Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Am I breing prank called? an unfolding mystery


Had this one shown up as an unavailable or restricted number, for sure it would be a prank call that one of a handful of cousins would be responsible for. A weak one at that, but the most likely explanation considering their past antics.

I once got a really long and quite detailed voicemail telling me that I need to report to a detective's office because my name came up in a murder investigation. "Don't be worried you're not a suspect, but your name came up and we need to ask you a few questions." He ended the voicemail by quoting me from a lecture that I once gave to my sister in a mocking tone. "I need your help with this investigation because....I'm just really insecure with myself and I need your help you know." A burst of laughter from my sister in the background gave him away.

I once got a voicemail from a different cousin (a brother of the above) in the form of a country song with a very exaggerated southern accent. It went something like this "I got in my Ford truck and then I went to my refrigeratoorrrrrrrr"..he just kept using sentences with words that rhymed with refrigator. I saved that voicemail for a while to let my friends hear it, it was truly hilarious!

The most memorable prank voicemail though is the stereotypical gay sounding male. "Heyyyyyyyyy girlllllllllll........it's bobbyy. Bobbyyyyy from the club.....remember me girllllll. How ya doinnnnnn?". That one was so good that I made him prank call a few of my friends with that. One of my friends was so freaked out she had a stalker she actually changed her number after that. I found that out when I admitted it to her months after.

However this call showed up with a legitimate number. I first missed it. When the person called again I picked up and I'm pretty sure she called my name, almost shouted it. "Hey ASOOOM. Are you there? can you here me?" ....Yea I can hear you..."hello, hello". Then she hung up. Weird, I don't have reception issues in my room. Curious, I googled the area code of the number and found that it was from a suburb of my current university town. Oh ok, so it has to be someone I know then.

I called it back and got a voicemail saying this is "veronica'". I could only think of one girl from that area with that name, a girl from my class but it didn't sound like her and she's actually not local so I don't think she'd have that area code. A minute later the chick calls back. She uses a different name than the one in the voicemail, she gives me a common arab name, and I can't help but notice off the bat her very antagonistic attitude; she had a ghetto arab girl accent.

Her: Hey remember me?
Me: Whose this?
Her: This is Mona, remember me?
Me: (brainstorming..I knew one girl in that town with that town and this definitely wasn't her). Ummmm...no!

Her: I've been hearing all these rumors you've been spreading about me and you hanging out in all those argilla (in perfect arabic accent) shops. You don't remember me?
Me: ahhhh...No, I don't!
Her: alright never mind wrong person then. (hangs up abruptly)

What????????? I almost wanted to call her back and be like who the hell are you and how on earth did you get my number? Has my name been dragged in some local arab girl drama already?

I'm brainstorming trying to connect dots to see who this freak girl could possibly be associated with. Yea in my university town I have been hanging out at hookah cafes....and yes in that local community there is a social stigma on single arab girls hanging out in hookah shops so those could be unpleasant rumors. However everyone I hang out with are classmates and not local arabs. I've met some local arab girls at various events around and that community is gossip and drama central so I don't care to hang out with them-some of them though are on my facebook and it's possible that some of them have my number.

The only exception I can think of is quite a few of my hometown friends have family members and connections in my college town. A few of them have come to visit so I've hung out with them and they've had their local cousins and friends join us. That networking combined with the facebook connection and the fact that I'm pretty open about my hanging out and about could have dragged my name into some kind of mix. It might be somewhat of a stretch but it's a possible theory.

Time to exercise the facebook limited profile feature!

Saturday, March 28, 2009

What makes an engagement ring?



Me: I wish we can just fast forward this whole period and get to the engagement.

Him: We are engaged. Your parents just don't know it.

Me: No we're not. I don't have an engagement ring.

Him: Yes you do. I bought you a ring.

Me: You got me a promise ring!

Him: Ok. Well let's call it an engagement ring!

Me: Ummm......NO (what was he thinking)...(I compose myself). Sweetie remember in the store you even told me what you think I should do with it once I get "the real thing".

Him: You're right babe.


*2 minutes later*


Me: So are you familiar with Tiffany's?

Him: (immediately) You're not getting a ring from Tiffany's. Those things start at like $9,000...not now

Me: (sigh) Well a girl can dream.

