Engineering Artists

A lot of people ask how can engineers do creative things because following rules and adding one to one don’t exactly fall under the artistic criteria. However, in my life, I’ve met people who succeeded as engineers and as artists as well. Take Rana Ashour for example. RA graduated from AUS as a Civil Engineer with honors. Then she got a job as a structural engineer. Still left-side-of-the-brain related, right?

The academic system never allowed RA to explore the artistic side of herself since in school she never did any art work or anything. But come one time less than a year after graduation, and RA hit rock bottom for many personal reasons.So you can imagine how that felt; too much negative energy stored. Then one day while watching her sister draw portraits for her university project, she talked to her and decided to open a mini/home business on facebook. The project began as Ashour Gifts where she turned the negative energy into positive energy.

Since then the project’s been growing. A lot of friends and family members helped raise this project to where it has become now including Jihad Mnasria. The name has changed to Hadayaz and RA has made appearances in AUS alumni dinner and global day. What I personally like about Hadayaz is how simple and unique the ideas are. There’s “Butterfliez” an eye-catching tree full of memories. Also under the title “Milk-a-holicz,” a personalized baby book is created. Who would have thought of making a baby book for a baby?

Baby Book

More can be found on Hadayaz on the Facebook Group; “Hadayaz Ashour”

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1738734781

That’s my review for today.

Hadeeth of The Day – On Friends

1) The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “A man will follow the religion of his close friend, so let each of you look to who he takes a close friend.”

Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 2378; classed as hasan by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Tirmidhi, 1937

كما قال عليه الصلاة والسلام: “الرجل على دين خليله فلينظر أحدكم من يخالل” -رواه أبو داود والترمذيُ بإسناد صحيح2)

The Muslim must strive to find good friends who will help him to do good, as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The likeness of a righteous companion and an evil companion is that of one who carries musk and one who works a bellows. With the one who carries musk, either he will give you some or you will buy from him or you will notice a pleasant fragrance from him. With the one who work a bellows, either he will burn your clothes or you will notice a foul odour from him.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 5534; Muslim, 2628, from Abu Moosa al-Ash’ari, may Allaah be pleased with him

عن أبي موسى الأشعري رضي الله عنه قال: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم : “مثل الجليس الصالح والسوء: كحامل المسك، ونافخ الكِير. فحامل المسك: إما أن يَحْذِيَك، وإما أن تبتاع منه، وإما أن تجد منه ريحاً طيبة. ونافخ الكير: إما أن يحرق ثيابك، وإما أن تجد منه ريحاً خبيثة” متفق عليه.

 

Welcome to Kanjoos-istan

Kanjoos means thrifty, frugal, bakheel, zu66, kanjoos. So you got it right. This note is a quick one on money matters because I need it more than anybody else.

1. Buy things on sale. Wait until the sale season or when people are clearing to buy your clothes, shoes, etc…also try to convince yourself that being out of fashion and having money in your pocket is always  better than being in fashion AND in debt.

2. Don’t buy things on sale. This might seem to contradict with # 1, but it doesn’t. Don’t  buy “things you don’t need” on sale. In other words, don’t fall into the “sale” scam, the “purchase-now-or-regret” scam when you know pretty well that you wouldn’t have bought that thing to start with – if it weren’t on sale.

3. Don’t change money because change disappears so fast. There’s a saying that goes like, take care of the fils and the dirhams will take care of themselves.

4. Save, save, save as though the financial crisis would have a meltdown tomorrow. And I say it again, save, save, save and if you can’t…”Save As…”

5. Don’t fall into marketers schemes to get your money. Watch your favorite shows on Youtube so you can skip advertisements. Plus they’re free.

6. The latte effect [and yes I am guilty of that, but check this out to know it's 'market research']. But this is how the latte effect goes. Let’s say you spend 15 dirhams on coffee at carribou cafe every working day (I’m canceling weekend here). So that’s 75 dirhams per week, 300 dirhams per month, 3600 dirhams per year. Let’s say you keep this habit going for 5 years. That’s 18,000 dirhams.

Think of all the things you could have bought for that money if you weren’t a coffee addict.

The rest of the points are to be done at your own risk – and with people you’re close with ONLY (aka family).

8. Always get your brothers/parents to fill your phone credit. A famous trick is to send them a call request and if they’re smart enough they’ll get the point that you need credit,so they’ll fill your phone with as little as 5 dirhams….repeat process for the whole month (or the whole year).

9. When you go out, forget your wallet at home. Or don’t carry cash, only carry cards, and then go out for dinner at a place that you know doesn’t accept cards. So someone else ends up paying the bills.

10. Make them happy with small, small purchases like chocolates and milk…and they’ll make you happy with big, big purchases like fancy dinners out, and if you’re lucky enough…a car….

