Imena

Life can only be aprreciated when freedom is taken away, and enjoyed when it is gained.

~Almira~

Hello, everyone! I hope you all have been doing well, I had been busy with school this semester, I was taking classes five days a week. I’m still trying to leave the state for college and this time around nothing is going to stop me.

Anyways, I recently watched a documentary on PBS titled, “Growing Up Online”. This documentary showed how young men and women in America are growing up through the internet; including are young Muslim brothers and sisters. The documentary brought valid points showing how young men and women can talk to people across the world, via Youtube or webcam, but cannot talk to their own parents about their everyday problems. Another valid point was that after school hangouts are being replaced with online web “hangouts” such as Myspace, Muslim Space and Facebook.

I do not believe that any of these online “hangouts” are truly bad, but they should not replace the overall social interaction between people. What kind of society have we become when school-aged children cannot come home and talk to their parents? What makes a child more trusting of a stranger then their own family? Is the family to blame or the society in which that child grows up in? What does this do to the psychological growth of our young men and women. When did the internet replace the teacher, friend and counselor? I have discontent for people who are more comfortable talking and looking at a computer screen then an actual person.

Dating sites are another factor for young men and women. Muslim dating sites such as Muslim Marriage and Salaam Love offer a way for Muslim brothers and sisters to meet online and in person, then hopefully, one day become married. I don’t really agree with this way of communication or way of marriage, but if two people are truly happy with each other then I have nothing against them. It seems the old or traditional ways of meeting a person are slowly fading away.

I am not sure that the information age we are living in is the “best” age and I have to wonder if too much information is good information for a person; especially for a young, developing mind. We rely on our computers and internet to make our lives easier, but everything, whether good or bad comes with a price and in the future I believe that we will reap the negative repercussions of our technology.

Salaam
~Almira~

I was tagged my Karin, thanks Karin

My tag is as follows: I am supposed to write ten things about myself.

1.) I love working with children, I eventually one day want to go to Africa to do missionary work.

2.) I enjoy science, including: astronomy, archaeology, and palentology

3.) I have a certain love for cheesecake!

4.) I love swimming, my mother use to swim competively during High School and College; I guess it’s in my genes.

5.) I love Mediterranean, and middle eastern food.

6.) I always wanted to go to Africa.

7.) My favorite movie is “A Little Princess.”

8.) I drive a convertible, which is perfect now for me because it’s the summer time.

9.) I love nature, one of my favorite places I have visited is the Grand Canyon.

10.) I always wanted to go sky diving, and hope to do so this summer.

Sometimes I wonder the meaning of this life. People can only see the sun/goals on the horizon but do not know how to get there. Like a destination they will they never see, a dream that is only dreamt, a sky that is never touched, and a hope for the unhopeful things. From the first day after graduation we put both of our feet on the pavemet of reality, from than on every waking moment is a decision that effects us for the rest of our lives. I ask my friends why dont they go to school, instead they would rather make a minimum check,working for someone who sees them nothing more than a dollar sign, tax write off, a pebble in their shoe, and a rock that easily moved when it has realised its full potential. Too many times I have seen my friends fall by the waste side; if they could only see what I see in them, and look through my looking glass. My girl friends choose to stay with boys who proclaim they are in men only to try to kill a need that can never be met, touched, or cured. They turn to drugs, sex, and material things that hold no substance in their lives. I believe it is our persaverance that scares us, the ability to be more than we could ever imagine, or others who could imagine us to be. It is that idea which gives us the motivation to get up in the morning in order to face a world full of sharks in order to find a humble fish such as ourselves. Sometimes I think I have made myself numb in order to swim through the current in this life. Have I made myself so numb that I only feel real when I am burned? If I died to tomorrow, I wouldnt know how it felt to be alive.

Every where you go in life you must follow some sort of social rules. Whether it is waiting in line at the Post Office, or abiding by a school’s student codes. If you choose not to obey these rules the consequences could be considerable. One of the biggest establishments where you must follow social rules are theme parks. If you decided to cut your way through a busy, long hour standing line, or tamper with food from the concession stand you would have a favorable chance of being escorted out by the theme park’s security. That is exactly the concepts I want to teach you, in order to get kicked out of a major theme park. The challenge of being kicked out of a theme park is a thrilling, unforgettable experience.

