The Flickr Tag

Got tagged by Grey…me lova Tags…this mosaic is I guess my life in pictures… 🙂 🙂

Rules:
a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.

1. What is your first name? I put in the translation of my name which is ‘Sweet’
2. What is your favorite food? Viva Ghormeh Sabzi
3. What high school did you go to? I went to 4 different High Schools in 3 different countries, so I changed this question to: Favorite High School subject? Answer: physics and chemistry

4. What is your favorite color? All the colors of the rainbow
5. Who is your celebrity crush? Gonna change this question to Who’s your fav celebrity? Oprah
6. Favorite drink? Depends on the food, but in general Doogh or orange juice
7. Dream vacation? Anywhere with green mountains by the lake
8. Favorite dessert? Chocolate ice cream cake
9. What you want(ed) to be when you grow up? As a kid it was a writer, not anymore
10. What do you love most in life? Inner peace
11. One Word to describe you. This is 4^th time I see this question in the past 3 months…got no answer..so I guess a big ?
12. Your flickr name. That would be my real name, but before that it was ‘Magical Droplets’

Okay, since I always kinda break rules I wanted to take the pix myself..but heck…me waya to lazy ;p

So here’s a bit about moi in images:

Credit to the pictures:

1. The Sweetest Thing, 2. polo va ghorme sabzi, 3. Planet New York :: Hall of Science, 4. ready for the party……???, 5. Oprah…An angel on Earth [read me], 6. Doogh, 7. Magnificent reflection, 8. Chocolate Raspberry Ice Cream Cake, 9. The Writer, 10. Carefree, 11. Orange Question Mark Button, 12. The End of the Rainbow

The 6 quirks tag

Well, here’s the rules of the tagged:
1. Link the person(s) who tagged you (Rieanne)
2. Mention these rules on your blog.
3. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours.
4. Tag 6 following bloggers by linking them.
5. Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger’s blogs letting them know they’ve been tagged.

Since I am perfect—cough, cough—coming up with 6 quirks about myself is a tough task..but then again since I’m perfect there’s no task I cannot accomplish :D…here are 6 CUTE things about moi 😀

1. I can’t fall asleep unless there’s some kind of cover over me; even if it’s just a light bed sheet. As a kid I used to rock myself to sleep by pressing against the bed ends with my right foot…given that up now but the cover stays.

2. When taking a shower, I always cover my ears to hear the water drops hit the top of my head. It sounds like a storm 😀

3. I love pinching people’s ready made sandwiches and drinks :D…so when my sis or mom makes a sandwich for themselves but then get distracted (phone call or something) and leave it, first thing I do is gobble down their treat…I have no idea why it tastes SO MUCH better than if I were to make it myself 😀

4. I have a terrible, terrible, terrible memory….or as I like to say…other people have an excellent memory. Just the other day I was hanging out with old friends/colleagues and their family. One of my friends’ son turned to me and said, “Hey remember when we came to this coffee shop with N.” Seriously for the life of me, I didn’t even remember ever going to that coffee shop period!!! Someone once said I remind them of that fish on “Finding Nemo” that keeps forgetting things…can’t remember her name now!!!!

5. I will go absolutely nuts if I don’t drink two mugs of HOT tea with milk in the morning. I’m not much of a coffee drinker nor tea…just tea with milk…oh and in Malaysia I found a little place that made excellent milk tea…wish that I could have fit the shop in a suitcase and brought it with me

6. A habit I still haven’t outgrown is avoiding stepping on cracks or tile lines—not coz of superstition or anything.. I’ve turned it into a game…and I usually win:D

7. Whenever I see people staring at me, I assume it’s coz I have been talking to myself out loud again—not that out loud of course but my lips do move a lot.

