Sh*t My Dad Says

Posted on January 18, 2011 by 7aki Fadi

This book is soooooooooooo funny!

The story behind it is that the book author Justin Halpern had a 2 year long distance relationship with his girlfriend; he lived and worked in LA and she lived in San Diego and wanted to move in with her so he found a job that will allow him to live in San Diego, so he let his apartment in LA go and went to San Diego to surprise his girlfriend but instead of her jumping up and down with joy she broke up with him.

Justin found himself homeless and the only thing he could think of was to move back in with his parents. While he stayed at his parents his father was saying the funniest and weirdest things to him so Justin created the Twitter account “Sh*t My Dad Says” and a phenomenon was  born.

The nice thing about the book that it’s not just quotes from his dad but also has a number of stories about his dad that he collected from family members.

Here are some of my favorite quotes:

Put the rake down. I don’t wanna sit around watching you ‘give it your best.’ Either stop sucking or get the fuck out of the way

See, you think I give a shit. Wrong. In fact, while you talk, I’m thinking; How can I give less of shit? That’s why I look interested

This one is a pearl of wisdom:

Don’t focus on the one guy who hates you. You don’t go to the park and set your picnic down next to the only pile of dog shit

This one is my favroite one, soooooo true!

A parent’s only as good as their dumbest kid. If one wins a Nobel Prize but the other gets robbed by a hooker, you failed

Loved it and would recommend it for a good laugh.

Here are more of my reviews

 

Filed under: Book, Book Review, Books, dysfunction, Funny, Good read, Hilarious, humor, non fiction, Twitter | 1 Comment »

Rugsplosion?

Posted on August 30, 2010 by 7aki Fadi

So remember when I told you that Armageddon hit the 7aki household and everything turned into hell?

One of the things that happened was that the washing machine broke down and to continue a tradition of eggsplosion 1 and eggsplosion 2 baba 7aki decided to branch out a little into: Rugsplosion.

It was one beautiful cool summer night and Buddha might have, could have ,maybe, ate a little bit too much before going to bed because see, life to Buddha is a never-ending buffet; if there is food and she sees it, she is going to eat it.

So as we are putting her down in her crib to sleep we see the telltale signs of ” OMG RUN TO THE HILLS THE BABY IS GOING TO PUKE” she starts in the crib, we take her out and she continues to hurl on the bedroom carpet, maybe a little bit on the wall and finally on one of those really cute little circular Green Ikea rugs that have paw prints on them, awwwww.

Can't belive I found a picture of it online! It's like 6 years old. Paw prints, awwww

So this is the drill at the 7aki house hold if  Buddha or little 7aki pukes, I clean up the kid, bathe, change clothes and put them to sleep and baba 7aki cleans up … well…. everything else.

I just can’t do the cleaning, I would throw up right then and there, and instead of cleaning the baby’s vomit I have to clean up mine too.

Also I have to say Baba 7aki has built a system and he’s very efficient at it ( I don’t know why I giggle while I type this)  baba 7aki treats vomit cleaning very seriously, VERY SERIOUSLY.

Anyhoo, unbeknownst to me, baba 7aki dumps ALL the vomitty stuff in the washing machine INCLUDING that very cute, green, harmless rug, with the paw prints remember? awwwwww.

And then it explodes in the washing machine, all that is left of it is the mesh that holds the thread on the bottom. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Now baba 7aki doesn’t confess to his crime and he removes the remains of the rug from the washing machine, mind you, not ALL the remains. Then he mentions it in passing, like nothing was wrong about what he did,  that, oh , by the way, there was a rugspolsion in the washing machine.

I GAPE AT HIM, wanted to yell WHAT????? Who in their RIGHT MIND WOULD PUT A RUG IN the WASHING MACHINE??? Instead I made fun of him, hahahaha.

Anyhoo, 2 days later I run a load of laundry and SURPRISE the washer doesn’t work .

Guess what he does? He blames me for breaking it down!!!! Why? Because I didn’t remove ALL the green remains from the machine. There was none by the way.

Men.

I Should have yelled at him when the rugsplosion happened

PS: We had a guy come in and unclog the green stuff from the wahser and we made fun of baba 7aki, teaches him to blame me for breaking the washer.

Filed under: Baba 7aki, baby, ew, Funny, Hilarious, humor, inhumane, Just Shoot Me, kill me now, life, Little Buddha, MOFO BIB - BIB, non fiction, Rant, Rugsplosion | 4 Comments »

What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures

Posted on June 7, 2010 by 7aki Fadi

The non fiction book “What the Dog Saw” by Malcolm Gladwell is a fun book to read.

The book contains 19 essays that Malcolm wrote in the New Yorker spanning over 8 years I think which makes it an easy read for people with a short attention span or people who don’t have hte time to read, you read an essay, put the book aside until you are ready to read another essay.

