There is hope

At times I feel I have sold out completely. Where are all those ideals and noble plans to fight for people's rights, where is that burning spirit, where is that quest for rights' advocacy...all squandered in the name of career, all lost in the prusuit of a fatter pay-check. The saddest part is that I sold myself very cheap...what was I to do?
وہ لوگ بہت خوش قسمت تھے
جو عشق کو کام سمجھتے تھے
یا کام سے عاشقی کرتے تھے
ہم جیتے جی مصروف رہے
کچھ عشق کیا کچھ کام کیا

Anyways, I am proud of Htoo Chit, one of the crazy band of HR defenders I met in Bangkok in 2003. He took the French company Total for a law-ride for the HR violations it had been carrying out againt the people of Burma/Myanmar. Here is the text of his press release:

Grassroots Human Rights Education and Development Committee (Burma)
Press Release 18/12/2005

Official Statement by Grassroots GRE on the settlement of the court case against the Total Oil Company

The French oil company Total has been operating its off-shore gas infrastructure since 1990 in Tanintaryin division in accordance with the agreement signed between the company and Burmese military junta. The large scale of human rights violations including rape, murder, torture, forced labour, forced relocation, and confiscation of land and properties has been the daily life of the vulnerable ethnic groups living in the area along the pipeline. The Total Company, the blood-supplier of the military regime, has turned a deaf ear to the complaints of Burmese people as well as to the outcry of international human rights groups for more than a decade as its only interest has been the company profit.

Grassroots HRE, a NGO promoting human rights of Burmese people, has long been collecting relevant documents, photographs, evidence and others necessary papers as proof of the human rights violations by Total's engagement over the local ethnic population. Finally, as the result of the support and encouragement of Grassroots HRE, a lawsuit against the Total Company was successfully put forth through the France judicial system in 2002. U Htoo Chit, the director of Grassroots HRE, has already given his witness testimonies in court in 2003 while two of the plaintiffs have given their accounts in court in 2004.

From the very beginning the lawsuit was aimed to obtain the compensation for the loss, destruction, and suffering caused by Total infrastructure. The lawsuit was done by the freewill of the plaintiffs and victims of the gas pipeline areas without any intervention or pressure of any Burmese political party or organizations affiliated with the party. Therefore, the acceptance or rejection of the compensation in the settlement solely depends on the free choice of those people themselves and has not been influenced by Grassroots HRE. In fact, the company's decision for the settlement is the admission of the human rights violation by Total over the innocent Burmese people.
Even though we, Grassroots HRE, have agreed principally on the final verdict of the French court, we do not give our consent to this sort of out-of-court settlement. However, we are human rights defenders and are pleased with the compensation that the victims justly deserve.
We firmly oppose any form of human rights violations over our people as well as any form of destructions of our environment. We are committed to follow up the evolution and the development of the resettlement program very closely and we are determined to stand by our vulnerable victims in all walks of life.

For every sell-out like me, there is a Htoo Chit to carry on the noble fight. And as long as we have people like him, there is hope for this world.

I have been reading Rageh Omaar's Revolution Day: The Real Story of the Battle for Iraq for two days now. It is a book to be read slowly, taking in each and every word as Omaar paints a painful picture of the pre-post and war days in 2003. Sterile news reports with casualty statistics don't move one as much as his account of how a family in Baghdad clung onto hope as they shifted homes just days before the war began in March 2003.

I read Salam Pax's Baghdad Blogger last year...a war account very personal, witty and incisive at times...I scoured news media during those days in a case of typical media induced 'Information anxiety; passivity; and the classic well informed futility' ...but nothing was like reading this account of a BBC journalist right in the midst of a war...reading of his interactions with ordinary Iraqis and their concerns and at times disdain...

But that is not what made me open up blogger. In the book Omaar writes:

Saddam Hussein liked to portray himself as a leader for all Iraqis...appearing in posters around the country in a variety of costumes according to local faiths or ethnic and class backgrounds...

The country's been in an uproar ever since our very own version of Saddam Hussein, Pervez Musharraf woke up one day and in a Dubya fashion (talk of East-West fusion) started talking about Kalabagh Dam like God-as He frequents Bush's dreams- decided to pay Mushy, Bush's best friend a visit as well.

And to attend to Sindh's concerns on the issue, Mush came down to make life hell for Karachi'ites, this morning his pictures were plastered across papers...see that ajrak on shoulders? Such stereotypical behaviour... I did not know if I should laugh at his obvious desperation or wait for the paper to get a day older and spit on it. I am not that politically naive to not know what image-making is all about...but somehow just a day after reading Omaar's words this did strike as odd...

