Don't you just hate it when you're on IM and are having an absolutely amazing, thoroughly enjoyable conversation, and suddenly the other person disappears and doesn't respond to your IMs? Well that's what I did to you guys (especially to Naumijaan; read his comment on my last post). Sorry to give you all a total bummer, but I figured I should cool off and let the obscenely long posts I've made so far sit for a while.
As for this post, I'm just gonna be all over the place with little paragraphs and snippets to cap off the week, as in the mold of Bill Simmons (aka My Hero). Let's see if I can keep this under 1,000 words (Ha!).
So I got a lot of beef for watching Sex and the City. Let me stress that I don't like the show (for many reasons) and I hate the character of Samantha (which is why I didn't talk about her). I was just flipping through the channels and found it. Plus, I think it's OK for any guy to watch it for one simple reason: Kristin Davis is super hot. I wish I could be her knight.
Regarding fantasy baseball: there's Obsessed, there's Dangerously Obsessed, and then there's "Can not, under any circumstances, let Shili beat me AND win the league" Obsessed. Guess which stage I'm at.
The Garden State Parkway might very well be the worst 5-lane highway in the country.
As far as sequels go, Spider Man 2 may very well be a dud. But the trailer has sucked me in, despite the fact that because of the trailers and ads I know about 95% of what's going to happen in the movie. Plus, when you take orchestral music with high-pitched women singing incomprehensible Latin words in an apocalyptic fashion and put it on a trailer, chances are you're going to get very excited. That music should be everywhere.
Say you have one of the three best players in the NBA. This man is a scoring machine who has carried your team from Day One and makes everyone around him better. But he needs help in the post and he wants it now, or else he wants out of town. Now suppose you have the choice of any entering player in the world this year. Do you pick the unproven, 18-year-old high school "power" forward who will need some time to reach his full potential, or the physical defensive specimen that just led his team to the national championship in college and will make your team instantly better? Exactly. Which is why if you're an idiot, then you can become a GM of a major sports team.
Isn't it scary that, for a lot of us, the one parent you grow up trying not to be like is the one parent you become a carbon copy of?
Sorry for sounding arrogant, but I know a lot about Bush and politics that many ordinary joes don't...and I would still strongly recommend everyone to go see Fahrenheit 9-11. It was that good.
I can view my Fall class schedule at St. George's, which has made me extremely giddy and excited. I love schedules too much, I should become some kind of planner.
Is it bad that I am reallllly interested in seeing The Notebook?
Another summer of hearing how the Yankees are going to trade for all the superstars on the block by July 31. Another summer of it NOT happening. Can we please give it a rest?
Wan and I may be the only people who see this, but Rani Mukherjee and Christine Taylor (Stiller's wife) look eerily alike (except for the skin color and hair color of course). Think about it for a second. Who's with us???
Speaking of alike, Simmons had pointed out how Natalie Portman and Keira Knightley look the same, which I suddenly realized was true. Then I find out Keira played the decoy queen Sabe to Natalie's Queen Amidala in Episode I. Now I wonder how far we can go with this. They could go down as the greatest non-twins twins ever.
Speaking of alike II, I have a set of twins in my SAT class. How in the world am I going to tell them apart?
Speaking of the SAT, I taught the first class for a course on Friday, where I mentioned I took this course as well...eight years ago. Eight years ago?! Has it really been that long? Then I thought about my Albany cousins (Sohail Salman and Sohaib) who I visited over the weekend and who stayed with us for a few months in that eventful summer eight years ago. Sohail is starting high school in the fall. Think about that. I'm starting med school, he's starting high school, cousins and friends are getting engaged, married (sometimes to each other), having kids. When we're 6-16, we want to grow up fast, for time to fly, yet it doesn't seem to go fast enough. Then when we're 18+, we want time to slow down, to enjoy life, yet it seems to go faster with every passing day. Ben's right, we always think that the grass is always greener on the other side. May we all reach the state where we don't wish to be on the other side.
(Did you really think I wouldn't try to be philosophical in a blog post?)
Sports Prediction of the Day: Fred McGriff will be the first member of the 500-HR club to not make it to the Hall of Fame (look at his career slugging percentage...it sucks).
