Two Days!

Yes, that's right! Two days left. Then, summer vacation for two and a half months! I mean, there's not gonna be much to do, but no schoolwork. I haven't even taken my tests yet. I'm supposed to take them tomorrow. Today though, I'm going to Oakhurst to help out my brother's teacher with this sprinkler party. And maybe I'll get cool at the same time. It's just so hot. Nobody wants to really do anything BUT play in the water. That's why I cannot wait until Wednesday, because hopefully we'll be able to go to Boomerang Bay in Carowinds. There are all these crazy rides and things. I just hope that there aren't a lot of people there. That would be torture.
Sham is getting really fat. I mean really fat. She could have her kittens any day now, or so I think. It's been almost two months. I just hope that she doesn't have them while I'm in Radford. Then I don't get to see them being born.
Ugh. There's not much to write. It's so boring here. All summer I'll probably be playing on the computer. I think I need to get my lazy butt off of the chair in front of the computer and go play some basketball. And maybe go swim. Just do something outdoors. I would like to go visit my family up in Virginia. Moby is up there right now. I would've gone, but I've got stuff to do here.
I hate the heat. Unless I've got a hose or a sprinkler. Then, I love it. I just don't like it when I'm trying to play outside without sweating all the water in my body. Ugh. I went to this Dragon Boat Festival thing at Lake Norman, and I had to go inside an ambulance to get cooled off. I couldn't stand the heat. And no matter what my dad says, Africa heat and North Carolina heat are two totally different things. Way different.
Okay, I know this is short, but I'm wrapping up. This may be my very last post. I may end up having to start another blog sometime, but for now, I'll just say, bye. Thanks to my loyal readers. Oh, wait. There's only two. My dad and my mom. Nobody else reads something like this. So, it's time to go. And I hope that if this blog gets discovered by somebody, they'll tell their friends, because I wish all this writing was worth it. So, bye! TTFE!! Ta-ta for ever!!!

Idiotic Computer

Okay, truthfully, it's not my fault that I don't have a picture today. It's because the computer that my pictures are on has major issues. It started awhile ago, when the computer stopped charging. This was because the battery couldn't charge anymore, for some very strange reason. So every time we unplugged the computer, it just shut off for no apparent reason. But awhile later, the computer started randomly disconnecting from the power cord. It did it a lot. Then we got to the point where, no matter how hard we tried, we couldn't start the computer up. So my dad forced me to get on Dell Chat and talk to one of the people. So they sent us a box, and we sent them the computer, and then we got it back a week later, but we had gotten a call before that, asking if we'd ever spilt anything on the computer. I thought that was weird. So they sent it back, and everything was fine, for awhile. Now it's back to what it was doing before. We can start it up, but the slightest movement will disconnect the power cord and we have to start it up all over again. It's really annoying. So I'm probably gonna be forced to get on Dell Chat all over again. Ugh.
So that's my explanation. And it's all true. My mom just won't buy a new battery for the computer. It's not fun. It might not totally solve the problem, but at least the computer won't turn off as soon as it's unplugged. AGH!
My dad is so ungrateful about Lost. He's always thinking that everything has to be absolutely perfect for a TV show to be great. I think it's great even if it has flaws. Just so long as it's interesting and exciting, I couldn't be happier. Last night's episode was exciting, but extremely emotional. I was almost crying at one part. Well, two parts. One was a happy cry, and one was a sad cry. But there were a lot of deaths, and one of them was a major character. I just couldn't believe it. My dad always wonders why the show only focuses on certain people and not all the extras. And he thinks that they do some really stupid things. He's not looking hard enough. I wish I could tell what here, but I might spoil it. It's not like anybody is reading this anyway, though. Oh well. I just think that if he hates the show so much, he shouldn't watch it. Stop trying to force your dislike of the show onto me. Shows always get worse the longer they go for. But I like Lost. I probably always will, unless it gets totally horrible. But the writers always pay attention to the viewers' reactions. So I don't think it'll ever get that bad.
Today is Fridayyyyy. Yay!! The weekend is coming, and we will have so much fun! I mean, I'll probably be bored the whole time, but who cares? It's the weekend. No schoolwork to do. I'll find something to pass the time. It's almost June.
Time to go. Finish my work. Go play computer games. Maybe play guitar. Okay. Bye!

My Sisters

Think they can do whatever they want. Really. It's like, they think that they're older than I am, or at least that they're the same age. All the privileges that I get, they think that they should get them too. Like staying up late, getting small treats, talking on the phone, they think that they should have all of those and more. Just last night I was staying up watching a movie, and, as usual, after I went upstairs to get something, the light in my room was on, because Maryam, as usual, doesn't want to go to sleep. I'm not the one who has to get up early for school. And then if she comes down because she supposedly 'can't sleep,' and we're eating ice cream, she'll get all mad. And then, when I babysit, I'll ask her to do something nicely, a couple of times, and then, after she doesn't do it, I'll yell and tell her to do it, and then she gets MAD! That's just wrong. She knows that I asked nicely before, so she can't get mad if I need her to do something. And both of my parents side with her. I always always ALWAYS get yelled at for saying stuff meanly, even though SHE'S the one who wasn't listening. Do little kids never get in trouble for stuff?
Ah. Those were the days. In elementary school. The days where you never got in trouble for anything. Unless, of course, you were the oldest. Like me. But at least you didn't get in trouble for a bunch of stuff.
Sham is definitely pregnant. Her tummy is getting so fat, and her nipples are pink and big. I can't wait until we have pretty kittens. I love little baby animals. Like chicks. Chicks are awesome. They're small, fluffy, and yellow. And kittens are small, fluffy, and a bunch of different colors. I was watching this video on Myspace awhile ago, and it showed this 6 week old kitten playing with a toy, and he wouldn't give it up. He was growling, hissing and biting, but he wouldn't give the toy up. And no catnip was involved. That is one stubborn kitten.
That's what I love about cats. They're so fun to play with and pick up and chase. They love string, anything noisy, and they're just so darn cute. Until they grow up, that is. I wish kittens stayed kittens forever.
I can't wait till tomorrow. Not only is it Friday, but I get to go to my friend's house. Yippee...
I cannot believe Lost isn't coming on tonight. The stupid Grey's Anatomy finale is on. Why do all the finales have to be two hours? It's kind of stupid. Okay, with Lost, it isn't. And I guess finales are kind of the best episodes of the season, so it's cool that they're longer. And one of my friends likes Grey's Anatomy, but I don't really understand the show. What's it about?
Time to go. See ya tomorrow! Bye!

