Yes, I See You Right There. Thank You Oh So Very Much.

As you all probably noticed, I have been incognito from the blogosphere for the past couple of weeks. I sorely apologize for that. Sophomore year came along with the requisite overcommitments, jobs, friends, and let's not forget: schoolwork.
Yet I have felt a little bit melancholy not to have posted for so long, and I hope all of you lovely, lovely readers accept this apology from a college student. 

Whenever I see someone giving me the eye, I always make sure and act extra polite/sweet/nice towards them. 
You might know what I'm speaking about. It's that thing, the unconscious happening that goes on sometimes when you suddenly see someone who fits your idea of a stereotypical-this or stereotypical-that.
In my case, as evidence while I walked about in the airport today, the stereotype is suspiciously oppressed Muslim woman. I always feel uncomfortable when I sense someone is doing the ole one-up, one-down look, but I have on my smiley face: Why let it ruin your day, righhttt?
And then by the third instance, I'm simply frustrated. Aggravated. Distraught. 
I love attention, peoples, but can it please be some positive glitter? Please? With sprinkles on the top? 
In deference to my sweet friend Banana's post, I'm not going to go into stereotypes. If you missed out on that gem of a post, simply click here.   
But in the meantime, I just want to expand a bit on the eyes thing.
Go into it. A rant, I suppose.

I pride myself on being a polite person, thank you very much to the conscientious efforts of my dear parents. Don't stare, don't whisper, don't point with your fingers.
 Good God, I have seen the strangest looking/behaving people, and I still abide by the rule of only looking for a second, then it's just straight ahead all the way.
So it surprises me when I see people I would otherwise (yes, stereotypically, I didn't say I was flawless) categorize as the cultured type begin staring when I walk into the room.

[staring. cats. what more can you ask for? img cred]

And it isn't as though I have huge, curly red painted nails and flippered feet. (Let's not forget that dragon's tail)
I simply don a headscarf and modest--but fashionable--clothes.

As a heads up for any confused people out theere (don't be afraid to admit it! it's alright), when I say "modest", I mean "long-sleeved-shirts-under-minimally-knee-length-dresses/skirts/tops,-long-pants/jeans".

So please. It's not as though I'm sporting wings.

Oh, and I'm also going to answer a question I think most everyone has brooded over (even me!): Do I get hot in the long-sleeved stuff during the summer?

Sure, I am warm, but then again, isn't everyone else? And honestly, do you see the bedouins (nomads) in the desert walking around wearing short shorts and tank-tops in the stifling desert heat?

[bedouins! img cred]

No, of course not. And the fact is, that is wholly unrelated to religious reasons.
Because it's a scientifically proven fact that the less access UV-rays are given to your bare skin, the cooler you'll be.

So please, please, please. I know it might be THIS hard not to stare at a strange/different person, but come on! Restrain yourself.

It honestly isn't that hard if you put that head to it. :) Have you ever experienced this happening to you? Or to someone close to you? How do you feel about it?

Until next time, remember to stop and take in the air!


-Laila

Edgy with a Pop: Get Your Cookin' On.

[The following is a weekly post from my sister, Huda. She writes on the different fashion topics she encounters and either enjoys-- or abhors. More info about her in the sidebar! And enjoy. I've also decided to change her font, just for fun. Enjoy that, Huda!]


I know, I haven't written in a while...With my junior year in high school starting, however, where will the time come from?



I have to admit, I am a food addict.
Make that food-aholic.
 I can't resist anything yummy looking, but at the same time, I have a very low-spice tolerance. I can only bear so much pepper and then it tastes like chili.
Which I don't like, to my mother's constant dismay.

One of my ardent past times has got to be cooking.
Not especially cooking...baking.
I LOVE cakes.
 The whole sugar-concept works for me! My guilty pleasure? Raw cake/cookie dough. Not very healthy, but I simply can't resist the taste of cold firm dough with little chunks of chocolate mixed throughout! Yum. 


Something I love to bake is marmor kag, which is Danish for marble cake.
This cake is simple to make--5 minutes to mix together, 45 minutes in the oven, and viola!
Yummy cake.
I find this one to be better than normal marble cakes since it is not too heavy, but at the same time rich in flavor.
 So many of my childhood memories center around this cake--I remember calling it "whale's tail" cake since, if blended right, the chocolate resembles a whale's tail in a white ocean! I was so shocked to hear it was just called "marble cake"!