PS: I haven't the time to research and offer my own learned opinion on the issue, not that GoP eagerly awaits it, but here are two schools of thought:

• Thousands shout ‘no’ to KBD
• View new dams with open mind, says Musharraf
• Musharraf warns of Sindh’s desertification: ‘Construction of dams essential’

If you have the time read through this:
Skardu-Katzarah dam best option: report

Also see how the links relate...and paints me as an obsessive compulsive mush-basher?
And yes, I have read through the report.

Highly combustible

It rained cats and dogs last night. By morning they morphed into human form and thronged bus-stops. As I rely on all forms of public transport imaginable – rickshaw, bus, rickshaw- to get to work, I was considerably miffed at having to wait for a good 40 minutes for my route bus to arrive with a respectable seat vacant for me to rest my seething self on. Each time I gnashed my teeth in a wait-induced frenzy, I reminded myself to calm down and took a deep breath. And I thought bad, terrible thoughts. I cursed my bro sleeping at home, I was riled his being an absolute lazy bum in not attending to the winter-striken excuse of a car we have parked at a jaunty angle at our gate, I worked up an anger at him and myself for not taking driving classes; him for not letting me enroll in a driving institute to learn how to get the hang of a manual gear car, and myself for listening to him, when both of us are absolute sloths…then as I ran out of people to get mad at, I raged at ma and pa. Fortunately no one was around to get a full treatment of my morning wrath. And I am so forgetful I would forget it by the time I reach home. The return journey is another task to be lived through.

The other day we were discussing if we should get our car, the same excuse of a vehicle that’s gone on hibernation, converted to CNG. And then mean bro said Pakistan would run out of gas by the year 2008/9. I asked him if we should put a hold on our plans. He told me he and others of his ilk, the biradari, could always wile me up and work out a way to convert my anger into a sustainable energy resource for vehicles. That should make our family millionaires and put me to some good use in the bargain. Pity he was too fast for the cold water I threw at him that landed at ma’s feet. I wonder if the anger-energy conversion scheme would work on ma as well. We do flare up fast in our family.

In the meantime there's all this talk of the GoP not passing on benefits of the international petrol price decrease to customers. Such meanos, ungrateful oafs these media-walas are. Of course us serfs, the citizens of Pakistan, the wretched don't want a relief, we want to bend our backs, hack off our limbs, sell off our kidneys, lungs and whatever can be sold, to finance another consignment of luxury vehicles for our representatives in the Parliament. They are doing such a good job at licking the armed seats, making our lives hell as they thunder through our cities in their motorcades, making token media appearances...

Hand it to me for being the mistress of trite. I’d thought of titling this post as Oops! I did it again…simply because I missed out on the day this blog completed three years. Three years and as disappearing acts. And no title to this post. Yet.

Anyways, there was a book fair in town and can it be in anyway that I not visit it?

I did of course, but it was such a quick, hurried and harried visit that I could not buy as if there was no tomorrow, which there wasn’t as I’d gone there on the last day. It was however heartening to see so many Karachi’ites turn up at the Expo Centre. Mean bro said it was mostly sight-see-ers, and I was adamant I saw a shopping bag in each visitors hand. True to his being mean, he said people usually collect brochures and pamphlets from such fairs. 'How can you be sure it was freebies, besides I saw and got none,' I made an attempt at winning the argument. 'How can you be sure they did actually buy books,' pat came the reply, 'besides it was such a crowded affair people could have taken an empty shopping bag and stuffed it with stuff unnoticed.' Such optimism, what can I say?

Back to what I bought. I got Raageh Omar’s Revolution Day for S. Edward Said’s Out of Place, Orhan Pamuk’s Snow, Anita Desai’s Voices in the City and Edward deBono’s I am Right, You are Wrong. I soo looked forward to replenishing my supply of chick-lit with The Devil Wears Prada but it was selling like hot cakes and wasn’t available at the time. So, I got meself no chick-lit.

Some days back I had discovered the Bargain Basement at Liberty Books. I go crazy every time I go there, which is frequent, considering it’s just a PKR 20 + 20 rickshaw ride away. And then I deposit my latest accumulations at work or plead a colleague to take it with them, collect it the next day and smuggle my horde home, book by book, trying to ward off Mom’s wrath.

