Saturday April 5, 08:
I run my first 10K race, 2008 Ukrop’s Monument Avenue 10k, and it was unbelievably satisfying.  Running along with 30,000 people was a great push for me to keep going and going.  My first and last miles were the easiest while the the third mile was hell and I almost gave up.  The one thing that kept the energy flowing through my body was hearing people cheering for the runner along the race.  Well I do it again? Definitely

P.S.
I run the whole thing in 54.51 minutes, not bad.
10K = 6.25 Miles

I really, really, want to be a Ninja. I day dream about it all the time.

Tips:
- How to be a true Ninja
- How to become a Ninja
- How be a ninja with a low budget

I graduated from high school without learning anything about any artist including Leonardo da Vinci.
It’s sad but that is that is the reality. During elementary school, we drew pictures using water colors, usually about Kuwait and our families. Junior high, I don’t even remember having an art classes! High school, I had one Art class as an elective and I don’t remember learning anything!

My first visit to the MoMA in NYC was a joke. I didn’t appreciate anything and I made fun of those who were staring at pictures forever! I just didn’t get it. It seems like I’ve lost my sense of art, or maybe I didn’t have any at the first place!

After I found myself lonely in the world of stupidity, I dragged myself to go with my friends to “First Friday art walk” here in Richmond every month. I started appreciating art more and more, and look beyond what the artist had scrapped on the paper. I started looking up artists online and reading about their work. After only a couple years from my first visit to the MoMa I admit that “Art is a wonderful thing.”

One of my favorite arts is the “Vitruvian Man” by Leonardo da Vinci, it’s amazing how he mixed art with science to come up with such an incredible pace of art.

Who is your favorite artist? Why?

While you are busy involving yourself in useless debates and issues, politics for example:

I’ll be sheep watching!

I’ll be chilling in the shade of a gigantic tree, reading an amusing book about how to get your money in the future!

(more…)

What is your fantasy?

Note: Picture by WallWriter

Some people look at the Valentine’s Day as a pure commercial holiday, and I can’t agree more with that! But as I’ve always said there must be a bright side in every dark moon. So, I decided to take this day as an opportunity to be thankful to all those who showed me what a true and unconditional love means.

Dad, Thank you for all the support and words of wisdom I constantly get from you. I’m sorry that I had let you down with my immature behaviors at several occasions, but I assure you that I’m taking these words seriously in my life. I love you, you are my hero, and I want to be just like you.

Mom, What can I say about you. I couldn’t find the words to describe how grateful I’m. I wish I could describe the feelings I get when I hear you voice every time I call home. You’re what keep hope in my life. You are the comfort of my soul in the season of sorrow. You’re my definition of “love”. I love you

Big Sis, I know I haven’t been around for the past few years. I hate how I feel like I don’t know you anymore. But, deep down I really know that we are still the small kids we were. Pretending that we are driving mom’s car and hitting Saddam on the way! I love and I miss you so much =) Dokh Dokh

Lil Sis, Just thinking of you makes me laugh =) Your since of humor is one of a kind. I wish we’d played Wii more often. “Ma ye3ayeb ellah el ma3yoob, theb7ay el shreer =)”. Anyway, Just “3ayshay yoamech” ow I’ll take you in the MSN sometimes soon =) I LoVe YoU (F)

My lil special friend, Thank you for all the support and motivation you showed me. You have truly brought joy to my life. Thanks for everything. I love you

You, Thank you so much for everything. I love you.

At the end, Thanks God for all the wonderful people you’ve brought to my life. I’m so thankful for all the good and miracles you showed me. Thank you again and I love you so much.

2008 is going to be an awesome year because:
- I’ll travel everywhere and meet new people
- I’ll read as much as possible
- I’ll be able to improve my writing skills and grammars
- I’ll be thinking positively most of the time
- I’ll have more lovers than haters in my life
- I’ll have an inner pace with my soul through praying and meditating
- I’ll eat healthy and live healthy
- I’ll have a great haircut!
- I’ll learn how to love YOU more!
- I’ll be talking to you in Italian
- I’ll be wearing more pants and fewer jeans
- I’ll grow up and be able to be responsible to do all what in the list.

