Changes
This lyric was stuck on my mind for a while now and I just need to get it out. I haven’t heard this song for ages now. I used to love it and I do miss listening to this song or anything by 3DD but just like I stopped Metallica for a while I stopped so many stuff right now.
I’m going through changes though :)
I won the third place for the competition that I participated in. I don’t remember I told any of you about it but it’s an art competition on the UAE plane. The subject should be inspired form UAE heritage or developmental aspects about the country.
The competition is carried on by Emirates University – university social club/ Al Ain Emirate. I’m not going to brag here. I leave that for my parents and friends :)
These days I’m busy with another UAE event but in Sharjah. I remember two years back I wrote something about going to the Heritage Festival in Sharjah, it’s the same festival. But this time I’m not a visitor. I’m one of the participants in the art competition. It’s feels like we’re in Paris drawing and painting in the street where people pass by and look at our work and take photos. I’ve never liked such things and never considered doing so, but with most of the colleagues I know from the institute and some other Special Needs institute/ most of them deaf and mute, it became a very interesting experience.
I’ve always wanted to learn sign language and I had cards for alphabets and some important signs. I wish I can understand it especially when I see the news with a quarter of the screen a guy using signs to commune the news. Sometimes I try to relate between the spoken and the signs and learn but other times I give up and mute the sound and say whatever comes to my mind when I see his signs. My family like it when I used to do so and my sisters used to laugh hysterically.
But last week I met a bunch of sweet girls and guys from age 12 to late twenties, and all were deaf. it's my first time to meet deaf perople.My colleagues and I had to pay really, I mean really really good attention to know what these folks are trying to tell us. It was the first time for me to feel reall ignorant. They taught us many signs including the days of the weeks. At certain times they had to write to us on their palms what they wanted to say when we couldn’t get what the sign stands for. As for their names they show the letters and after giving us hard times to get them they gave us a paper with their names. They made real fools out of us! We learnt which country each one was from and I spent most of the time with an Iraqi girl who left Iraq three years back. I was amazed by her intelligence. She even had some words or let me say signs about war, occupation and what’s going on these days. It helped a lot that they already know how to read lips.
It’s been hectic for a while now; with my thesis, topics to discard and resources to find. I missed my friend N who just came back from Baghdad after a month. And my friend R is busy with her work and flu. I feel exhausted. I was studying and I fell asleep. It was a weird nap from 1:30- 5:30 pm. I woke up in the same world and same room but it felt as if my dream, which I cannot remember, downloaded new programs and now it’s time for me to review these programs and reset my life with the ones I need to keep.
I believe that every now and then one should take a moment and look at life from an objective point of view. Review all the givens, set any deviation right and see new opportunities.
I’m in the process of trying to make sketches for my up coming exhibition for Ramadhan. I’m changing my style and acquiring new one, at the same time I’m considering Arabic Calligraphy.
That’s all for now
Oh and I haven’t slept since yesterday morning. I’ve been staying up for a while now and two days back my grandma came form Germany. I know I didn’t say much about that but I have to dedicate an entire blog not a post just to express my feelings or joy and respect for this great women. I love her :)
Oh oh and I broke my fasting for chocolate :D not eating much but a couple of small pieces a day. And I ate “pinky candy clouds” as I love to call cotton candy, two days in a raw :))
I’m going through changes though :)
I won the third place for the competition that I participated in. I don’t remember I told any of you about it but it’s an art competition on the UAE plane. The subject should be inspired form UAE heritage or developmental aspects about the country.
The competition is carried on by Emirates University – university social club/ Al Ain Emirate. I’m not going to brag here. I leave that for my parents and friends :)
These days I’m busy with another UAE event but in Sharjah. I remember two years back I wrote something about going to the Heritage Festival in Sharjah, it’s the same festival. But this time I’m not a visitor. I’m one of the participants in the art competition. It’s feels like we’re in Paris drawing and painting in the street where people pass by and look at our work and take photos. I’ve never liked such things and never considered doing so, but with most of the colleagues I know from the institute and some other Special Needs institute/ most of them deaf and mute, it became a very interesting experience.
I’ve always wanted to learn sign language and I had cards for alphabets and some important signs. I wish I can understand it especially when I see the news with a quarter of the screen a guy using signs to commune the news. Sometimes I try to relate between the spoken and the signs and learn but other times I give up and mute the sound and say whatever comes to my mind when I see his signs. My family like it when I used to do so and my sisters used to laugh hysterically.
But last week I met a bunch of sweet girls and guys from age 12 to late twenties, and all were deaf. it's my first time to meet deaf perople.My colleagues and I had to pay really, I mean really really good attention to know what these folks are trying to tell us. It was the first time for me to feel reall ignorant. They taught us many signs including the days of the weeks. At certain times they had to write to us on their palms what they wanted to say when we couldn’t get what the sign stands for. As for their names they show the letters and after giving us hard times to get them they gave us a paper with their names. They made real fools out of us! We learnt which country each one was from and I spent most of the time with an Iraqi girl who left Iraq three years back. I was amazed by her intelligence. She even had some words or let me say signs about war, occupation and what’s going on these days. It helped a lot that they already know how to read lips.
