New Blogger?

For the experts, do I I have to switch to the newer version of Blogger? Is this Imperstive? May I lose my account if I don't perform this thechnological "Jump"? Because I really find it a jump backward. I don't like this new version. And it has an HTML basic layout. I'm really confused! So I'll have to sign in with my Google account instead of blogger? I don't even have a Google account and nobody has been kind enough to send me an invitation. So please, fellow bloggers, I need your expertise regarding this issue to save me from this madness.

Hang over drink

I have a good tip for you if you were victim to excessive drinking and woke up the following day totally messed up. Usually, when I’m hung over, I don’t feel like having something sweet. And of course, when there is too much alcohol in your body, you are subject to excessive dehydration. Therefore, the perfect drink for me to recover from hang over is definitely Laban Ayran (It’s a type of yogurt that we consume here in Lebanon, but don’t ask me how it’s prepared). Anyway, try it, it works every time for me.

2006 Resolutions: A final appraisal

A year has passed since the declaration of the 2006 resolutions on my blog. (see Resolutions for 2006 and “Resolutions for 2006” bis) and now it’s time to evaluate and have a quick update on what type of a person I have become now and to what extent these resolutions had made an impact on my lifestyle, my personality and my way of thinking. For the purpose of convenience, I’ll try to go point by point.
First of all, my smoking status is still the same, non-smoker/ passive smoker. Believe me guys, it’s just too difficult to lower your tobacco exposure to zero. It’s impossible! Unless you choose a really boring and dull lifestyle, where you will be forced to make tons of sacrifices. It’s a really big commitment I’m not ready for it for the time being. Moreover, the government hasn’t made any progress towards this. You all know what the country and the government have been enduring lately so tobacco policies are still premature to be brought up.
As for the alcohol, I’m miles away from my projected goal. For instance, I’ve been acting for the last week like a real alcoholic. I managed to stay hung over for al full week. I’m writing this while the hang-over effects are still lasting so don’t be tough on me if you find any incoherence in my thoughts.

As for resources management, it turned to be a real success, without by the way compromising my usual lifestyle. And in June 2006, my bike just arrived from the states to my home, and few weeks later, we started with my friend Otter, long rides from Beirut to the regions.
Regarding my academic performance, it went really good. I got my full GA and excellent grades in the following semester. After that, I got accepted to work on a project with a pharmaceutical company, but then, everything went wrong and the July war on Lebanon started. No need to explain more. You all know what happened there and what were the serious consequences of this war on the physical and mental status of the people, on the economy of the country and on the internal and external stability. During the period of the war and the aftermath, all organizations, ministries, companies, shifted their activities towards relief and other war-related activities and so did I. I volunteered in the public health team in a coalition of NGO and then started working with a British NGO (Oxfam) for three months. It was a very enriching experience by the way.
Concerning eating behavior, no need to tell you that I haven’t made any progress!
Last but not least, meditation still follows a very irregular pattern, which by the way has a causal effect on the point that preceded, since the whole approach is considered as holistic.
Anyway, that’s all for the 2006 resolutions appraisal. I can tell that I achieved 75% to 80% of them which is by any means, an outstanding score. Anyway, stay tuned for my next post which is somehow related to this one since I will be discussing my 2007 resolutions.

ACTION NOTE BLANCHE

4:30 for 42.8 km

I know that the report for the Marathon has come a little late. In this year's Beirut Marathon, I finished in 4:30, which is 1 hour 4o minutes less than last year's, adding to that, we ran extra 600 meters due to the demonstrations still going on in Downtown Beirut. However, I totally believe that there is still plenty of room for improvement. For this, I'm gonna set another target for next year's Marathon. I hope that I would be more prepared for it and injury-free unlike this year where I ran with an injured knee. Let's say that next year's target would be 3:30.

The beginning of the end

I've never seen Hamra street so empty and so dead on a friday evening. I guess the situation is all the same all over Lebanon. Most of the shop are closed, however some are resilient and kept their shops open desperate to have at least one client, but helplessly.

Is this the beginning of the end that we are watching happening here? The end of Lebanon as an entity. Lebanon as a final state for all? The beginning of a new era. The Iranian or Najadian Republic of Lebanon? Maybe THIS is the new Middle East. You want to beat the USA? Not on my land Mr. Najad. Do they want us to leave this country for good? At least, I will continue to pay taxes in the receiving country. I will perseve re paying for Electricity, Water etc.

Today was a historical day. Yes. Sure it was. We witneesed, for the first time in Lebanon, a Shiite Leader from the Maronite community, because everybody knows that the leader is defined by their supporters, which today were 90% Shiite.

