So what's new?

How could I sum 5 months of absence?
1- MBA full time, which means I quit my job at Alogia+Logient as a Network Administrator and am a full time student/glandeur :p again. It's actually a lot of work but I'm having a blast.
2- Parents are here, and I'm in my sis and bro's appartment. Actually, in their living room. Not the best for privacy, but you can't beet the cooking.
3- I'm now 27 and jobless. What a loser :P Thanks yall for remembering, it was awesome.
4- No travel plans lately, so if you want to see me, move your ass to Montreal. Or rather, wait until my parents are gone and come visit, so I can have a bed for you
5- Saw Bourgui a couple of week-ends ago. He came to kick some ass at W40K. He arrived, having not slept for a couple of days due to last minute painting on Saturday night, with 3 victories out of 3 games. He then slept on the couch of death and I went to check things out with him Sunday. He lost the last two games

So, in summary, I'm good and you don't want me next to you in a tabletop tournament :p

Love,
Karim

P.S: It's exam time, so no news till much later. But I guess you're used to that...

Back Safely from Lebanon

Just a quick message to let everyone know that Janine and I are safe and sound in Montreal as of late Sunday evening.
Thanks for your thoughts and prayers, it was truly a miracle that got us here safely.

Love,
Karim

P.S: I'll send an email to let everyone that we're OK ASAP.

MBA application and more

So I'm applying for an MBA at Concordia University, Montreal, Canada. Five years of work experience showed me clearly that more studying is required to succeed, or least more advanced degrees.
Studying now will be good for me, an excellent change of pace. Five years ago, I wasn't ready mentally for more studying, right after graduating from my bachelor. Now I'll give it my best and actually excel. When I get back to work, after that, I'll have both experience and academics. The best would have been to keep working AND study part time, but there are complex reasons why I'm not doing so. You can consider the reasons to be extremely simple too: Janine, weddings, parents, pressure, getting things done fast.

Basically Janine and I want to get married next summer; my parents don't want that unless I get a Master's degree. I talked to them about that recently and it raised a lot of issues, and a lot of valid points.

I wanted to get the master's anyway so getting a head start and doing it full time for a while (to get most or all of the courses under my belt) feels right.

The other options are: 1) getting married anyway and upsetting my parents (not that bad, but they're great support financially and morally, plus I see the advantages of getting ahead in the masters) 2) studying part time while working (would take forever, still not cool w/ parents, hell if not living with Janine, i.e. not married)

That's it for the quick status update.

no time to procastinate

yet I still find some time to watch the first 1/2 hour of Daredevil on TV, read everyone's blogs (well, that at least wasn't too hard), post this comment here, and lose time on a couple of other things.
I guess some (bad) habits are just too ingrained at this point...
I'm feeling a lot better today, a long emotional talk w/ Janine helped get things off my back and hers, so I'm a lot more relaxed now.
Basically, Janine and I are talking marriage (and have been for a while). We really want to get betrothed next summer, but my parents had a very different point of view. The problem is that I think my parents have made excellent comments, and for once even the way wasn't too bad...
I need to get ahead with my education, and although I thought I could wait until after marriage, now would be as convenient, or even possibly more convenient if I do it full time w/ financial support.
Of course, it's a huge change in the way things have been going, and a master's degree is a couple of years usually.
-- I started this message on wednesday night, but didn't post it and went back to doing some useful application stuff. Yesterday night was TV and much needed sleep. This week-end will be busy to make up for the delays :)
Thanks to all of you who left comments and tried to cheer me up on MSN. I love you all.

I'm a slow poster usually, but lately...

I'm a slow poster usually, but lately I have been extremely hectic and stressed. Many changes incomming, parents and others all pulling in different directions. I feel stretched. I'm constantly tired, often depressed, not giving friends the time or attention they deserve...
I just seem to suck at everything right now...
Anyway, just thought I'd say that I think about you guys often, but that until Septemberish, I should be sporadic in my posting here (as I have been all along, I guess)
Quick updates on things: 1- trying to lose weight and keep it down 2- applying to master's degrees for real this time 3- going to Lebanon beginning of July for a couple of weeks and many issues arise from that

If this post has depressed you, then I have successfully emptied your bucket. Sucks to be you!