The book is split into three parts titled:

- Minor Geniuses:
This part talks about people who are not revered in the media for their achievements but non the less are amazing at what they do. One of the examples of these people is Ron Popiel, a household name here in North America, for those who don’t know the name does the phrase ” Set it and forget it” ring a bell?

Another essay that I found VERY interesting talks about the birth of the birth control pill, honestly this essay was sooooo interesting that getting your hands on the book just to read that is worth it.

- Theories, Predictions, and Diagnoses:
This part is so fascinating. One of the essays talked about the fall of Enron, I think people will still talk about Enron 100 years from now, and what caused them to fail.

Another essay talked about true geniuses with an IQ higher than 150. their was a study done on these geniuses to track them through life expecting them to be the cream of the crop once they are older just to be shocked at the end that no, being a genius does not mean you will be successful. Pretty cool!

Another essay in this part I liked is the one discussing the failure of the challenger mission. It basically concludes that it’s not one big huge problem that causes things to fail it’s actually a chain of very ordinary small problems that create a huge failure, very interesting!

- Personality, Character, and Intelligence:
One of the essays talks about late bloomers, mostly artists and writers, and how some write/paint brilliant work and then fizz out as opposed to those who reach their 40s painting and writing full-time all through their lives with no tangible success and then BOOM become an overnight household name.

For a full list of the essays click here

This book opened my mind a bit and I felt I learned something from it and applied it to my day-to-day life.

Go to your public library today :) .

For more reviews click here

Filed under: 7aki mish fadi, Book, Book Review, Books, Entertainment, Good read, non fiction | 6 Comments »

Outliers: The Story of Success

Posted on May 26, 2010 by 7aki Fadi

I like everything Malcolm Gladwell writes . I have read The Tipping Point and Blink and enjoyed them immensely so when I saw this book with my buddy Bob I grabbed it right away.

The book talks about how people become successful and how much effort a person needs to put into something to become great.

The whole idea of this book is that , although you also need to put in a lot of work to actually become successful , turned out the magic number is 10,000 hours which is the equivalent of doing something obsessively everyday for 10 years, you also need lucky breaks and people connections.

Gladwell used Bill Gates as a study case to show how he managed to get where he is today; with hard work, 10,000 hours worth of it, family connections and luck; he happened to be born in the right year, go to the right school and get involved in the right thing at the right time.

Fascinating stuff really.

The book also discussed athletes , specifically hockey and soccer players and how their birth month played a big role to them being recruited in the professional leagues.

Tons and tons of interesting information.

Totally enjoyed it as I expected and I look forward to more work from Gladwell.

For more reviews click here.

Filed under: Book, Book Review, Books, non fiction | 5 Comments »

The Glass Castle

Posted on April 12, 2010 by 7aki Fadi

What shocked me the most about the book “The Glass Castle” is the fact that it is a memoir.

I kept saying to myself, there is NO WAY there are people in the United States who lived/live like this!

This is the story of the author Jeannette Walls, her Mom, Dad and her three siblings.

The story starts with her 3-year-old self cooking hotdogs on the stove and sustaining 3 degree burns that left her scarred for life, which goes to show the degree of negligence she was living with. What does she do when she goes home from the hospital? She gets hungry and starts cooking hot dogs with  her parents cheering her on and telling her , way to go kid, this is how you should face your fears.

With a very intelligent alcoholic father, that taught his kids everything they knew, who unfortunately always spent the family money on booze and only thought of his next drink, and a mother who failed to grow up and refused to face reality. Despite that the story still manages to be a story of triumph and success.

As sad as her childhood was , no food for days on end, living in the desert because they had no place to stay, walking for miles when their car broke down on the highway, living in a home with no heat, electricity or in some cases even stairs to go into the house, they had to climb through a window to get in , I found myself unable to hate her parents who are without a doubt the reason of this families trials.

Jeannette managed to write a powerful memoir that made you understand the weakness and limitations of some humans, you could be the most intelligent and loving father but still fail to provide and protect your family because of reasons beyond your control.

I absolutely enjoyed the book, it opened up my eyes to a new world I thought never existed!

If I could take only one message from this book it is no matter what difficulties you face in life if you are smart and determined you will always succeed.

I give it the 2 thumbs up

Currently reading: What the dog saw by  Malcolm Gladwell

For more reviews click here

Filed under: Book, Book Review, Books, Entertainment, Good read, non fiction | 9 Comments »

OMG I Totally Forgot….

Posted on March 3, 2009 by 7aki Fadi

… to wish myself a happy birthday on my blog!!!

SO:

Happy birthday to me
Happy birthday to me
Happy birthday to 7akiiiiiiii
Happy birthday to meeeeeeee

So baba 7aki got me wicked and I mean WICKED presentSSSSSSS ( stress on the s, hahahaha)

And my birthday was yesterday.

