Things

My phone is dying so this will be short. 

I can't believe that summer is almost over. We only have a month left, and I still have a lot that I want to do. I fear that the Olympics will stop me from doing some of these things, but, hey, it's the Olympics. 

Anyway, have a good day. 

Great Post

The next few days, I'll be busy with family, so I don't know long my blogs will be. One of my favourite things about summer is spending time with my family that lives abroad. Last year, our second cousins came to stay with us, and this summer our relatives might also come. It's nice to see them all, because a lot of them are people I hardly ever get to see.

I haven't gotten a chance to watch Fringe - or any show - since last week, and I've been getting more headaches lately. I'm just writing that as proof that watching things on my laptop do not, in fact, have a lot to do with my headaches.

So, to wrap this up, I might not blog a lot tomorrow, and that's all I said of importance. What a great post, right?

More Olympics

The Olympics are so fun to watch. I know it's just the first day, and by the last day, I'll probably be glad to stop watching sports, but now it's really entertaining.  We watched the semi-finals and finals for female fencing, and I got really into it. Congrats to Italy who won all three medals! All of the three winners played extremely well.  As I was watching the men's gymnastics, I couldn't help imagine being in one of their shoes. Imagine working so hard to get there, and then making one small mistake that ruins your chances. Wouldn't that be just horrible?  And we, the spectators, watch and criticize their every mistake. We even go as far as to say how 'bad' they did. How can they be bad if they qualified for the Olympics? The fact that they're there means that no matter what the outcome will be, they're all really talented in the sport they play.  I can just imagine how nervous they all must be. And I hope that they all feel proud for being there, no matter how they perform. 

The Opening

I just finished watching the Opening Ceremony for the Olympics. In my opinion, the ceremony was very nice. I know that England must have had a lot of pressure because they had to put on a show that was better than Beijing's in 2008, and I think they did a good job. I can't say if they had a better show though - mostly because I forgot a lot of the Beijing Opening Ceremony.  My favourite parts were the show by the hospitals  with the children in beds, Mr. Bean, and, of course, Paul McCartney.  That's all I'll say about the Ceremony for now, because I have to sleep. But I'm definitely looking forward to watching the Olympics in the next weeks!

Making A Difference

I think that everyone wants to make a difference in this world, and I'm not an exception to this. I always think about the best way that I can help others and help society in general. I'm really inspired by the people who make TedTalks, because they are people who have a purpose, who have made a difference in some way.

And I want to be one of them. I don't mean that I want to go and make important talks, but I do want to make a difference. I want to do something that will help the world. I know I talked previously about how the world will end at some point, and no one will matter, but still I have the inclination to do something that will matter now.

And maybe I will do something that will matter, but there's always a chance that I won't.

Science

When I was younger, I had really weird theories about the world around us. I won't go into them, but you should trust me when I say that they were really weird. Now, obviously, I've discarded them, and depend on science to explain the world around me, even if it doesn't have all the answers yet.

For me, science is the only thing that people can rely on. Sure, lots of scientists are wrong, and hypotheses can be disproved, but at least it's always moving forward. It's continuously searching for answers, even when the answers seem so far away.

And, it has already answered quite a few questions, even if it haven't answered all of them. Basically, my point is that we will continue to become more aware of the world around us, and enlighten ourselves if we put more of our faith in science.

Dreams

I've been having really weird dreams lately. I don't know why they're so weird, but they are. For example, I recently had a dream that I fell out of an airplane. And it wasn't like the plane crashed; I just was in the plane and then, suddenly,I wasn't. I survived the fall though, but landed in a really weird area. I've had other dreams that were weird, which I can't remember well. I just remember that they were weird, but also good dreams. I guess having weird dreams is normal, but I just normally have semi-normal dreams, or I forget my dreams. Anyway, I can't wait to sleep and have more weird, exciting dreams.

Isn't he/she cute?

Personalities

Some people have the ability to have two completely different personalities which they are able to change between as they like. Those people always baffle me. I know that I can act differently at times, and I can act like a lot of things, but I don't think I have two completely different personalities. I think I have one personality that has many aspects - which is what I believe most people have.

I'm not saying it's a bad thing to have two personalities, I'm just saying I don't get it. And when people are able to change so quickly, it scares me. I don't know  exactly why, but it does. I feel like I don't know them and that I wouldn't want them to know me. I don't know how to explain it, but it just gives me an eerie feeling.