Current Rankings of Songs in My Playlist
Gold: Aaron Lewis's cover of Pearl Jam's "Black"
Silver: Tori Amos "Tear In Your Hand"
Bronze: Coldplay "The Scientist"
South Park Quote of the Day
BHI Records Executive #1: Ah Ms. Lopez, come on in.
(takes a seat)
Jennifer Lopez: Yo make it quick, I got a video shoot at 2 and a script reading at 5.
Executive #1: Yes well, uh, Ms. Lopez, we regret to inform you that we're, uh, dropping you from the label.
Lopez: WHAT?! Oh no you didn't!
Executive #2: We want to thank you for all of your hard work and "talent".
Lopez: You can't drop me! I'm Jennifer Lopez, how can you drop me?!
Executive #1: Well a very talented younger singer has come to our attention, and the truth of the matter is her name happens to be Jennifer Lopez as well. And we really can't have two here at BHI Records.
Lopez: Who the hell is this other Jennifer Lopez?! Where is she come from?!
Executive #2: Well she lives in South Park, Colorado now but I believe she is originally from Mexico just like you.
Lopez: I don't come from no Mexico, I'm Puerto Rican!
Executive #1: Whatever, look it's nothing personal, we just think you need to move on.
Executive #3: And you're a mean-spirited bitch who spits on people who aren't rich and famous.
Monday, June 28, 2004
Saturday, June 19, 2004
Hispanic E-Town and Fairy Tales
Never make promises that you can't keep; I'll have that tribute I promised in a later post.
So I'm driving to SAT Math Re-training this morning (I forgot what it was like to wake up before 11 AM) listening to the radio. I normally listen to two, sometimes three FM stations here in north Jersey. I have K-Rock on when The Reason by Hoobastank starts. I change to PLJ. Didn't like whatever was on. Changed to Z100 (my last resort), The Reason starts on that. Change back to PLJ...and The Reason starts on THAT. Three radio stations, same song, same time. Considering that I want to burn every copy of this song, it got me in a bad mood fast. But then, I hate the mornings anyways. Stupid hormones all out of whack.
Friday night was nostalgic. An old family friend from Hispanic E-Town got married right here in Desi E-Town, and seeing all these old faces from my childhood and high school was great. For the most part I've grown to accept that friends come and go, and that you can't expect to hold on to all of them. But then I go to something like this and wish for all the world I could reconnect with everyone. Of course, I would have been bored out of my mind had Mustafa not been there. One of my truly best friends, Mustafa is someone I can go months without talking to, and then immediately fill him in on all the details of my life. Friday was no different, but because of the lack of privacy, we decided we'd catch up later on our own. Can't wait (and YES, I will do some listening. I do listen sometimes you know).
Weddings bring out the ultra-sap in me, and this time was no different. Seeing some of my old friends happily (?) married made me wonder whether I'd ever live the "happily ever after" fairy tale. After Shrek 2, I realized every guy is like the big ogre, out searching for his Princess Fiona and his happily ever after. Will we ever find it? If we do, will we recognize it, or be so naive as to let it go by? How can we improve ourselves so that we won't let our stupidity blind us? What if we don't? OK forget we, what if I don't?!?!
We all grow up watching these TV shows and movies (Hollywood and Bollywood) that end in happily ever after (Ross and Rachel, Rahul and Anjali, Catherine Zeta-Jones and me). Even in these shows, there's a lot of pain to finally reach the end. But how do we know that's it? That it's all good after that? My dad was watching Chalte Chalte today on TV. I won't bore you with the details (and I saw maybe 4 scenes, but I heard about the story), but basically this Indian movie is a typical love story, except it doesn't end with the wedding. Rather, it shows the "after" of the love marriage, and you see that they are not having a good time of it. Their marriage goes to the brink, but eventually they survive and do live happily ever after (sorry if I ruined it for you). Made me think that fairy tale weddings are over-rated, non-existent, no marriage is absolutely perfect, not worth the trouble, all marriages suck, I'll just let my parents handle it.
But then, I did something I thought I'd never do: I caught an episode of Sex and the City (!)
(God, just when you thought I couldn't possibly be more of a woman...)
The episode dealt with the issue of whether or not it is a girl's dream to be rescued by her "knight in shining armor". A defiant Miranda refuses to ask her guy for help after eye surgery, but comes to realize that a guy's help isn't always a sign of weakness. Charlotte's "knight" turns out to be a brute. But what resonated with me was what Carrie said in the end, that sometimes a girl needs rescuing and sometimes a guy does. It goes both ways.