8. I’m a mug magnet. I just LOVE buying mugs. Of course my family has put me through therapy so I’m much better now 😀

9. My eating habit is exactly the opposite of what health experts say—I skip breakfast, have a very light lunch and gobble down a luscious dinner :D…oh and I’m also a fan of binge eating…just yesterday, I order fish at a restaurant. Now, since any kind of sea food and I don’t get along I only managed to eat 1/3 of my dish. So by 8 I was dead hungry. I passed by Sultan Center and in only 15 minutes the following items were being digested in my intestines: a bar of Hersey Reese Fast Break, Caesar’s Red Grape juice, regular Pringles, and a bowl of Taboulah salad. 😦 😦

I tag: Arshia, Maryam and Proshat

UPDATE: Quirk no. 10…apparently i can’t count 😀

Tagged by Intlxpatr: The 7 things tag

7 things I plan to do:

1. Allow my heart to be in the driver’s seat for a change (not that it asked anyone for permission; it just shoved my head out of the way and took over)

2. Go to Malaysia in mid-May 😀

3. Learn what all those buttons on my camera do :O

4. Learn to play at least a couple of guitar chords

5. Start reading Rumi in Persian (thanks A.N for the motivation)

6. Motivate my mom to start painting (I already taught her how to surf the net :D)

7. Re-lose that 5 kg I have re-gained and lose an additional 5 kg… and then decide if I need to lose more weight 😀

7 things I can do:

1. Just like Intlxpatr, speak in public…don’t get nervous at all…an NO I don’t not imagine everyone sitting naked. I honestly want to know if that tip has ever worked for anyone!!!

2. Talk and talk and talk endlessly for hours and hours on end

3. Forgive and forget (of course the forgetting part is coz of my terrible, terrible, terrible memory)

4. Lie and get away with it (a skill I have recently mastered…at least I think I have)

5. Procrastinate effectively (I work a lot better when I am under stress…yep that’s my excuse

6. Speak my mind (another skill I have acquired recently)

7. A.N says I am an expert at coming up with a 1000 excuses for not-doing something

7 things I can’t do:

1. Bake!!! (it just never turns out right; but then again I don’t need to, my bro makes excellent cakes)

2. Not cry when watching most movies (it’s embarrassing watching a movie with someone, they always go, now why are you crying at this scene???

3. Give up easily

4. Sing (except in the car and bathroom…and when I want to clear the room)

5. Anything artistic, e.g. paint, draw, music

6. Dance…heck even my 10 month old niece dances better than me…actually I should add this to the list of things I plan on doing…learn Persian dancing

7. Remember where I have parked my car

7 things I say a lot

1. Magical (my favorite word)

2. Lovely ass (as in “I’m too tired to drag my lovely ass out of bed”; or when messaging friends to let them know I have arrived “my lovely ass is here, where are you?”

3. ‘Baba joon’ when talking with Persians; ‘ya ammy’ here in Kuwait

4. Extremely (instead of very)

5. What the hell!!!!!

6. Serious??!!

7. No way!!!!

(Based on my last 3 catch phrases I can see that I’m surprised quite a lot, hmmmm)

Tagged by Rieanne: 8 facts about me

I heart tags 😀 Why, you ask? Well, coz I get to talk about myself ;p …Me heart me 2.

This time it’s 8 unknown facts about me. Why only 8? You can read 50 facts about moi here.

….but here are 8 more fresh ones:

1. I have a love/hate relationship with doing the housework. If and only if I am in the mood, I love to sing and dance in the house with a cleaning cloth in my hand that I occasional wipe over furniture. That’s my idea of doing the housework.
2. I used to cling onto mementos for years. I just couldn’t get myself to throw anything away. Well, a month ago, I drew up the courage to throw out those boxes of memories. Some of the stuff that went out were: a t-shirt I bought in 1988, an old school telephone book (I think from 1987), some magazine/newspaper clippings and two of my old school books!!!
3. My left leg sometimes just freezes in water which is why I haven’t gone swimming in ages.
4. When I was around four years old I fell from the second floor.
5. I had my appendix removed when I was eleven.
6. I started wearing glasses when I was 11, lenses when I was 19 and had the lasik eye surgery when I was 27 (2001).
7. I signed up for a karate class when I was about 19, gave up after 2 sessions, took Spanish classes when I was about 27, dropped out about 10 sessions, took Persian Calligraphy classes, gave up after about 20 sessions, went to a French school when I was living in Quebec, can’t remember a word of French now 😦. What I would now like to learn overnight: photography, guitar, Spanish, Flash, and Photoshop.
8. I haven’t seen my eldest brother in almost 15 years 😦