After being held in the immigration office for a couple hours, I was surprised to find someone holding a sign with my name on it at the arrivals area. Jum’ah the embassy driver had been waiting for me since my last flight, which I missed. It felt so good to be welcomed in my new home, especially after my terrible flight.
Jum’ah dropped me off in the hotel that they’ve reserved for me. I had to stay in a hotel for a couple days since the embassy was closed during the weekends.
The only catch in this whole awesomeness was that I had to pay for the three nights in advance, since I didn’t have any credit card, and the embassy would pay me later. I got left with only 40 dollars for the next few days!
I arrived to the hotel at almost midnight and I couldn’t find any restaurant that deliver that late, even the hotel restaurant wasn’t working that night.
I woke up early in the morning and walked all the way down to “M” street. I ate and spent the rest of the day reading books in Barnes and Nobel, a bookstore.
Sunday night was a nightmare. I was starving and I only had few dollars in my pocket that I was saving for a cap for the next day, incase the embassy driver didn’t show up. I had never valued money till that day.
I woke up and checked out from the hotel and luckily the embassy driver showed up. After we finished orientation we had a hot pizza from dominos, it tasted so good.
The pizza made my brain to start functioning appropriately and I remembered that I had a hundred dollar bill in between my passport’s papers. It was a lifesaver; I wouldn’t be able to go to Richmond, my new home, without it!
The train usually takes an hour and a half to go from Washington to Richmond, but lucky me, it took the train seven freaking hours to arrive, due to a problem with the signals!

To be continued…

I finally graduated from high school and been rewarded with a full scholarship in dentistry in the United States. I was surfing the Internet when my dad came to me at midnight showing me a SMS he had just received from the Ministry of Higher Education. It was the happiest moment in my life. Finally, all my hard work and ass kissing paid off.
I didn’t hesitate, not even a bit, about moving out to live by myself. As a matter of fact, I was so excited about it that it had overcome all other emotions. I felt like I was being reborn again in a more wonderful place. I loved Kuwait and all the fancy life I was living, but that wasn’t the way for me to learn more about the world and myself.
Nothing during the whole moving process was easy. I had to struggle on doing everything! I had to fight to get into the university that I wanted. I had four choices and only one of them was appealing to me, Virginia Commonwealth University, which all graduate dentists had recommended.
My letter of acceptance from the university stated that I was going to start school in the middle of the fall semester; I had to change that so I wouldn’t be late for school. Long story short, I spent so much time cleaning after some irresponsible and lazy employees in The Ministry of Higher Education. Later on, I had to suffer during my flight to the USA due to lack of luck, -Click here for more information about the incident-.
On the 14th of August 2005, I had finally arrived to Washington, DC and “Jum’ah”, the embassy driver, was waiting for me at the airport. And that was when my real journey has started.

To be continued…

8 Years ago…
I was only a 12 years kid when I started realizing Kuwait wasn’t a place to study and build myself. I couldn’t see myself studying in such corrupted and diseased environment. On one hand fundamentalist Muslims were making life impossible in Kuwait, and on the other hand I was fantasized about living the American dream! And that was when I made my decision to study abroad once I’m done with high school.

2 Years later (High School)…
When I started high school, my friends were busy on everything except studying! However, I was what I like to call an “Undercover Nerd”. My life was extremely boring, but I was enjoying it.
My schedule was fixed and restricted. I made a rule for myself not to leave the house on the weekdays! It was a littlie bit intense but It helped me focus more on school. On the weekends I was a normal human being, playing soccer, going out for dinner, and enjoying good movies.
As I expected, high school was so challenging and hard. I ended my first semester with a 3.50 GPA, which was a shock, since it wasn’t competitive enough to get the scholarship that I wanted. Then, I realized studying hard wasn’t enough to get a good grade. Kissing asses was a mandatory to get the grade you deserve! I gradated from high school with a degree in hypocrisy and ass kissing!
When I first started high school, I still didn’t have an idea of what I’m interested in. One day I wanted to be an engineer, and in another day I wanted to be porn star! I haven’t figured what I wanted to be till the day I applied for a scholarship at The Ministry of Higher Education. At that moment I realized I wanted to be a dentist!

To be continued…