Controversial Stuff

Music is controversial. In Islam, I mean. Everyone who isn't Muslim pretty much listens to music a whole lot. But my problem is I'm not sure whether we're allowed to listen to music or not. My parents aren't stopping me, so I guess it's not, but there is a saying that we have.
One time, the Prophet SAS was walking down the road and a man was sitting outside playing a flute. The Prophet walked by, and he put his fingers in his ears, so he obviously didn't approve of it, but he didn't tell the man to stop playing, so it must not be forbidden.
When I was in Africa, one of the new girls there brought a radio and cards to the school. Well, once the 'principal' found out that she had those, he tore up each individual card, which was kind of funny, and I think he confiscated the radio. But of course, nobody would break it.
See, the thing about Islam is that there are several major things in this world that are forbidden, and one of them is gambling. I guess because you're not supposed to be able to get money without working, and also because it is addictive, and you will probably end up going broke. Anything bad for you, and some addictive things are forbidden, mainly alcohol.
I'm also unsure about cigarettes. I mean, it's not like I'm gonna go out and smoke or anything like that. I don't want cancer, and I don't want bad breath 24/7, but I see people outside the masjid smoking all the time. And I always wonder whether they're doing a forbidden thing. I don't think that anyone should smoke anyway because it is so bad for you. I just don't understand why people like stuff that is so bad for them. It may be addicting, but if you really wanted to stop, then you would try really hard. At least start decreasing your intake. It's not like I have any experience in stopping anything like that, but I know that's what I would do if I had a problem like that.
I think people in this world are weird. I'm absolutely sure that the people who own the beer and cigarette companies have every idea about how bad their products are for people. I'll even bet that they don't use their own products!! That's just stupid. All people care about these days is money money money. Even when they're unofficially killing thousands of people a year!!! Cancer, drunk driving accidents, second-hand smoking, etc. Where do people get the idea that all this is okay? Maybe all those founders and owners should go out and try their own products, and then see what happens. And why does nobody pay attention to the Surgeon Health Warnings on the boxes of cigarettes? I mean, really. People are so stubborn, and sometimes it's a good thing, but most of the time, it isn't.
I truly wish tobacco had never existed. Maybe God created it to test us with the temptation of a cigarette, and see what we would do. I'm not quite fond of the idea of black lungs. I definitely don't want tar in my lungs like a road. I'm not something to be driven on. Tar, ash, tobacco, smoke, nicotine, carbon monoxide. If you want carbon monoxide in your body, go stick your face in front of the exhaust pipe of a running car, just don't smoke this stuff. In all these densely populated countries, kids have to walk across crowded streets to get to school, and they unwillingly breathe in all this bad stuff every time. And you willingly take it in. WHY?!!! God, there's nothing I despise more than the smell of a cigarette. How do you breathe that stuff in without choking to death? It must taste horrible. Did you know that everyone in this world, even the non-smokers, has a bit of black in their lungs? Thanks to all those smokers.
Now, don't get me wrong. It's not like I totally despise smokers. A lot of really nice people smoke. I just think that they were led by their so-called friends to do something totally gross. I think they should've founded the DARE program a long time ago. It might've saved a lot of people from starting all this stuff.
Time to go. I hope at least somebody learned something from this post. Have fun today! Bye!

Argh. My Dad...

Is SO evil. He makes people feel guilty, and then they suffer for it. On Saturday night I was trying to tell him about how I hate having to do all this Qur'an stuff, and then he's all like "You don't spend a lot of time doing stuff." So I've decided, hey, maybe I will. So yesterday for about an hour, I tried to learn how to play this song by my favorite artist, and I made a bit of progress, but not much. So now I have stiff, peeling skin on my fingertips. I didn't want to, but I had to stop because my fingers hurt so much! I guess eventually my fingers will harden up enough so that I don't have to stop.
I also sort of got back to making stuff on my bead looms, although I only do that every once in awhile anyway, to make stuff for people. The whole problem I have is that I want everything to be easy. I don't want to do any of the work that makes stuff fun. If it requires set up, I don't like it. I mean, it may be stupid, and I'm really really trying to not be lazy, but sometimes I can't help it. It's like a second nature. This morning, I didn't at all want to get out of bed. I don't know why. I guess me being tired might have something to do with it. But I went to bed at 11:45. I shouldn't be tired. I always need a lot of sleep. Unless it's a sleepover, of course. Nobody can ever sleep then. You have too much fun.
Hey! I wonder why they call it a sleepover. Every single person I know does. Because, at sleepovers, you do basically everything BUT sleep. What is wrong with these people? Thinking up names that don't apply to the situation. At one sleepover I had, I think we stayed up until 5 in the morning, and then we slept until 9 am. It was crazy. I think the night after, I slept for a looooong time. But I do that every weekend. I go to bed at 2 and sleep until, like, 12. I always sleep until 10, at least. I used to be an early riser when I was little. I woke up at 7 or 8 every morning, no matter when I went to bed. But I usually went to bed at 9 anyway. But that's just growing up. Later bedtime, later 'awaketime'.
I can't believe summer is almost here! Just three weeks left. Usually I'd be looking forward to summer, but it just means more of this. Loneliness. I don't have anybody to spend the summer with. The only thing I'm looking forward to is Carowinds and Sham's kittens at the end of June. I can't wait to see a bunch of little tiny kittens. I hope nothing happens to any of them. Or Sham. Mom hates her, but she is just acting upon her nature. She doesn't really want to hurt anyone, unless she's being attacked. She just wants to play. It's the cat way. And sure, she may growl and hiss, but that's just like people yelling. "Leave me alone!!!" is what she's trying to say. Okay, so maybe I bother Sham the most. But she's so soft and cuddly. The only problem is that she has fleas. Every month. And then she gets the fleas all over the place. So now I have bites all over me. We need some new flea medicine. And she's long-haired, so that's a bit of a problem. Allergies.
Time to wrap up. I have to go. I've got a lot of test prep, even though public schools are going EOG right now. My sister has her's for the first time. They're relatively easy though. She shouldn't have a hard time.
Bye!!