I am 33 years old. YIKES! How did the years fly like that people??? Like, seriously, I don’t understand how I am 33. And I hate odd numbers , they are kind of creepy don’t you think?

And I want the summer to come already, I am freezing my ass here. 25 BELOW zero today, WHY? What purpose does -25 serve, seriously.

OK so I was at the library last week, I am at the library a lot these days, at least once a week and sometimes twice a week and I saw Oprah’s 20th anniversary collection (6 DVD’s) so I borrowed it. And what a fucking bummer those DVD’s were. I wanted to sob while watching half of them.

Like what the hell man, there is crying by people and Oprah in half of the 6 DVD’s. And I am hormonal and a bit sleep deprived.

But they were good, really good, I never realized Oprah was sooo amazing, I always thought she was boring and OMG wanted her to get laid already, hehehehe, but she moved me. And you have to watch this collection.

If I am to take away anything from this collection it would be the one thing that struck me the most and stayed with me. It is the simple act of how you greet or look at your child. Always have a smile on your face when you look at your kid because at a young age children only see a happy loving face or a critical face which gets them to thinking” What did I do wrong now?” or ” My parents don’t love me”, which will cause them to have so much self doubt resulting in low self esteem.

But there is soooo much more, interviews with Nelson Mandela, which was amazing because his talk and resistance of apartheid reminded me of our peoples plight. Also Sidney Poitier who is such an inspiration and many more people.

I have to say, her 20 year collection is very inspiring. I never thought I would say that about Oprah but I kinda like her after watching this.

So if I had a dinner party and I could invite 4 people dead or alive I want to invite:

- Oprah, cos she is an icon and she likes to read just like me so it would be interesting to talk to her.
- King Husain. I heard he liked fried tomatoes ( gallayet bandora). He is such a charismatic person and was such a legend.
- Jon Stewart. He is soooooooooooo funny you gotta love him.
- Gerard Butler, because he’s hot. And every dinner table NEEDS hotness. LOOOOOOOL.

Who would you invite?

Filed under: Entertainment, Movie, Movie Review, non fiction, ramble, random, Rant | 18 Comments »

STUFF TO STEAL

Posted on August 15, 2008 by 7aki Fadi

I stole this meme from “Life: The Ongoing Education“

I am: Super excited about having the baby but at the same time terrified of how busy it will be, the pain of breastfeeding, not sleeping and not having enough time for my little 7aki and baba 7aki or most importantly myself.
I think: I will be OK.
I know: That next year will be one of the best years of my life although taking care of a baby is not that easy I am happy that I don’t have to study or work or do anything of that sort for a whole year, been studying and working ALL MY LIFE.
I have: So many things to do in the next month it’s not even funny, biddi mamaaaaa.. waaaaaaaaaa333333333.
I wish: I had all my family and friends here living in Canada. I always miss them so much. And I wish I had a Dad in my life now and in the past.
I hate: How lazy I am sometimes. And I hate Braxton Hicks HATE THEM. And I hate how the days are so short and I hate…OK I’ll stop. I hate a lot. LOL.
I miss: Being active. Rollerblading, biking, camping and being free of all responsibilities.
I fear: The loss of loved ones. It terrifies me.
I hear: The birds reall early in the morning. the silence of really late at night and the clicking of keyboards and the thunder, oh the thunder, will it stop EFFING raining this summer. Grrrrrrrrr.
I smell: The smell of bookstores. It is my favorite smell in the world. And also the smell of Jasmine
I crave: Stuffed grape leaves and Mansaf.
I search: For something that I am missing but I don’t know what it is. I am always searching for soemthing. I also search for my car keys because I have pregnancy brain and I can’t focus to save my life.
I wonder: About my future a lot.
I regret: Nothing.
I love: The people in my life. My Husband and daughter especially.
I ache: EVERYWHERE. IS THIS baby ever gonna come out OR WHAT!!!!
I am not: Religiuos.
I believe: That good things happen to good people.
I dance: Rarely.
I sing: A lot, especially in the shower.
I cry: When I am sick. I do , I am such a baby when I am sick.
I fight: For my rights with tooth and nail. Nobody is going to rob me of my rights without a fight. Luckily,  it happens rarely that I need to fight. Right now I am fighting the urge to fall asleep, had a huge lunch… YAWN.
I win: In poker all the time although I can’t play that well. I think my bluffing skills are superior.
I lose: Weight when I am stressed.
I never: Want to experience being poor ever again.
I always: Carry a good amount of cash in my wallet you never know when you need it.
I confuse: Peoples names all the time. Pregnancy brain or not I am sooo bad with names that I don’t know how people still like me.
I listen: Really well and I remember everything I was told. Be carefull what you tell me. I retain weird stuff in my memmory. Except for names bizare but yeah.
I can usually be found: At home.
I am scared: Of the dark inside the house but does not bother me one bit outside. Well I am really not scared of the dark itself, I am scared of that person hiding in the dark waiting for me to sleep.
I need: Some alone time every once in a while.
I am happy about: My life in general. I am just bored a little.
I imagine: My future all the time. Right now I am imagining how Sept 2nd is going to be. I can’t wait for Sept 2nd.