I email myself links and neatly organize them all in a separate folder marked ‘Reads’. My desktop is pock-marked with .pdf files which are various other downloaded reads. I book mark webpages into folders in hopes of making good use of them all one day.

I should either hibernate away in winters, mild as they are in Karachi, or there should be more hours to a day. Or I could simply do with trying to be more organised, methodical and all that boring stuff. Yawn.

The Anglo-Saxons had some real brutal ways of punishment. One of them being to tie up the limbs of an accused and weighing him down with a stone and then throwing him in water. If he managed to stay afloat, it was assumed he was guilty, fished out of water and boiled in oil. If he drowned, well, he was innocent and could not summon all those evil powers to rescue him. The dead body was then taken out and given a proper burial.

One of Aesop’s fables is about an old man and his son taking their donkey to the market. Trying to appease all people they meet on their way to the market-place, they end up tying the donkey to a pole, the end result being that the poor ass manages to break free and drown himself conveniently in the river they were crossing. I am that donkey. I am a lot of things at the moment. I just hope I remember what frame of mind I am in these days to prompt such a gruesome re-telling.

It says something for the sorry affairs you have landed yourself in, doesn’t it, when your inbox announces new emails in excess of ten and all of them useless updates from sites you are not even remotely interested in, not now anymore. Nothing at all from people you once thought you can’t live without. Well, you can and are. So there.

What else was there I wanted to kvetch about? Laters. Then.

two past four

It kicked off with The Soliloquist, and I poured out all my thoughts onto this blog. Then came The Soliloquist's Kvetch-log/K-log and entries did justice to the name, all whining and kvetchings and cathartic typed outbursts. And then was Spiralling into Silence. So it's this silence on this blog that is now deafening, maddening. Makes me mad at least. Even the picture gives the impression of an abandoned spot...perhaps I wanted to make it cozier and went to fetch a cushion and forgot coming back? Duniya ne teri yaad se begaana ker diya/Tujh se bhi dilfareb hain ghum rozgaar ke.
Of all things I could write/blog about, nothing makes it past the confines of a random arrangement of cells I have tightly packed in my cranium. Excess of grey matter, or so I hope.
I have a whole list of things/projects that need to be done. Papier mache, decoupage, feng shui, paper making, trips to the tailor, readings, writings...So.
Saw Taj Mahal last night. The cable operator had put on a bootlegged DVD for our consumption. Trash, absolute trash, kitsch. Apart from Sonia Jehan, Noorjehan's grand daughter, there was nothing in teh movie to live up its hype. and Sonia was saved by her radiant complexion. her beauty is too bland. what irked me no end was Kim Sharma's antics as Ladli Begum. Puhlease, mughal ladies, especially princesses and Queen wannabes were not sluts! They did not pout or over-work their facial muscles. they did not have such way-below average faces. The only reason she bags a role in any acting project is becuase she prefers near-none clothing; in a role where she had to be properly, royally attired and present just a face for public consumption (ahem) she falls flat on her flat face! Pooja Batra as NoorJehan? Give me a huge break, in fact go break the producer, director and publicist's legs. What were they thinking? Zulfi as Prince Khurram...what a yawn and shame. What a waste of a good hour and half; i could not watch any more than that. Treatment, sets, acting, all, everything was banal, below average.

I realise I have a lot of tags to take up. For now I tagged myself from SE's blog and here goes:

. p . e . r .s . o . n . a . l .
-name: A. K
-birthday: mid October, last millennium, am that old.
-siblings: enough
-shoe size: varies, could be anything between a midget 5 to a huge 7.
-height: about average. Ranges between 5 4 and 5 5.

. r . e . l . a . t . i . o . n . s . h . i . p . s .
-who are your best or really close friends? It would be mean to say keep changing, so erm…my absolutely closest friend has to be M, me ikloti sis. The best part about having your sis as your best friend is that you never have to look an inch beyond the room in times of need. Next in line would be Mom, much as I want to, I simply can’t keep anything from her, and Pa, by proxy, except for my bank and credit cards statements…trailing close by would be my band of crack-pot brothers. There’s nothing like them in the whole world. In the usual friend sense, W and Bhai would top the list, in order of recency, then there would be N and A, going back it would be S and U and a decade ago it was T, R and R. B would also be listed, considering we’ve been friends since day one, my day one in this world, she’s a cousin nine months older than me. Does it say what I think it says?