No Time for a Picture Today...

I've got too much to write. I haven't done my blog for a week because all of last week I was in Radford, Virginia. At Radford University. My dad had a conference there, and Moby and I went with him. And you know, I had a whole lot more fun than I ever thought I would. The day was usually kind of boring, but at night, we NEVER got bored. We were always doing something.
Let's see... On Monday night we went bowling and played a bit of pool in the game room there, on Tuesday we did the same thing, and on Wednesday we watched 27 Dresses, and then played "Drawing Charades." And on Thursday we started out watching The Bucket List, but some of us went upstairs to the ground floor and played this game called Catch Phrase. It's a little handheld electronic unit that has a bunch of different catagories, and it is basically Charades with words, only that makes it a bit easier. Unfortunately, the words are harder. And later on that night, my dad said we're playing real Charades with that thing. You can imagine how hard that was. One guy got Private Jessica Lynch for his!!!
So I bought that game. I am going to take it with me to my friend's house this Friday. The problem with that game is that too be fun, you have to have a lot of people, which you don't get all the time.
We left Friday afternoon. I'll have to say that college is not anything that I expected. For one thing, the food is great. At Radford, they have an all-you-can-eat buffet which was nice, and the dorms were pretty cool. It was just like a small bedroom. There were two beds with drawers, a small dresser, a big dresser, two closets, two desks, and a bathroom with a shower. There are several buildings with dorms. We stayed in the Ingles dorm, which had a "movie theater" in the basement, which is just a living-room like thing. Couches, and a computer with a movie program enabled. There was also an overhead, which was perfect for Drawing Charades. Oh my gosh, we had so much fun that night. Even though I was around a bunch of older people, who were WAY older than me, I still laughed, and messed around; it was just like when I hang out with my friends.
That Thursday when we played Catch Phrase, I was actually considering watching Lost on the Internet the next day, but there is no way that I will willingly miss an episode of Lost if I have access to ABC. No way. One of the first things I did when I got to Radford was check and see if they had a TV. They have one in every dorm building.
Even though I'm going to school next year, I still want to go to that conference again. If I'm going to be doing all that stuff, why wouldn't I want to go? Radford is also having a summer program for rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors. I'm only a rising freshman, but apparantly my dad can pull a few strings. Hehe.
Time to go. Luckily this internet connection is working, otherwise I would've written all this and not been able to publish it. What a waste of time.

Still No Pictures...

I really don't feel like putting pictures up on here. There's nothing really to take a picture of, and then you have to find the cable to put the pictures on the computer if there is no memory card slot. And you have to name them, and put them in the right folder, and all that junk. So I've decided that the best way to avoid all that is to not bother taking pictures. Maybe I'll start up again next week. But this week I'll stop. I do realize that eventually I'll have to put pictures up again, because this blog is called "Pictures of my Life in America".
It's been raining for about 12 hours straight, and it was storming from 7 to about 10 or so last night. I don't like thunderstorms. They're freaky. Loud and bright and scary. And every now and then, if it is really hot outside, there is the chance of a tornado. :-\
Oh gosh. It's pouring outside. I don't know how people manage to drive in that kind of weather. Well, we do need the rain because of the drought. I wonder if it can be called 'Over' yet. I do know that they lifted some of the water restrictions. I remember when I went to Girl Scout Camp, we couldn't have our big campfire to make s'mores because of the burning ban. So instead we took graham crackers and covered them with chocolate and marshmallow flavored frosting. Some s'mores.
Today is YaSeen's birthday!!! He's turning 6, and he wants a Transformer more than anything. I'd hate to disappoint him, but my mom can't find them anywhere. I think I'll do him a favor and look on Target's website. I'm gonna make him a cake, and he wants white, but I want chocolate. I guess I can't argue with that, cause it's HIS birthday.
I can't believe that summer is almost here!!! Just one month and a couple days left!!! And then, say goodbye to school, and hello to summer. Unfortunately, it's not like I have anybody to spend it with. I don't have a lot of friends.
On Saturday I watched the Kite Runner with my mom and her friends. It was a sad movie. Now my mom is ordering the book. It was a very sad movie. Everyone says the book is sadder.
Gotta go now!!! See ya!!!