That’s it for today.

Ciao

P.S. I don’t always follow my own advice

Dream Job

So the other day I posted “What’s your ideal job?” on my FB profile, and the answers ranged from housewife to travel show host and dean of the institute. But if one looks at the answers, they notice that the person is currently not doing what they’d rather be doing, and isn’t that the sad storyline of our lives?

So how do you test whether or not you love your job? Answer this question; if you suddenly won a million dollars, would you continue doing what you’re doing.

I know my answer.

HAHAHAHAHA

And I’m sure half of you would sign their resignation letters as well if they won that much money. Also, some of you might try to park in the CEO’s parking at work – just for the sake of it. Bas heik, zanakha. Assuming 44 years of work in an average lifetime, that’s equivalent to 91,250 hours of work. Hours that you happily give away to someone else, leaving you with less hours to spend with people you’d rather spend time with.

Putting it that way, things don’t seem too appealing, do they?

Yet we course through life like that, half-passionate (if at all) about what we are really doing, dreaming of that perfect escape. Two of the answers on my FB profile had “own a coffeeshop”. One had “writer”. Funny, how those two are things I always dreamt of doing myself, in addition to own a real estate company and make a difference in the world somehow (someone had “make a difference in the world” in the answer as well).

So where am I when it comes to those dreams? For Dream 1. For the coffeeshop, I drink coffee myself so I can fool myself into believing that I’m doing market research – highly overpriced aromatic market research. For Dream 2, I have this blog. For Dream 3, I am nowhere. And for Dream 4, I have this blog.

So what about you?

What’s your dream job and where are you today, close or far from your dream job?

Copa del Rey goes to Real…but then it falls!!!

So real Madrid beat barca to win the copa del ray.The first part of the match belonged to Real as they fiercely dominated the ball. The performance that appeared was a tactful blend of art and prowess.Real’s solitary goal came as a header from Christiano Ronaldo 102 minutes into the heated match which sent fans into a frenzy. Not that I watched the game but my blackberry kept me updated. And I didn’t even get the chance to open twitter during the match….

The funny part in the story is how when the players were celebrating, Sergio dropped the cup and it went under the bus’s wheel…so there goes the copa.
*haya tafteni a copo to replace it sasa*
(go find yourself a mug Now to replace it)

On another front I heard of a project in the slums of Kibera, Kenya called the Kibera Mpira Mtaani. Drugs form a huge problem in Kenya. Which is why you might walk along neighbors and find walls graffiti-ed, “Drugs is death, football is life.”

Kibera mpira mtaani takes the idea a step further and not only helps students develop their skills in sports but also helps them find an environment where they can finish their homework, have afterclass tuition and watch educational videos.

http://kiberampiramtaani.org/education/rotary-centre

I first heard about kibera mpira mtaani from inkdrops
http://myinkdropshere.wordpress.com/2011/03/14/inkdrops-from-kibera/

I wonder how the kibera slum kids reacted to madrid’s win and wonder ID they watched the match since It was too late their time. However I wouldn’t be surprised if they start dropping their trophies after every win thinking it’s the new fad since it won’t be something new to see a failure turn into a fad.

That’s it for now and maybe next time I might actually watch the match.

Or the cup-dropping ceremony afterwards

Random Thoughts – 20 April

How did we discover that my older brother needed glasses?

We were sitting in the car, and I had seen a sign on the building in front of us that says, “To Let”, so I pointed it out to my brother and say, “If someone decided to throw black water from above and it comes right between the O and the L, it would read “Toilet”.

And my brother asked, “Where?”

It turned out he couldn’t see it properly so he went to test his eyes, and sure enough he needed glasses.

For some reason, I’m reminded of summer days in Kenya – summer in UAE, winter in Kenya. Playing outside with the other kids until it started raining and our parents would want us to come inside. Why don’t parents help their children live out the complete bliss of their childhood and enjoy the rain? Because they’ll end up taking care of the kids when the latter fall sick.

Then there’s 3arbi and his food cart. Who has lived in Mombasa and doesn’t know about the old man who used to walk with his cart selling viazi vya rojo and tambi na katchri? I’m wondering why he didn’t make a brand out of his viazi vya rojo, tambi na katchri cart.

So another afternoon snack was vyazi vya karai. Our neighbor used to make those outside her house. One day my brother needed to direct someone to our house there and he said something like, “When you’re walking there at around 4, at the entrance of the college, turn left and keep walking straight until you see a woman selling vyazi vya karai…”

And I’m sure he shouldn’t miss that.

But then due to a hot-oil accident, she stopped. For some reason there were some people who loved eating viazi vya karai on a piece of printed paper. That’s how it’s normally served – old exam papers or newspaper pieces – are used to serve the potatoes. So instead of moving the potatoes to a plate, they just eat it on the newspaper pieces.