So go on ahead. Do this meme. It’s actually fun.

Filed under: 7aki revealed, biddi mama, family, less-than-nothing, life, me me me, non fiction, ramble, random, Tag | 10 Comments »

A Dose of Philosophy: Sophie’s World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy

Posted on June 19, 2008 by 7aki Fadi

I just finished reading Sophie’s World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy by Jostein Gaarder.

This book is sooooo insightful and so amazing it will blow your mind away.

It’s like Philosophy for dummies, gives you the ideas behind each school of thought and explains it quite well.

It’s starts with the Garden of Eden, the natural philosophers, Fate, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and keeps going until it reaches Marx , Darwin, Freud and finally ending with the big bang.

What I loved about the book is that it tells philosophy in novel format, mixing the story of a 14 year old, Sophie, who starts receiving mysterious letters in the mail asking her very hard questions like: What is Philosophy? Who are you? And Where does the world come from?

The sender of these letters is an old man called Alberto Knox. With his letters Alberto and Sophie start exploring the intriguing world of Philosophy.

This Novel is fantasy colliding with reality where you are forced to think about Religion, Science the Universe , God and way more important things than what you usually think about, unless of course, you are a philosopher.

A page turner, didn’t want to put it down. Might be difficult in some spots but definitely an extraordinary book to read.

I rarely read a book twice but I will definitely read this one again because its going on the list of my favorite books of all time. It even might be number one.

Go read it. Especially you Observer, you would really love it.

Currently Reading: Notes From the Underground by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Next in line: The Lucifer Effect: Understanding how good people turn Evil by Philip Zimbardo.

For more reviews click here

Filed under: Book, Book Review, Books, fiction, Good read, non fiction, Philosophy, religion, thinking, Thought Provoking | 10 Comments »

A Dose of Inspiration: Three Cups of Tea

Posted on June 3, 2008 by 7aki Fadi

How do I begin with this one?

Today I just finished reading Three cups of tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin and it was the most inspiring REAL story I have ever read about a man educating the girls and boys of Pakistan and Afghanistan one village at a time.

Greg Mortenson dreamt of climbing Pakistan’s K2, the second highest peak in the world. He failed his mission but while he was recuperating from his failure in a small village called Khorphe, he saw a number of boys and girls sitting by themselves in a field studying, with no teacher, no classroom , no books. Just holding sticks and using them to write on the dusty ground. He was amazed how hungry they were to learn and how they had the energy and will to do it by themselves.

After seeing that he vowed to Khorphe’s wise leader Haji Ali that he is going to come back and build them a school no matter what it took.

This school was the first of over two hundred schools to come. Other than building schools his organization also is teaching refugees in camps, sponsoring and expanding already crumbling existing public schools and building women centers all over Pakistan and Afghanistan when the whole world turned their back on those poor people.

A man who fights the Taliban, poverty, ignorance , extremism and seeks peace through books not bombs.

This man deserves a Nobel Prize. He has so much drive! And to see an American Christian care for the poor Muslim boys and especially girls of Afghanistan and Pakistan more than any other person or organization EVER did wins him the utmost respect from me and all the people who have worked with him or have spoken to him.

A very inspiring book. A MUST MUST MUST read.

To read more about Greg and to see some amazing pictures visit his blog .

To donate and learn more about his organization visit www.ikat.org .

Currently Reading: The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil By Philip Zimbardo

Filed under: Book, Book Review, Books, Check these out, Freedom, Good read, human rights, non fiction | 6 Comments »

Too Much Information

Posted on March 28, 2008 by 7aki Fadi

I stole this from Dave who stole it from Roba I am super bored and have nothing to do so how better to entertain myself than to talk about myself.

1. How old will you be in five years?
37 Holy crap I am old.

2. Who did you spend at least two hours with today?
no one

3. How tall are you?
5′8″ or 173 cm.

4. What do you look forward to most in the next six weeks?
Gosh, I don’t know. To get over the throwing up.

5. What’s the last movie you saw?
Horton Hears a who with my little one.

6. Who was the last person you called?
A co-worker, yeah I am at work, shoot me.

7. Who was the last person to call you?
That same co-worker.

8. What was the last text message you received?
A message from hubs that goes like this: “I love you Albi. Have a great day :) ” Awwwwwwwwww.