Shopping Spree

About once or twice a year, I shop. No more no less. I don't shop when I need something. I don't shop often. I shop once at the beginning of summer and once before Christmas, and I buy what I've needed for a while then.
My list as it was before this week-end:
- tennis shoes (baskets en français)
- everyday black leather shoes
- socks
- underwear (specifically des caleçons)
- costard (for my cousin Salah's wedding this summer)
- T-shirts
- Jeans
- Summer clothing (bermuda shorts, pantacourt, whatever)

I spent a few hours on Monday shopping for shoes, and bought 2 pairs of tennis shoes (one is more casual and the other one more sporty) as well as my everyday black leather shoes.
My older pair of black shoes is about a year old (a bit more probably), and well worn out by now. As for my previous pair of tennis shoes, I don't even remember when I bought it, but at the least it's before I came to Montreal, so no less than 3 and a half years. I really needed to get another pair, that's done now! :)
More news soon

apres le calme vient la tempete

So, after shutting my clam for over two months, I can't shut up anymore! Anyways, I just thought I'd give a short update on how I spend my leasure time!
I mostly moved on from roleplaying into Magic the Gathering exclusively, my one most lasting obsession. But these days, I'm hooked on board games. Especially Settlers of Catan. I've owned the basic game for a long time, converted a lot of friends, and recently converted the family too (i.e. Janine and her lovely sisters Chantal Celine and Pascale, my sister Leila and finally my uncle Joe's sons, Rami Chadi and Dani).
The conversion of these non-gamers (especially the Sayeghs) took some time, and Alhambra was a lovely game to play to get them on the road to something a bit more complicated like Settlers of Catan.
The excellent part is that I never lack a play group, unlike my days in Boston, or even in Florida. Plus, it's a lot more fun when you're playing with people that are so close, unlike Magic where you play people you don't obligatorily know that well.

Thus, I segway into my shiny new interest: The Settlers of Catan 10 anniversary 3-D blah blah blah edition. This is Settlers of Catan, with Cities and Knights, for 3-4 players, with awesome pieces. Everytime I think about it, my mouth waters and drool goes down my chin. Unfortunately, it's $450 canadian before taxes, so a nice $513 with taxes, aka something I can't afford. I looked on ebay, and I can get it for less. Even better, a friend of mine can grab me one through his special channels for "only" $350. Still, it's probably a stupid thing for me to spend money on a game I already own! So what if I don't have the pretty 3D pieces, and the shiny multicolor elements! It's probably better for viewing and gaming to play on the flat board anyways...

It's just that I have seen something cool and have to try it. Just here I prove that, like most men, I'm just a boy with more expensive toys :)

One last problem: it would be a lot less expensive for me to actually MAKE myself a 3D board. There are at least two places where the process of making boards is documented, but unlike Bourgui and most of the group, I hate the whole painting and crafts part of gaming. MageKnight and the such were made for people like me, who want to play with armies but don't want to suffer the painting.

Here's a couple of links to the home-made 3-D boards, just for reference:
- this board predates the 3D edition, and it looks like it was an inspiration to the people who made the selling version. I mean they even put the same kind of sheep on their board.
- this board comes at a later period, and is also very pretty.

Either way, if I was to make something like this, I would still probably not have the patience to make it look good... Also, even if I do make the board, I won't have all the collateral, like the settlements, cities, roads, knights, robber, merchant and more.

One thing that helps me rethink spending all the money is that there are many issues with the official 3D board:
- there are no spots planned for putting the numbers on the tiles properly (??? is this an oversight?)
- there are no spots planned for putting the robber on the tiles properly (except for the desert tile, where the robber starts the game) (this is also stupid, but not as bad as the problem above
- the numbers are made of a transparent disk, which makes them a lot less legible than they should be (the people who made this version thought that seing the actual board below was more important, a bad decision in my opinion)
- what about playing with more than 4 players? (no news on whether there will be a 5-6 player expansion in 3D, but it's very unlikely either way)
- the price (even at $350, it's about 4 times or more the price of the same game in non-3D form)

Well, I think I'm done talking about Settlers for today. I'll keep everyone posted on further developments! :p
Love,
Karim

for those of you who know a bit about World of Warcraft

moving on to other topics

A group of friends, Leila, Janine and I (I think we were 7) went to watch V for Vendetta in IMAX on Friday. Everyone liked the movie, me and a couple others loved it. I think it's a movie most of the group will love though.
I recommend it, but you should know what you're getting into. It's an action movie that tries to make you think, and isn't very subtle at that.
I still think I'll try to get a copy when it's affordable on DVD.
Also, I need to look into the Alan Moore comic that was the basis for the movie. Anyone else watch V?

