bumps into them and shouts at them to watch their step. People in big cities seem to do this all the time to strangers.
"Hey asshole! You cut me off!"
"Shut the f*** up!"
Yes... Well congested highways tend to bring out the worst in people.
Just recently on an airplane, I was sitting next to a woman who was rather cranky. She didn't seem to have a problem acting rude towards the flight attendants.
The fact is, for most people its easier to be a bitch to people we don't get the time to know; people we won't ever see.
But the opposite holds true for me. I guess this could be the reason why most of my best friends think I'm the most moodiest person alive, and people who are just acquaintances think I'm actually the nicest person alive.
I'd once heard Christine say about me in Psychology last year:
"Mariam, I think you're a pretty patient person. You don't really push people to do anything."
But this isn't true. I do recall getting pissed on more than one occasion because somebody didn't do their part in the group project. And I do get impatient when we haven't left the house, when we should have five minutes ago.
I apologize when people bump into me.
I hand out gum when somebody asks me.
I smile to the other person to let them know I'm fine.
But the truth is, when a good friend bumps into me, I probably wouldn't even acknowledge it. I would blatantly refuse to give somebody I know very well chewing gum if they asked. I would burst into hysterics if somebody I knew asked if I was okay.
I just don't really understand why.
I guess it explains why I'm so mean to Iman (Sowwy Iman). I've known her all my life, and so when she gets on my nerves, I let her know in the loudest way possible.
I guess there's only one person whose an exception to this weird rule... I hope it doesn't change anytime soon though.
Hmmm... I think I cause more misery than happiness for those who are close to me. It shouldn't be this way... But it kind of is :|
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| DeathThere are many things that cross my mind when I'm falling asleep. Sometimes it brings me back to the same subject, usually it brings me back to something. Usually I can tie it in somehow to something.
When I was young, the subject of death frightened me immensely. I hated thinking about dying. At first it was just about me dying. I was scared of all that earth that would be heaved over my grave. And I'd heard stories where a person was never really dead, and that they were trapped in their grave until they suffered from suffocation or starvation. Eck. Take your pick.
But by the time I was 12, I thought about it. And I wanted all my loved ones to die after me. I remember once my family was talking about death, and suddenly I started crying. Astonished, my parents kept asking me what was wrong. When I said I wanted to die before them, they quirked a smile, said that I'd do fine without them. Iman smiled too. I didn't understand why they smiled! I suddenly hated being the youngest, because as I saw it, I'd be the last one dying. And women usually live longer than men, so what if my husband died, and what if my kids hated and abandoned me? Then I'd be all alone for sure. Which is sort of a bummer.
Nowadays, whenever I think of death, I'm still scared of course. But with it comes a sort of curious fascination. When I die, who'll come to my funeral? Who will be among the people who will carry my grave and bury me? Who will cry, if anyone actually does?
I remember going to the funeral of a boy named Asad. Many people were there, including his nonMuslim friends from high school which was definitely something you didn't see everyday. I didn't know him at all, but I used to be good friends with his sister back when I was learning the Qaeda. I doubt she even remembered me, so I kept my distance. Because what in fact are you supposed to do, if you don't know their family members so well? I wouldn't want random strangers comforting me. I'd rather just have people who know me very well doing that job.
People that usually never went to the masjid were there. People who I usually saw never even praying Eid prayers were praying. Did they even know how to pray? Well, I guess it didn't matter. At least they were trying.
What really bugged me was how many people suddenly wanted to be associated with him after he died.
"My brother was really good friends with him," a girl I was standing by said. She said this knowingly, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. A flock of girls hovered over towards her, to hear the latest story about Asad. "I remember he came up to me and asked me what college I wanted to go to." she continued. "He was really cool."
Really cool. I wonder if she would've said that before he died. If I asked what college she wanted to go to, she wouldn't consider me cool, I bet. If the least popular girl in her school asked what college she was interested in, I don't think the girl would have considered her... "cool". It disturbed me how people were turning him into a celebrity because he was dead.
"You know what was really weird though? Like really ironic?" the girl asked rhetorically. The listening girls shook their heads, looked at her expectantly. They waited for an answer. "His away message was sleeping, before he went out. Isn't that so weird? Like creepy even?" the girls, exclaimed that it was, that the away message was surely foretelling that he was sleeping for the last time.
It was stupid, was what it was. It wasn't creepy. A lot of people have their away messages as "sleeping" at night. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
I know I shouldn't have been so irritated especially at a funeral. But it annoyed me that these girls were talking about this guy like they knew so much about him. Before I could stop myself, I remarked, "Oh, I got my period today. I can't pray now. Isn't that so weird it had to happen today? It must be a sign!" I regretted saying the words after I said them. Partly because I shouldn't have been saying things like that at somebody's Janaazah.
And partly because, I don't think they got the sarcasm in my voice. They all stared at me. "No..." the girl looked at me strangely. "Not really." I ignored her. She seemed to think I hadn't heard her. "Not really." she said louder. I turned my face away from her, so that I could roll my eyes in privacy.
At that moment, the coffin came out, and the girls immediately hushed. Finally, some respectable quiet. But I wasn't watching the crowd of men carrying the coffin. I wasn't watching the girls watching them. I was watching his mother. I felt an overwhelming sadness then. I wasn't feeling sorry for Asad. I was feeling pity for all the people he'd left behind.
"This is so sad," one of the girls murmured. I had to agree, but I didn't say it. Because the reason for my sadness was surely different from theirs.
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