Him: Yea, as long as it stays in your dreams.

My first no.......Oh Well. He's still so cute that I just want to keep pinching him.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

On producing quality blog posts

When I first began blogging on my previous blog I had a lot of motivation to spew out my intellectual, uniquely observant, or just humorous thoughts and perspectives. I had a lot of admiration (and still do), for those bloggers that are able to keep up that high blogging standard post after post no matter what category the blog falls under. A couple that immediately come to mind are Chocoholic Madness , The Black Iris, and from a different blogging community altogether: Stuff White People Like.

Nowadays, it's just not in me. It's not that life has become more dull and I don't have anything to talk about, because the opposite is true. Daily life provides many opportunities that serve as blogging inspiration. Lots of thoughts brew in my brain. I just kind of don't feel like it.

You see my blog readers, I'm kind of slow and I like to take my time with pretty much everything. I can easily spend an hour or even a couple of hours on a great blog post...and this is something I used to routinely do on my previous blog. It used to make me feel productive. There are quite a few posts I was especially proud of which would motivate me to want to produce more.

Nowadays though I just get so frustrated when a blog post is taking me more than 30 minutes to finish. I just keep thinking about all the other things I could be doing instead and the result is lots of unpublished draft posts, which is even more frustrating cause then that was a total waste of time.

Aside from the time factor, I've come to realize that you can't be as free and as uninhibited on your blog as I thought you could be when I first started. Even if you are anonymous, you end up forming into an identity of yourself as a blogger and start becoming more aware and more sensitive. The reality has turned into I simply just can't blog about everything! Not even close to everything actually. Which is unfortunate, because the blogosphere would be more of an exciting place if we all could.

Despite the different and sometimes disappointing direction my blogging has gone in, I find it hard to abandon it altogether. The great thing about a blog is that unlike your best friend, your grandmother that's interested in every detail of your life, and your super cool aunt, and your hilarious hookah buddy-your blog is always there for you. It doesn't tell you to shutup, or roll its eyes, or disapprove of your actions, or constantly borrow money from you but never pay you back. And this is why I keep blogging.

P.S. whoever said you can't start a sentence with and, or, & but is a nuisance to writers everywhere.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

A love letter: while you were in class

I sent this email today. I took out parts of it to post for your reading pleasure, cause we all love a good sappy story!

Dear xxxxxxxxx,
While you're in class I just got overwhelmed with this feeling andwanted to express it to you.

Habibi I really really like you! My admiration for you keeps growingby the day. Although today was a pretty ordinary and boring day, infact worse because it's the first day I took this diet pill and it's making me really dizzy and then I had to mop all these floors and it killed my back, but I was just so happy! Despite the fact that it'sbeen a short time, having you in my life has given me this great feeling of comfort and security. Although my experience in relationships is limited, I have had guys in my life before,but I've never felt as satisfied and content as I do now with you. Iadmit this feeling was not instant. It definitely took some time for me to warm up to you and feel that you're "the one", but this morning I woke up feeling 100%.


I'm looking at my ring now and the thought of you has just filled mewith the general feeling of caring and compassion for others. I call my friends more to follow up with them and make sure they're doing ok. I even love my parents and my siblings more! I want to do good things for people. I can't wait till I can pray thanks to Allah (swt). Weird huh? yea I can't explain it. With you in mylife the world is a great place to be in.

I feel like you "get me" even more than some of my closest friends and that feeling is so great. I feel that I understand you pretty well, and I can't wait for the day when I can make you happy and fulfilled and make the world you live an exciting place ;) I just think about all the things we can do together and I get so excited about thefuture. I can't wait to support and be your rock and always be therefor you-to comfort you when you're down and to share with you in yourhappiness. I can't wait to be part of your family and for you to bepart of mine despite the challenges that may come along with it. I amconfident there's no obstacle we can't overcome.

-----------------------------There's nothing we can'ttalk about and nothing we can't work through. You're my man!
Love,

Your Girl

Sunday, March 22, 2009

One of the best things about this time of year

Crawfish boil parties! MMMMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmm....

Yesterday I started out my day at the gym with 40 minutes of cardio on the elliptical. Then I had pounds of crawfish for lunch and way too much sushi for dinner.