Life

...Is annoying. Well, it usually is. Last night sure wasn't, although they killed off one of my favorite characters on Lost. Sure she wasn't all important, but I'd hoped to learn more about her. And she had my name. It's not FAIR!!! Evil Keamy.
Sham is pregnant!!!!! She went into heat about three days ago, and she's been courting these two orange toms for awhile. So I guess we're guaranteed some orange kittens. One of the cats has a pudgy bulldog-like face. It's really crazy. I guess all tomcats look like that, but his was the biggest. I can't wait for the kittens. In June, not quite the heat of summer, but still hot, Sham will be a mommy pussycat.
Sham is still quite small. Apparently she got rejected by her mom, so we can see why. She was most likely the runt of the litter, and the runt usually dies, but somebody rescued her. So now she's a small adult cat, 9 months, give or take.
Luckily today is Friday. That means that as soon as I'm done with my work, I can go play Star Wars Battlefront. I finally beat the droids on Galactic Conquest. Moby was right. Clones suck against droids. But I conquered!!! Next it's stormtroopers against rebels.
This weekend we're cleaning my room. Not that I'm not happy about that. It's just that I don't want to do it. I want someone else to do it for me. I know, I'm lazy. It's just that it's not my fault that the room is dirty. But whenever the people who DID make the mess clean it up, it doesn't get clean AT ALL! *cough* Maryam. *cough* Iman.
My dad wants me to design a cargo container house. I have it all planned out, but now he wants me to put it into SketchUp, and I'm still not used to the program yet. I'll figure something out though.
*sniffle* I still can't believe they killed off Alex on Lost. My mom said she wasn't all that important, but I liked her. She was more like a plane person than an Other. She was so nice.
I wonder what it would be like to act in a TV show that you really liked, and then get a call saying that your character got killed off. That'd be heartbreaking, especially if you liked acting in it. But in Lost, at least you can come back for flashbacks and such.
Time to go. At 3:30, I'm done with my work. Yay!! Bye!

'Tis a Beautiful Day, Is It Not?

Well, it is here in Charlotte. The sky is bright blue, the sun is shining, and the cat Sam is basking in the sun coming in the window. I don't know where Sham is. She's probably out getting some tomcats. She's in heat now. Has been since yesterday. So maybe she'll come home and be pregnant and it'll be all over for two months. Then the kittens come. Cute, but nasty. Nasty only because they're probably gonna poop all over the place. Otherwise they'll be so cute. Too bad we can only keep one.
I think after I'm done with all of my work today, I'll take my guitar and go outside and play it. It's too nice outside not to be able to do that.
Now, what should I talk about? I'm stumped. ............
Oh! I know! Let's talk about how people grow up and get to the position they are in now. Well, it mostly all starts in childhood. Every kid has something they're interested in, whether it's helping people, messing with computers, doing crazy science experiments, or just reading, it always leads to them deciding what to do. My friend likes helping people with their problems. She wants to be a psychiatrist. Figures. I like helping sick people. I wanna be a doctor. And Moby loves playing with computers. He wants to be a video game designer. Maryam likes animals. She wants to be a vet. You see the pattern? Not to say we won't change our minds. If I can't be a doctor, I want to be an architect. Designing houses is fun. I just can't draw.
And all these professional singers. They were all singing when they were kids, maybe playing some instruments. And some of them decided to see if they had the capabilities to be a singer, so they went up on American Idol. Anybody can be a singer if they want to.
I wonder what my future will be like. What schools I'm going to go to. Where I'll live. I wanna live in some deserted state. Like Rhode Island. Yeah! That'll be cool!
Nah, I might live here or up in Charlottesville with the rest of my family. Those are the two places I love. I basically grew up in these cities. I've lived in Charlotte for 8 years, and I lived in Charlottesville for 2 of 3 years, and I visit it at least three times a year.
My interests are singing, guitar playing, and crafting. But I know I can't get a job with that stuff. Maybe just for extra change. When I'm fifteen I'll probably go work in a movie theater. And maybe get discounts. =)
I used to want to do computer stuff, but that kind of left my mind after watching my parents stress out over their jobs. Yeah, they stress out a lot.
Time to go. There wasn't much to write about today. All I've gotta say is LOST is tonight!!! Yippee!!! I cannot wait!!!

The World Today

I always wondered what the deal was with this world. Why do all the governments have to be so cruel and corrupt? After somebody gains power, they always have to keep it, even when the citizens don't want them to. I mean, look at this coming election. I'll bet that if Bush was allowed to run again, he would, and chances are that he'd probably win, even though all he's done for America is get us involved in a stupid war that killed thousands of innocent people and broke apart probably millions of families. I'm not anti-American or anything, but we all know it's true, so you can't really deny it. And after all that, America elected him again! Kerry probably wouldn't have been a whole lot better, but he'd be better than Bush.
So now we're stuck in a big, crazy post-election frenzy. Everybody knows that McCain is GOING TO LOSE no matter who ends up running against him. Nobody wants another Republican in the White House. Okay, maybe some people do, but that's because they are REPUBLICAN. And he's the only guy who even had a decent amount of support. But I, personally, am Democrat. And am for Obama. All the way. I have been since all this started. I'm not allowed to vote yet, but if I could, I'd be voting for Obama. I just don't trust Hillary. First of all, do you realize something? If Hillary was elected, there would be a pattern. Bush, Clinton, Bush, Clinton. And how do you know that in 8 years, there won't be another Bush running? Do you think that there's even the slightest chance that it might happen? If it did, they probably wouldn't be elected, but still!
I mean, Bush's regime was torture for everyone, but for the Muslims it was and is just bad. The Patriot Act was enough. Taking away all our rights, now it sure seems like it's not America anymore. And then there is all the stereotyping. Everyone who didn't grow up with a Muslim friend basically thinks that Muslims are terrorists, and IT'S NOT TRUE!! I specifically made this point in my last blog. Go look back there. Why does the whole world hate us? We never did anything. The idiots who flew into the towers were radicals who had no care for innocent people. It doesn't help anything. And then a ginormous war is declared on Iraq, all because they "supposedly" have nuclear weapons and are knowingly housing Osama Bin Laden.
I watched this film awhile ago called Control Room. It was about the popular Middle East TV station Al-Jazeera, and what stories they covered in the first year of the Iraq war. And now that I'm oldr, I kind of understand stuff like that a little more. And I realized from the movie, that the American TV stations show the invading Americans. The Middle East stations show all the blood, dead people, and Americans entering people's homes and assaulting them. Why does this world have to be so cruel. Nobody really knows what's going on over there. It's like Gaza and Israel. Nobody, save the Gazans, actually know what's going on in Gaza, because the Isrealis want to keep it a secret. They don't want the world to know that they are bombing and killing hundreds of people a day.
So for all of you people who go to work and come home everyday, taking all of this for granted, all these cars, electricity, even your children, it could be a whole lot worse. You could be stuck in a small home with no electricity, right next to a smelly sewer, wishing that your dead son would come home. Of course, I'm sure there are some people in this country who have dead sons that they wish would come home. Do you know any? If you do, go comfort them. Go realize that the world won't be this way forever. It's only a matter of time.
Vote Obama 2008!!!