That’s it for today.

Ciao

Smile :-)

سؤال طرحه بعضهم على عمر بن عبد العزيز رحمه الله عندما قال: كونوا دعاة إلى الله وأنتم صامتون، فقالوا: وكيف ذاك ؟ قال: بأخلاقكم
Unfortunately nowadays we live in an age where ignorance on religious issues is rampant, where knowledge (or the lack of it) is being gained from pop culture found on television screens. Yet there are practicing Muslims around who make one happy that there’s still hope in the Ummah…
but….
Unfortunately, there’s this phenomenon going around, when you see someone who mashaAllah sticks to the sunnah, and is knowledgeable in religious matters and all, but when it comes to manners – or 5ulu8 – it’s as if they’ve conveniently skipped – or slept through- all the ‘manners’ classes in religious studies.
Good manners is a big part of our religion.
فعن أبي الدرداء رضي الله عنه : أن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قال :
” ما من شيء أثقل في ميزان المؤمن يوم القيامة من حسن الخلق
وإن الله يبغض الفاحش البذيء “
( رواه الترمذي )
So you might see people who deserve a 10/10 in prayers including the sunnah, but when they open their mouths to speak,they turn people away by their words. They may patronize the people around them, or stigmatize others. Sometimes one would see this Hijabi gang sitting in the masjid, and a non-Hijabi enters to pray, but she’s ignored like the fly on the wall (or maybe the fly on the wall may get more attention actually, but you get the picture). So technically, we need to follow the following hadeeth,
عن أبي سعيد الخدري رضي الله عنه قال : سمعت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يقول : ( من رأى منكم منكرا فليغيره بيده ، فإن لم يستطع فبلسانه ، فإن لم يستطع فبقلبه ، وذلك أضعف الإيمان
But how do we follow this hadeeth if we have these preconceive judgments on this person, or when we stigmatize them, or totally ignore them. The rightest thing is to find a way to connect with them and then advise them…in private…
*Let’s not get into the advice-in-private issue because that’s a totally different story in itself*
Talking more about manners, I remember an incident that happened to me once. This girl (A) started talking really badly about someone who’s hurt her (B), praying that B would end up in the hospital and stuff. So I told her to stop, arguing that we all make mistakes, but that doesn’t mean we should wish others bad. “Just say, Allah yihdeeha.” I told her.
The girl (A) then told me, “Talking is really easy, AH. Have it happen to you first and then come talk to me.”
Seriously, but would you ever want to hang out with such a person again?
Then once I was at a fast food place ordering, and this kid came and told the Egyptian behind the counter that he’s got the wrong order. The guy told him to wait so he’ll correct their mistake, and while he’s waiting, an older woman clad in abaya -his mother/or sister/or doesn’t matter who- came and started talking angrily to the guy behind the counter. “Where’s your manager? Why did you give him the wrong order in the first place?!”
Ilmohem, the Egyptian guy was really polite and tried to diffuse the woman’s anger, but before she left, she told the kid, “5amsa dgayeg, itha ma 3a6aak, ferrah fi wayha.” (Give him five more minutes, if he doesn’t give you your order, throw it in his face)…
*throw what in his face if the kid doesn’t get the order a9lan?*
But seriously, I was thinking, what on Earth was the kid being taught by this woman?
Or finally, you might see people who have issues against smiling. They have permanent grunt on their face as though they’ve bit into red hot chilli peppers and can’t seem to decide whether to swallow it or spit it out.
عن أبي ذر -رضي الله تعالى عنه- قال: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: تبسمك في وجه أخيك لك صدقة، وأمرك بالمعروف ونهيك عن المنكر صدقة، وإرشادك الرجل في أرض الضلال لك صدقة، وبصرك للرجل الرديء البصر لك صدقة، وإماطتك الحجر والشوكة والعظم عن الطريق لك صدقة، وإفراغك من دلوك في دلو أخيك لك صدقة -أخرجه البخاري في الأدب المفرد والترمذي وابن حبان.

this is just a reminder to myself first.


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Image courtesy of bettybl on flickr

Random Thoughts-14 Apr

It’s Thursday today…Finally….After a very tiring week indeed. With the open day on Saturday and International Day on Tuesday, I just can’t wait to start the weekend.

What weekend?

Needless to say we have a heat transfer exam next week so I think my weekend will be curtailed.

Thinking positively, it could have been worse. I could have been a senior. The poor seniors have their thesis reports due at the end of April, so you can find them typing away ferociously in Caribou Cafe, their desks and during classes. I think their definitions of day and night is a bit mixed up nowadays, and the voluminous hair is proof to how little time they spend on it every morning.