-do you have a boyfriend/spouse: Is none an option? It should be, by choice.

f. a . s . h . i . o . n . s . t . u . f . f .
-where is your favorite place to shop: Too many to list. But I would rate the weekend, Chatuchuk Market in Bangkok as top of my list.

s . p . e . c . i . f . i . c . s .
-what kind of shampoo do you use?: Anything that suits fine to nearly non-existent hair
-what are you most scared of?: Failure
-who is the last person that called you?: A colleague
-where do you want to get married?: Hmm, now this is tricky…I have to agree to get married and then specify a place, right? Or can I do a Runaway Bride? In that case I would have a long list of places I’d like to get married at and not.
-how many buddies are online right now?: Know what, I am not online myself. IM is not instant enough for me. I’d rather call.
-what would you change about yourself?: I am happy the way I am. Well, most of the times, and if I would want to change anything about myself, this is not the place I’d be listing ‘em all!

f . a . v . o . r . i . t . e . s .
-color: mauves and lavenders and lilacs and pastels, and rose pinks…a pale palette.
-food: Anything with chocolate, and sheesh tawook, and French fries.
-subjects in school: English and Urdu, though I was equally good at all subjects. Yeah, comes with being a straight A student. How boring is that?
-hobbies: Not having a hobby counts? I think, a lot. And laze about, and when in mood, yak and yak and yak. At times I read.

h . a . v . e . y . o . u . e . v . e . r .
-given anyone a bath?: yeah, loved playing mom to a host of li’l cousins. Needless to say, real moms loved our juvenile ministrations. Child labour, now that I think of it.
-smoked: Oh yeah, smoked and quit. All in three days, how grown-up is that?
-bungee jumped?: want to, bad.
-ever been in love?: Oh yeah, so many times, lost count of it. That bag, those shoes, that mascara, that rouge!
-made yourself cry to get out of trouble?: nyah, too childish. Never been a child enough to cry except when was a child and did cry.
-cried when someone died?: yeah.
-lied: Wish I could, but I am cursed. Even a blind bat can tell when I make an attempt at lying. So I chicken out. It’s a skill all rusty not being used.
-used someone?: as in manipulate, of course, what decent woman worth her heels hasn’t? *bats eyes*

. c . u . r . r . e . n . t .
-music: Yar ko hum ne ja baja dekha (Abida Parveen)
-make-up: These days, tinted SPF moisturizer, rouge, clear mascara and gloss are staple. I skip a proper breakfast in the mornings to slather all that on the limited amount of surface area made available to me for the prupose. Dress up with eye shades. Love make up!
-annoyance: Ah, too many to list. But I hate, loathe, abhor repetitions. Urghhh!
-desktop picture: It’s a wonderful sun rising over a cloudy Dubai skyline. Can’t believe I was ever up that early to get such a picture.
-book you're reading: Now and Then by Joseph Heller, Miranmar by Naguib Mahfouz and Zen Attitude by Sujata Massey.
-in cd player: Lemme see. Dang! It’s jammed because of no-use.
-in DVD player: *yawn*

l . a . s . t . p . e . r . s . o . n .
-you hugged: A colleague, it was her b’day.
-you yelled at: Bro.
-who yelled at you: Bro, he can’t take my nakhras early in the morning.

. a . r . e . y . o . u .
-understanding: Oh yeah, or such is the impression I want others to have;)
-open-minded: A bit too much. It’s more of an open plan mind that I have.
-insecure: Should I be? Why? Who are you? Why you asking such questions? *Mommmee*
-interesting: Yes, very. Stay away!
-hungry: Mine is more specific hunger. SO I’d be hungry for a sandwich or chocolate cookies and so on.
-smart: Oversmart.
-moody: Could be.
-hard working: Depends.
-organized: I wish!
-healthy with eating: *burp*
-shy: No b way!! *blushes*
-difficult: Depends, there are a whole lot of things I would not compromise on.
-attractive: Depends on my mood, I can manage to look anything I like.
-bored easily: *yawn* next question please.
-messy: now that would be understatement. I live in an organized clutter, Feng Shui can take my chi right out the window in my relationship corner, mind it doesn’t trip over the stack of laundered clothes I would get round to putting back in my wardrobe one of these days.
-obsessed: About forgetting. I live to make it a point to remember something and conveniently, religiously forget it.

