I Love: orange juice

Song Stuck in My Head: Paper Planes by M.I.A.

Currently Discovering: beat-tastic artists like DJ Blaqstarr, Enur ("Calabria"), CSS ("Music Is My Hot Hot..."), and Justice ("D.A.N.C.E.").

Off to applications!

A few days ago, I sent an email to Lund University and they responded very fast. The point was to find out if I qualified for their Gender Studies programme and the answer (after I very nicely packaged why I may be acceptable and favorable), they let me know that I would need a BA in the Social Sciences rather than English. Although my minor was in Women's Studies.

So that's another own down that I have foregone. I also let go of: Gothenburg (probably for the same reason as Lund) and AUP (Amer Univ of Paris) because it was rated as one of the most expensive schools by THE. Not that it's bad ... It's just that their programme that I looked at seemed more beneficial for Global Marketing (rather than Communications).

Okay, gotta go eat dinner! Ciao!

Aggghh! Applications cannot be easy for anyone!!

Phew, but I just realized something that brought me temporary relief.

So as my side note: LOVE what we can do with electronics now. But ... as an English major ... who tried to make it all electronic ... NOTHING beats writing notes with your hand on a sheet of ruled paper!

I guess I'm still old skool after all.

Currently listening: Light Blue, Thelonious Monk on Pandora
While: Filling out applications!

I've got so many books I want to read!! I don't have the time!
The only books I have time to read are children's books (I'm surrounded by
them since I work at a children's publisher) and I get many, many books for
free; from Fahrenheit 451 to Beneath My Mother's Feet to The Best American
Sports Writing 2005. Agh.

I haven't had time to read a book since I finished F. 451, and that seemed
to take forever. The last novel I finished quickly was The Kite Runner.

Right now, I only have time to read on my iPhone. I download adult books
(ha, not children's!) and read them. Not because there's anything wrong with
kids' books at all, it's just "me" time, when I will be able to read "The
Castle of Otranto" and "Venus in Furs" and many more authors I've wanted to
read, even since middle school. Greatttttttt!!!!! Can't be happier.


All of my deadlines are practically this month: Some on Jan. 15th, some Feb.
1st. I just want to relax and read; organize my room, make my bed, light a
candle or incense and READ...

And it really feels so fulfilling.... Right now I just make time to read
Scripture before bedtime, and that's because it gives me inspiration.

--Melissa

Do not forget where you came from. All things come around in the end. We are chariots, we are the vessels led by fight and flight. Dear Circus Maximus, for you we tread.

Don't forget where you come from. One of my moments becomes saturated with faux importance; nope, must be humble. We return to all things.

Allah is merciful, I learn to trust in the things I can't see or explain. Faithfulness guides and keeps one harnessed to the Straight Path. I don't want secular right now, I pray for the One Way.


- Melissa

Oh, my...

I am beat tired. Four days off, and today was back to work. It wasn't so bad, but I overslept. Luckily, my boss is cool.

I have so much to do. SO MUCH.

Graduate applications
-Toronto
-Concordia
-Leeds
-Lund
-Malmo & Jonkoping
-NYU

and that's after I cut back on some programs. If I was accepted, I'm not even sure which one I would choose. Toronto is in the top 50 of schools internationally in THE. Leeds and Lund both made the list, too; one in the 100s, the other somewhere between 200-300.

I don't know if I can make it. I'm supposed to be sprinting toward the finish line, but I just got tired. It's become more of a relay race.

I have my first meeting for WPI this month, so I'm looking forward to that. I wish I was done with my applications so that I could enjoy this month. I really want to travel, I said sometime between late January and March but now I'm not so sure: My vacation may have to be used for finishing these apps.

I really wanted to go to New Mexico and Utah, to see the Anasazi pueblos. This year, I really wanted to go to the Grand Canyon. My sister invited me to go backpacking with her and her friends, from Seattle back down to northern California. It sounds WONDERFULWONDERFULWONDERFUL.

I am crossing my fingers that I can go.

And now I must do my Panorama editing, and after that, fill out more applications. When this is all done, I would like a bungalow in Tahaa and enjoooooooooooooy.

Jo March grew up a tomboy, was not always the favorite among her sisters, but kept them laughing through hard times. She seemed to make life easier, more jovial, but even for her it was difficult to bear burdens.

Despite that, she held up her family, her mother, her sick sister. The circumstances around her began to decline, and at a moment of loss and spiritual-seeking, she went to go teach at a boarding school.