I'm sorry...

Being the selfish bastard that I am, I wrote the post just below this one, just venting my frustration at my perception that part or all of the group is still pissed at me because of the New Year's celebration I missed.
I thought people would react by being a bit annoyed, definitely communicating, but I never thought that I would hurt someone. In this case, I think I have wronged Mathieu, Wendy and Arnaud, because they were pointed out of the group. I love you guys, and although I was extremely clumsy in both the fact that I ranted and the way I worded it, I'm glad that I talked. Arnaud talked to me on MSN, posted a short comment, and made me realize that I was the one who was still thinking about that fateful missed reunion.
My bitterness affected me unconsciously, and any random pun, or slowness in responding, or hesitation, I interpreted as resentment.
Mea Culpa. I'm really sorry. You guys are the best friends a man could have, and I'm sorry that I hurt you. I think part of this is that you guys actually still hang out together every now and then. Unlike the people I did not berate, you stayed in place, and get to see your friends more often, or at least talk together every now and then. I think I was jealous of that, jealous that Mathieu and Arnaud got to spend more time together than me with any of them, jealous that it was easy (in my mind) for you guys to see each other. Even Marcel gets to go home to you guys, while I spend my vacation time in Lebanon every year (nevermind the fact that Marcel's a walking zombie since he spends his life working hard in his lab, and that he's alone in a WASP and racist town/school)

Either way, I've realized the error of my ways, and instead of lashing out, I will reach out more and at least try to post on this place regularly enough that I can tell you guys what's up and read your news.

Love, Karim

Below's a space for a few personal messages:
Mathieu, you're always first in my mind. I'm so glad you graduated, I know no one that deserved to get that diploma. I hope everything will be fine for you in your job search, and that you won't lose faith in yourself. You are (and always have been) more than the sum of your friends, a yin to our yang, truly Bouddha, wise and thoughtfull and patient. Can't wait to see you again.
Wendy, you're the one who made me write again. You always reached to me, even when you were rightfully pissed at me, but thankfully also when you needed help. That's what's special with our group, we will always be there for each other in a time of need, and you're a prime example of that. I was harsh below, but what I really wanted to say is that thanks to you, I feel like I've been able to get something out of the back of my mind in the open and get rid of it.
Arnaud, thanks for taking the time to talk to me, always. This post here is thanks to you talking to me. I feel good about stuff again. Thank you so much.
Marcel, congrats on your teach getting what she wanted, I hope that now you have time for sleep and rest and a social life.
Bourgui, it's great that you have a job finally. I know how much it sucked for you to be sitting, sending resumes and not getting a way to get things working for you. I'm so glad everything is back on track.
Tophe, when you read this, the world will have ended in a nuclear apocalypse. You will then know that I miss you.

oh by the way ...

Apparently I have fallen from the face of this earth, and thus my friends (the ones who read this) are once again mad at me. Wendy won't talk to me, only berate me, Bouddha as well. I think it all goes back to when I couldn't go to France a couple of New Years ago when we where all meeting, because I didn't get a visa.

Let's make things clear: I'm a fucking arab. Travelling in peace is far from obvious for me, I have to plan ahead big time because of visas, that are hard to get, and where I'm treated like a fucking terrorist, during both the application process and the actual travel time.

Since then, I've been the pariah of the group, and I must say I'm just sick of it. Although Marcel and Bourgui have been cool, Nono barely talks to me, Wendy still is in a pouting process mostly and Bouddha is annoyed and doesn't communicate.

