owlolive

Everything that matters to me (and maybe you as well)

Archive for the tag “bad”

05 Aug 2012
8 Comments

The Blogger As Writer As Critic As Celebrity (As Delusional Diva)

I’ve been very fortunate to have gained a faithful and respectable number of awesome readers for this tiny blog over the few short months that its been up and running. I am both honored and delighted to see so many people take an interest in what I have to say, and I am honestly having the best time getting to know everyone who has crossed my path because of this blog.

When I first got into the blogging thing, it was never because I cared about getting popular or reaping the material benefits that come with being a successful blogger. This is the truth.

Sure, its nice being able to attend cool, exclusive events and meet people I wouldn’t normally get to meet, but that has never clouded my perception of the fact that, at the end of the day, I’m pretty much an ordinary human being just like most people on this planet.

Sometimes, I like attention. Sometimes, all I want to do is live in a fall-out shelter for the rest of my life. Sometimes, I think I’m doing something special. Sometimes, I think this blog is about as interesting and unique as watching paint dry.

When you’re a blogger you get a taste of both basking in the glow of attention and needing some serious isolation; moments where you think your words are the elixir to all of society’s woes and moments where you just trudge along making posts that are just there to fill some space.

That’s totally fine and absolutely normal.

As bloggers we’re supposed to use our distinct writing voice to set us apart from the pack and familiarize ourselves with our readers. This makes us writers. The more loyal readers we accumulate the more pull we start to have with businesses, companies, and society as a whole and our voice can be used as a kind of public opinion shifter. This makes us critics. When we combine the growing audience with the larger social pull we become both loved and sought after. This makes us celebrities.

Ideally, most bloggers want to reach that final level of blog stardom in which they can both rely on the support of the fans that have been behind them from day one and relish in the glitz and glamour that comes with being someone everyone wants to impress. For a blogger to get to this point requires lots of hard work and patience. Getting there (or wanting to get there) is nothing to be ashamed of.

In fact, I’d say its something to aspire to.

But, if you are blogger (or if you’re thinking of becoming one) please take this short and humble word to heart: Careful.

If you have the good fortune of becoming a big-time blogger with a huge fan base and that everyone in Kuwait wants to impress DO NOT delude yourself into thinking that you are the Kuwaiti, social equivalent of Mariah Carey.

Don’t think you can threaten people with your blog.

Don’t think you can throw fits because you didn’t get your way.

Don’t think you can get away with something another “lesser” blogger can’t.

Don’t think that everyone’s waiting at your beck and call.

Don’t think your blog is too big for some things (or people) and not others.

Don’t delude yourself into thinking that no one’s ever going to call you out.

Because, at some point, someone will.

All my love! (Picture credit)

Posted in Blogosphere, Kuwait, Musings, SAY WHAAA...! and tagged , , , , , , , ,
08 May 2012
7 Comments

I Might As Well Make My Nails Look Like Duck Feet – The Henna Fingers Trend

Look, I am always down for a good manicure. When I’m feeling wild and fun, I go for crazy colors and designs I’ve never been courageous enough to try before. When I’m feeling all classed-up and feminine I go for the classic, timeless red or le Français. In fact, when I’m feeling just about anything there is always a shade of nail polish that reciprocates that feeling.

And its not just nail polish here. Almost every girl I know can probably attest to the healing and the cheering powers of how adorning our hands with ANYTHING–be it bracelets, rings, nail polish, or henna–can make us feel pretty.

But there’s this new henna trend that, apparently, has been catching on in Kuwait and that I don’t think will make me feel all that glammed up and beautified: the ‘Henna Fingers’ trend, which follows right in tow behind last  year’s ‘Henna Glove’ trend.

Don’t get me wrong: the ‘Henna Glove’ thing was kind of cute. It had a delicate charm about it that spoke to the cultures and traditions of the Gulf/Arab World in a cool, modern way. I never did it but I didn’t mind it at all either. However, I’ve got a whole other opinion on this ‘Henna Fingers’ deal.

Now, for those of you that don’t know what the ‘Henna Fingers’ trend is, its basically dying the fingers of your hands up until the middle (or “intermediate phalanges” to sound like a Wikipedia-bound, obnoxious loser) in black henna. That’s about it.