It was there that Jo found her cornerstone, the one person in her life who actually provided a foundation for her to lean on, to rest on, to rely on. The rest of her family had grown happy in their own new families, but it wasn't until late maturity that Jo found her own significant source of strength from another, an older, confident man who gave her sensibility to let go of her childhood and create an awesome path of her own adulthood.

--Melissa

I am not a workaholic. I've got priorities, I fill myself up with things to do because I can. But I'm humble enough to coexist, for reciprocity, for mutuality, for sacrifice and compromise. I want to coexist, not work overtime, not overkill--that's not the life for me; that's not what I want, not what I have. I believe in the beginning of the cold season. I have that vision in my head.

I am eating healthy again, after a year of eating comfort foods. It's not a New Year's Resolution, it's an intrinsic way of life. When I was most happy, I felt in charge of the food I chose and was aware of the balance between certain foods.
Today's lunch is half a sandwich of peanut butter and papaya jelly. Alone, it tastes like honey. Raisins, apple slices dipped in PB, orange juice.__
Today is

It's Jan 1, and although I'm probably supposed to feel glamorous, I don't. I feel sad that 2008 is gone, not because it was great, but because it never seemed for me to reach full potential.

And today was spent resting/being lazy, but also working on my Toronto application. Which means my academic curriculum vitae & my letter of intent. I pretty much finished up my CV but it's at a late stage of wondering, is this how it's supposed to be? And as for my Letter of Intent: I've still gotta write all of them.

Toronto is coming up: Jan. 29. And I'm starting to feel sick in my stomach with a thought, can I really pull this off?


On the other hand, my spare time is spent reading on my iPhone: the titles I keep perusing through are the Bible, the Tanakh, the Koran, and Little Maid Marian. I spent last night watching Malcolm X. And I'm impressed by his faith; he wasn't as good a civil activist as he was a Muslim, which is what Malcolm was first and foremost.

I'm currently listening to Enur and the M.I.A. station on Pandora.

My new favorite spice for 2009 is cinnamon.

Gostaria de indicar para vocês a leitura do texto "REVELAÇÕES" do site "Saindo da Matrix", é muito longo por isso resolvi colocar o link, vale a pena para você pensar duas vezes, ou melhor várias vezes, antes de aceitar o PADRÃO!!

http://www.saindodamatrix.com.br/archives/2008/11/revelacoes.html

I am breaking in the new year by watching my favorite movie: Either Malcolm X or A Moment of Innocence.

Have a safe, peaceful New Year!

Welcome, 2009!


- Melissa

Dear Sylvia,

It was around this time 10 years ago that my Mom bought the collection of your journals for me.

Back then, I wanted so badly to be a writer. I remember studying your rhyme schemes in my spare time, learning and practicing your use of in-rhyme, emulating your skill of alliteration. It meant so much to me, feeling like an apprentice to your craftsmanship.

I've gone back to reading poetry again, starting with "Ariel," and poems that I once overlooked, the tender ones, have all-new meaning for me, and the ones I loved most, the darker ones, now make my blood chill with capacity.

I'm wondering if I can get that tattoo I think about.

-Melissa

From "Tulips":

The tulips should be behind bars like dangerous animals;
They are opening like the mouth of some great African cat,
And I am aware of my heart: it opens and closes
Its bowl of red blooms out of sheer love of me.

--Plath

I felt the urge to write about my holiday experience so far being surrounded by technology. Working for TakingITGlobal and being Canadian, I am very aware of the role of new technologies in the lives of children and youth but I haven't really understood the extend to which "play" is so linked to electronic adventures for this generation. At this moment, my niece, nephew and cousin (6, 8, and 13) are all playing games: A gameboy, a Bratz "laptop" full of brain teezers and fun games for girls, and of course the best Christmas gift of all: Nintendo Wii...which I have to say is lots of fun! The rest of us are sitting around watching the kids play and marvelling at how the video games we grew up with would be considered so ancient and archaic only 10-15 years later. I'm fascinated by the level of complexity of these games each different and geared towards a different audience. And I'm also fascinated by the level of work gone into these games to make them personal, interactive, and as close to real human activities as possible - especially the Wii. Our family has bowled, played tennis and baseball, boxed, danced, and much more in a matter of a few hours. And I think most of us feel the satisfaction we would feel in really playing these sports and sharing an experience with our loved ones.