While I can't find a picture that does it justice, here is one from online:
 

[img cred]

 

Marmor Kage from Gyldendals Kogebog

(or Marble Cake from Gyldendals Cookbook)

• 200 grams butter or margarine
• 200 g sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 3 eggs
• 240 g flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 dl milk
• 1-2 tbsp cocoa powder (depending on how dark you want the chocolate to be)

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit (125 degrees Celsius). Butter the pan that you are going to use (the small rectangular ones are best).
2. Mix melted butter, sugar, and vanilla together. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing the batter well.
3. In a different bowl, mix flour and baking powder together.
4. Mix the flour mixture and milk into the butter/egg combination slowly, starting and ending with the flour. Mix thoroughly.
5. Pour half of the dough into the pan. Mix cocoa into the other half. Pour the cocoa dough into the pan.
6. Drag a fork through the center of the cake. This ensures the 'whale tail' part.
7. Place in oven for circa 45 minute, give or take. The cake is ready when you can stick in a fork and no raw dough comes up.
8. Enjoy warm with a cup of milk! (Be sure to eat the corners--Mmmmmm!)
   

This cake is great for any time. What do you think? Do you have any specific comfort recipes you bust out every once so often? Or do you just eat whatever's in front of you? Let me know!
 
-Huda, formerly Techie

Sometimes, People Act Worse Than Animals.

[juvie mice! adorable! but that's me. img cred]

I have a problem.

A naiive issue, but for me, it's still one that nags and wheedles and whines at the back of my mind. 

I don't understand why in the world some pet shops feel and have the 'urgent' need to mistreat their animals. Once I was at a mall animal store and saw that there was a bloody mouse in one of the mouse cages.

That's right.

A bloody mouse.

Maybe that was due to the overcrowding?

Hmmm, I was 13 and knew this was wrong.

Reporting it didn't even cause the shopkeeper to lift a sleepy eyelid. 

Disgusting.

And, by the way, just to make your day a little less sunny (all in the name of awareness!), I have heard tell of petstores that have been caught simply throwing out entire cages of animals, just because one animal was exhibiting signs of illness.

How can one possibly find it in oneself to do so? Does one's thought process go something like this: Oh, medical bills will be too high, let's just throw them all out?

Selling sick animals also has an effect on the innocent people that buy them. It's true. 

And let me prove it to you.

My brother, Sport, was about ten when he decided he'd like a hamster. So we all gathered our stuff and trooped over to a mall and located a pet shop. He proudly and carefully picked out a slightly slow, dusky black hamster he dubbed Diddy.

[what Diddy looked like. img cred]

"Like P. Diddy, the rapper?", the teenaged store clerk offered, when Sport told her what he was calling the new pet.

"No. Like from Donkey Kong."

That's my brother.

But Diddy only lived two years of drawn out pain before he succumbed one day to the tumour that had been present since the day we bought him.

And the thing is, every day there is a little animal that is mistreated; a bird with an ingrown beak or a guinea pig with a little sore, that is sold to unsuspecting, happy owners. 

Why do people do such things? Why can't the owners have the guile and thought to treat the animal and thus build a better reputation for the store?

It may just be my problem, but honestly, I can't see why it isn't yours, too.

until next time, remember to stop and take in the air!

-laila

There's Something in the Shadows, I Swear.

One feeling I dislike the most while watching a movie is, quite simply and in as few words as possible to describe this horror, fear. 

Yup.

 I hate experiencing fear through a screen.

 I can't- for the life of me- comprehend why people watch films that cause them to experience cold chills, nightmares, and nights of leaving the light on.

[the less fear-inducing version, I suppose. img cred]

Chuckie the killer doll, anyone?

I especially can not fathom the reasoning behind watching psychological or physical thrillers whose plots actually don't add up. 

A weak plot in an action movie or a chick flick I can allow. 

I mean, you don't sit down and watch movies in those two genres in the actual hope of utilizing your mind. 

Admit it.

But when one watches thrillers, it's for the exact reason of utilizing your brain in a quest to understand  something complex, different and unusual. 

It isn't really to sit there and watch weird and frightening things scroll about on the screen. 

Really, it isn't. 

Trust me on that.

That's why I'm a staunch fan of the master behind the classic thriller: Alfred Hitchcock.

 

[img cred]

I've watched and enjoyed and creased my brow at most of his films. Save for The Birds. I could never, ever put myself through that experience. It's simply too painful an ordeal to have to endure the aftereffects of flashing back to, not so much the movie itself, but the experience undergone through having watched the movie. 