MeBlogging‘s brilliantly shot and styled Fortune Cookie photo shoot with the stunning Ascia, of Hybrid Headpiece awesomeness, shows some examples of this. There are also plenty of pictures of the gorg’, and oh so chic Ascia sporting this trend on her blog (in which I also found the above picture).

Now, of course, this is all a matter of my own personal taste. For all I know this could become the hottest, most loved, and most fashionably worthy trend of them all. To me, it feels like it might transform my fingers into tiny, burnt sausages; make them look like hoofs; or give an impression of a severe case of gangrene.

And if I was going to subject my fingers to that kind of visual brutality, then I might as well make my nails look like duck feet while I’m at it too.

But again, that could be just me.

All my love!

Posted in Fashion, Kuwait, Musings, SAY WHAAA...! and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
26 Nov 2011
3 Comments

Uncomfortable Not Spongy – My First Sushi Experience

So, living in Montreal you’ve gotta be a little weary of what you eat because of the whole pork and halal issue. Cause I’m, uhm, you know, Muslim? (which is LITERALLY my auto-response to all the non-Muslims who dine with me and stupidly go ‘Oh my GOD, why don’t you eat PORK? YOU’RE TOTALLY MISSING OUT ON PORK!”) Anyhow, unless you’re in the mood to constantly ask if the food is halal or kosher (and getting the occasional self-righteous eye roll that accompanies it), your options are basically limited to either shawerma or fish.

Now, I would not consider myself a particularly adventurous kind of eater. I mean, I really do enjoy food and I relish and I savor and I take part in all those appetizing kind of terms people associate to, you know, eating. I look forward to trying new recipes and experiencing exciting new tastes. Really, I do. BUT! Once I’ve made my mind up on something that I am not going to eat then it can be pretty hard to change it. Animal feet? Tongues? Brains? SCROTUMS? (What?!) Never going to happen. Camel and monkey meat? NO (and go watch Tarzan or Mighty Joe Young, you heartless goon!).

Another thing that I used to be pretty adamant about not trying? Sushi.

I don’t know what it is about raw fish… It really puts my gag reflex in motion. I mean, raw fish already smell like armpit anyway. Why would I pay to have smelly armpit fish odors lodged into my taste buds and in my teeth? I’m sorry but the thought never really computed with me. Also, sushi just feels a little under-worked for me. And somewhat unhealthy (HELLO! SALMONELLA IS ON THE RISE PEOPLE.). So, despite the wild popularity of this dish and the constant badgering of all my well-meaning family and friends in Kuwait, I have abstained.

Anyhow, given the fact that my food is usually limited between fish or shawerma, my need for variety overpowered me today. And, yes, after MUCH coaxing and prodding I tried sushi. My sister did all the ordering for me (because she was so excited that I finally took the sushi plunge and just went NUTS) but I think I had a California Roll, a Philadelphia Roll, and a Crispy Roll? Maybe? I’m really not sure. These could just be the only names on the menu that I remember.

Point is I tried it and really only one word comes to mind when trying to recollect the overall taste and feel of sushi… Uncomfortable. I don’t know why but, for all the bad attributes that I associated with sushi before, I always thought it would feel light and succulent. Maybe a little spongy? Like, I imagined it would be one of those foods that goes down easy. Well, with my experience this was not the case. It just felt a little chewy and the taste wasn’t bland per se, it just tasted like fish and rice with maybe a little heavy cheese thrown in. It wasn’t necessarily bad, just… Uncomfortable and not spongy.

Its too bad cause I honestly went into this with an open mind, but, unfortunately, I was not pleasantly rewarded for my little spurt of bravery. I doubt I’ll have any other such spurts in the future.

But, at least now when I go back to Kuwait and I go out to Maki’s with my girlfriends and complain at them offering me a bite of their sushi (“shfeech yuba kila simach! 5ibla entay ti7a6amain ou matjarbeen shfeech?!”) I can at least say that I’ve given it the old try and that I have an uncomfortable (and so not spongy) point of reference.

All my love!

Posted in Food, Musings and tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

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