Shoe Tagged by Rieaane

I was tagged by Rieaane to post a picture of my fav shoe. Ok, I guess it’s time I confessed, My name is Magical and I’m a woman and…..oh god this is more difficult than I imagined…but here it goes….I…hold on…gotta get a glass of water.

[10 minutes later]

Ok, here it goes. I…..I…..me…..I…..don’t….well….kinda don’t…no…I don’t…I really don’t…………………..like shoes.

There I said it. I don’t like shopping for shoes *gasp*. I only have 1 pair of comfortable shoes and I wear it ALL THE TIME.

Ahhhhh, it feels so good to get that off my chest. Ahhhhhhh.

[5 minutes later]

I just had a look down and noticed I’m wearing another pair that I really like. So I grabbed my camera and snap…here it is:

So Rieaane, here is a pic of my favorite footwear of all time; my comfy, my confidante, my little baby gurl:

drum rolls please

scroll

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VOILA:

Tagged by Intlxpatr

1. Last movie you saw in a theater?

Deja Vu (yeah I know, ages ago; don’t go to the movies here much coz it’s censored/edited)

2. What book are you reading?
Fiction: Was reading ‘My Name is Red‘ but didn’t really grab my attention so started “Snow Falling on Cedars” today

Non-Fiction: “Blink“by Malcolm Gladwell

3. Favorite board game?
Been ages since I last played a board game. As a kid loved, Clue, Risk, Monopoly..actually hated Monopoly; always ended up in jail 😦

4.Favorite magazine?
Only read online ones. If it’s free, I read it.

5. Favorite smell?
Got 2: The smell of the first rain drop mixed with the dust in the air vents in our house in Tehran.

….and freshly baked cake….oohh …ohh and freshly mown grass

6. Favorite food?
Persian and Lebanese…actually anything my mom cooks

7. Favorite sound?
Again got 2: The way my niece says ‘Khaleeeeeehhhh” (auniteeeeee)

…..and raindrops falling on my head…oh and waves

8. Worst feeling in the world?
Feeling unloved, unwanted and unappreciated by a loved one

9. What is the first thing you think of when you wake up?

On a good morning: Hmmmmm, I think I can get in 5 more minutes of sleep

On a bad morning: Let’s see how far I can throw the alarm clock today

On an ugly morning: Where’s my gun so I can shoot the person who invented the alarm clock.

10. Favorite fast food place?
Burger King (although I don’t eat much junk food anymore)..does Pizza count as junk food? If so, Peppes Pizza

11. Future child’s name?
I’ve never actually thought of what I would name my future kids, just what I would never name them.

12. Finish this statement. If I had a lot of money:
….I would explore this beautiful world of ours

13. Do you drive fast?
Who doesn’t?

14. Do you sleep with a stuffed animal?
Ehmmm. I’ll take the fifth on this one…

15. Storms cool or scary?
Coooooooooooooool

16. What was your first car?
A white paykan

17. Favorite drink?
These days, good old H2O. With certain food, doogh (in the pic, it’s in the top right corner) with crushed dried mint sprinkled on top

18. Finish this statement, “If I had the time I would…”:
read all the articles I have bookmarked

19. Do you eat the stems on broccoli?
Not even if it is crushed into powder and then sprinkled over chocolate. Hey, I just started eating fruits and vegetables again..1 step at a time.

20. If you could dye your hair any color, what would be your choice?
I did!! 3 weeks ago 😀 I’m not sure what the shade is called though; honey something.