So what does that have to do with "do happily-ever-afters really happen"? It means that, like our other maniacal dreams, the end is rarely what we envision it. Sometimes it'll be ridiculously easy to reach that state of blissful happiness, sometimes it won't. Heck, most times it won't. But as long as all the sweat and tears are worth it in the end, then you'll be living your "happily ever after". You just have to prepare yourself to not fall asleep at the wheel, because then you'll crash and burn. So before you search for your knight (or knightess), make sure you're ready for what's to come, both for the expected and the vastly unexpected.
On that note, I'd like to congratulate _____ and _____ along with _____ and ______ for taking two very different but ultimately very successful paths to each other's hearts. _____ and ______, I couldn't be more excited for you because of how perfect you are for each other. _____ and _____, despite all the ups and downs, no matter how bleak things looked, you stuck together and fought through it, and give us all hope that we will find someone so supportive and caring. You all better have me over for dinner!!! Well, only as long as either ______ or _____ are cooking, because I don't think I can trust the food that _____ or _____ would make...
And as for me you wonder? Well, today at SAT Retraining, we established that the most common factor in the downfall of one's academic career is the opposite sex. So I'm out, keeping my head in the game and away from the groupies. No worries until med school is at least half done (if I say it enough times, maybe I can actually make it happen).
Of course, if my knightess in shining armor comes rescues me, I'd be hard-pressed to turn her away. Ultimately, we all want to find a personal reason to change how we used to be and to start over new. And I know I'd want that reason to be the woman of my dreams.
(Eh, maybe that song ain't so bad after all...)
Sports Prediction of the Day: Phil Mickelson will win the US Open.
Current Rankings of Songs in My Playlist
Gold: The Ataris "The Boys of Summer"
Silver: Evanescence "My Immortal"
Bronze: Evanescence "Everybody's Fool"
South Park Quote of the Day
Stan's Dad: Now do you see why tolerance is so important boys?
Stan: Yeah, I guess.
Museum of Tolerance Tour Guide: We have to accept people for who they are and what they like to do. HEY! What the hell are you doing!
Smoker by the fountain: Oh I was just uh...
Tour Guide: There is no smoking in the museum!
Smoker: But I'm not in the museum.
Tour Guide: GET OUT OF HERE YOU FILTHY SMOKER!
(smoker gets up and leaves)
Kyle's Dad: Yeah Dirty Lungs!
Stan's Mom: Go ahead and kill yourself stupid Tar Breath!
Butter's Dad: Dumbass!
Tweek's Dad: Get out of here!
So I'm driving to SAT Math Re-training this morning (I forgot what it was like to wake up before 11 AM) listening to the radio. I normally listen to two, sometimes three FM stations here in north Jersey. I have K-Rock on when The Reason by Hoobastank starts. I change to PLJ. Didn't like whatever was on. Changed to Z100 (my last resort), The Reason starts on that. Change back to PLJ...and The Reason starts on THAT. Three radio stations, same song, same time. Considering that I want to burn every copy of this song, it got me in a bad mood fast. But then, I hate the mornings anyways. Stupid hormones all out of whack.
Friday night was nostalgic. An old family friend from Hispanic E-Town got married right here in Desi E-Town, and seeing all these old faces from my childhood and high school was great. For the most part I've grown to accept that friends come and go, and that you can't expect to hold on to all of them. But then I go to something like this and wish for all the world I could reconnect with everyone. Of course, I would have been bored out of my mind had Mustafa not been there. One of my truly best friends, Mustafa is someone I can go months without talking to, and then immediately fill him in on all the details of my life. Friday was no different, but because of the lack of privacy, we decided we'd catch up later on our own. Can't wait (and YES, I will do some listening. I do listen sometimes you know).
Weddings bring out the ultra-sap in me, and this time was no different. Seeing some of my old friends happily (?) married made me wonder whether I'd ever live the "happily ever after" fairy tale. After Shrek 2, I realized every guy is like the big ogre, out searching for his Princess Fiona and his happily ever after. Will we ever find it? If we do, will we recognize it, or be so naive as to let it go by? How can we improve ourselves so that we won't let our stupidity blind us? What if we don't? OK forget we, what if I don't?!?!