World Issues

Well, another day, another blog. Normally I'll write about dumb stuff. Today I think I'll write about the world, and all the issues in it.
First, the Gaza-Israel conflict. I mean, I haven't read THAT much about it, and I don't know what caused it, although I have a good idea about it. The Israelis want Gaza. For their own. So for years now they have been bombing Gaza, hoping that there will be a surrender, and they'll get all the land for themselves. Well, I have opinions about this. And some people on the BBC probably agree with me. First, when there is a "mass" shootout at an Isreali school, (meaning 8 people are killed), it gets front page news and full coverage. But EVERY SINGLE DAY, hundreds of people are killed in Gaza, and where is that news? I sure can't find it anywhere. Tell me if you can.
Why is there such a big fight for land? Can't you just be satisfied with what you have? Or is this a fight about religion, Jews against Muslims? From what I've heard, the Muslims were in Palestine first, and the Jews came and took it from them. And it doesn't help that all the western countries, including the U.S., are pretty much in love with Israel. Does this killing really do anyone any good? Why do you have to block off people from food and water, and kill innocent men, women and children? They never did anything! You're the ones who did the bad stuff! The Gazans are just defending themselves! Will you NEVER be satisfied with what you have? After Gaza, what piece of land will be next? Saudi Arabia?
Next I shall cover global warming. Just last night I watched this documentary called "Kilowatt Ours". It was extremely educational. I never knew that people were blowing up mountains just to get coal. I love the mountains. They're so beautiful. I've been to the Rockies and the Appalachians. They're beautiful works of God. And in about a century, if we don't work hard to keep them alive, they'll be gone, reduced to piles of rubble. And the world won't be at all a happy place.
So maybe you're thinking, "I'm just one person! What can I do about this?" Well, yesterday I learned that the first thing you can do is switch to compact-fluorescent bulbs. You know, the spiral-shaped ones. If you switch all the bulbs in your house, it saves a couple pounds or tons of coal. And lowers your bill. Then you can seal air leaks in your house. And get a couple solar panels to heat your water and such. And it saves a lot of money. I would play some part in this, if I lived in my own house. But I cannot control what my parents do. My dad is looking for some good deals on solar panels.
If people would just get off of their lazy butts and walk somewhere, it would save a couple gallons of gas. God, no wonder 1/3 of the U.S. population is obese. What, with the fancy cars and cheap gas, it's no wonder nobody feels like walking anywhere. Europeans are paying 10 dollars a gallon for gas, so they have a good public transit system and small cars. They sure could teach a few lessons to some of us.
Now, if anybody here is actually reading this far, I think I will list a few differences between terrorists and Muslims. Because terrorists ARE NOT real Muslims.
-Muslims are NOT allowed to kill innocent people. Let me make this very clear. THEY ARE NOT ALLOWED TO KILL INNOCENT PEOPLE!
-Muslims cannot fight in a war unless their homeland is being attacked or invaded. Or their religion is being persecuted.
-Islam is totally about peace. These terrorists are radicals, saying that they do things in the name of God, but truthfully, they don't. They've been mislead into thinking that if they kill innocent people, it will stop all the things the western countries are doing, but it won't. It only makes them fiercer and tougher. Example: 9/11 happens, then Americans invade Iraq.
Those aren't very many reasons, but it's all I need to make my point. So spread the word, and get some of these views out of people's heads. I hate going out into the street and having people ask strange questions about whether I like being Muslim. It is a beautiful religion! And we don't HAVE to cover up. We choose to. I don't want strange guys staring at me, so I cover up and they won't have a reason too. Not at all like those girls wearing skimpy clothes, extremely short skirts, midriff-exposing shirts, eeek. It freaks me out, the way some of those girls dress.
Time to go. I hope this blog has made a good point today. Spread the word. Tell the world. It just might make a difference.

Family Life...