Don't screw up the marathon

Do whatever you want. Go to the streets. Seize the government, the parliament. Take the whole country. Import Iranian democracy. But I won't let you screw up my Marathon again!

Leave this country alone to avoid the catastrophe!

Lebanon is not Switzerland or Luxembourg. The socio-economic indicators are catastrophic. After all the assassinations and the very unstable security in the country and after the last Israel-Hezbollah war against Lebanon, our country is on the edge of literal bankruptcy. Political leaders should agree or reach a compromise as quickly as possible because they could find themselves alone in this country. March 8th, March14th, February14th, July12th, I don’t want to be called by a date! I barely support my birth date, which was last week by the way. Speaking of birthday, I’m now celebrating the first year of my blog. It was a good year, for me at least but not for the country as a whole, and since we don’t exist isolated from the external environment, we are all affected. I just hope that things won’t escalate. It’s too much for a 10452m2-country.

Interaction is important

I said: Hi!
She Said: Hi.
I said: U know Sandra Bullock, right?
She said: Yes.
I said: Has anyone told you that you look exactly like like her?
She said: No.
I said: Ok.
And by the way, she was a copy of Sandra Bullock. There is no way nobody else told her that she didn't look like her. But some people jsut don't like to interact with others, with no rational reason.

Running mates

I'm going to take part in the Beirut Marathon. I'm training for it, however, i'm not being able to find people to run with, especially that running with others will boost the performance and increase the pace. This is what we called the group effect. So if you are having the same problems and are willing to run with others, please let me know.

Running mates

The Golden Trap : Vote for me

Hey everybody!

I have a small annouccement to make.

I’m participating in a televised show called the “Golden Trap“, on Future TV. In this show, you can find previous winners from the previous editions of the program the “Trap”. So, I won 2 years ago in this show and now, I need your support. It’s a show based on general knowledge, speed, voting and of course tactics.

So if you want to see me, (and vote for me :) ) It’s everyday from Monday till Friday at

5 pm.

my new job

Just a quick update of my life so far, especially that i'm getting real busy these days due to my new job with Oxfam, a NGO from UK, as Public Health Promotion project officer. I started working with them 2 weeks ago, and we've done a lot so far. Now we moved to the south since it became to work there, this is the reason why it's difficult for me to access the net especially that I'm spending the whole day in the field. But before going to the south, we worked in the Beirut area within the IDP's center, like distributing hygiene kits and supporting public health education and child to child activities. You can follow the link when I appear on the Oxfam Middle-East blog : http://www.oxfam.org.uk/applications/blogs/middleeast/2006/08/the_storm_before_the_calm.html

This is Lebanon

Hi again. I know it's been a long time. The fact is that I've been volunteering in Beirut, helping in the relief efforts for the displaced people and also working on independent projects, mainly a project pertaining to the mental health among the displaced people in Beirut during this war. I had many findings from visiting and meeting the displaced people. The war in general has changed my perspective to my country. Well, Lebanon is not only the Downtown Beirut. Lebanon is not only Hamra street with its coffeeshops, Monot with its nightclubs or Gemmayzeh with its pubs. Lebanon is also Qana with its 55 martyrs in 2006 and over 100 in 1996. Lebanon is Marwahine, Bint Jbeil, Maroun al Rass and even Bab Al Tabbaneh in Tripoli, maybe the poorest region in the Middle East. From the North to the South, we are all Lebanese, we are all humans and we should stick together to better face this unhuman war.