I might be overreacting, but even so, I'd rather have bygones be bygones and have everyone know that:
1) I love you guys
2) I wanted to come and see everyone then, I still miss you guys terribly and want to see you now
3) If you're still angry at me, I'm sick of your attitude, stop giving me shit for this and go back to normal, because part of the reason I'm not talking to you IS your goddamn attitude
4) If your name is Marcel, man do you have a huge rooster (male chicken) (I strive to remain PG13, thus verbal violence, insults, but no references, veiled or otherwise, to S. E. X.)
5) Bourgui, your "hardy and sure-footed animal, smaller and with longer ears than a horse" is the bomb
6) I probably communicate more than invisi-Tophe (which has not sent me any news in over 2 years, not replying to email or anything)

Oh, and I've lived in North America too long, since I no longer appreciate bullying and verbal aggressions where it is unclear in any way that you guys are kidding. The whole "fuck you man you suck, but no, I'm kidding" is just very bleh at this point. If you have something to say, go ahead and say it. If not, then be nice dammit!

That's it for today, I should be back on the keyboard as things are under control again. Next post should contain actual news (oh, the crazyness!)

Love,
Karim

P.S: I know that I didn't actually start the process of getting a visa very early, but I didn't expect the procedure to take that long. Also, just to make sure, I am NOT a terrorist in any way. The only things I have in common with the angry people that blow places up is that I have a problem with my razor (and thus a tendency to have a week old beard), that I am born in the city that has become synonimous with war (Beirut) and that my name is Karim (my parents wanted to use a name that was easy to spell in European languages and that wasn't used much. They got one of the two right, at least...)
P.S2: man is that a long post-scriptum
P.S3: if it sounds that I'm mad at anyone, it's not really the case.

Visiting the world!

well, I've visited 10% apparently, but that's a whole lot of crap actually cause I've obviously only seen a small part.
Here's an attempt to link the image correctly:

On giant apes and other exciting stories!

As most of you probably figured out by reading the heading, I watched King Kong this week-end. The rest of the group was composed of Leila (my sister), Sawsan (Leila's friend from Concordia university), Fayçal (mutual friend of Leila and myself), Ziad (Fayçal's friend), Janine (my fiancée) and myself. Unfortunately, since we arrived late and the theater was rather full, we were seated in pairs and didn't get to really share the movie as a group.
The good thing though is that upon going out, everybody had enjoyed themselves and we were ready to go out to "Les 3 Brasseurs", a previously nice place in Montreal that has now become a chain. This makes it a lot less unique and the quality of the food has also gone down. As the name implies, they make their own beer, which is still pretty good, but I wouldn't go out of my way for one.
Les 3 Brasseurs also serves Flamms, a modernized version of Alsace's flammekueche. We ended up being 11, as Stuart Amrstrong (high school friend of mine), his gf (Myriam, an American strangely enough), her mom (weird ass name and very religious apparently, which somewhat explains the evangelic name of her daughter) and a Lebanese couple (Charles and what's her name I forgot, she was blond and pretty cute, do you remember her?) all met us there.

Either way, a pretty good evening. As for King Kong, main topic of this post that's looking more and more like a rant, I found that I had set my expectations for it just right. It was the action movie where giant ape kicks t-rex butt, then falls in love with blondie actress. If you are to ever watch it, watch it at the movies!

Ciao,
Karim

Following Grendel's Baby Pic Trend

Leila sent me this pic for Christmas, but I only checked my gmail account today, so it was a very pleasant surprise. As you can imagine, this was a LONG time ago! I'm so happy I have a copy of this picture, this is one of my best childhood memories.

The background is the curtains in our house in Bagdad, Iraq, circa 1983/1984 or something.

As you can see, the Christmas tree is kinda dry and small, as the weather in Iraq doesn't encourage much growing for the pines.

Anyways, just thought I'd post something and not let Bourgui and Grendel make me look weak. I will kick your asses guys!

:)

Bourgui's annoying

So I have a friend who's so annoying he had to buy into this whole blogging bullshit and now both Grendel and I have to create blogs just to reply and annoy Bourgui back! :p

Or maybe all the group will start blogs and it will be our way of actually giving each other news while still being self centered bastards.

Either way, maybe this will get me off my ass and back to writing a little.

Or maybe this will be the only post ever on my journal and will be forgotten on the net for all eternity.

Best wish to all (i.e. you get only 1 wish, so make it count people), and happy new year of course.
Love,
Kash