Tired

So tired and stuck with about two more hours of work!! Need to get down to taking early morning starts and make the most of the day …am so not an evening person! I am listening to these lectures by this guy for medicine….he seems to be a cross between Ross(from Friends…looks a bit like him) and Ray(from Everybody loves Raymond…talks like him).I am afraid the similarity ends here....he is sooo boring!So yeah, I should get back to work before I feel too sorry for myself and give up.
Oh, and I just binged on M n Ms and skittles…..

Note to self: Never have any caffeine close to bed time!

I had to put in two more hours  of studying to end a productive day…only my mind was just numb. So, I drank some diet coke…which did pep me up and I got through those two hours…and now I can’t go to sleep!*sigh* Thought I’d ramble here for a while….hopefully this will do the trick.
S and I haven’t been on the best of terms lately.  I am sure he can come up with a million reasons for why I am the bane of his existence …but I think its mainly because I cut his junk food consumption a.k.a Mc D’s etc to no more than twice a week and minimized his coke/pepsi intake too(btw…one can of that stuff has an equivalent of 8-9 teaspoons of sugar!).
Today, was somewhat of a surprise as he wasn’t all cheeky….he let me study without the usual…. “ahh!there you go…why are you checking your mail?you call that studying?”
In the evening, he came and asked me if I could come down with him into the basement for a while while he got onto the tread mill! I stopped myself from making some wise crack …hehehehe…and went downstairs. He started walking and we had a nice little discussion about what the thumb pulse meant and how it changed with exercise. “This isn’t that bad….he probably is quite fond of me”,I thought. I was mistaken. I realized he had been walking for about 20 minutes and I needed to pray and  get back to studying…..told S to get off. He would’t listen. Frustrated, I said, “S!I think this is enough. Aya does 30, so you’re fine”. “Oh you’re just a frilly little girl!! I can double what you do anyday!”,came the reply.
Enough niceness,I say. The next time I’ll sneak back upstairs and leave him all alone in the dreary, dark basement…then we’ll see who  the “frilly little girl is”!
Off now…and this didn’t work…still not sleepy.

What Bush really meant

This is hilarious!!!

u bz?

So, what exactly does it take, other than the “busy” status on your instant messenger to make people understand that you are actually, truly, positively busy??!!
The “ ignore strategy” works but then be prepared to be labelled mean/snobbish blah!blah!.....not to mention the explaination as to why you were busy!
I normally ignore IMs coming my way when I am working or am not in the mood for virtual socialising.....but this particular individual was adamant today.

*bling and out pops the window*

B: Hey! u bz?

*Aya shuts down window remorselessly*

*bling accompanied by window a minute later*

B:u there?
Aya: hey…whats up?
B: hey…r u bz?
Aya: yes…kinda sorta!Everything ok?
B:haan everythings ok.So,whats happening?Anything interesting…anything new?
Aya: good.No,nothing new.Same old,same old.Work ok for you?
B: yeah,Works ok.Come on now…there has to be something happening…kya boring insaan ho!
Aya:sorry to disappoint you B but I don’t have a life and there is nothing happening that might interest you.
B: hmmm….sad! btw…you’re boring!:p
Aya: I know..:p…I am off now……catch you later.

*Aya shuts window…logs out!*

Spread The Word

The following is an excerpt from DrPak's latest blog entry.

“I strongly condemn the publication of the bigoted and offensive cartoons against the Prophet. However, I condemn in much stronger terms the violent reaction some Muslims have had to the publication. This reaction runs totally counter to my Islamic beliefs. They must be stopped immediately with an exhaustive investigation launched to arrest and punish the perpetrators. As a Muslim, mindless violence in the name of Islam is far more insulting to me than for an ill-informed, publicity-seeking newspaper to publish cartoons of my Prophet (pbuh).”

I concur.
More on this, here.

S-isms...

What is this world coming to??
I just have  to share this conversation that I just had with my 10 year old brother S, whose life is currently… and I quote…”miserable” because he has to study(like an hour on alternate days)  for the fifth grade achievement tests coming up .So, D is going over this practice test he just did and pointing out his mistakes….

S: “Well D…even if I got this wrong I’d still get a 90, you know?”
Aya: “ S! Its not good to be so overconfident!”
S: “Let me explain .You and I are a combination of mama and baba(mom and dad).One of us has to have  lower confidence and the other has to have higher confidence.I guess you got stuck with the ahem…*cough* lower thingee .Its  a gene/DNA thing Aya…it’s a gene/DNA thing!”  *cheeky yet angelic grin*
Aya: “Err…S….”
S: “You remember how you were right before you  took  your exam? Heyy   wait….but you got good grades!!” *leaves room pondering*

Happy Birthday O-C!!

May all your dreams come true and more...
May you get what you want...;)
Have fun.... (of course, you owe me some cake!!)

Disconcertion...

Deeply perturbed over the so called protests that have erupted in Pakistan in Lahore,Peshawar and Islamabad and a number of other cities over the Danish newspaper cartoons.I had actually been dreading this for a few days now.Yes....we are affronted but it certainly doesnot justify these random acts of violence...what exactly would burning your own assembly building,banks,cinemas and retaurants accomplish?!I believe that our own short comings as an ummah have paved the way for this ridicule and disregard ...we need to clean up our acts first and foremost!!