21. Name all the different cities/ towns you have lived in?
Kuwait, Dollard des Ormeaux (Montreal District), Mississausga (Toronto District), Isfahan, Tehran

22. Half empty or half full?
Learning to see it half full again

23. Favorite sports to watch?
Any sport as long as Italian men are playing

25. Morning person, or night owl?
It’s a sin for me to get up before 8:30

26. Over easy, or sunny side-up?
suuuuunnnnnyyyyy..oh and with dates fried in them..and cottage cheese …and honey all nicely mixed

27. Favorite place to relax?
My haven…still searching for it

28. Favorite pie?
Not into pies; got a sweet tooth for chocolate ice cream

I tag Proshat, Rieanne, and Happy Wolf

Tagged: Jobs, Movies, Cities, TV shows, Food, etc

Tagged by Ana Filibini and rieaane

A. Four Jobs I Have Had

1. Kish Language Institute in Tehran

…I don’t even know where to begin to describe this place: The nostalgic atmosphere? The Persian Garden in the backyard? The air laden with sweet smell of Jasmine? The corridors alive with the laughter and inquisitive minds of the students? Or that staff room? Aaahh yeah that staff room. Now that’s a scene from my life I cherish.

Picture it if you will: The bell rings, 20 or so buzzing Iranian English Instructor wearing mostly a black manteau with black magna’e (loose over coat and hijab) trickle into the room with a red Panasonic tape recorder swung over their shoulders. Like an orchestrated symphony, one by one they sink into one of the couches, pick up a freshly brewed tea with one hand and a sagh-e-tallaee (Digestive biscuits) with the other, take a deep breath and the yakking commences in this order à a class incident, current events, politics, social lives, in-laws, art exhibition, a charity function and of course the gap between each topic is filled with an appetizing dirty joke 😀

And yes, we did all talk at the same time; yep it was ‘The View’ multiply by 5!!!

2. A training company in Kuwait

My 4 years and 3 months at this company can best be described as a marriage. My direct manager at that time stared straight into my eyes on my first day and said, “We don’t usually hire people like you (meaning coz I wasn’t a native speaker of English) but the HR manger insisted. So, what to do?”

So basically my ‘mother-in-law’ thought I wasn’t good enough for her ‘son’.

Needless to say that that sentence instilled in me a strong will to prove her wrong…and I did…in no time…I was promoted twice in less than 3 years…but it cost me…cost me a drainage of energy…cost me the innate need to laugh freely out loud…cost me my protective blanket of naivety.

The emotional rollercoaster ride I went through in these 4 years is another story, another post.

3. A start-up training center

I got an amicable divorce from my previous job on a Wednesday and started this new one on the following Saturday. I took this job coz I had grown as far as I could in my industry in my previous job but with this job I could learn the business side of how a company starts off from scratch. Alas, unfortunately the person I was counting on to show me the ropes resigned L. Now I got no mentor. So I’m planning to pack my bags and sayonara out of here as well…but this time I’ll wait till I find a job first 😀

4. Fourth time round is a charm

I’m putting my magical thinking powers to work on getting this job. Come on, come on, you stupid phone; ring, ring, riiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnngggggg.

B. Four Movies I Watched Over and Over

1. My Big Fat Greek Wedding

Why do I love this film so much?!!! Maybe it’s coz I can relate to almost every single line or scene. Some similarities:

In the film	My culture
Greek this, Greek that	Persian this, Persian that
Nick, Nick, Nick	Alireza, Alireza, Alireza
Windex does miracles	Ab ghand does miracles
A quite dinner = at least 20 relatives	ditto

2. The Others

I don’t know why this film strikes a cord with me. Is it coz she managed to alter reality by vehemently denying the bitterness of the truth? Reality can be altered?

3. From Karkheh to Rhein

This is the very first film I saw when I moved to Iran. That scene where he has a monologue with God and screams out, “Why now, why here?” is simply unforgettable.

4. Life is beautiful

I simply have the utmost respect and admiration for a father who in the midst of adversity, torture, and ugliness of human behavior makes it his life mission to alter reality for his son.