9. Who was the last person to leave you a voicemail?
hmmm, I can’t remember. I think it was my husband, his hobby is leaving messages. LOL.

10. Do you prefer to call or text?
Text.

11. What were you doing at _AM last night?
Don’t get the question.

12. Are your parents married/separated/divorced?
Divorced and my dad passed away.

13. When is the last time you saw your mom?
3 years ago, waaaaaaaaaa33333. Biddi Mama it is NOT FAIR.

14. What color are your eyes?
Green and Hazel

15. What time did you wake up today?
6:30 am 8O . Shoot me please

16. What are you wearing right now?
Jeans. Black turtle neck. And black boots.

17. What is your favourite Christmas song?
Check this.

18. Where is your favourite place to be?
Near a body of water.

19. Where is your least favourite place to be?
Work, haven’t you guessed it yet?

20. Where would you go if you could go anywhere?
Spain is where I want to be today.

21. Where do you think you’ll be in 10 years?
Wow. Donno dudes I mean that is too far from now. I hope I will be on vacation in 10 years from now. HAHAHAHA

22. Do you tan or burn?
Tan.

23. What did you fear was going to get you at night as a child?
The chick from the exorcist. Like are my parents nuts to let me watch it??? I used to be afraid to go to my room when it’s dark because I was worried she’d be tied to my bed.
A little secret: she still scares the crap out of me.

I am also afraid of ghosts

24. What was the last thing that really made you laugh?
Check this.

25. How many TVs do you have in your house?
Three. One on each floor. OH THE SHAME.

26. How big is your bed?
King size.

27. Do you have a laptop or desktop computer?
Both.

28. Do you sleep with or without clothes on?
What kind of question is that, ya pervert? (just gonna leave Dave’s answer here, very fitting)

29. What color are your sheets?
Off white.

30. How many pillows do you sleep with?
One.

31. What is your favourite season?
The summer

32. What do you like about Fall?
The trees here in Canada look soooooooooo amazing, red , orange , yellow, gorgeous.

33. What do you like about Winter?
Hmmmmm, OK this is the WORST time to ask me what I like about winter because this winter SUCKED ASS and it is too long so at this moment I HATE IT. Come ask me in August I might have a better answer

34. What do you like about the Summer?
Everything.

35. What do you like about Spring?
Everything is so crisp.

36. How many states/provinces have you lived in?
1

37. What cities/towns have you lived in?
Benghazi – Libya,
Amman- Jordan,
Toronto- Ontario – Canada,
Burlington – Ontario- Canada.

38. Do you prefer shoes, socks, or bare feet?
Bare feet.

39. Are you a social person?
Most of the time.

40. What was the last thing you ate?
Pretzels. I am hungry, I am going for Sushi for lunch today :D .

41. What is your favourite restaurant?
The Keg.
Asian Legend.

42. What is your favourite ice cream?
Not a big fan of ice cream but I like pralines and cream and I like plain old vanilla.

43. What is your favourite dessert?
Apple pie a la mode. Apple crumble a la mode … you get the picture

44. What is your favourite kind of soup?
Lentil.

45. What kind of jelly do you like on your PB & J sandwich?
Strawberry.

46. Do you like Chinese food?
Yes.

47. Do you like coffee?
Yes but not at the moment .

48. How many glasses of water, a day, do you drink on average?
Two or three.

49. What do you drink in the morning?
Hmmm, OK coffee normally but now I drink water cos I can’t drink coffee :( .

50. Do you sleep on a certain side of the bed?
Left side.

51. Do you know how to play poker?
Yes.

52. Do you like to cuddle?
Who doesn’t??

53. Have you ever been to Canada?
Yes.

54. Do you have an addictive personality?
Depends on the subject matter. But as a rule, no.

55. Do you eat out or at home more often?
50/50.

56. Do you know anyone with the same birthday as you?
Nope.

57. Do you want kids?
I already have one and another one is on the way.

58. Do you speak any other languages?
Only Arabic and English. I am language chalanged, I took French when I was younger and I SUCKED at it.

59. Have you ever gotten stitches?
Yes.

60. Have you ever ridden in an ambulance?
Yes. For someone else though not for me.

61. Do you prefer an ocean or a pool?
It depends on the activity, I like to swim and lounge at the pool and I like to go diving in the sea/ocean so I love them both.

62. Do you prefer a window seat or an aisle seat?
Window.

63. Do you know how to drive stick?
No thank you.

64. What is your favourite thing to spend money on?
OMG , I like to spend money on everything.

65. Do you wear any jewellery?
Yes.

66. What is your favourite TV show?
Heroes, House MD , Dexter and some reality shows I am embarrassed to name, I am only human people!!!