We all grow up watching these TV shows and movies (Hollywood and Bollywood) that end in happily ever after (Ross and Rachel, Rahul and Anjali, Catherine Zeta-Jones and me). Even in these shows, there's a lot of pain to finally reach the end. But how do we know that's it? That it's all good after that? My dad was watching Chalte Chalte today on TV. I won't bore you with the details (and I saw maybe 4 scenes, but I heard about the story), but basically this Indian movie is a typical love story, except it doesn't end with the wedding. Rather, it shows the "after" of the love marriage, and you see that they are not having a good time of it. Their marriage goes to the brink, but eventually they survive and do live happily ever after (sorry if I ruined it for you). Made me think that fairy tale weddings are over-rated, non-existent, no marriage is absolutely perfect, not worth the trouble, all marriages suck, I'll just let my parents handle it.
But then, I did something I thought I'd never do: I caught an episode of Sex and the City (!)
(God, just when you thought I couldn't possibly be more of a woman...)
The episode dealt with the issue of whether or not it is a girl's dream to be rescued by her "knight in shining armor". A defiant Miranda refuses to ask her guy for help after eye surgery, but comes to realize that a guy's help isn't always a sign of weakness. Charlotte's "knight" turns out to be a brute. But what resonated with me was what Carrie said in the end, that sometimes a girl needs rescuing and sometimes a guy does. It goes both ways.
So what does that have to do with "do happily-ever-afters really happen"? It means that, like our other maniacal dreams, the end is rarely what we envision it. Sometimes it'll be ridiculously easy to reach that state of blissful happiness, sometimes it won't. Heck, most times it won't. But as long as all the sweat and tears are worth it in the end, then you'll be living your "happily ever after". You just have to prepare yourself to not fall asleep at the wheel, because then you'll crash and burn. So before you search for your knight (or knightess), make sure you're ready for what's to come, both for the expected and the vastly unexpected.
On that note, I'd like to congratulate _____ and _____ along with _____ and ______ for taking two very different but ultimately very successful paths to each other's hearts. _____ and ______, I couldn't be more excited for you because of how perfect you are for each other. _____ and _____, despite all the ups and downs, no matter how bleak things looked, you stuck together and fought through it, and give us all hope that we will find someone so supportive and caring. You all better have me over for dinner!!! Well, only as long as either ______ or _____ are cooking, because I don't think I can trust the food that _____ or _____ would make...
And as for me you wonder? Well, today at SAT Retraining, we established that the most common factor in the downfall of one's academic career is the opposite sex. So I'm out, keeping my head in the game and away from the groupies. No worries until med school is at least half done (if I say it enough times, maybe I can actually make it happen).
Of course, if my knightess in shining armor comes rescues me, I'd be hard-pressed to turn her away. Ultimately, we all want to find a personal reason to change how we used to be and to start over new. And I know I'd want that reason to be the woman of my dreams.
(Eh, maybe that song ain't so bad after all...)
Sports Prediction of the Day: Phil Mickelson will win the US Open.
Current Rankings of Songs in My Playlist
Gold: The Ataris "The Boys of Summer"
Silver: Evanescence "My Immortal"
Bronze: Evanescence "Everybody's Fool"
South Park Quote of the Day
Stan's Dad: Now do you see why tolerance is so important boys?
Stan: Yeah, I guess.
Museum of Tolerance Tour Guide: We have to accept people for who they are and what they like to do. HEY! What the hell are you doing!
Smoker by the fountain: Oh I was just uh...
Tour Guide: There is no smoking in the museum!
Smoker: But I'm not in the museum.
Tour Guide: GET OUT OF HERE YOU FILTHY SMOKER!
(smoker gets up and leaves)
Kyle's Dad: Yeah Dirty Lungs!
Stan's Mom: Go ahead and kill yourself stupid Tar Breath!
Butter's Dad: Dumbass!
Tweek's Dad: Get out of here!
Wednesday, June 16, 2004
The Season of Growth
"Keep in mind that neither success nor failure is ever final"
That's the screen name of one of my cousin Shahamat Bhai's buddies on MSN. I put that here because it was his MSN chatting that delayed this post (I was nice enough to let him use the computer last night). I also like the statement, very true. Too bad I didn't heed this advice when I smoked high school and started college.
