STORIES, STORIES

You guys. I turn 32 today. My first order of business at this new age is to reinforce (to myself) my worth as a person by doing my best at what I do, which currently is my job, as a publishing manager slash editor slash publication writer slash proofreader. And I do that while sitting at the Media Room of the Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC) here in Malaysia, where my editorial team and I are covering a 3-day event – the International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC) 2015 . All around me are journalists, activists, government officials, NGO members and start-up CEOs who are crazy serious about transparency and fighting corruption. They are angry, driven, impassioned as they discuss, debate, step around and propose actions on the topic of promoting integrity in all aspects of their professional and personal lives. IACC Chairman Akere Muna wears a bow tie. Bow ties are cool. The all-female panel moderated by Jess Search (in blue), Chief Executive at ...

I can't get over the fact that now I have all this freedom, but I am broke. It's the price of "starting over", and all that post-collegiate Hannah Horvath from Girls rhetoric (except I'm 30 years old now). So yes, I am penniless, but I like to spend some time in the weekend having fun that doesn't involve spending money I don't have, and well, I only have one choice - THE OUTDOORS. You guys, I hate the outdoors. It's no secret. There's only one thing I do when my friends in Jeddah managed to drag me outside the house for some stupid fresh air and stupid outdoor activity - I COMPLAIN. I complain from the moment we step out of the house till the moment I pass out in bed back home. It's exhausting. But I digress. Here's what my weekend looked like. We went to this place and had a picnic. YOU GUYS. I can't believe I just said that sentence. Can you look at this place? It's so fake it hurts my eyes. Below are my friends,...

A bunch of Cylons, humans and civilians got together for Colonial Day / Menelik's birthday. Results: -- The yummy birthday cake courtesy of Khayra (and her mom and aunt ). -- A discussion about pecan. -- Cake stabbing. -- Fun having. -- And LOLs.

We had a nice Italian dinner to help Sarah celebrate her birthday. It was also, coincidentally, my cheat day, so I went for broke. -- Birthday girl to the (far) right. -- Her birthday cake was this OMG SO DELICIOUS Mille Feuille with fruit and it was OMG SO DELICIOUS. 

You always gotta be careful at birthdays of the first kind, because there are so many pictures taken, and you know that sometime in the future, when the birthday girl's a grownup, she and her friends will look at these pictures and laugh at that weird lady in the background with the stupid outfit. That will be you. (Me.)

Here is more evidence of my getting older and older. Apart from Ayman being in his early 20s now, I have also become a part of that group of older people who do not understand nor find any purpose in skateboarding (or skating boards, according to my father). Sara Grace got Ayman this apparently awesome skateboard, complete with tools and thingamabobs that make up the awesomeness of said skateboard. -- Instead of a birthday cake, this.

Sheri's little girl is all grown up. Happy birthday, Mikayla.

I was invited to Mohammad's sister Mawadda's surprise birthday dinner at this place called L'Odeon. It's French for "stupid, crappy, fake French restaurant". Don't ever go there.  -- Muwadda is the one on the left.  And I'm the one on the far left, not in picture, being socially awkward. 

We tried to surprise Helmy for his birthday this year, but it didn't work out very well. Doesn't mean it wasn't a happy birthday.  -- I love noodles! -- Helmy's Missus -- Dully I couldn't take many photos thanks to my erratic back. But there were many other photographers present, so that's hardly a problem.

I truly had the best burfday evar. I asked only for Champagne , and I got the Dom Perignon of birthdays. Of course it helps that I have awesome friends who pander to my cheap inside jokes and year-long obsessions. For instance, check out my birthday cakes. -- My Battlestar Galactica obsession. The Jeddah base star. (I love how it says "Yalla enjoy" on the bottom. Classic Cylon.) -- And I can now officially say it. MY BIRTHDAY CAKE WAS A LIE. But because it existed, it zero-ed itself out, and therefore, the cake was NOT a lie, but a really YUMMY home-made concoction from my extended family. <3 (My Portal videogame obsession.) And I also got an awesome Macbook to reward a whole year of my yapping on and on about Apple products. Can I have awesomer friends? I'm afraid not. (My white laptop obsession + my Dean Winchester obsession.) It's gonna be tough to top this one, so I'm getting to work from now for the ...

I got a Macbook from my friends for my birthday! WOO-FUCKING-HOO!! This of course means that my friends officially OWN ME NOW (more on this later). So here is the truth. I'm a dinosaur. I'm having such a hard time "adjusting" to my new machine. I feel for my dad now, and I'm sorry for all those times that I've been impatient with him for NOT GETTING IT. Coz right now, I don't really get it much. I still have my PC on, right next to me, just in case.. you know.. I need me some Windows. BITE ME. These are some things my mom has around her work area.

About an hour ago, I turned 28.  I'm writing to remind myself that I will never be as young as I am right now, from this moment forward, and therefore, turning 28 isn't such a bad thing.  Birthdays are like restore points. We contemplate and reflect, we sift through experiences and expectations, and we scramble to make immediate changes. We take the same page from last year and fold it across the middle to meet this year's page and compare like mad. On this day last year, I was THIS . And this year, I listen to this same song with a good feeling.  The secret to surviving a birthday is to expect Nothing from the world. So, Dear World, I expect nothing (but Champagne).  Love, Me 2011

Lia is now a whooping 3 years old. Another excuse to get everyone together and feast on the only thing we know as "authentic" Italian, never mind that we don't know what that really means. Food's yummers. And Suhail's in town for a bit. The birthday girl was so thrilled. Especially when she got her humongous Hello Kitty stuffed toy from Summer, and that huge doll house from her parents. KIDS! <3

The thing about living in Jeddah, among other things about living in Jeddah, is that one day, there is absolutely fuck-all happening, and then the very next day, EVERYTHING HAPPENS ALL AT ONCE. Happenings, Y U NO spread out throughout the week? So yeah, first off, a new episode on the J-Pizzod (fine, That Jeddah Podcast, coz there is no way that nickname is gonna stick because it is neither cool nor gangsta, contrary to my belief system of what is cool or gangsta). Check it out HERE .  While at the studio (yes, we are legit!), we monkeyed about with Diya 's musical instruments, because they asked for it. This is a Turkish guitar thingie.  After the recording, I went to try and deface a friend's house, presumably to housewarm it. I failed in that area, of course, because I rule Faildom. I instead took mild, non-invasive photos. Michael's pictures rock so much harder . Then there was Ameer's birthday party, where I played Pictionary with a bunch of boys and disc...

Appropriately, Summer's birthday was celebrated at the beach. -- First one in, last one out the door . Important thing was we surprised Summer (who refuses to admit it) and she got what she wanted. Win. -- Here, the official drink of the day. Good-bye Zady . Maher's in town. :'( It was a nice day, it wasn't too hot, we didn't have to squint all that much, the beach crowd was mellow, and I didn't lose my beloved necklace (because I had already lost it on our last beach trip. -I sob here-). But the highlight of my day was trying to face my fear of jumping/diving into the water. I was so scared my legs were jelly, I was shaking, my hands and feet were ice-cold, and I was having a panic attack. My friends egging me on helped and didn't help at the same time. That's a new feeling: being completely afraid. The scariest part was just getting over the ledge. I feared so many things: slipping and hitting my head, drowning, not being able to breathe p...