67. Can you roll your tongue?
Yes.

68. Who is the funniest person you know?
Me. HAHAHAHAHAHA.
OH OH Rambling Hal is pretty funny man, most probably her.

69. Do you sleep with stuffed animals?
NO. Like what is this stupid question. But I know someone who does, HAHAHAHA. And someone: you know who you are.

70. What is the main ring tone on your phone?
As if you are gonna be able to tell, this question sucks.

71. Do you still have clothes from when you were little?
Nope. But my mom saved the clip they clipped my umbilical cord with , ewwwwwww. HAHAHAHA.

72. What red object is closest to you right now?
A Stewie figure from family guy on my desk.

73. Do you turn off the water while you brush your teeth?
Not in Canada, there’s lots of water, WOOOOOOOHOOOOOOO.

74. Do you sleep with your closet door open or closed?
Don’t notice cause we have a walk in closet with a real door, but if it was a dresser it would be closed.

75. Would you rather be attacked by a big bear or a swarm of bees?
Bear. Bees scare me.

76. Do you flirt a lot?
Nope. I am surrounded by ugly people, HAHAHAHAHAHA
(Except for Bob and William of course, you guys are SMOKIN’) hehehehe.

77. What do you dip a chicken nugget in?
Honey mustard.

78. What is your favourite food?
Arabic food.

79. Can you change the oil on a car?
If I had to do it I bethca I would figure it out. I’m pretty handy.

80. Have you ever gotten a speeding ticket?
No. ( nock on wood, knock on wood, nobody jinx me, knock on wood).

81. Have you ever run out of gas?
Nope, what do you think I’m stupid or something???

82. What is your usual bedtime?
Between 10 and 11:30 PM.

83. What was the last book you read?
The time travelers wife, currently reading little women.

84. Do you read the newspaper?
Sometimes if I don’t have a book handy.

85. Do you have any magazine subscriptions?
Yes. Adbusters.

86. Do you watch soap operas?
No no and no.

87. Do you dance in the car?
Like who is the genius who wrote these Q’s? No I don’t dance in the car because it’s humanly impossible.

88. Who is in the picture frame closest to you?
My beautiful little 7aki.

89. What was the last note you scribbled on a piece of paper?
A phone number.

90. What is your favourite candle scent?
Fresh apple.

91. What is your favourite board game?
I love scrabble.

92. When was the last time you attended church?
Never.

93. Who was your favourite teacher in high school?
Ms Nadia.

94. What is the longest you have ever camped out in a tent?
Oh man let me try and remember, 2 weeks?

95. Who was the last person to do something extra special for you?
My hubs most probably, he’s THE BEST.

Oh man that is A LOT of questions.
So do you guys DARE to answer it????

Filed under: 7aki revealed, less-than-nothing, life, me me me, Mindless Crap, non fiction, quiz | 21 Comments »

Run 7aki, Ruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun

Posted on January 22, 2008 by 7aki Fadi

I have a family that is crazy  I tell ya!

But nothing prepared me for what was about to happen. Even the monkey slap was better.

Here’s how it happened:

Once upon a time 7aki aka me was little.

Mama 7aki left “little 7aki senior” at a park.

The end.

I will never forget that day.

My family and 10 other families were at a picnic in Debeen. I Was playing somewhere and I was pretty occupied with whatever a little person gets occupied with. But something felt funny. All of a sudden I didn’t see any faces I recognized. No Mom, no Grandma , no brother, no annoying Grandmas friends, nobody.

I turn to head for the bus we came in and all I saw was the bus driving away leaving a trail of dust behind.

So I started running after the bus. In full speed. RUNNING like my life depended on it.

My life flashed in front of my eyes.

And as I was running I was thinking, “What’s our home phone number again?” and “Where do we live exactly?” and “My family are MOFOS” (Well maybe not MOFOS, Most probably I said “you poopy heads”, I acquired MOFOS later in life but it is sooo fitting here)

But then apparently my mom was like:

“Hey, where’s my flesh and blood?”

No answer

Panic ensues.

Someone sees me running after the bus which was quite far now.

The bus finally stops.

I stop running relieved that someone finally acknowledged my existence.

How could this possibly get any worse?

The bus didn’t come back to get me. I had to run all the way to the bus to board it. Talk about rubbing salt on the wounds!

Why didn’t you come back and get me you MEAN bus driver???

I was scarred for life.

I think it was a sign of things to come

Moral of the story: Learn how to run fast from an early age, you never know when it comes in handy.

Filed under: Childhood Memories, dysfunction, family, inhumane, life, me me me, Mothering, non fiction | 27 Comments »

A Dose of Hilarity: I Am America (And So Can You)

Posted on November 22, 2007 by 7aki Fadi

Prepare to piss your pants laughing.

This book is sooooo funny I was chuckling on the train and people thought I was loco.

