May You Be Blessed

I wanted to share this with everyone. Enjoy. May You Be Blessed (click to watch clip) xoxo -La La

To You, Mom

For all the fights and quarrels that I intentionally provoked, I'm sorry For all the whining and bitching, I'm sorry For all the mean things I said and did on purpose, I'm sorry For all the thank you's and I'm sorry's I didn't say, I'm sorry For taking everything you did for granted, I'm sorry For all the times I pretended I didn't care, I'm sorry For all the times I wasn't there, I'm sorry For all the times I blamed you for everything, I'm sorry For all the times I did exactly the opposite of what you advised me to do, I'm sorry For the love I rarely expressed, I'm sorry For all the times I was obnoxious because it felt easier than being sweet, I'm sorry For all these I'm sorry's I will never have the courage to tell you, I'm sorry Happy Mother's Day

please enter your password..

I recieved the most amazing email yesterday. A lady "from back home", stumbled upon my blog by chance while reading a comment i wrote in another. she actually enjoyed reading my ramblings and even felt connected with some of them. I was really positively happily surprised. But this is not the issue here. As it turns out, we're from the same place, and we have met before, on several occassions like weddings (don't like weddings) and dinner parties (love good food). Places where I "had to" be to get my parents off my chest (you're going like this?! aren't you gonna get your hair done at least?? put some lipstick for God's sake), all dressed up in painful high heals so not to embarrass my poor mom, when if it was up to me I would have gone with no shoes at all, especially if it's a summer party in the garden, or on the swimming pool terrace (that's where "cool" Lebanese wedding parties are set, and sometimes the actual ceremonies--yeah, i know). My point is, you go to those places, and have meaningless five minute conversations with other human beings, both of you thinking that there is no way on earth there's something in common between you and them. and then you get this email, from someone you think of as a none-in-common-but-nice person, and as it turns out, you both touched each other in a way that would probably not have happened back at the cocktail party. so, what's the moral of the story..God bless the internet? slightly..I've been exposed to so many daring creative meaningful ideas here that it's made a significant difference to the way i think. I even shamefully admit that without this i may have missed out on getting to know how my brother and my dear cousin felt about certain issues. but more so, why can't we have more of this in real time? why don't we give each other a chance to evolve when we're literally face to face. I'm not saying that we never do. I guess what i'm saying is that i'm learning to look closer and deeper, and sometimes just simply look in a direction that i haven't looked before. let's do it, people! and thank you, Mme O.

Loulia, You'll Love This!

Thursday, March 09, 2006 Women's Day underscores citizenship rights proposal By Meris Lutz Special to The Daily Star BEIRUT: International Women's Day may have passed quietly for most people, but all Lebanese - men and women - may soon have reason to celebrate if MP Ghinwa Jalloul's proposal to extend the citizenship rights to women succeeds. The proposal, which Jalloul submitted two weeks ago, would allow women to pass on their nationality to their children and spouses, giving them equal citizenship rights to men. Jalloul said pressing security concerns and Parliament's National Dialogue make it difficult to give the issue the attention it deserves, but that "we will not wait forever; Mothers' Day is on the 21, if we couldn't do it for women's day it could be on Mothers' Day." There is no doubt that the Lebanese woman's lot has improved over the years, if slowly. Before 1946 a Lebanese woman who married a foreigner would lose her Lebanese nationality, and just three years ago working women were unable to receive fringe benefits like health care. Now, thanks to Jalloul, they not only receive those benefits but so do their children, regardless of nationality. "The reason citizenship hasn't been dealt with before is that it's a cultural issue; citizenship is something related to blood, and this is through the father only in Lebanon," she said. Jalloul also said politicians were afraid that allowing women to pass their nationality on to their husbands and children would disturb the delicate balance of the confessional system and open the door to Palestinian assimilation. "Women, in many respects, have come a long way," she said, adding: "I would want to see the cultural barrier that prevents women from moving forward brought down completely. ... Men have been ahead of women for a long time." The theme of women's citizenship rights was echoed at AUB on Wednesday, when the Women's Right's Club and the Collective for Research and Training on Development-Action (CRTDA) hosted a panel discussion, "My Nationality, a Right for Me and My Family," after three days of hard campaigning. Women's Rights Club president Rania Jaber opened the discussion by announcing the campaign had collected over 450 signatures for their petition to change the law that prevents women from passing their citizenship on to their families. The panel consisted of two lawyers, Iqbal Doughan, president of the Working Women League in Lebanon, and Ossama Salman; as well as Nadira Nahas who is married to a non-national, and Gina Bashier Muhyeldeen, who doesn't have Lebanese citizenship as her father is Iraqi. "Why should we be forced to leave the country we grew up in?" asked Muhyeldeen, a law student. "I can't work here, and in Iraq there's a war. I need to help my mom, but I can't. My brother has to go to work in Iraq in the middle of the war even though he was born here," she added. The panel called on the government to change any law that prevented women from having the same rights as men, in accordance with the Lebanese Constitution, article 7 of which says men and women should be treated as equal citizens. "We need to continue to fight in this country because it is our country and no one can take out rights," Muhyeldeen said. "We're either citizens or we're not, where's the Switzerland of the Middle East?" Copyright (c) 2006 The Daily Star

International Women's Day

Tomorrow is not Mother's Day; it's not Valentine's Day all over again either. It's not another occasion for men to express their fondness of us. It's not a lame excuse to party all night, nor an occasion to offer flowers or gifts. Tomorrow is a moment of respect. an ode to femininity. a time to reflect. a call for change. a thought, carefully treasured for you: my mothers, sisters, daughters, friends, virtual friends, working wives, household wives, grocery store ladies, scary childhood dentists, unloved teachers, strangers smiling at me in a crowded street … you, my "ordinary" women, makers of my history, who have shaped me into the woman I am today. To all of you, today I say: thank you.