Tuesday was a great day. I woke up to find my Rocketmail/Yahoo accounts now have 100 MB of total space along with 10 MB capacity on outgoing e-mails. I went to sleep smiling at the fact that the LA Fakers had lost the title they were "destined" to win. I didn't want the Lakers to win because:
a) Kobe and Shaq fuss all the time.
b) Phil Jackson won 9 titles on the coat-tails of already great teams knocking on the door.
c) Karl Malone and Gary Payton deserve a title, but not by riding coat-tails.
d) The whole team and their fan base carry themselves with a detachment that is disgusting. Contrast that to how much passion the Pistons and their fans displayed. Now that's what sports should be.
e) Mitch Kupchak is a terrible GM. He has allowed this dynasty, the one Jerry West created, to crumble, and I'm glad to see he didn't get bailed out by this whole "Four Hall-of-Famers" garbage.
Now the Lakers are done. They'll re-tool, probably will make the playoffs, but I'd be surprised if they made it past the second round of the playoffs next year.
Anyways, back to the subject of this post:
I always have a tough time deciding what is my favorite anything.
My favorite Star Trek series? Either The Next Generation (TNG) or Deep Space 9 (DS9).
My favorite dish at Seven Hills of Istanbul? Either the iskandar or the hamburger.
(Note: there are, um, other possible favorite dishes that I'd like to try out at Seven Hills, but this is a family-friendly blog)
My favorite singer? Either Tori Amos or Sarah McLachlan (well, now it's Tori, but yeah).
So when someone asks me my favorite season, I have a tough time deciding between spring and summer. I just love the warm weather, the longer days, etc. My birthday is in the spring and it's the start of the warm weather, and this spring was nothing short of amazing. Between my birthday and Memorial Day weekend, it was one of the best times of my life. Now if I didn't have a cold winter and fall, I would not appreciate the warm weather of spring/summer, which is reason #458 why I love the Northeast (more on that in a future post).
So why is summer the best? It's easier to dress for. No layers, jackets, whatever. Plus more to look at it when it comes to the, um, never mind. There's more daylight. I don't know about you, but I feel better with more sunshine around.
Warm weather means more sports and physical activities. Basketball, baseball, jogging, biking, sailboating, camping, kayaking...OK so I don't do many of those things. But I could.
Summer also means I get to work on my lawn. Yes, yard work. Mowing, fertilizing, getting my grass to look great (still far from it). People think it's a pain (which it is), people think I'm weird because I love doing it (which I am). But at the end of the day, a nice even-cut green lawn is immensely satisfying.
But I guess the reason why I love the summer so much is because of the break from school. Yes I've had summer jobs that have been pretty time-consuming, but until you're really out there in the work force (or beyond your first year of medical school) summertime is when you kick back, relax, and re-evaluate yourself to see what you can do to improve yourself. Well, that's what I like to do every few summers.
I came across this realization as I was buying some decent looking clothes at Macys. Instead of being indifferent to my parents' suggestions (yes I still shop for clothes with them. I have no money.), I was actively searching out some pretty nice shirts and khakis. Tried out clothes in the dressing rooms. Debating over which colors. I was trying to be logical and fast (like I tend to be when it comes to clothes), but I was enjoying it. I started thinking that this might be the baby steps I'm taking towards becoming the world's craziest metrosexual.
So why this summer? Well, looking back, I find a few summers where I actively tried to improve something or another about myself. 1997, I biked all over Elizabeth/Linden NJ and built up my legs. 1998, I performed Umrah and gained some financial responsibility. 2001, I jogged on a regular basis. 2002, I worked on my reading list. What did these summers have in common? In each of them, I was approaching a new phase in my life (before Penn, after Penn) and might have been going through some rough times where I wasn't so sure about myself (What do I do about my poor grades? What if I don't get into med school? What if I don't find the woman of my dreams?) and saw the summer as an opportunity to start over, to look and act better around people, to not be able to complain about not having "time" to do the little things in life.
Now, I'm about to embark to medical school, and realize this summer is one of the few chances I'll have left to tackle a bunch of things all at once. Read Quran in English, learn more Hadith, learn to swim, dress better, play basketball more, go to the batting cages, work on my reading list, play tennis with my dad, get rid of this gut once and for all (5 pounds more!), get a nice even tan, figure out my hair (both on my head and on my face), go jogging again, finish Final Fantasy VII, clean out my closet, organize my photographs, sell my old PC, win my fantasy baseball league, etc. etc. etc.
