One more thing to check off..

Well Guys.. I can check off one more thing from my "to-do before I die" list and that's being kicked out by a Minister from a foreign country!! Woo hoo..

Ok so here's the deal.. check out the news item published on
TUESDAY, 22nd APRIL 2008.. lol..


Our sister paper snubbed

"MANAMA: Iraq's Foreign Affairs Minister Hoshiyar Zebari yesterday expelled our sister paper Akhbar Al Khaleej's reporter from a Press conference at the Ritz-Carlton Bahrain Hotel and Spa. He gave instructions to Iraq Embassy Plenipotentiary Minister Ahmed Shafeeq Al Agha to bar Abdulla Al Mannai from a round-table Press gathering, on the sidelines of the conference.
He also levelled insults at the newspaper's Editor-in-Chief Anwar Abdulrahman and Deputy Editor for Foreign Affairs Sayyed Zahra.
When asked for reasons for such a hostile attitude, the plenipotentiary minister told AK's reporter: "We refuse to deal with people like you! We don't mean you in person, but Anwar Abdulrahman and Sayyed Zahra".
"Foreign Affairs Minister Hoshiyar Zebari himself wants this message to reach Anwar Abdulrahman", the minister told the reporter, even handing him his business card.
When the reporter was preparing to leave, the minister kissed him, saying: "We don't deal with people like radicals Anwar Abdulrahman and Sayyed Zahra who are both hostile to Iraq".
Abdulla was even denied transport. He had earlier travelled to the Press conference venue in an Iraq Embassy car.
Akhbar Al Khaleej has published many editorials denouncing the invasion of Iraq as a disaster. "

Yes, it was my moment to shine.. this was followed by 3 days of streams of denounciations from multiple bodies, and I wrote a 1500 word column about it. It was basically the talk of the town!

Parliament – Helmets and Pads Not Included

A good friend of mine told me once a long time ago that she doesn’t understand why people call for cultural tolerance since the word tolerance inherently means keeping people at an arm’s length, when we should be calling for cultural understanding. Now change cultural to sectarian in that sentence, and apply it to our Parliament, and I would be happy with simple appeasement and civility.

Today, I attended my first session of the Bahraini Parliament, and although I expected a fight since there was a major issue on the table which certain parties in parliament and admittedly their puppet masters, the government, did not want to be addressed, I did not expect there to be a serge of sectarian tensions and sectarian remarks strewn across the floor. I’m not taking sides in this issue, yet, but I have to say that the lack of ability to compromise and the lack of knowledge of the political game at hand and in some cases the fundamentalist views of certain members from “both sides of the aisle” is causing this parliament to do more harm than good. It seems to me that our great MPs, all of them, have lost track of what’s important, the people.

How they hell do you get a racially charged parliament to pass secular laws that benefit the whole population, and if this continues, this will definitely spill onto the streets and then what? Mayhem again? Back to the days of the mid 90’s when Bahrain was on the verge of a civil war or even worse a coup d'état? I have said, and I still say that this is healthy, Parliament has to bring these sectarian issues to the surface so that people can start having dialogue which leads to understanding and at the least tolerance.

However there is one crucial element missing. You see, In any work place you will always find a clown, a trouble maker, a hero, a simple person who doesn’t care much about anything, a conciliatory person, and a leader. In our parliament (the workplace of our great MPs), though, there seems to be an over abundance of wanna be heroes and clowns, and no leader what so ever for MPs to look up to.

Today the session got to a point where I feared that it would turn physical like it did once before, and even though I don’t think that this issue will resolve itself soon, I do believe that if a solution is not found to the core issues facing parliament, then becoming a Bahraini MP will be like participating in an extreme sport, helmets and pads not included.

Rest In Peace - Katherine

"It is with great regret and sorrow that I announce the passing of Katherine T. Suslak, beloved wife of Andrew J. Suslak, at the age of 27 after a long and courageous battle with cancer. Katherine passed away on Feb. 8th at home surrounded by family and friends. She will be dearly missed as a loving caring strong woman, who lived her life to the fullest. A celebration of her life was held Feb. the 17th. "

Katherine's Obituary

The email that I sent out to my close friends and those who knew or heard of Katherine when I heard of her passing was something along those lines. I find myself thinking of her frequently these past few days, especially the moments I spent with her and Andrew in the hospital and again at home during my visits to Boston. I will never forget the 3 days that I had to really get to know her while she was at the hospital. I remember her telling Andrew one thing: "I don't want you to say just the good stuff about me at the memorial ceremony after I'm gone, make sure to have people say it all."

