today i got investigated. i'm sitting around with my friends in the cafe sippin' on my oj and one of the instructors pulls me aside. and starts asking me about my family. alhumdulillah there are things i've been born into that i don't realize until someone else looks at me increduously after i affirm their questions. especially in the military. i am attending a medical school affiliated with the fauji foundation [for retired army personnel. doctors who were once in the army teach me]. both of my grandfathers have quite a reputation in the military. both in the army and the navy. so my 20 minute break of which we only really get 15 minutes [those nazis!] was in defense of who i am

i know this one person. we call him mithi churi. that directly translates into sweet knife. what it means is that he can say the meanest thing in the nicest way. people like that disturb me. the type that pretend to be close to you and have a rapport but in fact are snakes

my parents are cool cats. and due to that i have a tiny washing machine for my unmentionables

today's trip: peshawar! smalls and i woke up 7 in the am to officially go visit our cousin and her husband at their new place. after getting the essentials. like a full tank of gas and snacky snacks. we drove to pindi to pick up some other cousins. and off we were at 9 to have brunch with another cousin, her husband and her 2 kids in nowshera. after reaching there a good 2 hours late we bolted the moment we had packed in some parathas and plenty of good jokes in our bellies. arriving at my cousin's in peshawar we sat around for some gupshup and then lunch. she did what i dig most about my cousins. she thought about what i liked best and cooked it. when i couldn't breathe and was asked to move away from the table i did between gasps. ok i made that last part up but damn that was some good biri! why won't my enthusiasm for biri simmer down? [wrote a song about it, like to hear it? here it go

here's my limmerick to biryani
all serious foods out of many
are sub par to this greasy meaty dish
for which countless smack their lips and wish
that they were even pakistani

my ode to one of my favorites
http://www.iahcchai.blogspot.com/2003_10_01_iahcchai_archive.html]
after eats it was time for naps. then the girls minus myself went to saddar for some serious shopping. both mano [code name for cousin] and smalls found some good deals they said. i hung out with the others for a bit until we decided we wanted a tour. so asad, fani [code name for cousin's husband. don't ask] and i pile up in my car [code name: nano's guddi] and zoom zoom zoomed our way down university road. past the charsi tikka joint. i wanted to go to ilaka ghair. where the real wheelin' and dealin' goes on but they said we didn't have time. so we're planning our next trip. they say that the further you go down that road the better prices you get thanks to all the smuggling. forget the drugs i want a laptop. i had a cool time with all of my cousins. they are such a blessing as are smuggle-cheap laptops

i'm not ticklish. are you? and where?

's raining 's pouring someone's snoring. i've been sleeping all day. it's been a good jummah. jummah mubarakain y'allzzz

funny how one moment you're celebrating life and then another you're mourning death. just like that

we know death is certain. whenever it comes though it's a shock. a friend of mine from school. her brother. passed away a few days ago. i went to visit her and her family today. we didn't speak much. she was a wreck. it got me thinking. especially since this boy was only a few years younger than me. just about death. and how we all have to stand and answer one day. that right now in his grave he is alone. may Allah swt save him from the tortures of the grave and accept all of his good deeds and forgive all of his bad deeds and may He keep him out of the hell fire and have a place for him in jannah

proud papa part 2 [http://www.daboomboomroom.blogspot.com]

good news. we get tomorrow off. for elections. i don't know why this is exactly. seeing that we're under martial law. viva referrendum?

a friend of mine bought me the road to makkah by muhammad asad. it was suggested i read it. for the past 3 or 4 days i've been eyeing it from across the room. i'm not intimidated by reading. i just can't get started on stuff. because i know i won't finish it in one sitting i feel like i won't enjoy it. this has been farthest from the truth in experience but i have some sort of mental block when it comes to trying to get myself to read for pleasure. i just don't understand it. i would rather take that time out to socialize with people and if i need alone time i would rather sleep [what else are you supposed to do alone? oh wait. pray. ok so pray as well] anyway so i broke down and started reading it and then couldn't put it down for the next few hours. i haven't finished it but so far it's excellent and i recommend it. i'm no book reviewer so that's all i got. deal

fati lati had a makeover. she used to be so 98. now that she's 00 for some reason i can't download any programs. i have to resort to aim express. which i hate. can anyone help? not just that i can't download any attachments either. so corrupt