5. The Color of Paradise

A blind boy’s quest for love…the love of God. This film is purely spiritual.

6. Forrest Gump

Ok, I know I’m only already over the limit of 4 films. But come on, who doesn’t love Forrest Gump?!!

C. Four Places I Have Lived

1. Kuwait

2. Montreal

3. Toronto

4. Tehran

D. Four TV Shows I Like to Watch

1. Boston Legal

2. CSI (all of them)

3. Most sitcoms: F.R.I.E.N.D.S, Everybody Hates Chris, According to Jim, etc

4. 24

E. Four Places I Have Been on Vacation

1. England, Italy, Spain, and France (as a kid; if it weren’t for the pics I wouldn’t remember going there)

2. Iranian Cities: Isfahan, Shiraz, Ardabil, Sare’an, Kurdistan, Kermanshah

3. Kish Island south of Iran

4. And of course almost every single town in Shomal

F. Four of my Favorite Foods

1. Ghormeh sabzee

2. Khooresht Fesenjan

3. Ash-e-sabzee (with kashk)

4. Ice cream

G. Four Places I would rather be Right Now

1. In bed

2. Walking on the beach (too hot now, otherwise I would go now!!)

3. Somewhere on the foggy road to FiroozKooh with clouds at my eye level

4. Sleeping on waves any where in the world

H. Four People who will Answer this Tag

1. Mariamusic

2. Proshat

3. Anyone who loves tags

4. Anyone else who loves tags

Tagged: your wish

Tagged by Proshat

Yeeaaaa this is my first tag. I am supposed to list 5 of my heartfelt long desired wishes….ok here we go:

1. ………………hmmmmm…hold on……damn this is harder than what I thought……hmmm…aahhh…nope, nope, that’s not it…….eeeeeee don’t desire that any longer either……..those 2 goats??? Hmmm?? Nope over them as well…hmmm ok maybe………..you know what? I’ll get back to you.

50 things about me

1. To start off, I’m an Iranian born in Kuwait
2. I have seen 32 summers and autumns pass by, but only 31 winters and springs.