. r . a . n . d . o . m .
-in the morning i am: sleepy and cranky
-love is: over abused, over stated and a whole lot of overs.
-i dream about: getting some more sleep *yawn*

. o . p . p . o . s . i . t . e . s . e . x .
-what do you notice first: Hair line, eyes and nose. I hate it when men have such perfect noses and skins and glorious hair. What's the point? It's wasted on them anyways.
-makes you laugh the most: Sitting down with me siblings and making fun of each other, making fun of anyone. Such sessions crack me up.
-makes you smile: Me crazy family and their antics and time out with friends. Actually I smile, a lot. Very indiscriminatory smile. And considering the crooked set of dentures I have, mean bro insists I have some cheek to do that.
-who do you have a crush on: Right now, I have this huge crush on Hugh Glendenning, a character in Zen Attitude. Think I can find a real life version, in erm, real life?
-who has a crush on you: Now that should be interesting. I think all the neighborhood cats have a huge crush on me. Nothing keeps them from serenading at my window come night time, not even random shoes and rocks to shoo them away.

. d . o . y . o u . e . v . e . r .
-sit on the internet all night waiting for that someone special to IM you?: Never been online when I could be sleeping!
-wish you were a member of the opposite sex?: Eww! No wait, I do envy guys with good hair and noses and skins, is that the same as I wishing I was them? *thinks* Seriously, there are times when I think men have it easy, ludicrously easy, criminally easy...so, yeah...
-wish you were younger: Not really.
-cried because someone said something mean to you?: No. Not that I can think of.

.n . u . m . b . e . r .
-of times i have had my heart broken: can I go in minuses?
-of hearts i have broken: Limbs, all those cats and the projectiles they face in their catty efforts to woo me…
-of tight friends: 4, I think
-of cds i own: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5…

. f . i . n . a . l . q . u . e . s . t . i . o . n . s .
-do you like filling these out?: why else did I take it up?
-gold or silver: gold plated silver suits me fine.
-what was the last film you saw at the movies? Koi Tujh Sa Kahan
-favorite cartoon/anime? I remember this anime that used to come on Star Plus way back in 1993-4, and Muppet Babies, and Captain Planet…
-what did you have for breakfast this morning?: Was in a rush, just a cup of tea. Skipped breakfast in favor of an exact seven minutes layering on me face.
-who would you love being locked in a room with?: Books, lots and lots of them, and a DVD player and loads of movies. I can live by proxy, right?
-could you live without your computer?: I have lived without a PC and survived, so yeah. -would you color your hair?: Chemicals not allowed, but I do dye my hair with henna, love that shade of red.
-could you ever get off the computer?: No problemo.
-habla espanol? Nyah.
-how many people are on your buddy list?: somewhere between 25~30.


HAVE YOU EVER..?
-Missed school because it was raining: bunked classes, yes, requested teachers to let us off, yes, request friends’ teachers to let them off yes. Rain does that to me, it must be criminal to stay indoors when it rains.
-Put a body part on fire for amusement: Now that’s an idea. Whose body part could it be?

-Kept a secret from everyone: No. If all people I know get together, they would have all my life before them. Almost.
-cried during a movie: Nah! teary-eyed at the most, but not actually cried.
-been on stage: too many times to list…and I hate mikes, I mean I can be loud enough but hate hearing my own voice jeering at me from the sound system.
-Been sarcastic?: aha! *raises eyebrow* 'One of these days your eyebrows would refuse to come down', so says mean bro, meanly.

FAVOURITES
Movie: E.T.
Ice Cream: *drools* gimme all!
Person: hmm, family and friends? All of them, yes.

FRIENDS AND LIFE
-Do you have a soul mate?: and that means?
-Who have u known the longest of your friends: B, she’s been my friend since me birthday, and she’s still around. That we don’t talk or see each other much is another story.
-Who's the loudest: B and W would tie for that one!
-Who has seen you cry: B, but that’s only because she’s been around for ever.
-What is/are the best feeling(s) in the world?: Feeling sleepy and hitting the bed!
Being driven around. Time out with friends, bargain shopping/hunting with friends and actually bagging a bargain, and yeah, traveling to a new city.

Ignorance is bliss?