so i have this one aunty. i'm not going to specify if she's related to me by blood or marriage or a fake aunty as in a friend of the family who's my parents' age. i will on the other hand talk about a funny little habit of hers. she's all about cleaning. and that's fine and all. but she cleans everything with the same rag. like she'll wipe off the table with the same rag that she'll wipe up the spoons with. or i'll be in the middle of eating and she's picking up my plate to wipe under it. what i did under the plate i do not know. because i can't remember the last time i made a mess under the plate. maybe beside it. and shouldn't it be done after i'm eating? granted i'm a slow eater. but that doesn't mean you start cleaning around me. start dusting on me. or switch off the lights. close the door and leave the room. let me be at the table in the dark by myself. ok she doesn't do all that. but using the same cloth for the table and the utensils? there should be laws against it. and i wouldn't mind enforcing them

this is my 900th post. not bad for first thing monday morning

i think penny loafers are ugly. i can't bring myself to like them. it doesn't matter how much i try. and i don't know why this is

because there's a 10 hour difference the time i spend online is usually not as much while i'm here. you hardly catch anyone on aim. lately my emails are on the little to none side. nothing's good on tv except for news which has become so depressing i can't bring myself to watch much of it or even read any of it. so i start making up stuff. like today. just move your fingers one key to the right and you've got code! ;olr yjsy@ alright. maybe i should just call someone up to hang out with but i don't feel like getting out of my pajamas today

i was in lahore again this weekend. unfortunately this time i had to go for a family matter rather than friendly chatter. 3rd party and i left at 5p saturday afternoon. we arrived there at 9:30ish and met with them only for about 15 minutes. then found some dinner and my phupo's place. so a total of an hour or so in that city. on the way back i slept most of the time. there was a point while i was awake. trying to ignore 3rd party's unhealthy obsession with tina turner. i saw the moon and the north start moving about each other. it looked like that because the road was winding and my scope was small. it really was beautiful. a very subhanAllah moment i might add

had bags under my eyes since i was a mere 16 year old. maybe even younger. anyone new i meet they're like oh wow you look like you need some sleep. some say it nicely and some say it not so nicely but the message is the same

ok you know how if someone says thank you you say you're welcome [if you're nice, that is] so here if you say shukria which is the equivalent of thanks there's no answer to it. some times people say koi baat nahi. which basically means don't mention it or it's nothing or no big deal. it's not as polite as you're welcome though. i was thinking maybe i could just say please make dua for me. i know it's not the same as you're welcome. can you ask for your duas just like that or no?

listening to bon jovi every morning. and i'm not stopping. that's right. actually in truth i fluctuate between crossroads and red hot chilli peppers. at least 1/2 way there

i can't do cute. i've given up on intelligent. maybe nice is the right line for me?

finally came up with a diet plan i can live with. no sweet stuff except chocolate. and exercise. thoughts?

over the weekend i was in lahore. i went via my preferred mode of travel when going to lahore. ahhh. the bus. she hasn't done me wrong yet. on my way there i made a friend. same for on my way back. usually i have some odd adventures but for once i actually met people i would like to meet again. it was a pleasant surprise. i was wondering. what's the appropriate time to call? how long should i wait? how can i avoid being forgotten and yet not sound too needy? i feel like i'm dating or something. like i just had a big break up [thanks abez and aniraz! thanks a lot! see the damange you've done!] and now i'm playing the field again for more gfs. it gets so weird in my life sometimes. normally i would just call whenever i had a couple of hours to hang out. but it doesn't work like that here. what is the social norm? i must confer with my cousins

happy independence day!

driving here assume no breaks. whether they be yours or the other guy's. assume also that break lights don't work. turn signals don't work. oh and a fun thing. over there i would use my horn to discourage someone from doing something. the same is applied here except that say i'm passing up someone in the fast lane. i have to beep my horn to let them know that that's what i'm doing. as in. i'm beeping to let you know that i plan to obey the law and that you better watch out. it's good to be back

so i was thinking about referred pain. according to guyton it's when someone feels pain in a part of his or her body that is considerably remote from the tissue causing the pain. and then i got to thinking about how sometimes if you're upset about something you feel like you could implode. or at least that's how i feel sometimes. well focusing on eliminating the problem usually relieves this type of pain. and if i'm really concentrating on my prayers i can imagine it being washed out of my body. so prayers function to soothe. since you're supposed to pray 2 rakah if you're really angry and lying down or drinking water or doing your wudu haven't cooled you off then i guess it does make sense. although honestly prayer doesn't perform this function unless i take conscious control of this thought. what say you?

a blanket that cools. with rechargable batteries. patent pending. what do y'all think? or has that been done before?