When you know someone who is like that, you just naturally assume that their worse personality is their real one. And it makes sense. Why would anyone purposely choose to have a mean or violent etc.. personality if they had the choice to have a pleasant one? But, does that really make sense? Everyone, ultimately, has the choice, even if they just have one personality.

I feel like I'm going on a tangent here. Whichever personality you think is more like that person's actual personality, you can never be a hundred percent sure. Which is why I don't feel comfortable around those people. Call me crazy, but I like to know the personalities of the people around me.

Maybe

Wow, it's 1:30am? I didn't realise it was this late. Today was an interesting day. I'm not going to go into it, but it just was. I will say that I had some nice conversations with Vivian and my mum.

Sorry for being so vague, but I really don't want to get into it, and I basically just wrote that for me to remember in the future. I realise that that isn't the main point of a blog, but I feel like it's important for me.

I feel like writing about anything, just so that this isn't a post where I basically tell my readers nothing. But, to be honest, I have nothing to write about. Maybe I'll have something more interesting to say tomorrow.

Maybe not. 

Ramadan Kareem

Lately, I've been editing my third Nanowrimo novel, and it's been going well so far. Normally, when I start to edit them, I become lazy or bored, and don't continue through the whole story. This time, though, I'm almost halfway through. My theory as to why this is the case this time is that I actually like my story this time. I mean, I liked all the original ideas for my other stories, but this one is the most interesting in my opinion.

Anyway, when I finish the first draft of that one, I might finish the other one's too. That way all of them would be on their second drafts. Maybe, then I can work on finishing some of my unfinished stories. I'm quite excited about that.

The problem is that I don't like my writing in general. I think that, on a whole, my ideas are good, but my writing isn't good enough. So, when I'm editing, I try to think of it as if it's not my own story to see if I, personally, would enjoy it or not. I don't know how well this will work out in the end since I have a tendency to like everything I read, but we'll see.

And, to everyone who celebrates it, Ramadan Kareem! I don't know if I said that yesterday or not, but even if I did, what do I lose by saying it twice?

TV

I just finished the season 3 finale for Fringe and it was so amazing. I don't know how to even explain how great it was.

I stopped watching Fringe - for some unknown reason - and lately I've started to watch it again. I'm so hooked onto it, and, now, I'm trying to get as many people to watch it as possible. I can't wait to start watching Season 4.I don't want to go into the actual plot because I don't want to spoil it for anyone, but I would definitely recommend it to anyone.

Vivian's Stories

Yesterday, as I tried to fall asleep, I started thinking of my grandma, Vivian, and how she would always tell me the best stories before bed. Sometimes they'd be fairy tales, or even stories like Moby Dick. But sometimes she would tell me stories of our relatives and of her childhood.

I would love to hear about how she would spend the summer in Alex with her siblings and her friends. Or how she and her brothers would get in trouble at school. I especially liked to hear these stories when we were in Canada and I felt so far away from all of our family. Hearing about them made me feel as if I knew them better, even though I didn't know them that well at all.

I hope that my younger cousins get to sleep over at Vivian's and get to hear all of these stories too, because I'm sure that they'd really appreciate them. I know that I still do.

Guitar and Debates

I'm in the middle of watching a debate about whether there is an afterlife and it's quite interesting. (When I say 'in the middle' I mean more like the beginning, but whatever.) Debates are really interesting and I haven't watched one since I travelled to Canada. I'm looking forward to watching a lot of debates in the next few days.

I'm trying to play guitar more often also, because I want to get better and plucking instead of just strumming.

So, that's basically all that's new with me. Maybe I'll have more to say tomorrow.

Right Hand

My right hand is shaking and the fingers on my left hand hurt from all the guitar I've been playing. I'm finding this kind of hard to type right now. I think today was a kind of productive day for me, which is good because before we left to Canada, I didn't do much. I kept telling myself that once we were back, I'd start doing the things I planned to do this summer. So, I'm glad that I've started some of that stuff today.

Unfortunately, I won't be able to do anything tomorrow because I'm going to my grandma's house. But, you do a lot one day, and then have a break the next. At least I'll read a lot tomorrow.

But I always start off all enthusiastic and then, after a few days, I get tired and go back to doing nothing. I hope this doesn't happen this time.

My right hand stopped shaking.

(This was written on July 15th, but for some reason, it didn't get published...)