The only problem is I cannot find one bad thing to say about her except that she was so stubborn and hard headed, but even that was part of her charm, and probably was the reason why she was able to take her illness and everything else happening around her with such confidence and strength, and is probably the reason why she survived for so long. She passed away less than 3 months after her wedding, but I'm sure that those were the happiest days of her life.

I miss her, as I'm sure everyone else who knew her does. Rest in peace Katherine, there simply aren't too many people around like you these days.

Worries and Dreams

I read this quote once: "Our main business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance but to do what lies clearly at hand."

So, after finally being able to walk thanks to a couple of "well placed" shots (sitting is another matter though :P), I can resume my regular posts.

However, building on the quote, there's one thing about me that I have absolutely despised for a long time, and that is I worry and I dream. Now don't get me wrong, both of these things are important.. in moderation. You see, I have always claimed that I do not worry about anything, and that I let the past be the past and live in the moment, but in reality I'm the ultimate worrier and dreamer. I worry about my future, I worry about my friends, I worry about my workplace, I worry about people that I don't know, heck, once I worried about my neighbor's cat because it was out for too long!

And the dreaming part, well, that's even worse! Before I even start most things, I've already dreamt up the outcome, the glory and the success. So, before I make a deal, I've already dreamt up how much money I'm going to make off of it, and debated with myself how I'm going to spend the money, and what kind of new investments I'm going to get into, and probably how much those investments are going to make me. And right after I spent 5 min. with a girl that I like I've probably already dreamt up the wedding night, honeymoon, how many kids we'll have (maybe even named them), our house, and what arguments would lead to a divorce. This happened without fail, every.. single.. time.. with the exception of once, where even though I wanted it to work out the most, I "knew" logically that it wouldn't. Of course they didn't know this, actually, no one knew this till now...

EXHAUSTING!! I mean, between worrying and dreaming, I almost have no time to live. Who cares if the cat got hit by a car? It's its owners' fault for letting it out. Who cares if this 15 yr old girl is "experimenting" with boys? The worst that could happen is she gets pregnant and it's her parents' damn fault anyway. My friends are all adults, and they can take care of themselves. And if she agrees to move here and marry me, then I'd be the happiest man alive, but If she doesn't, then I might as well make lemonade with the lemons I have.

So I decided on the following:

What good is it going to do anyone if I worry or dream? All that I can do is give advice, help, and love unconditionally. If they don't want to listen it's their own fault, and I might be wrong anyway. I will help if asked and help in the most intrusive way possible if not asked to help. This is not because I know best and they might not even need the help, heck I can't even get my own life straight, but because, even though I'm not going to be an obsessives worrier, I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I found out later that I was able to help, and didn't.

As for the dreaming, every time I dream about the end before it even begins, I will remind myself that I probably should've been on my private jet right now heading to China to seal a multi-million dollar deal, and instead I'm sitting on my computer writing this. And maybe, just maybe, if I had spent less time dreaming and more time working, I'd actually be on that plane.

OUCH!!

This is my diary entry from yesterday:

"OWWW.. stupid gout. This transformation thing is not going to work without a full (health) makeover. OWWWW!! I think I’m taking the day off tomorrow!!!!"

For those of you who do not know what gout is I present this:

"gout - [gout] – noun 1. an acute, recurrent disease characterized by painful inflammation of the joints, chiefly those in the feet and hands, and esp. in the great toe, and by an excess of uric acid in the blood."

Yes, yes I couldn't move and forget about sleeping. My gout was so bad I wasn't sure that I wanted my foot anymore. So I hopped my way to the car, got in and drove myself to the hospital (for those that were wondering it was my left foot that was hurting), got a needle in the ass, and now I'm much better. Anyway, I looked like a complete fool, in my Stewey PJs and Homer "slippers". Pain can be a big wake-up call, so I decided that enough is enough and I have to take better care of my health. Here's a picture of myself in my "hospital outfit"... It was just too funny.. I had to share!

On The Turning Away

There are two concepts in life which you will find hold true in most cases:

1.) People always want more.

2.) People always want more for themselves.