In I am America (And so can you) Stephen Colbert tackles all the taboo and un-taboo(is that a word?) subjects. Here’s a sampling of his insightful opinions:

On raising a family:

Childrearing is arguably the most important of my core values. I believe in it, I practice it , and I ceaselessly promote it to my friends and followers. That said, generally speaking, I’m against children.

What’s the matter? Did I shake you up?

See, I am not against the conception of children; like i said, they’re the only permissible reason for intercourse. And I am not against pregnancy- in fact, if you ask me, there’s nothing more beautiful than a third-trimester mother-to-be in full maternity regalia. Maybe it’s the elastic, I don’t know. But the effect is stunning.

No, my problem is the children themselves. They may be cute , but they are here to replace us. Need proof? Ever catch one walking around in your shoes? That’s a chilling moment, like finding an empty body snatcher pod in the basement.

On religion:

So he pretty much made fun of all religions, he said “Buddhist’s should not just sit there meditating in their gardens, pick a side tubby”. He called Agnostics “Atheists without balls” and said “Hindu’s have the best commercial religion because they would produce the coolest stuffed toys,why with all the animal Gods and such. Imagine having a stuffed Jesus on a cross?” So I was dying to see how he’s gonna make fun of Islam so he says:

Islam is a great and true religion revealed in the Holy Koran which was dictated by the angel Gabriel to the final prophet Mohammed Blessing and Peace Be Upon Him

And that’s it. HAHAHAHAHHA, it’s HILARIOUS. Did you get it? Colbert is a genius.

(update/clarification: He didn’t make fun of Islam and he used the wordings the Muslims would describe Islam with because he is scared from the Muslims outcry (not really , he is just being sarcastic and showing that Muslims are the only ones who don’t allow anybody to make fun of their religion). That’s why it’s hilarious)

On homosexuality:

He says:

I am a gay American. And I couldn’t be gayer now that the gays are on the run.Of course, I am using “gay” the way our finding father intended, to mean “Happy,” before it was stolen from them by the gays.

Nation, we’re at war. And we can’t let the gays gain any more ground on our American language. Which is why we’re going to start taking their words. First word we reclaim? “Homosexual” . From now on , it’s going to mean what it always should have:heterosexual. Think about it. “Homo” means “the same.” And we’re all born with the same sexual orientation-straight. Ask any baby. (Girl babies, drop that teat)

LOL

 And much much much more.

For those who don’t like to read, there’s a lot of pictures in the book, a fun zone at the end of  every chapter with a quiz and a game, lots of hilarious illustrations, and last but not least there are stickers in the book.Yup, you read it right, stickers to mark your favorite parts of the book and to award other books the Stephen Colbert readers choice award.

Currently reading: A Thousand Splended Suns by Khaled Hosseini

More books

Filed under: Book, Book Review, Books, Funny, Good read, Hilarious, humor, non fiction | 21 Comments »

A dose of 7aki mish fadi : Culture Jam

Posted on November 10, 2007 by 7aki Fadi

I just finished reading the book Culture Jam: How to reverse Americas suicidal consumer binge – and why we must by Kalle Lasn.

This book starts with the promise that we can change the world.

What a a great eye opener, makes you really re-assess a lot of things in your life, re-assess  your habits of just consuming blindly. I really can’t give it enough credit with a review so I am just going to leave you with a short excerpt.

Mood Disorders

Imagine that you are a member of a typical postmodern family, living in a typical house, in a typical neighborhood, in a typical North American city. You’re over-leveraged and overworked. You eat a lot of takeout, your kids holler for Nike’s and the TV is on five hours a day. One day it dawns on you that , as a family, you’re failing. You aren’t so much a family as five strangers sharing power and water.

You decide, as a tonic, to go on a camping trip – a pit latrine and flame cooked wieners experience uncorrupted by phones, faxes or Bay watch. In the absence of electronic distractions, you will get to know each other again.

After only a few hours in the wilderness, though, it becomes clear that you don’t know how to do this. you might as well have been shot into deep space, so psychologically ill-equipped are you for the enforced camaraderie of the outside world.

Your kids experience actual physical withdrawal from television. Your seven year old can’t finish a whole sentence or stay focused on more than three bites of her beans. She wears the village of the damned expression and asks you to repeat almost everything you say.

Your 14 year old finishes his meal in silence and excuses himself to the tent, where he scavenges for magazines and, finding none, just conks out. There are no signs of life. The kids’ senses have become so deadened from disuse they can’t touch taste, smell or see that they are in a marvelous place. To them it doesn’t feel marvelous. It doesn’t feel like anything at all

Most of is are now fully detached from the natural world. We can barely remember the last time we drank from a stream, smelled wild skunk cabbage or saw the stars from a dark remove, well away from the city. We can’t remember when we last spent an evening telling stories, instead of having Jerry or Oprah or Rosie tell stories to us. We can’t identify three kinds of tree, but we know how much Mike Tyson received for his last fight. We can’t explain why the sky is blue, but we know how many times Susan Lucci has been passed over for a daytime Emmy Award.