Fate?

I used to believe that everything happens for a reason. In fact, I used to believe that everything happened to teach people lessons. Now, I don't believe that at all. I think that things happen completely by accident or coincidence. There's no such thing as fate or anything like that.

I don't know when I realised that, but I just thought about writing it today (partly because I don't really have anything else to write about). But, I think it's important for people to realise this because as long as you believe in fate, and that things happen for a reason, you start to let things happen without interfering. People need to take responsibility for their actions and to think before they act, and some people don't do this when they believe in fate.

Anyway, I feel like I went off on a tangent there. So, I'm going to go now. And, to those who care, I haven't found my yarn yet.  

Yarn

This will be short because, once again, I want to sleep. I feel like that's all I ever want to do.  So, I've been looking all over my room to find yarn. I remember I had this big bag with all different types of yarn and now I have no idea where it is.  I have found quite a few interesting things in my room though. But no yarn.  I guess I'll have to continue the search tomorrow!

Realizations.

You know what I just realised? I haven't been sick since my birthday. I should be getting sick soon. I also realised that thinking that is on the weird side. But, hey, at least if I do get sick, I'll be prepared.

Also, I realised that today is Friday the 13th. I don't know how that fact slipped my mind. (I only realised this at the end of the day.) As far as I'm aware nothing bad happened. We'll see if that's true tomorrow in the news.

I saw Tarek and Karim today, and they're adorable as ever.

Nadeen is watching the weirdest show ever. It looks kind of familiar though.

So, I'm going to sleep now even though I don't feel one bit tired. But I know that's just the jet lag, and since I plan to wake up at 9, I have to go now! 

Relaxing

I've been pretty much dying to sleep since we came back home, but now that I'm all ready to sleep and about to hop into bed, I feel wide awake. Typical. The trips weren't that bad this time and I didn't get a headache, but I'm glad to be done with all of that. I'm looking forward now to just relaxing and doing nothing till September!

Going home

We're leaving today. I don't know how I feel about this. I really miss my family and I can't wait to see them, but normally when we're on our way home, I'm really excited to be leaving.  My mum asked us a question the other day which was 'Where do you guys feel more at home? Egypt or Canada?' Christopher answered by saying Egypt felt more like home except for the language barrier, and I'd have to agree with him. But that doesn't mean that a part of me doesn't feel at home here in Canada.  I think that's the reason why I don't feel very excited about going back home because here kind of feels like home too. But saying that, I am excited (just not very) about going back and I can't wait to sleep in my own bed in my own room. I just hope I don't feel sick on the flight back!

Feeling Nostalgic

My parents, Christopher, and I went for a walk in our old neighborhood yesterday. It was really fun to walk to the same parks I used to walk in as a kid. The whole time, Christopher and I would point out things we remembered passing by on our bicycle rides to school and the parks we remembered playing in.  There were two things that really moved me, though.  The first was seeing my old house. We didn't really get a good look, but we saw the garden and I saw my old bedroom window. This will sound childish but the first thought that came to mind as I looked at my old house was 'I want the people living there to get out of my house!' I disliked everything they changed in the house and I found it unfair in a way that these people, whoever they are, were living in MY house. Anyway, it turned out that those people actually sold the house and are moving out in a few days. But it just felt weird I guess.  The second thing that moved me was going to see Patrick Kennedy's tree. Patrick Kennedy was a kid who went to my old school - way before I went - and who passed away from cancer at age 8, I think. So every year, the school holds an event to raise money for cancer research and the whole school walks to a tree next to Kennedy's house. Each class has a ribbon and a class representative would hang the ribbon on the tree in memory of Patrick.  When I went and saw it yesterday I saw all the ribbons, and I remembered walking there and hanging my class's ribbon on the tree. I remembered how Patrick's mum would come and talk about Patrick and the whole school event.  It was just in general a nostalgic walk. 

Spiderman

We went to watch The Amazing Spiderman yesterday, and I thought it was really good. But we came back home late, and I had a headache so by the time I got ready to sleep, I was too tired to blog. But, I still tried to, but the Internet was down. I gave up after trying to load the page twice and here I am, blogging now. (The next part will contain a few spoilers, so don't read it if you haven't watched The Amazing Spiderman yet!!) I preferred this new Spiderman to the old one. Something that both Christopher and I liked was how his webs were made by him and not an extra perk that came with a bite.  And in the old Spiderman, if I remember correctly, Peter was always trying to get money. Like he went to fight to get the prize money and he went and gave pictures of 'spiderman' for a job. I'm not saying that's a bad thing; it's just that Peter wasn't like that in this one. So it's just a difference I noticed.  The last thing I'll mention is that I liked the actors more in the new one. I always got annoyed by the last Spiderman, and I think Andrew Garfield did a better job. And Emma Stone is one of my favourite actresses.  Anyway, it was a really good movie, and I would definitely recomend it to anyone.  