As I reached my workplace my cell phone signalled a new sms. Attending it was the least of all my concerns though as I was greeted by some office confusion and gnashed my teeth at a few people’s impudence. I should have saved teeth gnashing for later, as turned out. There were two sms’es. One from my brother and sister each while another brother had miscalled a good three times. I don’t pick up the phone while traveling. Turns out there was a bomb blast near the PIDC, right in front of KFC at about half past eight this morning. As I am the last to leave home for work, my siblings were concerned; at times I do take that route. It reminded me of another time when the New Zealand team was in Karachi for a cricket series and a bomb blast in Sheraton, where the national and guest teams were staying, blasted game plans in the city. I was enroute to work and only on reaching office did I learn the cause for all that security and chaos at the PIDC/Sheraton area. This KFC was the same where a friend and I used to walk to for lunches. I should have saved my teeth gnashing as a reaction to this blast. It makes me mad. It would make anyone mad. I would like to kill the perpetrators of this heinous act, if those bastards haven’t already got themselves killed in their myopic quest for Heaven. How could Allah let such fools enter Heaven? I surely don’t look forward to such company after death. Abdul Halim Sharar wrote Arsh e Bareen and I wonder if it was not about our times?

Aftermath

The other day when I posted the news on earthquake in Islamabad, I had sketchy information. It was some fifteen minutes past nine when i first learnt of the 7.6 tremors and the collapse of a building in Islamabad. Logging onto newsites, most reports were focussing on the devastation in Kashmir, Islamabad/R.Pindi and some of that information i started putting up in comments.
At that time all media had on hands was information from the capital and from the media's point of view, the collapsed Margalla Towers made great footage, any experts that they called in were from the Met office whoe went on about the kinds of quakes and its magnitude this time round.
and then reports started coming in and i went in a freeze.
if i thought islamabad was badly hit, it was nothing compared to waht happened up north.
I have an album from my trip with Uni to the Northern Areas in the summer 0f 2000. We went to Balakot, the same hamlet where 400 school children died. and that too was nothing. We were stopped on the trecherous mountain raods by random landslides, trapped on raod for more than six hours. the FWO was quick, they had dyanamite to blow up the landsliding. and that took six hours. the northern areas of Pakistan are essentially cut off from the country. just one road snakes through the mountain ranges. waht would be the speed of relief operations reaching the place is a disturbing thought. at least the nation has woken up and is responding to aid pleas.
and so is teh world chipping in. Its disturbing TV and newspapers. Mom's so upset that we are thinking of banning her from watching any more TV.
What's happened has happened. What is important is the rescue and rehabilitation work.
And prayers. Humans have an amazing coping up mechanism. if rescue teams can reach in time, those buried under the rubble can still come out live.
i have to stop thinking on what has happened and work on what can be done.
and pray that money raking bastards who remain so irrespective of what hits their cities/villages refrain from their activities for just a while. those profiteers...i am not even sure of what kind of help is needed. Monetary? try paying a mother who's lost all her kids in the school collapse. food packets? clothes? medicines? I just wish I were a doctor or even strong enough to fly up north and do my bit. life sitting here and paying token lip service sucks.

Earthquake in Islamabad

Scaree news to start the day.
News of a 7.6 magnitude earthquake in Islamabad and Rawalpindi.
Extending to New Delhi in India, Sri Nagar in Kashmir, Peshawar and Lahore in Pakistan.
Listening to Geo Tv's audio streaming on the web I wonder and pray for the safety of everyone.
experts say it could have been and would be better if its a defocussed quake, with major seismic activity deep underground and few tremors reaching up, thus lessening chances of damage and casualties.
Reports also say that people are in a panic and out of their homes since morning.
With no access to TV and without actual footage of the happenings I am quite worked up too.
At teh same time I wonder if all this makes for such good TV, would the media cash in on the panic, as is their wont and whip up a quake frenzy? Exaggerate?
Please pray for Saadat and Ajmal Sb. And everyone else.

Updates in comments and updated pic at 12:15 pm.

Vanity check

Cocktails at Ajmal Sb's place:
This is me, plain and simple:

How to make an A
Ingredients:
1 part competetiveness
3 parts courage
1 part leadership
Method:
Blend at a low speed for 30 seconds. Add a little cocktail umbrella and a dash of fitness.

With frills and fancies, erm, all caps as initials are to be:

How to make an A
Ingredients:
3 parts mercy
3 parts crazyiness
5 parts beauty
Method:
Stir together in a glass tumbler with a salted rim. Serve with a slice of emotion and a pinch of salt. Yum!

I can't decide which one to disagree more with!
And yes, nothing better that I could come up with either.

This was better and, erm, truer:

A may explode without warning

M EXPLOSIVE

The University of Blogging Presents to A An Honorary Bachelor of Cutting Majoring in Self Portraiture Signed Dr. GoQuiz.com ®

Alright then, I check in vanity today evening.

Ramadhan Mubarak everyone!