Flying home

As the semester culminates in the form of Exams next week, I'm already looking forward to it since I'm set to board a Karachi-bound flight the very next day! Yayy! As much as transatlantic travel can be mentally and physically exhausting, the sight of halal fast foods of Doha (my transit city) and the joy of being reunited with friends and family makes it all the more bearable.

Living alone has its advantages and disadvantages. You get to do stuff you like - whatever, whenever. You also tend to become a bit more responsible (supposedly) since you're more independent .... mostly because there's no one to help you out with your chores (laundry, cooking et al.) Still, I've seen people become lazier and ever so more carefree with no one around nagging them to clean up and stuff. Hey, I don't care how people live their lives or how they take care of their personal hygiene ... but it annoys me sometimes. Anyway, coming back to the topic of the post in question ... I'm really looking forward to landing back in Karachi, the chaotic, polluted streets, the kachray kay dhairs (as much as I despise them), normal left-hand driving, faster internet etc. etc. One thing I'm certainly not looking forward to is the dreaded load-shedding :(. Oh boy, that is one thing I have not missed about Karachi at all!

Life in USA so far has been pretty interesting. As soon as people find out I'm from Pakistan, they want to discuss the current situation with me and get my views on it. I have made no secret of my animosity towards the past American government, its continued support for Israel n all. But surprisingly, more people agree with me than I thought. I don't know if the fact that I encounter "enlightened" people in and around my campus is whats responsible for this sentiment or whether its a general sentiment among the public. I should write more on this on a separate post perhaps. For now, I'm excited to be going home. Karachi rocks in its own way. There's no place like it. Period.

Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles

I've been inundated with work these days and there's hardly enough time to watch TV or play games. But the time I do get every now and then, I spend some of it catching up on the TV series I like watching. The one that's the subject of this post is Terminator : Sarah Connor Chronicles. I'm a big sci-fi fan (if you don't already know) and I heard there's a new TV series about the Terminator out, but it wasn't until I landed here in the land of the free that I started watching it online. Anyway, it's first season was really very good and got me hooked alright. The second season took a dip in the middle when the storyline just became downright boring, but boy did it finish on a high or what! Its season 2 finale aired last friday and it was a total cliffhanger I tell you! One of the best finales I have seen for sure! If you're a T2 fan then you absolutely have to see this. There's so many interesting questions it poses, and I would hate to see the series not being renewed for it's third season, which it richly deserves IMO.

Here's hoping the guys over at FOX see the light and let the show continue. There's also a Terminator movie coming out next month - Terminator Salvation. If that movie proves to be a success (I'm really hoping it is) coupled with the fact that the show ended on a high, it should be reason enough to renew the show. Here's hoping.

Words of Wisdom

"There are four causes of infidelity and loss of belief in Allah: hankering after whims, a passion to dispute every argument, deviation from truth; and dissension, because whoever hankers after whims does not incline towards truth; whoever keeps on disputing every argument on account of his ignorance, will always remain blind to truth, whoever deviates from truth because of ignorance, will always take good for evil and evil for good and he will always remain intoxicated with misguidance. And whoever makes a breach (with Allah and His Messenger) his path becomes difficult, his affairs will become complicated and his way to salvation will be uncertain.

Similarly, doubt has also four aspects absurd reason- ing; fear; vacillation and hesitation; and unreasonable surrender to infidelity, because one who has accustomed himself to unreasonable and absurd discussions will never see the Light of Truth and will always live in the darkness of ignorance. One who is afraid to face facts (of life, death and the life after death) will always turn away from ultimate reality, one who allows doubts and uncertainties to vacillate him will always be under the control of Satan and one who surrenders himself to infidelity accepts damnation in both the worlds."

Hazrat Ali (A.S)

Source: http://www.al-islam.org/masoom/sayings/saying5.html

Pizza Chronicles

So I tried my hand at baking today with a Frozen cold cheese Pizza. The instructions seemed simple enough. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees; stick the pizza in there; let it bake (or burn) for 15 minutes straight and voila, you got a hot and delicious pizza .... NOT! Instead, it ended up looking something like this:


Oh well, I guess with every disappointment comes a lesson (South Park style). I learned something today i.e., to pay more attention this things I'm "trying a hand at" for the first time! Nothing is as easy as it seems. duh!