As you might notice the people and events referenced in the book are kind of old since it was first published in 2000 but it is a must read book, I really think you need to read it, what an eye opener or more of a reminder really of what we are doing to ourselves and kids in this consumer society.

Currently reading : Brave New World by Aldous Huxley 
More Books

Filed under: Book, Book Review, Books, Good read, non fiction | 15 Comments »

A dose of 7aki mish fadi: In Search of Fatima

Posted on October 24, 2007 by 7aki Fadi

I recently finished reading the book In Search of Fatima by Ghada karmi .

I was not exiled from Palestine so I can’t begin to imagine how life would have been if I was but this book made me experience it , feel it and relate to it on many different levels and kind of appreciate what my grandparents had gone through to a certain extent when they were forced to leave Palestine.

You go on a journey with Ghada from 1949 when she was 8 years old and escaped the Israelis daily attacks on their Jerusalem neighborhood by going to London with her family, to her rejecting her Arab-ism and her Palestinian identity and adopting the English life style and thoughts, to her going back to her roots and realizing who she was and her fighting for the Palestinian cause.

The thing that struck a cord with me and I relate to the most is her struggle to belong.

Since living in Canada for 7 years I don’t feel 100% Canadian and I don’t feel 100% Arab or Palestinian or Jordanian . I find myself stuck in between sometimes confused or struggling to who I want to belong to, what to adopt and what to leave behind.

Living abroad does add a lot to you from your thoughts, how you see things , how you interpret things to your daily life. People who hadn’t experienced living abroad always have difficulty understanding how it changes a person.

I no longer fully belong here or there.

In Canada I am not Canadian I am Arab and in Jordan I am no longer 100% Jordanian since in the eyes of the people I am forever changed. The one who is now westernized and who is adopting western ideas and western values.

Mind you, I am still the same person I was,  the  difference now being is I am no longer shy to voice my thoughts , the same thoughts I had in Jordan that I always repressed and kept private so not to offend anyone be it about religion , sex or politics. 

That’s why I think blogs are a great blessing to people living in Jordan or any other conservative country for that matter since it provides an outlet for people to dump all the thoughts that are not acceptable to society.

But I digress….

“In Search of Fatima” makes you feel with Ghada’s struggle in finding an identity, a culture and a place to call home.

Great read!

Filed under: 7aki mish fadi, biography, Book, Book Review, Books, Good read, non fiction, Palestine | 15 Comments »

A dose of 7aki mish fadi : Infidel

Posted on October 11, 2007 by 7aki Fadi

I just finished reading the book Infidel By Ayan Hirsi Ali 

This book chronicles Ayans life and gives you a glimpse in the life of some African Muslim women in Somalia, Ethiopia , Kenya and some immigrants in Holland, an eye opener to how Islam is learnt and practiced in some countries.

I don’t know what to think about this book or about the Author, in one way you sympathise with her and her cause (She is trying to stop violence and abuse against Muslim women in particular) which I agree with 100% because she was abused by her mother, circumcised (or excised) when she was 5 years old by her Grandmother and she was forced to marry a man she did not want to marry. She describes all these things with harrowing details, I never knew some of these things happened and it is heart breaking.

On the other hand I feel that she is spreading a message of hate in the west against Muslims. She is trying to educate non Muslims specifically Western Europeans and Americans to how Islam is not the religion of peace and how it spreads violence, westerners try and argue with her that all religions promote violence in a way or another like in the bible and the old testament ,to that she responds that Muslims are being allowed to do it and incorporate it in the law and they are not held accountable for some actions that are permitted in the Quran, she continues to say that it’s not only the fanatics but it is also the moderates since they do not try to stop the fanatics and they don’t condemn them.

She likes to provoke people with what she says about Islam. In my opinion by doing this she alienates the Moderate Muslims. If she was less provocative in her language I think she would have been more effective in getting her message across and she would have definitely won some of her arguments and more of the moderate Muslims.

Although I don’t like how she singles out Islam and spreads a message of hate in the west that tarnishes the image of moderate Muslims who are harmed the most by this I still think it is a good read which exposes some really bad practices in some Muslim societies against women.

Some people claim she is an opportunist and a liar and some see her as a hero, I will leave it for you to decide.

Warning: Her views might be very offensive to some.

Filed under: 7aki mish fadi, Book, Book Review, Books, freedom of speech, Good read, non fiction, religion | 26 Comments »

  • This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.5 Canada License.

    This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.5 Canada License.

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