Is not fun at all. What, with all the scolding, yelling, screaming, running around, and moody people, it's no wonder some people run away and go and live on their own like that kid in the book "Into the Wild," Chris McCandless. Then he died. That's just sad.
Right now I'm staring out our window hoping with all of my heart that there won't be a thunderstorm. I hate thunderstorms. They FREAK ME OUT!! Especially when a tornado watch comes along. I hate severe weather. If the weather was sunny everyday, that'd be enough for me. Or raining, but no thunderstorm. And in the winter, snow would be cool. But no thunderstorms!
Back to the whole family thing though. I think I should describe each member of my direct family in detail. Well, my brothers and sisters, anyway. Maybe not my parents. Cause they'll go and get all mad about it.
My youngest sibling, my brother YaSeen, is just a little mini terrorist. Well, he's just so bad that we call him one. One time we were in a Taco Bell parking lot, and we hadn't even gone inside and he came with a soda cup. Ewwwww! He'd picked it up off the ground! That's where he got his nickname Rat Boy. We have several nicknames for him. Terrorist, Stitch, Rat Boy, Seenie, and probably some more that I can't remember. Right now he's in kindergarten. His first week in school, he SPIT on somebody!! Boy, he never did that again after my mom punished him.
My youngest sister is Iman. She is a little girl who always thinks she's so funny. She'll go and say something random, and then laugh about it. And nobody else will laugh. And we'll all say "You're not funny!" and she'll say " I wasn't trying to be funny!" Psh. Yeah right. She's probably the most lovable in the family.
My other sister, Maryam, can sometimes be such a brat. She hogs the cats, and then gets mad when I take them, she thinks she knows more than I do, and sometimes, ooh, she makes me so mad! Yelling at me, screaming, throwing temper tantrums, sometimes it gets me soooooo angry! And she changes her mind a lot. A LOT!
My other brother, Mohammed/Moby, is annoying. When I was little I called him Be, and my dad's family called him Mo, so we put them together and got Moby. My mom decided to start calling him Mohammed, but I can't get used to it. It sounds so weird. Moby is a weirdo. He loves watching Happy Tree Friends, and making demented stick figure videos. He likes yelling at people and teasing them, specifically me.
All of them are lovable, and can be nice when they want to, but sometimes it's so hard to be anything but mad at them. Okay, how about you try sleeping in on a Saturday morning in this house!
Just yesterday I was looking with my dad at my first grade school picture. It's amazing what's happened to me since then. Or was it my kindergarten school picture? I can't remember. But it's still so weird how I've grown since then. I'm now 5'7" or something, and I am in 8th grade. I have medium length brown, highlighted hair, and back then it was straight, banged, short, and just brown.
Today my schedule is basically school, then religious stuff, then guitar, then free time the rest of the day. Too bad there's no computer on weekdays. I'll probably cross-stitch or something.
Time to go now! Maybe tomorrow I'll start up with pictures, but this strike hasn't really worked yet. I want to be able to put up pictures of my own free will. No pictures until then. Bye!

More Biography...

Sooo... let's keep going with this biography thing. I think I'm almost done.
The summer of fourth grade, we drove all around the country. We went from North Carolina to Arizona, then we went to California, and then up to Washington State, and then back east to Massachusetts, then south to North Carolina. And there were plenty of stops along the way, believe me. Grandparents, relatives, friends, you get the picture. My mom went to Saudi Arabia with the famous Muslim lecturer Hamza Yusef, so we drove her to California, and we met her in New York a couple weeks later. As much as I hate traveling, I have to admit that that summer was really fun. My dad always said we should paint a map of the US on our car and color in all the states we've been to.
Okay, not that I hated all the other years of school I've been in, but fifth grade totally bombed them all to pieces. That year was sooooooooooo fun. I had the BEST fifth grade teacher, and everyone in fifth grade new it. Mr. Phillips was the best teacher in the SCHOOL, let alone fifth grade.
Fifth grade was so different. The teachers decided to make it a bit more like middle school to get us used to it. So they split up the whole grade between the three teachers, depending on how good you were at Language Arts and Math. Ms. Podpora got the smart math people and average LA people, Mr. Phillips got the smart LA people and average math people, and I think Ms. Scott got the struggling LA and math people. And after LA and math we switched back to our normal classes for Science, Social Studies, and all the other stuff we did. Mr. Phillips also did Mental Math with his homeroom. That was fun.
That year almost the whole grade went to Camp Kanuga. It was a two night stay, and we did a lot of fun activities. Everyone who went was split into groups; I think there were five. I made some good friends on that trip. Not that I talk to them anymore. It was too late in the year to make the friendships stronger. But I still remember them, all the same. Some people couldn't go to camp because they were so bad. All the fifth grade teachers had this chart. It had the names of all the people in the class on it, and if you ever got your card pulled, they took off one point. At the end of the day, the teacher calculated how many points you had and wrote it on the chart. When it was almost time to go to camp, you had to have a certain number of points to be able to go. Quite a few people that you thought wouldn't be able to go actually got to.
Mr. Phillips is now the assistant-principal-in-training of the school. What could be a better job? I hope he stays at Oakhurst though. It'd suck if I never got to see him again cause I don't know which school he's at. =(
I can't remember what I did that summer. I think we stayed home most of the time, but probably went to see my grandparents or something.
Sixth grade. Whole new school. Brand new people. Agh.
Well, I got used to it after awhile. I made some new friends, but I only talk to one of them now, because everyone else has forgotten me. What, I leave for a year, and nobody cares when I come back?!
But anyway, I had some nice teachers and everything, and I was in all the scholars classes. You want to know all my classes? Here you go:
Language Arts: Mrs. Norton
Math: Ms. Ravert
Science: Mrs. Webb, later Ms. Brisson after Mrs. Webb went on maternity leave.
Social Studies: Mrs. Stevens
Band: Mr. Love
Gym: Mr. Gibson
Spanish/French: Ms. Sadow/Ms. Long?
That summer, we got ready to go to Africa. And on September 6, we left America. Some birthday present! We stayed there for 10 months. We were planning on leaving in July, but Moby had to go and break his arm on the monkey bars, so we were delayed.
I spent all 7th grade there, and I learned a lot about life, and how it should be lived. The Senegalese are so cool. There's a lot of drama, but their lives are so much better than ours, in a way. If there wasn't anything to come back to in America, I might've stayed. OKAY I ADMIT IT, MOM! NOW LEAVE ME ALONE!
When I got back, they wouldn't let me back into Randolph, so instead of going to Northridge, I got homeschooled. 8 months later, here I am, tall skinny, guitar playing, songwriting, basketball playing, sewing, smart me. Although my brother seems to think the opposite. Jerk.
Time to go. It's been time to go for five minutes. And that's my biography. Not very interesting, I know. But who cares? It's MY life. YOU don't have to live it. Bye now!

