Dear Blog,

I swear I’m writing. Not here no. And not as much as you want me to. But I am writing nonetheless.

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Lately I’ve only been able to think when I’m writing. So even with silly things, some power seems to put down this massive brick over my brain stopping it from all activity. The ears would barely be processing any input as well. I have to pick up a pen and write. Then, and only then am I able to comprehend and then If wanted/needed analyze.

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I wish I could analyze more thoughts.
I wish I can explain to you/in words about the different kinds of pain.
I wish I can show you how my fingers almost bleed as I go at my typewriter with all the strength I can pull together.
I wish I can.

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I am making a list, of things to think/write about -since the 2 actions are to be connected from now on-. So maybe for future titles I can have: On craved attention. Or: On true excellence. On stringed conversations. On exhausted imaginations. On imperfect masks. On semi-controlled daydreams. On failed experiments.

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I was thinking. All the big writers are old ones. No -present- thing or person is yet to touch their writings or come even close. I can imagine all old writers typing their literature straight onto a typewriter. And I can see them fussing over minor mistakes, ink and straight lines. At the other end of the spectrum lies the time the typewriter gives you to think as you type. You can think things through. It’s a slow -and may i add again, finger hurting- process. It also provides space for lost connections between thoughts which can be used effectively to enhance the readers’ imagination. So writers nowadays seem to not be writing at all. And maybe even way back then, maybe these great names weren’t writing either. Maybe it was just fingers, time and an old typewriter. Maybe that was just it.

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 report for my blog. I must say it’s quite interesting, and reminded me how little I’m blogging.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 9,500 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 4 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

“Zine” El-Arab

According to Ganzeer here, Zine El-Arab is the first pan-Arab ‘zine. Ganzeer is working on this alongside Makan and the amazing Nidal El Khairy and it will published once every 3 months. What’s interesting about this zine is that it will be entirely printed and distributed via the help of contributors and each one of us can print a few copies and give it to others.

The first edition is out and you can download it by clicking on the image below.

Also check out these interesting posts on the work and the launch which was in Amman here and here. I personally can’t wait for more.

Gene vs. Sheikh Imam

لاتبك ِ فأحزان الصغَر تمضي كالحلم مع الفجر

وقريبا ًتكبرُ ياولدي وتريدُ الدمع َفلا يجري

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إنْ سهرتْ أمطارٌ معنا أو غطى البردُ شوارعنا

فالدفءُ يعمّرُ أضلعنا ولهيب الشمس بنا يسري

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وإذا بحّـتْ لك َ أغنية ٌ أو أنـّتْ قدم حافية ٌ

فشموس رفاقك َ آتية ٌ وستشرقُ من غضب الفقر

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قد أرمى خلف الجدران وتحنّ ُ لحبي وحناني

فانظرْ في قلبك َ ستراني لنْ يقوى القيد ُعلى الفكر

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سأضمك َوالصدرُ جريحُ وسأعشقُ والقلبُ ذبيح

مهما عصفتْ بيّ الريحُ لن أحني َفي يوم ٍ ظهري

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وإذا ما الدهرُبنا دار ومضيتُ إلى حيث أوارى

أكملْ من بعدي المشوارَ لاتــُخْـلفْ ميعاد الفجر ِ

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ِلن يسقي َ دمعٌ أشجاركْ لن تبني َ بالآه ِ جدارك

ِفاصرخْ بالخوف إذا زارك ْ لاتخشى النارُ منَ الجمر

ياولدي

ياولدي

On Educativity

Being a strong believer in the importance of education (both formal and informal) in the rise -and fall- of communities and nations, I can’t say that I wasn’t totally excited that the theme for TEDxYouth@Amman will be ‘Educativity‘.

Educativity = Education + Creativity. I will write a more detailed post about my thoughts later but for now I want to bring attention to an interesting new concept that TEDxYouth@Amman is bringing to the table. Other than all the youth who will be sharing their thoughts on Educativity on stage, there’s this competition that revolves around hearing your thoughts on Educativity, what it means and how it can be applied.

Read about it and do participate if you have something to share about the subject and about education in Jordan and in the world as a whole.

Youth Award: What is EDUCATIVITY?

Do you have your personal definition of EDUCATIVITY? Do you have a vision for how “education” and “creativity” can be put together? And do you want to be an official speaker at TEDxYouth@Amman?

As you may aready know, “Educativity” is the theme we have chosen for the TEDxYouth@Amman event taking place this coming November 19th 2011 at the Cultural Palace – Hussein Sports City. We created a competition to get you engaged and to hear from you.

What you have to do is pretty simple:

1. Take a 3 minute video of yourself telling us your vision for Educativity. A video using your personal camera or even your webcam would be good.
2. Send us the video to dina@tedxyouthamman.com before November 15th.
3. Wait for us to review all sent videos and pick the winner.

Three easy steps, all you need is a good vision or an idea to share about Educativity and a video camera.

The Prize:

If you are the lucky winner, your prize will be a 3 minute talk on stage on the day of the event in front of 1500 Jordanian audience! Get your cameras rolling!

Original Post.