3. I have lived in Kuwait, Montréal, Toronto, Isfahan and Tehran. I have traveled to England, France, Greece, Italy, Spain, and Turkey. And I have had 1 day visits to Boston, Pakistan, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Qatar.
4. I currently live in Kuwait.
5. I terribly miss Tehran. Things I miss most: the mountains, vali-asr street in autumn (because of the magical beauty of the foliage and the various colors and the way the trees are suspended over the street as if they are leaning in to hug you), the smell of Jasmine eespeciallyin the mornings, cool early morning breeze, watching the sunrise or sunset at Darband, sweet smell of snow, smell of freshly baked Iranian bread, Modarees highway and its breath taking greenery, yes even the exasperating traffic.
6. I’ve been an ESL (English as a second language) teacher for over 11 years now.
7. I love love, love and love chocolate. Chocolate anything: bar, cake, ice-cream, hot drink, biscuit, pudding, and especially frosting. I once ate a kilogram of chocolate ice cream in 3 hours.
8. Listening to the sound of rain hitting the roof of my car always makes me smile
9. I have never been in love
10. I procrastinate. One good example is this blog. I created it last week but only making an entry now (pat on my back)
11. I bought a guitar just so I could sit on the beach and play “Yea Divareh” (a Persian song). The guitar is now gathering dust 🙂
12. I love my niece to bits.
13. I love singing in the car. Switching off the car if one of my favorite songs is on is considered as a moral sin. The right path to take in this situation is to sing along till it finishes then get out of the car
14. I have not read a book in 9 years. The last book I read was the Persian translation of “The Alchemist”. A friend forced me to read it. I can’t even remember the last English book I read.
15. Before moving to Iran I used to read at least 3 books a month
16. I have never lied to a friend. I just do not tell them the whole story (heehee)
17. Despite my best effort, I can’t stop my tears from falling when watching films, even comedies!! Hey I even get teary-eyed during cartoons, commercials, songs. Last time I cried was when listening to the line “Goodbye Michelle my little one” for the nth time in “Seasons in the sun”.
18. My spelling sucks; yes I did say I was an English teacher 🙂
19. I don’t consider downloading songs off the net as illegal nor immoral. I have never bought an original CD, only bootlegged ones. Is it wrong?
20. I talk to myself…yes even out loud if no one is on the room
21. My favorite 2 sounds are the sound of raindrops and waves
22. When taking a shower I always cover my ears and listen to the sound of water drop on my head.
23. Things I would like to do before I turn 35: bungee jumping, scuba diving, fly in a hot air balloon, and visit at least 2 more countries.
24. If my house is ever on fire, I would grab my diary, my picture album (including my picture CDs), and my box of mementos
25. I sign off all my emails with “Have a magical day”
26. My favorite word is “magical”
27. I over use the word “extremely” and “ass”
28. My biggest flaw is that I tend to jump to conclusions a lot. Hey blame it on my zodiac sign
29. My zodiac sign is cancer
30. I am also quite sensitive…again blame it on my sign
31. When I’m upset with someone, I could go for months without talking to them
32. My favorite album is “Affirmation” by “Savage Garden”
33. The best gift I have ever received was a book on tape translation of “The Little Prince”. The tape was narrated by Ahmed Shamloo.
34. The only French book I have ever read is the French version of this book. And yes, I have also read the English version.
35. For a while, my hobby was collecting quotations. Now I have no hobbies at all. Sad isn’t it?
36. My favorite flower is yellow daffodils; but my favorite floral scent is Jasmine. I used to watch out for those daffodil street vendors when stuck in traffic in Tehran. I thought to myself that if I knew for sure that paradise is full of that bright yellow glow of daffodil and the smell of Jasmine, I would try to be a better person so I could get in.
37. I always get lost when driving in Kuwait. I think that’s mostly because I have a little concert going on in my head 🙂 (see no 13)
38. I hate asking for directions. I would drive around in circles for hours but would not stop for a millisecond to ask someone where the hell I am.
39. I only own 1 pair of shoes, 2 pairs of flip flops, and 1 pair of sneakers. I wonder if I have broken some kind of world record for the least pair of shoes owned by a woman. I once wore the same pair of shoes for 3 years.
40. I hate my hair. I have half a mind to shave it off and wear a different kind of wig everyday
41. I refuse to eat okra (lady fingers). Even looking at it is a bit torturous for me.
42. As a kid I once sat and prayed and begged God to punish Jerry for hurting Tom so much.
43. It used to really piss me off when people did not spell my name right after I had repeatedly corrected it for them. Now I am ok with it. Now if someone misspells my name I would just put a little curse on them 🙂
44. I also put curses on people who are late for appointments, meetings, outings, dates, etc 🙂
45. Whenever I am depressed all I have to do is go for a walk on the beach. The longest it has ever taken the beach to cheer me up is 10 seconds.
46. Films I have watched more than once within 2 days are: Forrest Gump, My big fat Greek wedding, Life is beautiful, The Others, From Karkhe to Rein (Iranian: Az kharkhe ta Rien), The color of paradise (Iranian: Raange-Khoda).
47. I can’t stand men who don’t tuck their shirts in when wearing formal attire.
48. I don’t believe in capital punishment. Not because I think it is a cruel and inhumane, but because I think it is not cruel enough. The best way to punish rapists and molesters is to put them in solitary confinement for life. I also believe that the sentence for these 2 crimes should be a lot harsher than homicide since when you rape or molest someone you have scarred them for life.
49. I don’t do mornings
50. I once got detention in primary school because my teacher realized that the nickname I had given him “Mr. Soosky” meant Mr. Cockroach in Farsi. I don’t know why I called him that. I actually had a little crush on him. Anyway, he made me write 500 times, “I will not call Mr Stanistosky (I think that was his name) Mr. Soosky”.