So I am catching a glipse of how family time will soon revolve around some sort of technology facilitating our fun. How do I feel about that? I'm not sure to be honest. I am the sort of person who relishes in spending time in the natural environment and doing things the traditional way. But on a cold, windy day like today, what could be more fun then playing every sport in the book and laughing with my beautiful niece and nephew? Is it time to stop resisting and accept the technological revolution that will inevitably transform the lives of future generations including my own?

Maybe I'll find the answer after a few more turns at Wii :)

So I took the first step for organizing a benefit show for GRCA (Girls Rock Camp Alliance). No wait, the second step. The first step was brainstorming/outlining the things I'd need to do!


Okay. So first step: researching/contacting venues. Swweeet! Just contacted my first one: Enzian Theater, a NFP movie theater that hosts independent films/special events. Eeek! They host film screenings in Winter Park (outdoor showings in 2 locations) and I thought this would be super cool for screening the film "Rock 'n' Roll Camp for Girls".

THAT, my friends, was step two!! Whoa. So little and yet feels like such a big feat that I accomplished. I'm proud for even trying to coordinate something like this. I've never initiated anything this big/activist before. Hurray for me!


Celebrations are coming/are here/have passed for many this month ... Hope everyone enjoys a peaceful, safe holiday!

best wishes
- melissa

Organisée par la Ligue Culturelle et Technique de Bir Salah avec la participation de l’ACPE Association Coopération Prévention Eau Pour Tous et DREAM Réseau Mondial d’Echange et d’Action pour le Développement, la présence de 10 étudiants du RETAP Rassemblement des Etudiants Tunisiens à Paris/ Bureau des étudiants RCD Paris, et le soutien du Secrétariat Général du RCD, le Ministère des Affaires de la femme, de la famille, de l’enfance et des personnes âgées, le gouvernorat de Sfax, la délégation de El Hencha, la CTN et Tunisair. Nous remercions toutes les autorités tunisiennes en France, en particulier l’Ambassade de Tunisie en France, le Rassemblement des Tunisiens en France et le Consulat général de Paris pour leur soutien et leur disponibilité constante.

La journée de la femme et des traditions tunisiennes aura lieu le 1e janvier 2009 et commencera à 10h dans une oliveraie de Bir Salah où seront posées des tentes bédouines avec le décor traditionnel d’antan, avec des animaux de la campagne, des dromadaires, la cueillette des olives, des chants, des ateliers de harkous, de maquillage traditionnel. Cent étudiantes de Tunis, cent de Sfax, dix de Paris, des femmes et des jeunes femmes de toute la Tunisie seront réunies avec des cadres et des personnalités de toute la Tunisie pour célébrer les acquis de la femme et les traditions tunisiennes. Dans cette ambiance conviviale, folklorique et traditionnelle, un grand repas pour 1000 personnes entre invités et locaux, repas traditionnel fait par les femmes de Bir salah sera servi aux invités. Cette journée exprimera la joie de la femme tunisienne pour la présentation de M. Zine El Abidine Ben Ali aux élections présidentielles de 2009.

La journée de la Femme organisée à Bir Salah le 1er janvier 2009 sera l’occasion de commencer la nouvelle année sous une marque de partage. Un partage de savoir, un partage de culture, une rencontre de solidarité. Cette journée sera l’occasion de tisser des liens entre des femmes vivant dans des zones rurales qui restent au foyer ou travaillent, des étudiantes originaires de la campagne mais habitant la ville, ou citadines natales, et des étudiantes tunisiennes vivant à l’étranger, des grands-mères, des jeunes femmes, et des petites filles. Chacune de ces femmes porte en elle la culture tunisienne, c’est ce qui fait d’elles une unité, mais chacune d’elle a à apprendre de l’autre, de sa culture régionale, de son mode de vie au quotidien, de son ouverture sur le monde extérieur. Tous ces axes sont les liens qui représentent les bras de ces femmes qui forment un peuple. Tous ces bras tendent des mains en signe de solidarité et d’ouverture sur l’autre. Toutes ces mains sont la preuve de la grandeur d’une femme : elles tiennent un stylo, pétrissent le pain, et portent leurs enfants. Nous vous invitons à nous rencontrer lors de cette journée pour fortifier ces ponts de solidarité, d’amour et d’amitié comme nous l’a conseillé notre Président Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Lors de cette journée, des aides seront distribuées aux personnes handicapées et aux femmes à revenus limités.

Vous êtes les bienvenus pour célébrer avec nous la solidarité, la fraternité et les traditions qui nous unissent dans la Tunisie de la modernité !

RSVP : par téléphone au 99 515 539 ou par mail sarah.toumi@gmail.com