My Best Friend's Wedding

My best friend is getting married in April and D and I will be heading to Pakistan come end of March ,InshaAllah.Actually, I had been in two minds about going.....How would I schedule step 2 around it?Would I be able to take CS in time?....blah,blah,blah!Then D gave me an ultimatum of sorts..."Is it a yes or a no?"...*add just a wee bit of a threatening tone to that*.Now,how would "jobless" Aya understand the significance of D having to notify her manager of dates of her intended vacation??Well,Aya did understand and did make up her mind eventually....:p!Ofcourse O-C's "friend kee shadi tau aik hee duffa honee hai...exam tau thoraa aagay bhee ho sakta hai(to translate...its your best friend's wedding for goodness sake!)" ....kept haunting me too...;).So,all the reservations etc were made...and then yesterday the travel agent calls and says something about having reserved a ticket for one person only!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Helllllo???? This,after all the harping about "reservations for TWO...tickets for me AND my sister!"...not good!....He is supposed to call today as soon as he fixes the mess he has made....I on the other hand have spent precious study time looking for alternatives(and whining about it here)!
Although,I think we'll be fine....he'll come up with something inshaAllah!I am excited and have already started day dreaming about how awesome it would be to be back in Lahore...more on that later!
Anyways,you know what this means??This means, I need to study like anything and get a lot done before I leave....just so I have some peace of mind while I am in Pakistan and can enjoy spending time with family and friends AND so that I don't freak out when I get back!I've been trying but its not been all that great....everyday ends with a "tomorrow will be better"....blech!So yeah,I have to...just have to get down to kicking some serious dust in the studying arena.Oh and in case some one reading this is shaking their heads and thinking..."what a nerd!"....hmmm....this should suffice...:p and boo ya!!!

Sushi - never again!

Had the misfortune of having the worst ever sushi today.I am not too fond of fish as it is and had tried sushi a couple of times before today...and it wasn't as bad!
I solemnly delcare that I hate sushi and will not have any even if you paid me.Period.

Oh and don't be fooled into thinking that vegetable sushi would taste any better...

EARTHSONG

I marvelled at these breath taking aerial shots of Earth in all its splendor...SubhanAllah!
Bernhard Edmaier,who is also a geologist has indeed done justice to this untapped granduer in his latest collection "EarthSong".
I am beyond tempted to upload one of these here....darn copy right issues!...*sigh*
Enjoy!

Randomness from home

As expected,it snowed yesterday....a rather white and freezing welcome back home.Apparently,Atlanta had a bit of a cold wave too.Its nice to be back and I have this feeling of a finality of sorts....especially,as regards the studying.Although,I did make good progress back in Atlanta,there were times when I felt as if I was whiling away time.Had planned on getting this one subject out of the way today...but ended up unpacking and working on registering for step 2.I am almost done with my application.I'll be applying for CK and CS together as the slots for CS are filling up quick.I had wanted to do this earlier but the highly inefficient student affairs people at my medical college managed to conveniently send a friend of mine on a wild goose chase for my degree...which they claimed they had mailed to some random address in Lahore!!I was livid and had even planned to torch the place down!(O-C...I am still up for it!)But turns out they still had it wth them...happy to report that I am now in posession of the degree...thank God!
I should be done mailing the necessary stuff in a day or two.I need to get these passport sized photographs taken to send in with the application....they never come out nice...at least for me!Try keeping your face straight...try smiling...its always messed up...always!Anyways, with all this out of my way I'd be able to study in peace!!!
D is busy watching the super bowl...which I think is as big an event for American Football fans as say, the cricket world cup for us.I find this particular sport...hmmm...confusing and violent.One of the teams playing today has a player called "the Bus".I was wondering out loud as to why someone would be given a nickname like that when D drew my attention to a clip from one of the previous games....this guy just kept on going regardless of who came in his way.....he just bulldozed his way through!!I think "the Bulldozer" would be a more apt alternative.Off now to watch what remains of the super bowl.

Blue2

So,today has just been...well..blue.Study sucked...felt restless and then low.Even the rain didn't have the "spirit uplift" effect.I don't know why though.A friend suggested I should self-analyse and figure out why...but I have never been a thinker and even if I tried I'd be at a loss.Oh well...it probably is just one of those days!
Couldn't really study so I did the next most productive thing that came to mind...I cooked.Actually ,it was long overdue...my uncle had been dropping hints here and there about how he enjoyed the chicken I made,the last time I was over...hehehe.Figured, I should do something nice for them before I leave.I hope the "blueness" today doesn't somehow reflect in the chicken.The thing is...I don't like doing taste checks myself when I am cooking.I have to have someone else do it for me....and no one was around today....so I just kinda added the spices in...andaazay say and didn't bother tasting it...*gulp*
What in the world was I thinking???!!!!!!!!!

Blue

You want to know what I call a perfect waste of time?
Read on....

1.Thinking of adding more color to the blog(and thinking you'd actually get away with it without a hitch!)
2.Browsing the web looking for templates.
3.Finding a few that you actually like.
4.Trying them all out.... only to find they don't look as good as you thought they would!
5.Coming to terms with the fact that you've failed miserably at the attempt(yeah, that takes time).
6.Dejectedly reverting back to the original template only to find all the customizations missing(oh alright!...they did warn me this would happen!)
7.Vowing to stick to the current template indefinitely(that doesn't take much time provided 1 through 6 are followed to perfection!)

p.s...Too depressed to add the links back in(haven't disowned you all..:p)...get down to that tomorrow!