i've been drinking coffee a lot lately. as in more than i can take. as in it's probably bad for me in such large quantities. as in i'm a maniac sometimes due to its consumption

it will rot your brain. no it won't. it will rot your brain. no it won't. it will rot your brain. no it won't

my friend said. and i quote. there's nothing more obscene than a morbidly obese person in a poor country. i nodded. as we watched a heavy instructor huff and puff up the stairs ahead of us

i'm going to be 27 years old someone reminded me a while ago. so i was contemplating a hostile overthrow. or a revolt. or acquiring territory. anything! just so i can say oh yeah i did that before i was even 30. i want my kids to look up to me. it's a master plan in the making. more on those later

i wish the gubment here would put serious thought into the idea of drinking water taps every few miles. or kilometers

did you know more than two scoops of ice cream are bound to make you want to spew. it doesn't matter how hard core you claim to be

doctors here. ugh! i was at the hospital visiting my uncle. who. by the way. is doing so much better mashAllah say. the doctors tell him nothing. they give vague answers. and when we ask they treat us like children not able to understand. i had to actually corner this little guy and force him by questioning him without mercy into telling me what's going on. then i had to translate it into language my aunty and cousins could understand. not that that was that difficult. he's gotta have this and that and he's gotta pee this much and this is normal and this is where he's at and this is what they want to see before they let him go. nothing more. something the doctor could have done if he was considerate. you don't have to go into lengthy details. just say what happened. what's happening. and what's going to happen. basic decency. inshAllah when i'm one i'll take the minute and a half to share

i've been here a year and a half now. in this bedroom. which was/is the libary. which was a garage. maybe it's time i started putting in a little flavor. i have 2 pics by my bedside. tiny told me it looks like a dude's room. minus the 2 framed pics. although i have a flowery bedspread. wait. he's all wrong. never mind. i do need to put a few other pics up and personalize it a bit more

maybe i'm taking vengence out on that idea of a fad diet. cause between my cousin and i in two days we finished 500mL of ice cream. sure some of you don't know what that is. that's 1/2 a liter. i mean litre. hah!

ok i got a big thing on deceiving yourself. i mean sometimes i can't believe the stuff i'm saying. it's really not me. and i feel like i'm portraying someone else. an image of something other than what i am. maybe i'm that just for that moment. anyway it's weird catching someone else doing that to themselves. i never so and so preceeds these statements. at that time i'm laughing on the inside. but then i'm doing it myself at other times and if i'm quick enough i catch it and just shut up. but what i was wondering is why are we so bent on making people think a certain way of us. and in that i lose the idea whether Allah swt will be happy with me if i did that and i think will so and so be happy with me if i did that instead. what a pathetic way to be. that others are controlling me. i got a thing about control too i guess. enough of this ranting and raving. it's jummah today! wheee!

one of my uncles is in the hospital. please pray for his health. jazakAllah

update on dead baby lizard: i found it under the seat. why won't it leave me alone?

ok so this kid at school lost 60lbs over the summer. that's in one month. that can't be healthy right? so i told him to get his kidneys and such checked. i mean you never know. well instead of telling him that that's just simply dangerous by the end of the conversation he had me convinced that i could do it too. i said no. because i can't say no to food. not that i eat loads and loads of junk food. it's just that i become irritable if i haven't eaten. i get mad when i'm hungry. how basic right? yeah. well he kept talking and i kept listening and thought i would try it. this is going against all that i preach about fad/crash dieting. so i says. i says to him. fine i'll do it. that was last night. i lasted until lunch today [pats tummy...you learned him!]

serious student alert! serious student on premises! watch out now!

i sure say so a lot. and write it out too

oh and i got another ew story. i saw this cockroach run behind this seat i have in the room so i grabbed the bug killer and sprayed the heck out of it. i guess it's their protective coating or what but it wouldn't die. the atrocious thing kept trying to run all over the place and as it ran into the wall and tried to run up it i got it in it's belly. so i'm spraying away and out of nowhere this baby lizard jumps onto my hand. so i did the normal thing. i flung it across the wall. losing my bug spray in the process. and ran out of the room screaming ew ew ew. yeah. ewww!

how often do you meet a nice guy that won't make you feel stupid about something you did that was just outrageously stupid. you realize this. the part where you were so stupid i mean. and you realize how nice he's being and then you realize how not so nice you are or would be in such a situation. well. i did. i gotta be nicer than this

i can't believe i actually decided to go to my class today after traveling for so long. insane. anyway it was cool seeing all the kids after summer break. what's really insane is i looked to my left just now and on my bed there was a wasp walking. i calmly reached over and crushed it using my cell phone. like i said. it's been an insane morning