...Continued Biography

Soooo... where was I? Oh yes. Third grade. By the way, I got the summer dates right.
Okay, so in third grade I transferred to Grier Road Elementary because my mom didn't think that I should be getting up at 6 am every day to get on the bus, with school starting at 7:15. At least it ended at 2, but anyway, I left my school I'd been going to for three years.
Grier Road wasn't really all that bad. I started out in Mrs. Merritt's class. It was just a normal third grade class. But about halfway through the first quarter of school, I got transferred to Ms. Schlick's class next door. Her class was third and fourth combined. And she specialized in teaching smart people. Well, sort of. The classes got moved around because she got a lot of smart people in her class. Who always had A's and stuff. That was the class that I met my two best friends. I also hung out with this other girl who was my friend for a couple of years, but then she just kind of drifted away. I don't really talk to her anymore.
Later on that year, another girl came into the class from across the hall. She was one of the two friends that I mentioned. She is still my best friend everrrrr.
The problem with having been transferred to another class is that all your stuff gets addressed to your original class. Like school pictures. Ugh.
I also had an awesome student teacher that year, Ms. Ellington. She won some special "pretty girl" award. Like Ms. North Carolina or something like that.
That summer we went up the East Coast and back. My mom went to Senegal. We visited my mom's parents and my dad's mom and stepdad. We also visited a bunch of other people that I can't remember. We went north, and then we headed way south.
In fourth grade I transferred to Oakhurst Elementary because that is where my teacher Ms. Schlick from third grade really taught. Oakhurst was getting extended, so all the teachers and students moved to Grier Road for two years. So I started fourth grade on the second floor in Ms. Jamison's class. She was honestly the nicest, happiest teacher I've ever had. Unfortunately that only lasted half of the first quarter, once again. I got transferred to Ms. Schlick's class again, downstairs. I think she specifically requested people from the year before, cause almost everyone who'd been in the class before was in it again. Except for the ones at Grier Road. But funnily enough, my friend who had transferred later in the year before, she had moved to Oakhurst too. That year was so fun. I also met this other girl who is now my other best friend. I loved being in Ms. Schlick's class. We had such awesome parties. Karaoke and everything.
I will continue this tomorrow. It's time for me to go again. Wow, this is one long biography for all the short years I've lived. Imagine how long it will be when I'm 60!
Bye!!!

My "Biography"

Today I am writing the story of my life, from when I can remember, all the way to now. It may take awhile, but it will pass the time.
I was born on September 6, 1994 in Charlottesville, VA. Not much to say there. My brother was born 1 and 1/2 years later on May 24, 1996 in the same place. After that we started really moving around because of my dad's work.
We moved to Tampa, FL, or someplace like that, and I only have a few memories of that place. Two in Disney World, and two at my "Muslim Preschool".
From Disney World I can vaguely remember a big parade of Disney characters and a weird puppet show with a scary guy sitting backwards on a chair. From my preschool I remember a calender thing with Velcro day and date pads that could be removed, and I also remember on the playground me going up the slide and two girls coming down, and me getting into trouble.
After that we moved to a small apartment in Charlotte, NC. The only thing I can remember about that place is this platform way up high with a desk on it. I remember I was always so eager to answer the phone (in high contrast to me now), so one day I picked it up without realizing that my mom had already gotten the phone, and she was talking to my grandma! My first sister was born there, on July 13, 1998.
In 1999 we moved to our big house. I started kindergarten at J.H. Gunn Elementary. On my first day I got sent to Ms. Shaw's class, but they took me out of it and put me into Mrs. Bishop's class, a class that combined kindergarten and first grade. That was my first combined year. That was the year I learned to write. That was also the year we got three kittens at home. Frisky, a black tom-kitten with a long tail, Belle, a black girl kitten with a short tail, and Sam, an orange tom-kitten. Belle got run over by my dad's car after sleeping under it and not coming out when the car started up, and years later, we sent Frisky to the Humane Society because he was being a bit bad, like his name. We still have Sam, 8 years later. My other sister was also born this year, on July 17, 2000.
In first grade I was put in the same trailer, only in Mrs. Kidwell's class. This was a combined first and second grade class. I remember I had one really good"friend," but she liked to hang out with some of the second graders more than she did with me. I guess we were still friends, in a way. Only it got lonely. That was the year I learned to read and to love it.
That summer we went to visit my "godparents" in Texas, basically meaning they were the people who would take care of us if anything happened to my parents. They were really good friends with my parents. I met this girl there. Her name was Alex. She was my godmother's niece, and she was no more then a year younger than me.
In second grade I was put into the main building in Mrs. Neely's class. This was my first normal class, no combining. I had several friends in this class. They were my first real ones. And I loved Mrs. Neely. She had her baby, almost the same time my mom had her last one, my brother, born on April 28, 2002.
That summer we went to Morocco. I might be confused about the dates, because I can kind of remember my baby brother being able to walk by then, but I'd have to ask my dad.
It's time for me to go now. I'll continue the story tomorrow. And maybe correct myself if the summer events are wrong. Tata!!

Blah...

