06 February 2009

25 ((now infamous)) random things

my group of friends is very socially networked. which is convenient considering we span the globe and sleep and eat and laugh and dance at different hours scattered about the clock. it's nice for keeping in some sort of touch. well maybe you've been invited to answer the 25 random things survey going around on facebook. after lingering over the questions here and there, answering on occasion for over a week, i had just put my finishing touches on the rambling 25th answer, and i saw this article in the new york times fashion & style section regarding the very same survey. i had no idea i was participating in such a widespread phenomenon i was just interested in what sort of answers i'd find myself writing... well anyway here is the article, it's rather interesting, don't you think, the 'random' things that catch us off-guard, grab our attention in the midst of everything and spread like wildfire. well. i was planning on posting it anyway, once i finished answering it, but now i hardly have a choice! would be fun if my fellow bloggers did the same! and without further ado, i give you, 25 ((now infamous)) random things:

25 random things

1. i write too much. i tend to use words to an excess (have you ever received an email from me?!) so i propose to answer these 25 questions in succinct yet descriptive and satisfying thoughts. think i can do it? on verra. in the words of mark twain "if i'd had more time, i'd have written a shorter letter."

2. and while on the subject, i adore quotes, words that others spoke yesterday echoing still today and changing my perspective on tomorrow. they offer reflection, resonance, a refreshing and brief escape..

3. i write. all the time. i'm trying to navigate my way to making that a profitable existence. until then, i practice daily writing for an audience on my blog www.wordsandphotoboothmoments.blogspot.com, and i also write on napkins, old receipts at the bottom of my purse, all over my favorite moleskine notebooks (thanks nini) oh ya, and sometimes on my new shiny, glowing, industrial chic macbook laptop...

4. i get daily headaches, and have now for the past 2 years. some days are worse than others, and my purse actually makes this shaking noise when i walk, as all the pills in bottles move in unison.

5. these past 2 years have been hard on me, and i've been hard on them..... i haven't been the best friend that i could be, but have discovered those dear friends in the truest sense of the word, who have stuck by me when i've been distant (and i don't just mean location wise, because you're all dispersed all over the world, but i mean, i've been rather quiet.....slightly absent....not my silly little self) and i thank those of you who have been there for me even when i wasn't...for putting up with me and caring about the boring me as much as the more present me, and thankfully i think i'm finding my way back now...

"love me when i least deserve it, because that's when i really need it." swedish proverb

صَدِيقٌ لَيْسَ يَنْفَعُ يَوْمَ بُؤْسٍ * قَرِيبٌ مِنْ عَدْوٍّ فِي القِيَاسِ
وَمَا يَبْقَى الصَّدِيقُ بِكُلِّ عَصْرٍ * وَلاَ الإِخْوَانُ إِلاَّ لِلتَّآسِي
عَبَرْتُ الدَّهْرَ مُلْتَمِسَاً بِجُهْدِي * أَخَا ثِقَةٍ فَأَلْهَانِي التِمَاسِي
تَنَكَّرَتِ البِلاَدُ وَمَنْ عَلَيْهَا * كَأَنَّ أُنَاسَهَا لَيْسُوا بِنَاسِ

a friend who does not benefit at the time of hardships,
i s close to an enemy on the scales,
the friend does not remain, during all times,
nor does the brother, except for consolation.
i searched the days, with all my strengths
for a brother to trust, but my search was fruitless,
the lands and those who live them were barren,
as though its people were not people [I wanted them to be]

immam ash-shafi'i

6. hmmm as you might wonder from the previous lines, i've been learning a little bit of early arabic poetry from this certain algerian boy (formerly known as coffee boy) and i adore arabic calligraphy, it all started with my dearest egyptian friend sara in the back of our marketing class in paris, and now i get help from the algerian in sending her my hand scribbled (almost legible) arabic letters from california to cairo.. thx guys..my teachers

7. i love languages. hearing them, writing them, seeing them, speaking them (preferably in my mind when it sounds good) but as five years in paris harshly demonstrated for me, i'm not, as i might have hoped, too adept in languages, in terms of speaking the words, pronouncing them, and remembering them for next time. i tend to only remember the funny ones....like salak, etaminiiik, sheip dei, etc....

8. i have now totally forgotten how to speak french.

9. but i say "canim" all the time, which is a turkish word that i picked up from defne, selma and elif....it's just the most perfect word, it's like saying "ahhhhh" or "baby, honey" etc... you can say it when something's touching, or sweet, well anyway, i say it all the time, even to people who don't understand it :) caaanim girls

10. i love to laugh, i can't live without it. to live i just need laughter and water, ok and coffee too....and maybe one or two other things.....

11. i'm indecisive. horribly indecisive.

12. i'm writing.. about.. at least 6 books simultaneously.

13. i'm reading.. about.. at least 6 books simultaneously, but more like 20, i love to read like that. i'm indecisive like that.
(note, i don't mean i have 20 books open in front of me all at once and i'm reading all of them in the same instant, in case there was any confusion. no no, this is an on-going attribute of my lifestyle)

14. i still read, cut out, and save articles from real newspapers (you know, those things they used to put the news in and deliver to your place of residence early in the morning)

15. i'm drinking black tea right now, in which i added dried sage leaves and a little honey. it was given to me by a special friend who knows how much i love dark tea, like the turkish 'çai' i used to drink in paris. it's delicious.

16. i bake cupcakes. and i had the idea to sell them in my cafe (my imaginary dream cafe) long before all the trendy cupcake stores were popping up all over california (yes i realize they were in ny long before that, i'm not sure who had the idea first in this case)

17. in the past week i've developed, out of nowhere really, this curiosity for the city of portland in oregon....i suddenly want to go there and can't stop wondering if i should try to find a job there or something...i know it's so weird, i've never considered moving to any other city than paris, ok and oslo...istanbul...copenhagan, and a recent interest in spain, well anyway i've never considered moving somewhere else in the states...

18. i've just started doing writing tutoring and i realized i love doing it, i would now consider teaching, but only small classes and only for writing/english and of course all of you ESL (english as a second language) people that i love so very much :)) actually if any of you need help with writing/editing anything i'm your girl :))) i have reasonable rates and extremely flexible hours...............and work online, across continents, oceans and time zones, or around the corner at the coffee shop.... ((haha, not bad, i just came up with that, maybe i should market it))

19. i have approximately 100,276 business plans, inspirations and ideas scattered across my mind.

20. i'm technically unemployed.

21. but i really work all day.

22. haha, i haven't transferred any of my files to my new computer (my gorgeous and glowing industrial chic macbook ;))) and i haven't loaded on word yet...but i insist on working on this new laptop instead of the old one, so i do all my writing for the moment on gmail, then send it to myself ;)) hey, at least i'm creatively resourceful!

23. i'm always late. always. oh wait, am i supposed to be talking about things you don't already know?

24. recent movies i've watched and enjoyed are the visitor ((love love it)), heights ((good movie)), the edge of heaven ((intense, but great)), and purple violets ((had never heard of it, but great movie))

25. i hate endings, or goodbyes, and have trouble letting go of things, i get too attached and sentimental, even to inanimate objects, i keep old ticket stubs and receipts at the bottom of my purse as reminders, old notes and scraps of yesterday....i never know what will inspire me next, or what story will be hiding where i least expect it, although now i expect it. i also like to write run-on sentences. but that should technically be a #26...and as you can see, i'm rambling, because i have trouble with endings, so as you can understand, this is a very hard part of this survey for me. i'm also very dramatic. but perhaps that goes without saying. ok, seriously, i'm done now.

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