When getting off a ride, especially a popular ride such as a roller coaster, have a bag of large nuts and bolts in your pocket. Upon exiting off the ride, take them out and say in a loud voice, “I thought that ride was a little shaky!” Pour the nuts and bolts in front of the entrance of the ride, to display it for everyone to see. In the result of this you will probably see the shocked faces of many people in line, and many who begin to leave in search of a safer place to enjoy themselves.

Get on a ride that that is clearly made for small children, such as the flying swings; when the ride attendant ends the ride pretend to be stuck for ten minutes, to thirty minutes. Any small children will start to squirm, and cry because they can not get a turn on the ride.

Go to a busy concession stand and order a tray of food, after you order the food put a fake bug in-between the food, preferably a roach. If there is a line, shove your way to the front and say, “does this come with the meal?’ Watch the faces of the people in line, to see their faces turn red and some my start to heave. Most people will loose their appetite, causing the concession stand to close because of lack of customers.

If you are at a water theme park, such as Sea World, bring a fishing pole, line, bait, and a plastic hook. When you approach a large tank, such as a shark tank, use your fishing equipment in order to try to fish in the shark tank. If you use real meat, you will cause the sharks to go crazy, and start swimming in to the glass tank. Quickly leave the shark tank after you have irritated them, so you can out run security.

In a special motion attraction ride at Universal Studios, go to a ride called “Jaws”. In this ride, their will be a boat that will take you through a small lake, which will simulate a shark attack by an automated shark. When you board this ride make sure the boat is crowded. When the boat stops, pretend to fall from the boat just as the shark reaches the surface. When you are pulled out of the water, have a small travel size ketchup bottle hidden underneath your pants leg, squeeze the open bottle and pretend you have gotten injured. Watch as the ride attendant and people gaze in horror, as they quickly get off the boat. When the park security arrives, they will probably ban you from the park, once they see that your injury is fake.

Get on a ride, like the Big Shot, a ride that shoots you straight up into the air about two hundred feet. Get a zip lock bag filled with rancid milk, old vegetables, and mashed fruit. As the ride starts to fall down to the ground, lean forward and spill all the contents on the people waiting in line, including the people sitting on the ride. When you get off the ride, hold your stomach and walk slowly to the ride exit. Many people will be mad, disgusted, and will probaly leave the theme park.

Every amusement park usually has elephants, whether they are in shows, a part of a ride, or live in a cage. When you are near the elephants have a tape recorder. The tape in the recorder should have a recording of lions roaring. Play the tape when you are the next to the elephants, watch the elephants stampede and go into a panic. The grounds keepers will immediately run to the area to see what has happened, and quickly walk back into the main area of the theme park.

Special effects are always a great way to make a ride more realistic. Add your own special effects by getting on a ride such as “Indian Jones”. Have a small but long, Tupperware container in your pocket. In the container, put a couple of small, three inch garden snakes. You can find these snakes at any exotic pet shops. When the ride ends dump the snakes out onto the seat. Wait by the ride exit so you can see the reactions of the people boarding the ride. The ride will probably be shut down for sometime, in order for the ride attendants to thoroughly inspect the entire attraction.

Lastly, after you have caused much disruption through out the theme park, and if you have not gotten escorted out of the park, proceed to exit through the front gate. Make sure to thank the park personnel for letting you in.

Following all of these steps will surely get you kicked out or baned from any theme park. Too many times people go to a crowed theme park, and only remember the lengthy standing lines, hot weather, and over priced souvenirs. If you follow these steps you will have a fun, eventful day, which you and many others will never forget.

The things we fear the most have already happend to us…. ~Deepak Chopra~

Its another cold winter night in Las Vegas, I can hear the traffic from my bed room window. The streets use to call me in the night, when I did not have a car or many friends, once upon a time back in the begining of high school. I think they still call to me, like a mother calling to her lost child..

I was suppose to be hanging out with one of my friends tonight, but like the weather she is unpredictable, always saying one thing but doing another. I admit I cried back on my way home, sometimes I feel so cold, and its not from the winter wind. I guess its because Iam use to being ignored, I always feel like someones shadow that was left behind.

I miss being a child, not so much a child, but being ignorant. Whoever said ignorance was bliss, is totally right. When you are a child the world to you is one big wonder, a road that has no end, few stop signs, with few forks in the road to misguide you. It was the only time I felt safe, when I was shielded from the unruly truth that life is not a dream, and relationships are not a fairytale.