I have now officially decided that my life needs a huge change. I just don't know what. I'm thinking a cleaner bedroom. That's the easiest way to go. But do you have any idea how much work it would be to clean that thing? Well, let's list it all. I like lists.
-Under my bed
-Under Iman's bed
-Under the dresser
-Behind both dressers
-In the closet
-On top of the dressers
And that may seem like a little bit, but it is a lot more. Each one of those places is extremely messy. We've tried for a long time to clean them, but my mom says next week is spring cleaning, so maybe we'll get it done then. I hate spring cleaning.
Have you ever noticed how sexist men are? And not only that, but they pass it on to the younger generation. Not just the boys, but the girls too. They make the girls feel all bad about being girls. Well, here are a couple well-known facts about men:
-If you leave them alone in the house for a week with no woman around, when you get back the house will be messy, all the clothes will either be in big piles or all grey from washing them together, and the kitchen will be very, very dirty.
-They may think they're stronger, but try getting a man to lift a heavy pot of water onto the stove.
-They may be strong, but that's nothing compared to highly sensitive fingers.
-So what if you work 8 hours a day? Women work all day, 24/7 just doing normal household chores!
-They may bring in the money, but if they were left to spend it all on their own, you'd end up with a house full of computers, televisions, and DVDs
And those are just some of the reasons why women are better than men. So any girl who hates being a girl has total issues. She's not looking at the whole picture.
Boy, I'm so glad I don't live in the Middle East. Especially Saudi Arabia. I read this book a couple years ago called Princess. It's about this girl's life in Saudi Arabia. Some of the stories in that book were so horrible. I cannot believe fathers kill their own daughters just because they are getting a teeeeeeeny bit hormonal, if you know what I mean. Boy-wise. And if the boys do anything like that, not only do they not get punished, but it totally goes unnoticed. I don't know why women have to go through all that. They carry and birth the children, take care of them, why should they have to go through all this? And even though forced marriages are illegal in Islam, they still go on! What kind of Muslims are these people?!
Women can take such a more active role here. With a lot of things. They even work out of the house now. Not so long ago, that was almost unheard of! And men say they're better. As IF!
Now that I've got that little rant over, what else should I talk about? You know what? I think I'll talk about crafting. I love crafting. There are all these different things you can make, and even though men wouldn't regard it as a sport, it kind of is. Sure, you're not sweating your skin off, but who says crafting isn't a sport? You're moving your hands all over the place, and making beautiful works of art. It's a sport all right, and it can get you a lot of money.
I like beading and cross stitching. Especially bead looms. They're fun, easy, and after you learn how to warp the loom it is not hard at all to figure out the rest.
Time to wrap up. I think this no picture thing is going quite well, don't you?
Now for a message to my daddy:
I WANT THE LORD OF THE RINGS EXTENDED EDITION!!! ALL THREE MOVIES!!!
Bye!!

We're Doing Things a Bit Differently...

Today, I am starting my strike against taking pictures for this dumb darn blog. I hate writing. It's so tedious and whenever you write anything, somebody always reads it and tells you what you should take out or put in, and after that it never really seems like you wrote it. I used to love writing. Now, I just don't like all the "steps" you have to go through. Rough draft, second draft, final edited copy, yadayadayada... I mean, the rough drafts are usually the best copies, because after you edit it and take out stuff, you end up with a paper half shorter than it was! So I have decided that the best way to make my point is to misspell words, not write in complete sentences, and all that other junk. But seeing as my parents will get mad at me and make me rewrite the whole thing over again, I won't.
Spring break was very fun. I wasn't as bored as I thought I would be, mostly because we kind of overextended our computer time just a tiny bit, but I also got started on a couple new crafts that I had long discontinued. Beading and cross stitching. And I'll admit that they are fun. Right now I just have to get a new embroidery hoop for my stitching because the one I have right now is old and leaving marks on the fabric, which all cross stitchers know is not good.
We also got season passes to the best theme park ever. Carowinds. Okay, it may not be the best, but it's the closest, and seeing as we'll be here all summer, we need something to do. I have gone to Carowinds three times in the past week. Sunday, Monday, and Saturday. Saturday, I think, didn't really count because we went for about three hours. I got on six rides, and then it started raining, so we left because YaSeen was getting cold. And it was no fun at all when the lines were so long and some rides had long lines and only one car out of three running. And the ride is longer than normal. 2 minutes. Stupid Carolina Goldrush people. They could've at least put one other car on there, but my dad said that they don't want to risk there being any empty seats, because it wastes money to run half empty cars. Ha! People were pouring in faster than they could fill up the trains.
I don't know if it is a coincidence or fate, but both times that my dad and I tried to get on Borg Assimilator, or Nighthawk, we were so close to getting on, and then the ride has some weird issue and they do a million test runs. That is so wrong! Why why why why why?!!
Yesterday we were supposed to go hiking at some big waterfall two hours away, but that got cancelled after my dad had gotten us all out of bed and dressed. At 7:15!!! On a Sunday!!! I haven't gotten up that early on a Sunday since I had religious school. And that didn't even start until 10. So we all went back to sleep for three hours. And then we got up and played on the computer or watched TV. Then at 2, we all went to the Whitewater Rafting Center for a chicken sandwich picnic. Not that nasty Chik-Fil-A stuff, but real chicken sandwiches. We watched these people go rafting, which I thought was crazy cause if the sun went behind the clouds, which it did often, it got really cold. Later on it got hot, and I decided I wanted to go, but luckily I didn't, because after we left at about 5:30, it started to rain. Hard. We went to the airport to watch the planes and eat brownies, but after the rain started, we left.
Time to wrap this up. See how much I can write without a picture? Well, I guess it'll be harder to do after this because there won't be a spring break to write about. Well, I'm going now. Bye!