Pls change the legend

Hi
I allowed myself to copy and paste an interesting message from a colleague of mine:
"Dear friends,Like you, I receive from every part revolting photosof Israeli crimes on Lebanon. Like you I want to guessbehind every event a distinct direction from Iranian-American-Syrian-Israeli-European-Sinni-Shia-UNstrategies. Like you I wonder what position I should take. Like you I desperately look for a way to savethe economy, to cope with destruction, to escapehabitual corruption and …to find a school for my sonnext school year.Like you my mood is guided by my alternate hopes,mourns, wishes, dreams, disappointments, fears and …denying. Like you I call the miracle to end thisunthinkable nightmare.Like you, I feel devastated while waiting on TV thenews of more children dissected, more women hurt, moremen insulted and more villages emptied. Like you, I feel confused between the past I cannotremember, the future I cannot imagine and the presentI cannot bear.In result, I feel just helpless in front of thisabuse. Nothing helps; the illusion of helpingdisplaced, the admiration of efforts, the faith injustice. This is no more than a way to pretendexisting when dignity is so completely scattered. Then, why not to change the legend from reaction toaction? I cannot see the destination of thoselamentations, accusations, evaluations, argumentationsand justifications? Enough convincing each other of the rightness of thisor that! However we explain it, we ARE ALL RESPONSIBLEof what is happening to our homeland, and we are allresponsible of taking it out of this tunnel (before itgets bombed) and to give to it the essence and theshape of our love to the land we belong to, before andabove any other belonging. We owe it to ourselves.Someday it shall end, this day will be ours. Underthose hills of destroyed homes the land is ours; it issaturated with our people's sweat. Behind thosemountains of smoke, the sky is ours; it is inhabitedby hundreds of our martyrs' souls. Thus I ask you to accompany your FW with your visionsof future. We have to neutralize theIranian-American-Syrian-Israeli-European and even UNprojects, and replace it by our Lebanese project. Andto reach this, we need everybody to be mobilized.Without concrete, comprehensive and feasibleintentions this will stay theory… the same we hear onTV all the time then…brainstorm should be concretized in a willing.Like example or point of departure, we need analternative to the displaced populations. Like it goesnow, when the war ends, we will stay under the mercyof alien lusts. We will be passively waiting for Parties, Organizations, Countries, Deputies, andMinisters representing this or that "influence" torebuild our villages and organize our return and weagain will be accepting conditions at the advantage ofour unity, solidarity and … interests. Again, thiswill be paid in fact by us, and again we will have toapplaud the WELFARE for giving to us no more than apart of our basic rights.An idea has been thrown: organize camps in nativevillages, welcoming displaced families before thereconstruction of vital basic needs to permit theinitiation of life there as soon as possible and alsowelcoming volunteers from all Lebanese regions whowill help in rebuilding and organizing reconstruction.By supervising and participating people will feelresponsible of their homeland, then maybe they willfind a better strategy to protect and cherish it. Bysharing practically life between all Lebanesecommunities, maybe a real national project will takebirth. This idea for example still needs to betranslated in a concrete project. By yourcontribution, it shall happen.I volunteer to gather and organize all your ideasabout the cited subject or another. Please, stopblaming this or that, and let us coordinate efforts toavoid in future a similar situation. Thank you for your patience. "

What made this war unavoidable

What made this war unavoidable? Why the whole internaltional community has given the green light to Israel to destroy Lebanon, not even trying to stop this war, only trying to limit the damages, dealing with it as if it was a natural disaster like a tsunami. One thing is true, this war is way beyond Lebanon, it's a regional one, however, internally, we could have done something to avoid it. The problem was that the different Lebanese partis were unaible to reach a consensus pertaining to many issues in Lebanon, which is natural since we have a democratic regime. However, if we were united from the inside, we would have faced in a better way the external threats jeopardizing our recent indepence and stability. What we have to do now is to achieve what we failed to do before july 12, facing this critical period together.

Independence 05...War 06...Prosperity 07?

God bless you Lebanon

Due to the situations, I'm not ale to access internet veryoften. I will just give a sign of life for all those who are wondering. I hope this situation will end as soon as possible.

If you wanna kill yourself do it, but I wanna live!

Yeah I know It's been a very long time. Some of you was wondering what happened to the Batteur Noble. I can't hear his drums no more. Is he still alive? The answer is yes. I'm "not dead yet" (Quoting a friend of mine, Otter) This leads me to the topic of interest which is smoking. I used to be a moderate smoking (a pack a day) but I quitted (see my resolutions for 2006). However, I'm still exposed to heavy second hand smoking. And it's everywhere! It's hard to escape the fact of being second-hand smoker. In Europe, many countries has started a new policy, banning smoking in public places. I think we should start a similar campaign in Lebanon. Being a second-hand smoker against my will is, first, jeopardizing my health (I'm heavily allergic, almost asthmatic) and second, my personal freedom is in danger.

Maybe this post will be a seed for a national campaing against smoking or maybe it will a meaningless post like all previous ones.

Her name was Lola

I found her in the street a week ago. She was frail, ill, dirty, very skinny seeking her mother that left her struggling by herself. I couldn't help seeing her without doing anything, so I adopted her. Maybe she wasn't the prettiest. She was so young. She didn't even know how to eat, she was barely walking. She was sneezing all the time. I thought that she was healing from her illness through the days. Playing all the time. However, yesterday, at around 9:30 pm, she died. She used her last reserve of energy to reach her litter and to choose dying there in peace. Back to the origins, to the roots. To where we all were and will return someday. Maybe it was my fault, maybe she would have been able to survive her illness without my intervention, in the streets, where she belongs, or maybe I prolonged her ephemeral life of less than a month. One thing is sure, I will always remember you Lola, my beloved kitten.