http://www.inentertainment.co.uk/20090708/michael-jackson-memorial-service-177-minute-repeat/ Read full post »

I find it incredibly surprising that the medical field never considered this a possiblity. I find it even more surprising, and apalling, that some STILL will not consider the findings of this reasearch a legitimate probability.

"Doubters say "either they really weren't autistic to begin with ... or t… Read full post »

The battle wages on. My mind is at war - emotions versus rationale.

First I wrote this: http://open.salon.com/blog/fshaikh/2009/05/01/a_question

And then, my last post: http://open.salon.com/blog/fshaikh/2009/05/06/im_hurting

I am in general a private person. Although I enjoy company and it wouldn't… Read full post »

You wouldn't know it if you saw me.

 I woke up as usual. I had my tea every two to three hours as usual. I smiled. I sang to myself. I played hide-and-seek with my son. We tickled each other silly. We made up silly songs. I made him lunch and dinner. I cleaned the… Read full post »

Those tortuous thoughts tease and taunt. Pangs of jealousy have your stomach tied in knots. There's a heaviness in your chest and you begin to have trouble breathing as you're consumed by self-pity, bitterness and loathing...

... if only for a fleeting moment.

Then you choose... to simply shake everyth… Read full post »

I haven't written in a really long time. Apparently my mind doesn't function the way it used to. Or maybe most of my patience is used up in child-rearing and I have little left over for writing. I won't speak for anyone else but raising a child has certainly knocked the… Read full post »

In order to add some flair to the Newsletter I make for the Spouse's Association of my husband's organization, I would sometimes have Felicity introduce my editorial notes on the first page and lead readers into what I hoped would be a pleasant reading experience. Below, find those glimpses of Felici… Read full post »

For a moment she stood there mesmerized by it's translucent rainbow of colors; the way they danced as she rolled it around in her palm, taking one shape, then slipping into another.

The world is so pretty in there, she thought.

She would see him through these lucid rainbows, she recalled. He would…

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WHEN DEMOCRACY GOES TOO FAR...
Someone managed to forward the controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammed (sw) to me and I thought, you know, if this had meant to depict their version of the average Muslim instead of the Prophet (SW) himself, the world would be a more peaceful place and some… Read full post »

Wow, it's 2006 already!

It's been slightly over a year since my last entry. In my defense, I do have at least three entries waiting in the drafts room awaiting a conclusion. Things got so hectic last year that by the time I would return to complete my thoughts, I felt they…

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It lay sparkling on her cheek, still, and yet so fluid. It wasn't like the other beads that so often rolled off her head, hard with thought and conviction. It was different, seemingly weaker and more powerful all at the same time, filled with emotion that, were it to spill, would…

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When America goes to the polls next week, the single most important issue that could determine who becomes president will very likely be Iraq. Some voters may think about taxes, some about medicare and healthcare reform and the import of prescription drugs from Canada . Some may think about stem-cel… Read full post »

The news came as a shock. Although I only knew one "petite" Badar who studied with his even more petite fiance (who later went on to become his wife), I refused to believe it was the same Badar. We had worked together on some group projects and presentations during the early…

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I began with the idea of an intriguing introduction to my blog, something that would be the best reflection of what my blog really is in under 300 characters (that's the limit for the intro). Then something happened and my intro suddenly had a fairytale setting, a place my husband says… Read full post »

This entry is in response to a blog entry at knicq.blogspot.com questioning "Do you accept this Pakistan?" that complains how certain vices and former cultural taboos have become commonplace in our society, perhaps in our attempt to mimic the apparently successful west.


The truth is, these concepts…

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What does our country really think it will gain by forcing Musharraf to give up his uniform? What will it gain by getting him to give up all that he has accomplished in his military career for the sake of being president or give up the presidency for the sake of…

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Everytime he leaves, I feel my heart shatter into a zillion pieces. There's a lump in my throat I can't get down, a cry waiting to slip out, a tingling in my fingers aching to clutch his arm to keep him from going. I watch him leave, my eyes filled with…

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My task lately has been to find space in my inlaws' house to stash away all of our stuff that shipped from Houston. This is no easy task, trust me, since all the cupboards are so full that noone has dared to open them for fear that everything will just fall…

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I used to be able to write so well. I'm writing now in an attempt to salvage whatever skill I have left, but I realize my writing isn't quite as interesting, as elaborate, as thought provoking or as articulate as it used to be. Perhaps because I haven't had much to…

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"It's really sad," said Humair of the state of affairs in Karachi: of the lifestyles of people living here earning measly salaries and wages, of the roads so broken and littered with filth and the shops so rundown and ill maintained. Last time we were here was hardly 6-7…

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Perhaps it is just my pride that is unwilling to part with the comfort of the old and refusing to embrace the challenges of what's new, which would make it not as much of a helpless situation as I would like to believe. It's a decision I've made somewhere to keep…

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For the longest time, my computer's time and date were set to US Central Time, reflecting the time in Houston. Then one day, some eight weeks following our move to Cairo, I finally mustered the courage to face up to reality.

"Look", I told myself, "You're home is in Cairo…

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I know that the furthest you can see on a flat plain or out at sea from where you are standing is about 6 miles, which would mean if you looked all the way from left to right, you'd be able to see 12 miles across. But when you're flying at…

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Two months ago, I was told our furniture would be ready in exactly six weeks, "inshallah". That was about two weeks longer than the time any of the other places took to make an order, but I figured, hey, if it takes them that long then fine, as long as it…

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