I mean, I would like to be able to look at birds and enjoy them, not run away from them screaming in anticipation.

And who really wants that? 

On the other side, watching a thriller that doesn't actually have a plot simply defeats the purpose whatsoever. All I end up doing is sit on the sofa, my fingers plugged securely into my ears and my eyes squeezed shut.

What good is there in doing that? 

Here are five movies that paralyze. 

Whether they make sense or not is up to you to decide. 

1. A Tale of Two Sisters

This movie makes no sense at all. AT ALL. It took me both the Wiki and actively (sort of) watching the movie to comprehend what was going on. 

2. The Strangers

Do not get me started about the horror I experienced after having watched only five minutes of the movie. I mean, the fact that such a gruesome murder could occur to anyone only compounded on this.

3. The Exorcist

As my aunt, MiesMies, likes to say, the movie was long-winded and boring for most, but when it was good, IT WAS GOOD. 

4. Friday the 13th

The hilarious thing about this is, when I was looking up the movie on Amazon, one movie that was recommended to me as a result is He's Just Not that Into You. 

Um, okay?

5. The Birds

No words. No words at all. 

What do you think? Would you rather watch a thriller that makes no sense, or a chick flick that is actually sane?

 Be sure and follow if you aren't already!

Until next time, remember to stop and take in the air!

-Laila

It's Just One of Those Days, And Oh! What Fun We're Having.

I know this is the epitome, the lifeblood, the pulse to most of my readers here. Don't act as though you don't really know what I mean. Come on. 

Own up to it.

Yell it out, loud and proud and standing up.

We are procrastinators!

It's that ancient form of living that just hooks in more and more people every day, beings just anxious to feel the panic, anxious tingle, and immeasurable feeling of sheer joy experience at completion of the task. 

I'm not especially sure when I was first drawn in to the cult.

 Because that's what it is, if you think about it. 

A mass of people just reaching to experience the sense of adrenaline that results from finishing the assignment a couple of minutes before deadline. 

And I most especially noticed that I WAS addicted to the procrastinating-induced rush of adrenaline in the first semester of school, where I finished assignments simply hours before they were due.

I'm not sure why I'm so entranced by that sweet feeling of accomplishment, fueled even more by the fact of finishing it so close to possible punishment. 

Having watched this video, I know and actually accept my crazy urges at procrastinating.

So, I beg you to watch this 79-second video.

 Oh, procrastination. 

Doesn't the film simply sum up your life?  

Yes, I am talking to you. The hopeless procrastinator still not willing to own up to it. 

But what exactly do YOU term yourself as? A procrastination expert, obsessively on time, or the rarest of breeds--perfectionist before-time? Leave a note, and let us know! 

Or maybe you don't like labels? :) 

Until next time, remember to stop and take in the air!

-Laila

Sunny Side Up. Isn't That What They Say? Let Me Prove it to You.

In a different direction from last week's more pessimistic post, this week I am going to be looking at the six (well, there are innumerable reasons, but here are the top six!) reasons that keep me at Wellesley College.

[As a note to any new readers, I am a sophomore at Wellesley College, the same school that Madeline Albright and Hillary Clinton graduated from]

I mean, it isn't that hard to get on the infamous Peter Pan bus (official Wellesley transport!) and just ride, ride, ride away from campus.

[img cred]

[Side note: Interestingly, we have Peter take us away, but the unofficial name for a Wellesley student is Wendy Wellesley!]

[img cred]

I've chosen not to run away screaming wildly at the top of my lungs, for the following reasons.

6. Course Selections

One of the biggest yes!Wellesley! reasons for my actually attending the school. How would it feel like to just have so many many options in potential career options (yes, a course CAN change your life here at school) that you can barely write down four?

I mean, seriously. There are maybe four plausible fascinating choices in the biology department for just one timeslot.

How does that figure into your schedule if you factor in the rest of the depa

rtments? Psychology? Art? Arabic? Not to mention history, chemistry and music.

I'm going to revert to a bad ice-cream metaphor and say that there are simply too many flavors to choose between.

I usually feel most secure, though, sticking to strawberry sorbet and chocolate.

[img cred]

Yum.

5. Sundae Sunday!

Ice-cream is a permanent perishable ware in our dining halls. Delicious and not so very nutritious, I think every student eats ice-cream at least once every other day. 

I am not kidding here.

 According to school rumours (seconded by the Admissions Office and told at every tour), an alumni was so frustrated by the lack of ice-cream while at school. 