I could keep going on. But it's a great feeling when you feel inspired and actually start working on those things that you've always said you'd do but never felt the drive to do it. And for me, that feeling mostly comes along when the temperature is consistently over 70 degrees during the day.
That's why I love the summer.
Sports Prediction of the Day: The next time he hits a ball out of the ballpark, Ken Griffey Jr. will break his ankles when he is circling third base, won't be able to get to home plate, and won't get his 500th HR for another year. OK that's more wishful thinking than prediction. I hate the crybaby.
Current Rankings of Songs in My Playlist
Gold: Pearl Jam "Black"
Silver: The Ataris "The Boys of Summer"
Bronze: Coldplay "In My Place"
South Park Quote of the Day:
Short Goth Guy: Dude you haven't drank your coffee.
Stan: Well I don't drink coffee.
Tall Goth Guy: You can't be a non-conformist if you don't drink coffee.
Next time, a tribute to the most important person in my life...
That's the screen name of one of my cousin Shahamat Bhai's buddies on MSN. I put that here because it was his MSN chatting that delayed this post (I was nice enough to let him use the computer last night). I also like the statement, very true. Too bad I didn't heed this advice when I smoked high school and started college.
Tuesday was a great day. I woke up to find my Rocketmail/Yahoo accounts now have 100 MB of total space along with 10 MB capacity on outgoing e-mails. I went to sleep smiling at the fact that the LA Fakers had lost the title they were "destined" to win. I didn't want the Lakers to win because:
a) Kobe and Shaq fuss all the time.
b) Phil Jackson won 9 titles on the coat-tails of already great teams knocking on the door.
c) Karl Malone and Gary Payton deserve a title, but not by riding coat-tails.
d) The whole team and their fan base carry themselves with a detachment that is disgusting. Contrast that to how much passion the Pistons and their fans displayed. Now that's what sports should be.
e) Mitch Kupchak is a terrible GM. He has allowed this dynasty, the one Jerry West created, to crumble, and I'm glad to see he didn't get bailed out by this whole "Four Hall-of-Famers" garbage.
Now the Lakers are done. They'll re-tool, probably will make the playoffs, but I'd be surprised if they made it past the second round of the playoffs next year.
Anyways, back to the subject of this post:
I always have a tough time deciding what is my favorite anything.
My favorite Star Trek series? Either The Next Generation (TNG) or Deep Space 9 (DS9).
My favorite dish at Seven Hills of Istanbul? Either the iskandar or the hamburger.
(Note: there are, um, other possible favorite dishes that I'd like to try out at Seven Hills, but this is a family-friendly blog)
My favorite singer? Either Tori Amos or Sarah McLachlan (well, now it's Tori, but yeah).
So when someone asks me my favorite season, I have a tough time deciding between spring and summer. I just love the warm weather, the longer days, etc. My birthday is in the spring and it's the start of the warm weather, and this spring was nothing short of amazing. Between my birthday and Memorial Day weekend, it was one of the best times of my life. Now if I didn't have a cold winter and fall, I would not appreciate the warm weather of spring/summer, which is reason #458 why I love the Northeast (more on that in a future post).
So why is summer the best? It's easier to dress for. No layers, jackets, whatever. Plus more to look at it when it comes to the, um, never mind. There's more daylight. I don't know about you, but I feel better with more sunshine around.
Warm weather means more sports and physical activities. Basketball, baseball, jogging, biking, sailboating, camping, kayaking...OK so I don't do many of those things. But I could.
Summer also means I get to work on my lawn. Yes, yard work. Mowing, fertilizing, getting my grass to look great (still far from it). People think it's a pain (which it is), people think I'm weird because I love doing it (which I am). But at the end of the day, a nice even-cut green lawn is immensely satisfying.
But I guess the reason why I love the summer so much is because of the break from school. Yes I've had summer jobs that have been pretty time-consuming, but until you're really out there in the work force (or beyond your first year of medical school) summertime is when you kick back, relax, and re-evaluate yourself to see what you can do to improve yourself. Well, that's what I like to do every few summers.