It’s been hectic for a while now; with my thesis, topics to discard and resources to find. I missed my friend N who just came back from Baghdad after a month. And my friend R is busy with her work and flu. I feel exhausted. I was studying and I fell asleep. It was a weird nap from 1:30- 5:30 pm. I woke up in the same world and same room but it felt as if my dream, which I cannot remember, downloaded new programs and now it’s time for me to review these programs and reset my life with the ones I need to keep.
I believe that every now and then one should take a moment and look at life from an objective point of view. Review all the givens, set any deviation right and see new opportunities.
I’m in the process of trying to make sketches for my up coming exhibition for Ramadhan. I’m changing my style and acquiring new one, at the same time I’m considering Arabic Calligraphy.
That’s all for now
Oh and I haven’t slept since yesterday morning. I’ve been staying up for a while now and two days back my grandma came form Germany. I know I didn’t say much about that but I have to dedicate an entire blog not a post just to express my feelings or joy and respect for this great women. I love her :)
Oh oh and I broke my fasting for chocolate :D not eating much but a couple of small pieces a day. And I ate “pinky candy clouds” as I love to call cotton candy, two days in a raw :))
posted by attawie at Wednesday, April 16, 2008
4 Comments:
hehehe :) feeeka, thanks for the new post:)
Khalid*
I like this painting Attawie. It is interesting that it has the appearance of a very old black and white photo that is more brown in hue. I have seen photos like that in museums. The woman in the picture is wearing a sort of mask that I have not seen before. Is this an older style of burka that is native to UAE? Do some women there still wear this sort of mask? What is she cooking? It looks like some sort of flat bread to me, similar to a Mexican tortilla.
I remember a song about Changes, but it is an old song. The song I am thinking of was sung my David Bowie (he is great!). I don't know 3DD, maybe they covered the old song. I can't believe you stopped Metallica! ;)
I have seen artists working outdoors before. It was in New Orleans. A lot of people there have French ancestors, so maybe they borrowed the idea from Paris. :) Some of the artists there would draw or paint people's portraits. I watched one of them working. She was very fast and accurate. She could quickly sketch a person and capture their face in excellent detail. I was very impressed! I could never do that. It sounds like you are a bit uncomfortable having people watch you as you paint? Well, think of it as being like a musical performance. People come to appreciate your skill and talent. :) I hope you will enjoy the rest of the Festival.
I have seen some deaf people using sign language, but I never met one. I would like to, but I tend to meet people who are friends of friends and so it just didn't happen yet. A long time ago, I learned how to sign some letters of the alphabet, but I forgot them.
I think that you could probably learn sign language easily if you really tried. With your linguistic, musical, and visual/artistic talents, you are already well equipped with skills that are similar to those needed for using sign language. I think perhaps I might be able to learn it too. My greatest mental talent is seeing things in my mind and remembering things I have seen. Anyway, I think it is great that one of the deaf students that you met is from Iraq. You already have many things in common to talk about with her and with your interest in sign language I am sure she is very pleased to meet you too. :)
I try not to take naps. I always wake up feeling very wierd, sort of like being hung over from drinking too much alcohol (I haven't drunk anything alcoholic for a long time, I really don't like the feeling it gives me). However, what you said about downloading and resetting during sleep is quite true. Good sleep is very important for learning and memory. The brain takes the day's experiences and processes them during sleep. Even dreaming is an important part of this process. Some experiences are stored as memories and some are not. How the brain creates and stores memories is a great mystery for neuroscientists. Are there specific neurons that are designed to store memories, or are all neurons capable of this function? At this point, the answer is not known. My personal theory is that individual neurons are like very tiny and simple computer chips. Each neuron has an area devoted to storing information with other parts devoted to processing new info or to releasing what is stored. Maybe some day, how the neuron works will be well understood. All we need is a tiny enough microscope to study the functioning molecular machinery in action.
If you can really step back from your life and review it objectively, then you are far advanced beyond most people. I think that most people are so tied up with their own personal emotions that there is little chance to be objective about their own lives, other people, or the reality in which they live. I certainly commend you for making the attempt, and I wish you good luck in the endeavor! I look forward to seeing more of your artistic styles. :)
Grandparents are worth staying up late for! I wish that I could once again do that. Sadly, all my grandparents are gone from me now. I miss them a lot, but I am glad that I had the chance to know all four of them pretty well.
Chocolate is actually good for you in moderation. I eat a bit every day. There is something in it that makes people feel happier. :)
Khalid, halla :)
David, I'll post the real photo that i took the composition from so you'll be able to see the real burka
the bread she's cooking is kind of pancake, yes pancake, they call it khameer, which is driven from khameera, which means yeast. I tried it last week. they put honey over it or date molasses ans some kind of seeds as seasioning. I liked it plain much much better.
About the song, click on the title of the post and it would take you to the lyrics.
I almost never take naps, but every couple of three months maybe, i need a nap, it's not a real nap. Sometimes it's a 15 hour nap :D
Will post more of my art works hopefully soon
take care
Hi Attawie, you have taught me another lesson in music. :) I followed your link for Changes by 3 Doors Down. It is not the same song that David Bowie wrote. Then, I checked out 3DD and I realized that I do know one of their songs and I really like it. The song is Kryptonite. In fact, I think that I have seen the band perform Kryptonite on TV. You know, it is often the case that I know a song but I do not know the name of the band singing it. I think I will look for some CD's by 3DD. Thanks for expanding my music horizon once again. :)
I wish I could try some khameer. I like pancakes!
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