Assume nothing

“In America” is an Irish movie that I watched in 2004 but I still remember the following scene. It is a conversation that is stuck in my memory because of the intensity of that moment.

Man #1 [angry]: Do you wanna be me? Do you wanna be in my place?

Man #1: You’re dying. I’m sorry.

Man #2: I wish.

Man #1: Are you in love with her? Are you in love with her?

Man #2: No. I’m in love with you. And I’m in love with your beautiful woman. And I’m in love with your kids. And I’m even in love with your unborn child. I’m even in love with your anger! I’m in love with anything that lives!

Lesson learned: We should always value what we have and live the moment. Life is really, really short!

There is no such thing as “secret”

Among the many problems I am dealing with in my life, I have one in particular that no one knows about because I managed to keep it to myself for five years. This problem started five and a half years ago but after six months it disappeared. Out of a sudden it surfaced back again with more impact. What I have learned from this experience is that problems don’t disappear they just temporary hide. Unless you solve your problem it will hunt you down later on. And when the problem reappears it will not be the same, it will be bigger. That’s right; problems have the ability to grow while they are in the hide. Try to solve your problems as soon as possible.

For some reason, this current problem reminded me of a movie that I watched couple of months ago. The movie is called “After the Wedding”, a Danish movie that was made in 2006. I liked everything about this movie; the acting, the story, the events, etc. The movie talks about a family secret and the consequences after the secret is revealed. If you are into ping-bang, chick flick, boom boom or any of that sort of Hollywood movies then this is not your movie. Again, thank you Netflix for giving me the opportunity to see beyond Hollywood movies. This movie is highly recommended to watch.

America’s Media Obsession with Shoes

Last week, the Muslim Student Organization in my university invited Muslim students for Iftar on campus. There were more than 80 Muslim students a number that is considered quite big. It was the biggest for a long time. As usual whenever Muslims in my city have an event the media is the first to cover this event; Eid, Ramadan, etc. One of the things I hate is when a photographer enters the Mosque and starts taking pictures. I hate it for two reasons; first, shooting pictures is noisy and second because the idea of someone taking pictures of me while praying makes me feel like a circus freak.

Anyway, I would like to show you these two pictures below. The first picture was taken by a reporter who covered last year’s Eid prayer. In her article, she posted two pictures one for people praying and the second picture is the one you see in Pic 1. As you know in Eid prayer the whole family attends; men, women and their kids. Yet, this reporter found the picture of shoes worth posting rather than a picture of people hugging each other or a picture of joyful kids. The second picture is taken in our Iftar last week. I would like to hear what you think about it because some people think it is normal and nothing wrong with this picture and others think it has no taste and shoes should not be zoomed in as in Pic 2. By the way, the angle in this picture makes it look as if the prayers are praying in front of their shoes rather the shoes are on the side but maybe because of the angle of the picture taken it looked as you see. What I want to say is that is Pic 2 is the best picture you can get if you are given two hours to shoot pictures around? Is it because of culture difference that I find this picture to be bad but Americans find it beautiful? Some Muslim students didn’t mind this picture though. What do you think?

Pic 1

Pic 2