So when she graduated and made a large amount of green, she went and allotted a huge fund at the school, simply to ensure that generations of stressed, sweets-deprived students always had six flavors of icecream at every hall. And every Sunday, the dining hall staff puts out hot fudge, caramel and assorted toppings for a semi-feast on sundaes. 

And to a poor college student, that IS a feast.

Mmm.

4. Accessible Professors

I love most (I'm not perfect!) of my professors at school.

[img cred]

Sure, there is the occasional bad egg (isn't there always?), but I have loved the rest. Talkative, helpful and open-- I know I run the risk here of sounding like an overly optimistic college booklet, but truly.

Let me prove it to you.

I had a bit of trouble in my chemistry course, and had to turn to my professor for help. She's a very perfectionistic research professor who actually took the time to meet with me when I had issues understanding the material.

Of course, I haven't mentioned my favorite professor up until now-- my social psychology professor. I don't think I ever had a class that I looked forward to every single time, every single week.

3. Plethora of Backgrounds

[img cred]

Schools are always going on and on about the different backgrounds their students come from, but I never saw that in action until I attended a couple of sample classes at Wellesley. Unfortunately, I saw a whole lotta schools that were bland pieces of dry toast. Diversity seems to be underrated sometimes, and people simply shouldn't do that. I mean, how would it feel if you are at a school where it seems everyone is exactly like you?

Yes, that is what I mean.

2,000 duplicates in the freshman class.

How would that feel?

Sad, that's what.

So that's why I'm so excited here when I speak about the sheer number of students from different countries, cultures, religions, lives, and schools.

It's a change.

2. Al-Muslimat: The Wellesley Muslim Students Association

My goodness! I'm not really certain how to explain this. As you all now, religion has always been a large part of life for me. And throughout my college search/frantic scrambling for a top twelve list/eventually a success, the MSA (short for Muslim Students Association) was a huge factor into whether I seriously considered the school or not.

It's kind of like some people's obsession with crew. I would suppose if you're really into crew that you wouldn't really want to choose a school with no possibility of ever getting in that boat again. So for me, a MSA was like that boat.

When I found Al-Muslimat, it most definitely cemented my obsession with the college. The events are wonderful, the spirituality is there, and the sisterhood is definitely something one can not replicate at a co-ed school.

1. Wondrous Friends

Okay. Short story is, my family has moved a lot throughout my life. In total, I believe we've lived in seven different places. It's been a bumpy ride endeavouring each time to find friends, and although I had a couple of very close friends when I first entered college, each lives too far of a distance away from me to have a 'normal' friendship.

As if there is such thing as normal in friendship!

So when I discovered that I could actually have a friends just down the hall, one right below me and another in a building only a minute away--well, that discovery was intoxicating, to say the least. In a non-alcoholic-drink kind of way.

It was almost too much to sit down and study after that.

Honestly, I still can't get over it.

What are some things that stood out to you about your school? Let us know, and please be sure and follow if you aren't doing so already. 

Until next time, remember to stop and take in the air!

-Laila

Slowing Things Down A Bit...Because My Life is Speeding Up.

So, as many bloggers may have hinted, the schoolyear is starting up again and thus, my schedule is filling up just like a sandcastle by a rising oceantide.


As in, it's close to disappearing if I sure as anything don't keep an eye out for all the various commitments I'm hanging on to.


Thus, this post is sort of signaling the end of everyday posts. Try as I may, I know that I need to keep everything in moderation in order to keep myself sane and breathing. Haven't you ever had that happen? Try to live as though you were a dark forest green octopus, complete wth the eight appendages and subsequent tasks.


And going to Wellesley typically means that you lose a little bit o' that precious thing called sanity.


In an attempt to keep my life in check and this blog moving at the same time, I'm going to resort to less frequent posting, hopefully once-twice a week. My sister, Huda, will keep posting, and Banana will write from time to time. I promise just as engaging posts when they do come around every Sunday! so be sure and check around.


Of course, when I do have time to write, expect some more posts.


It's all I can promise for now, and I hope you understand.
Because I love speaking with you all so very very much.


In summary, I will be lessening the frequency of my posts to Sundays, and occasionally Wednesdays. Huda will keep posting--but this time on Thursdays-- and Banana will write once every so often.


And look out for those giveaways! :) This summer was wonderful.


Until next time, remember to stop and take in the air! Do be sure and stick around.

-Laila