Do you remember the Wizard of Oz, when Dorothy falls a sleep into a feild of poppy flowers? When she awakes she see’s clearer. Thats what I felt like the day I realized reality. I woke up out of the poppy field. I realized most people are only out for themselves, and that love is nothing more than a illusion if not more than a fable.

Everyday when the sun rises in the east, and I awake, I peer through my blinds and look through my window just to see if anything has changed. Hoping for a change, a break in the sky, something diffrent than my ordinary everyday routine. Maybe I shouldnt wait for a change. I gaze at the stars each night, trying to find the brightest one, always hoping that there is someone else out there in the world like me who understands me, and that will already know every thought in my head, every word I have spoken, and every dream I have dreamt.

I fear every night that I will never find the right path to walk down, only rocky roads with endless outlets that lead into the abyss of darkness. My greatest fear is not of the darkness of this road, for I have travelled down it for many miles in silence, the fear is that I will walk this road alone.

Hello Everyone, I hope that everyone has been doing well, its been along time since I took a break from blogging, but now Im back for good, Ive cleared my mind and Im ready to start blogging again.

So much to say so let me start from the begining.

After I got accepted into Clark Atlanta, I went to the orientaion in Georgia for freshman and transfering students. It ended up being one big old mess, none of the dorms were housing any students because of the mold, so the school made a contract with a company who made a new set of lofts. After myself and many others figured out that you had to pay an extra thousand dollars in school tuition just to live in the lofts I said now, and was moved to the Residential Apartments on campus. After a couple of days I was told all students who were moved to the Residential Apartments would have to find a new place to stay, or move to the Lofts becuase our rooms were promised to other people. I was thinking what are they talking about, I made sure I had a place to stay at the school back in December. So I went down to the student affairs building and low and behold the room was filled with over hundred people, no Im not exaggerating, waiting for a room, and to see what happend to their financial aid. After dealing with the housing people I walked to financial aid, and one of the women working there said I had no financial aid, no grant money, and they wouldnt take any scholarships, also if I wanted to stay at the school I would have to sign for a twenty three thousand dollar loan for both semesters. By this time the week was over and I was tired, so I talked to my mom, and a couple of my friends in Nevada and decided to come back home and finish out my semesters at Nevada State.

Upon returning to Las Vegas , I enrolled back in Nevada State. So far Ive just been working and going to school. Saving up for a new car, I do love my faithful ole car but its time to give her a rest.

Thanksgiving was yesterday, it went pretty well. Untill I got a phone call from my friend who called from the county jail. They arrested him on a warrant of traffic tickets, I told him several times that he needed to get them taken care of, I know that he was sad, ecspecially since he missed his sons first Thanksgiving.

Anyways aside from that everything has been going pretty well, slow but well. Insha’Allah when the time is right I will find a good school out of the dry dessert air of Nevada. Salaam

It has been such a long time since I last posted Alot has been going on, I only get on the computer quick enought to check my email, and my myspace these days. In one month Im moving to Atlanta Georgia, to attend Clark Atlanta University, its time for a change. I hope everyone has been doing well, I really miss me blog family

My brother and sisters I hope that you all are enjoying this blessed new month.

Friday I saw one of my favorite Comic Book Movies Spider Man 3

It was one of the best movies I have seen this year. But I do believe it is time for a Spider Woman Movie.

University acceptance letters have finally came, last Friday the first letter came from Clark Atlanta University. Yesterday morning Hawaii Pacific University sent theirs. Im still wating upon Alabama State University, but praise be to Allah that I have been accepted at all. I know that my blog has been dead for a while, so I would like to thank everyone who still reads my nonsense. I hope you all are doing well, Salaam.

Hello everyone I hope that you all have been well in this new month. Spring Break was very fun for me, yet busy I visited some of my family in Atlanta Georgia, and Alabama. The trip was simply interesting because Nevada does not have really any culture within itself , it was great to see smart African American brothers and sisters doing something positive with their lives. I applied to a couple of schools down there also including Clark Atlanta University, and Alabama State University. I’ve gotten a new job at Express, a retalil store in the mall. It pays more and the people there are great . I have been truly blessed this month with job oppourtunites, out of eight applications I put in one day four of the employers called me back the very next day. School seems to be getting longer as it approaches its end, Im still waiting patiently for acceptence letters for next month. Salaam