Getting older

I have no idea what I was writing about yesterday. It seems very weird now that I think about it.  Today, we went to Kingston to see my dad's cousin and her husband. It was really nice to see them.  Obviously, we all talked about many things including politics and our other relatives. But some of the talk was about my grandma and her dementia. And yesterday, at my dad's friend's house, we talked a lot about how their parents are all aging and their parents' various diseases. It's quite sad when you look around you and realise that everyone is growing older and frailer - whether mentally of physically.  Wouldn't it be the best thing if everyone just stayed young?

Stories and Decisions

Again we went to visit one of my dad's old friends and while we were there, they started to reminisce about the old times when they worked together. I found it interesting to hear their stories and to hear about the people they knew and worked with. I want to have adventures and good times with my friends so I can reminisce about them in our future.   We don't really think about it, but everything we do matters to us and the people around us. And each thing leads to a different thing which leads to a new story that you can look back on and remember. That's why it's important to make sure everything you do is what's best and what you'll look back on and smile.  Of course, we will all make bad decisions in our lives, and some decisions are hard to make even though they are ultimately the right ones. You can sometimes tell which choice is the best by how hard it is to finally choose it. But those are the best ones because they're the ones that would make you and most people around you happy. Those are the ones that would lead to the best story. 

No Energy

Sometimes I feel really tired for no apparent reason. That's how I felt today. I slept at least 7 hours, and although we did walk a lot while shopping, I didn't exert that much energy today. So I should be feeling fine.  Anyway, I'm really tired, so even though it's not even 10, I will be going to sleep now.  And, hopefully, tomorrow I'll be full of energy!

Dad's Nice Friends

Today we went to my dad's friend's house for dinner. It's twelve now, and we just got home about half an hour ago. I'm in bed and I'm all ready to sleep!  Anyway, I didn't realise my dad had such nice friends. I don't know why, but I always assumed my dad didn't pick good friends. I think I assume that because Nadeen reminds me of him a bit. Anyway, I guess I was wrong.  I have a lot of things going through my mind right now, and I don't know how to think properly right now. But, tomorrow.......I actually don't know what I was going to write there.  Anyway, write again tomorrow! 

Slow Day

Yesterday evening, we went to watch the Avengers. It was a really good movie, and I feel like watching it again. I guess I'll have to wait for it to come out on DVD.  Today was kind of a slow day. We went out for breakfast with my dad's friend, went grocery shopping, and are now going out to dinner with some of my parent's friends.  I was going to write a more accurate account of what happened on Canada Day where I would describe the guy - who was probably smoking weed - who just didn't stop dancing and other stuff that I found interesting. But I want to write about what I'm doing each day instead. So maybe I'll write about that when I'm back home.  Now I'm going to read now, so have a nice day. 

Happy Belated Canada Day

Yesterday we came back home late and I really wasn't able to blog. So I thought I'd just blog today and forget about blogging and just sleep.  Yesterday was Canada Day and we started the day by going to Home Depot to buy things for our house. We stayed quite some time there because it might be my dad's favourite shop. Then, we went to a pharmacy to buy a few things then had lunch.  After that we watched the match (congrats Spain!) and then went to  a park which name I forgot  where we met our cousins. We walked to the Parliament where we saw Simple Plan play live, and a few other artists.  We then walked back to the park where we sat in the grass, listening to whoever was playing, until 10, when the fireworks started.  I can't remember when the last time I saw such a grand display of fireworks, but the fireworks were really amazing. And people's expressions of awe as they watched the fireworks were also amazing.  After that, we left to go back home. On out way to the exit of the park, we were squashed with people who were all going the same direction. It took forever for us to get to the exit. And then the buses were completely full so it was hard for us to get on one. So, as you can imagine, by then I was exhausted and hungry, but we came back after about an hour.  Anyway, it was a fun yet tiring day! And it was nice to see my cousins!