*tap*tap*tap*

That’s them tapping away in a spur of creativity as they try to push the frontier of knowledge forward with whatever discoveries they’ve made in the last 2 years.

*tap*tap*tap

I wonder if they’re so hypnotized that they’d continue “tapping” away even if you grab away the laptops from them.

*Not making fun, serious!*

So I was thinking about something; in this race for degrees how much of our humanity is actually destroyed with time. I mean, sometimes you feel like a robot when you’re working on something, and you need super-duper-strong-caffeine to be IV-ed in your system to continue working. Then at the end of your educational career, you may be able to perform all types of engineering calculations – or not – but has your education really made you a better person?

I wonder if universities will ever suggest that students participate in voluntary work as part of a course in Human Studies or something; help out in an old people’s home or an orphanage…Then write a paper on how the experience had changed them.

Just wondering….
So ilmohem, that’s the latest Masdar Institute news.

Today’s quote;

Our eyes need to be washed by our tears once in a while, so that we can see Life with a clearer view again…

Hadeeth of the day:

The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said, “The supplication (du’a) is answered between the call (to prayer) and the Iqaamah (announcement that prayer will begin).” (Al-Haakim. Graded Hasan by Albaanee in Saheeh ul-Jaami’, 3406, and Al-Irwaa’, 244)

عن أنس أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم
قال: الدعاء مستجاب بين النداء والاقامة -أخرجه أبو داود والترمذى والحاكم

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International Day Report

So today was international day in Masdar Institute. It was not exactly the same as AUS Global Day. The MI International Day was mainly an internal event that lasted for 4 hours only instead of the 2-day-open-to-the-public-so-you-won’t-find-parking-or-peace event that AUS offers annually. Among some of the noncommon countries were Nepal and Greece.
If there was an award for best decorated stall it would have easily gone to the Indian stall. They had Rangoli colors on the floor as can be seen from the picture below, and a Taj-Mahal-like cardboard to crown the stall as can NOT be seen at the picture below.

The tiger below is happily welcoming you to the Bangladeshi stall.

At first there was a rumor that the Pakistani stall was going to end up between the US and India…so students laughed at how the politically-friendly-countries-(not!) were going to be grouped together. But in reality, the arrangements were a bit different.

The event started with free food; what else draws MI students like a magnet? Explosive shami mansef, kebba, hommos, Indian samosas, and Yemeni mandi were attacked by a horde of hungry students who refused to leave the majlis after filling their plates; thus causing a congestion that could beat the old Sharjah-Dubai traffic. Or maybe not, that’s an exaggeration, but you get the picture.

Then staff, faculty, professors and students roamed around the stalls. You could have henna – or mehndi art- drawn on your hand in the Indian stall, eat halwa in the Yemeni stall, converse with a local jaddo (grandfather) with impressive multi-lingual abilities (he even spoke Swahili and Urdu!!!) in the Emirati stall. You could have your name written in Bangoli, Taiwanese and Korean in their respective stalls. Someone joked, “Tell them to write your thesis in Korean!” As for the Yemeni stall – where I was located thanks to my roots – the coffee, bread with honey and halwa were the biggest hits. hm..I’m wondering why all the biggest hits were digestible. Pictures of the Yemeni stall is shown below.

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Ramblings- On Creativity and Numb3rs

So these are just ramblings I scribbled down once during class…

Once, one of my friends said, why should children be taught to color within the lines? That way they are limiting their creativity.

1+1 = 2. There’s no doubt about that. It’s fixed. If you got that wrong, what are you doing outside of first grade? But what if I defined 1 as a vertical line and two as two lines that branch from one…so that if you build that up, you have a hierarchy of a company or the head of a fork.

A lot of people wonder how I see the world. Truth is, I see the world differently. I tend to see motion in stillness so a door might be perfectly shut, but in my mind, I see it opening right in front of my face. So people see sunshine through the window when they open their eyes in the morning. but I see specks dancing in the midst of slanting sunshine. I may also hear the cars as they pass on the street in front of us, and can imagine slight vibrations across the windowpane. Maybe people can feel their heart break, as for me I can imagine water filling my heart the way water fills a fish bowl, then I see the fish bowl filling up until water spills over, and falls as tears.

On another note, let’s talk about NUMB3RS. In Nur’s blog, she was talking about how numbers tend to define us; the grades that we get, the jobs that we get. But why is that so?

There’s a quote that I heard once; Numbers are funny. They can measure you, time you, and analyze you all they want, but they all know what really matters is how you play the game. You ever hear the expression you can’t measure heart? Well the truth is they can’t measure any of it: heart… want… need. You can’t measure a dream.

That’s it for today…class time.

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