I came across this realization as I was buying some decent looking clothes at Macys. Instead of being indifferent to my parents' suggestions (yes I still shop for clothes with them. I have no money.), I was actively searching out some pretty nice shirts and khakis. Tried out clothes in the dressing rooms. Debating over which colors. I was trying to be logical and fast (like I tend to be when it comes to clothes), but I was enjoying it. I started thinking that this might be the baby steps I'm taking towards becoming the world's craziest metrosexual.
So why this summer? Well, looking back, I find a few summers where I actively tried to improve something or another about myself. 1997, I biked all over Elizabeth/Linden NJ and built up my legs. 1998, I performed Umrah and gained some financial responsibility. 2001, I jogged on a regular basis. 2002, I worked on my reading list. What did these summers have in common? In each of them, I was approaching a new phase in my life (before Penn, after Penn) and might have been going through some rough times where I wasn't so sure about myself (What do I do about my poor grades? What if I don't get into med school? What if I don't find the woman of my dreams?) and saw the summer as an opportunity to start over, to look and act better around people, to not be able to complain about not having "time" to do the little things in life.
Now, I'm about to embark to medical school, and realize this summer is one of the few chances I'll have left to tackle a bunch of things all at once. Read Quran in English, learn more Hadith, learn to swim, dress better, play basketball more, go to the batting cages, work on my reading list, play tennis with my dad, get rid of this gut once and for all (5 pounds more!), get a nice even tan, figure out my hair (both on my head and on my face), go jogging again, finish Final Fantasy VII, clean out my closet, organize my photographs, sell my old PC, win my fantasy baseball league, etc. etc. etc.
I could keep going on. But it's a great feeling when you feel inspired and actually start working on those things that you've always said you'd do but never felt the drive to do it. And for me, that feeling mostly comes along when the temperature is consistently over 70 degrees during the day.
That's why I love the summer.
Sports Prediction of the Day: The next time he hits a ball out of the ballpark, Ken Griffey Jr. will break his ankles when he is circling third base, won't be able to get to home plate, and won't get his 500th HR for another year. OK that's more wishful thinking than prediction. I hate the crybaby.
Current Rankings of Songs in My Playlist
Gold: Pearl Jam "Black"
Silver: The Ataris "The Boys of Summer"
Bronze: Coldplay "In My Place"
South Park Quote of the Day:
Short Goth Guy: Dude you haven't drank your coffee.
Stan: Well I don't drink coffee.
Tall Goth Guy: You can't be a non-conformist if you don't drink coffee.
Next time, a tribute to the most important person in my life...
Tuesday, June 15, 2004
Dreams Dreams Dreams
I dream about becoming a sports columnist, and always envisioned writing something on the web along the lines of my favorite columnist, Bill Simmons ("The Sports Guy"). Well, in honor of him, I present to you my blog.
This won't be a strictly sports column though because I love to talk about a lot of things (as many of you know I do). Music, movies, politics, religion, life, pop culture, pictures, my life, etc. In other words, like any other blog.
Speaking of dreams, am I neurotic for trying to plan out my future so much? I bought a copy of the New Yorker's Best Doctors annual issue in order to browse possible hospitals in the local NY/NJ area that I'd want to do my residency, when
a) I haven't begun medical school yet
b) I really don't know what specialty I want to do
Why am I such a dreamer? Right now it's NYU's neurology program, tomorrow it'll be Cornell's cardio program. I can't even begin to figure this out until at least 3 years of medical school. In 2001, I thought that in June 2004 I'd be finishing my second year at Robert Wood Johnson and have found the woman of my dreams. Today I'm so far from either of those goals that it's surprising that I still do this, that I still make these lofty dreams and don't make the necessary efforts to accomplish them, that I don't go the extra yard; or rather, not even the first yard.
Why do any of us dream? Why pursue such a futile hobby, when the majority of them are never met? Think of the goals and dreams you had a week, a month, a year ago. How much of it looks possible? For some of you, a lot of them look good, but if you're like me, most of your maniacal ideas are just that: maniacal (please tell me you're like me).