Most people forgot the act of giving for the sake of giving. I'm not talking about money either. Most people who give, give out of a sense of guilt, sadness, anger or a range of other emotions. Most give money to the homeless so they can feel better about themselves, they give time to charity A or B because they have nothing better to do, or because they were too embarrassed to say no to the person who approached them. In reality though, even though those are good deeds, they take away from the emotion of true giving. How many people do you know really go out of their way to help people?

On the Turning Away is a song by Pink Floyd and the other is by Pink. (It's a coincidence it's not a pink theme!)


On the Turning Away





Dear Mr. President by Pink. If you ignore the personal attack on Bush, which, even though I don't like him, I do not condone, it's a song for everyone.

Money Comes and Goes, Friends are Forever

You see, I came to realize one simple concept after everything I’ve been through. That is that money comes and goes, but friends are forever. Now bear with me, this is not just a cliché that I copied off of some corny calendar, but I really did realize that it doesn’t matter how long it’s been or where life has led you, a true friend will be there for you without hesitation. I mean, I realized that a true friend is a person who gives without being asked, who can be trusted without fear, and who loves and cares for you unconditionally. A true friend is also someone who tells you when you’ve strayed, puts up with you while you’re mad at them for telling you that you’ve strayed, and then helps you up when you’ve stumbled. Otherwise, what are friends for? My biggest realization, though, is that I have the best friends a man can ask for.

I have some great friends in Bahrain who helped me through this, but those I can thank in my own way at any time, and many others elsewhere who I'm sure would've helped if they knew what was going on. However, for my friends who I met up with on my last trip to Canada and the US, I dedicate this to them, and I will thank each one of them personally. I have to say though that I couldn’t meet up with all of them during this trip, because of time restrictions (yes even though it was a 40 day trip), but these are the people who I was able to meet.

My friends.. (In order of meeting them during the trip)

Amira: Even though you do pick on me a lot, and I admittedly yell and pick on your right back, I always feel like a leech when you're around, you're just too good a friend, so thank you. I never thought that you would ever see the inside of a kitchen, but I’m actually awed with your cooking. So, I hope you’re enjoying your new job as a house maid.. or was it house wife now.. haha.. oh well! (Disclaimer: I’m not a “male chauvinist pig”.. it’s a joke!!)

Nicole: Woo hoo birthday party!! You rock! Sometimes I think that you’re the Energizer Bunny on “e”, but don’t worry I won’t hold that against you. Thank you for the phone, a place to stay and yummy food, and thank you for participating in Manuela’s search party when I was gone for too long without phoning in.. haha. Also, thanks for taking me to the human rights meeting and for sharing with me your project to help the elementary school in Jamaica (which I will post on my blog once you’ve finalized the plan). You, without fail, always make me smile. You’re the bestest ESL teacher in the world!

Manuela (A.K.A. my little baby sister): Thanks for coming with me to California. It was quite a treat. I wonder if you’ll have the time to sit on beach with me and hear me whine and gripe after you’re married though, who's the best listener ever? You are :P. Congrats on the proposal, and of course I’m coming to the wedding. Oh, and thanks for launching a search party and almost calling the cops when I was gone for THREE days without calling you.. haha. (Unnecessary, but cute none-the-less.) And always remember back seat driving is ANNOYING!

Steph: I’m happy that you were able to come with me to Florida. You know it's quite surprising, I still don't care where I'm going when you're around, I guess It's because It’s exactly where I want to be, maybe that's why I get lost so often when you’re around... or is it because I just suck at directions.. naaah I'll stick with the first one, it's easier than admitting that I suck at directions, haha (Men!!).

Andrew and Katherine: You two are an inspiration to say the least. Andrew you’ve bailed me out so many times while we were in Canada, but what you and Katherine have given me during this trip is so much more. Thank you for finding the time for me to come and visit whenever I could. I’m writing a column about the wedding, and after you’ve read it, I will post it on the blog (as well as publish it in the newspaper of course).

Melanie: Awwww.. how cute.. you were trying to set me up with someone.. haha. (The identity of that someone shall not be revealed!) I’m happy that you took my surprise visit so well! I’m sorry my half day trip to Montreal was so short though, I promise that my next visit will be much longer and then we could go to as many PJ/swim suite parties as you want, you, your hubby, myself, and whoever you’d like to set me up with then ;-), and you could show me your house. You’re the greatest boss/coworker I’ve ever had.

That's that. I promise it's not all going to be all sap I mean even I rolled my eyes at some point when I reread this, but I guess somethings just have to be said like they are thought of the first time around.