Ah but that's the beauty of life isn't it? We need to dream to be alive, to give purpose to what we do, to have something to go after. Yes this is a very common phrase, but it's not the destination that matters, it's the journey. Our lives are just a trial, something where we can never be eternally happy (that's what Heaven is for). If I didn't dream, I'd be bored out of my mind, sleeping, waking, eating, doing mundane things just because that's what I'm "supposed" to do. Instead, I find meaning in the mundane and obscure, no matter how far-fetched or how dead-on I might be. I dream about NYU in 4 years. Will I end up there? Probably not. Is that so bad? Absolutely not. As long as I can finally give it my all, and not have any regrets, then it'll be worth it to dream, no matter how much it might hurt to not quite get there (Insha'Allah though, I will). Because in the end, there's only 2 places you should ever wish to be:
1) Where you are now
2) Heaven
An old friend of mine once said, "Reach for the heavens, because if you miss and fall short, then you will shine amongst the stars." I couldn't have said it any better.
Sports Prediction of the Day: The next time Kobe Bryant plays at the Staples Center, he'll be wearing an LA Clippers uniform.
Current Rankings of Songs in My Playlist
Gold: Pearl Jam "Black"
Silver: Coldplay "The Scientist"
Bronze: Disturbed "Stupify"
South Park Quote of the Day:
Mr. Garrison: We gotta show them rich people that they aren't welcome here.
Ned: What do you mean?
Mr. Garrison: How about tonight, we sneak up to one of their houses, and right on their lawn we'll set fire to a big, lower-case "t".
Jimbo: Lower-case "t"?
Mr. Garrison: Yeah, for "Time to leave"
All: YEAH!
This won't be a strictly sports column though because I love to talk about a lot of things (as many of you know I do). Music, movies, politics, religion, life, pop culture, pictures, my life, etc. In other words, like any other blog.
Speaking of dreams, am I neurotic for trying to plan out my future so much? I bought a copy of the New Yorker's Best Doctors annual issue in order to browse possible hospitals in the local NY/NJ area that I'd want to do my residency, when
a) I haven't begun medical school yet
b) I really don't know what specialty I want to do
Why am I such a dreamer? Right now it's NYU's neurology program, tomorrow it'll be Cornell's cardio program. I can't even begin to figure this out until at least 3 years of medical school. In 2001, I thought that in June 2004 I'd be finishing my second year at Robert Wood Johnson and have found the woman of my dreams. Today I'm so far from either of those goals that it's surprising that I still do this, that I still make these lofty dreams and don't make the necessary efforts to accomplish them, that I don't go the extra yard; or rather, not even the first yard.
Why do any of us dream? Why pursue such a futile hobby, when the majority of them are never met? Think of the goals and dreams you had a week, a month, a year ago. How much of it looks possible? For some of you, a lot of them look good, but if you're like me, most of your maniacal ideas are just that: maniacal (please tell me you're like me).
Ah but that's the beauty of life isn't it? We need to dream to be alive, to give purpose to what we do, to have something to go after. Yes this is a very common phrase, but it's not the destination that matters, it's the journey. Our lives are just a trial, something where we can never be eternally happy (that's what Heaven is for). If I didn't dream, I'd be bored out of my mind, sleeping, waking, eating, doing mundane things just because that's what I'm "supposed" to do. Instead, I find meaning in the mundane and obscure, no matter how far-fetched or how dead-on I might be. I dream about NYU in 4 years. Will I end up there? Probably not. Is that so bad? Absolutely not. As long as I can finally give it my all, and not have any regrets, then it'll be worth it to dream, no matter how much it might hurt to not quite get there (Insha'Allah though, I will). Because in the end, there's only 2 places you should ever wish to be:
1) Where you are now
2) Heaven
An old friend of mine once said, "Reach for the heavens, because if you miss and fall short, then you will shine amongst the stars." I couldn't have said it any better.
Sports Prediction of the Day: The next time Kobe Bryant plays at the Staples Center, he'll be wearing an LA Clippers uniform.
Current Rankings of Songs in My Playlist
Gold: Pearl Jam "Black"
Silver: Coldplay "The Scientist"
Bronze: Disturbed "Stupify"
South Park Quote of the Day:
Mr. Garrison: We gotta show them rich people that they aren't welcome here.
Ned: What do you mean?
Mr. Garrison: How about tonight, we sneak up to one of their houses, and right on their lawn we'll set fire to a big, lower-case "t".
Jimbo: Lower-case "t"?
Mr. Garrison: Yeah, for "Time to leave"
All: YEAH!
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