If working out more makes me want to eat more, simple arithmetic tells me perhaps I should stop working out.


Today I feel sick. I don't want to see any sea creatures for at least like another day.

Friday, March 20, 2009

The Promise Ring


The trip to the jeweler was a surprise I didn't predict. He told me to pick out the ring I liked best. "This is to hold you over until you get the real thing....." or what's commonly known as a promise ring. I must have been glowing smiles because the sales lady told me twice I had pretty teeth. After trying on a few styles I ended up choosing one of the more simpler traditional-looking rings with tiny diamonds shaped into a square. Seeing me so happy made his eyes glow a brighter green. I couldn't keep my eyes off him with an expression that read 'I can't believe you'.

This morning I woke up so happy. Then I wondered, what does a girl do with the promise ring when she gets an engagement ring?

I've refrained from blogging about this aspect of my life, but I decided if I'm going to continue blogging it's just inevitable.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Three Days Internet Diet

It's been three whole days! Three (and-a-half) whole days since I checked my gmail, google reader, blog, hotmail, university emails, and even my facebook!

In fact, I only got online a minute here and there to look up a store address or get a restaurant phone number. The internet is great and all for specific purposes, but this detox period made me see how much I can actually do when I don't aimlessly surf the net for hours......such as aimlessly walking along the river for hours-hey at least that's physical activity! Or I can mindlessly talk on the phone for hours; no matter how trivial the subjects we're conversing about are, it's still human bonding-an essential need that people have.

So what's the longest time you've gone refraining from all tools of virtual communication voluntarily? If you can't recall the time then it wasn't long enough!

Friday, March 13, 2009

Books I Read in 2008

At the beginning of 2008 one of my resolutions was to read 50 books in 2008; that's about a book a week. I figured it was a realistic goal being that school didn't start until August and a small group of bloggers had started a bloggers' book club. So I looked forward to finishing up books so that we can discuss them. In order of how they're listed on my visual bookshelf, I read the following books that year:

  • Atonement
    by Ian McEwan

  • The Pillars of the Earth (Deluxe Edition) (Oprah's Book Club)
    by Ken Follett

  • Losing It: And Gaining My Life Back One Pound at a Time
    by Valerie Bertinelli

  • Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes Behind the Veil
    by Deborah Rodriguez

  • The Time Traveler's Wife
    by Audrey Niffenegger

  • 1984 (Signet Classics)
    by George Orwell

  • The Thirteenth Tale: A Novel
    by Diane Setterfield

  • The Alchemist
    by Paulo Coelho

  • The Shadow of the Wind
    by Carlos Zafon

  • Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia
    by Elizabeth Gilbert

  • Love in the Time of Cholera (Vintage International)
    by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

  • In Search of Fatima: A Palestinian Story
    by Ghada Karmi

  • Don't Sweat the Small Stuff--and it's all small stuff (Don't Sweat the Small Stuff Series)
    by Richard Carlson

  • Rich Dad, Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money--That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!
    by Robert Kiyosaki

  • The Secret Life of Bees
    by Sue Monk Kidd

  • The Secret
    by Rhonda Byrne

  • Half-Assed: A Weight-Loss Memoir
    by Jennette Fulda

  • Twilight (The Twilight Saga, Book 1)
    by Stephenie Meyer

  • New Moon (The Twilight Saga, Book 2)
    by Stephenie Meyer

    That's 19 books! It's less than half my goal but more books than I've read in any other year. The two I loved the most were The Time Traveler's Wife and The Shadow of the Wind, both were bloggers' book club books! I haven't been able to read as much this year so my personal goal is a book a month. The books I've completed thus far this year are:
  • I get the most pleasure out of reading a variety of genres. Right now I'm reading two books at the same time. I'm reading the relationship self-help book Men are from women are from Venus with a special friend, and I'm reading the short fiction The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night. I picked up The Interpreter of Maladies and The Namesake and I've also received Revolutionary Road as a birthday gift, but at the slow rate that I'm reading I don't know if I'll be finishing any time soon. I'm hoping to get into some Chuck Palahniuk sometime this year.

    Have you read an awesome book lately? Tell me about it!

    Tuesday, March 10, 2009

    Sp-ee-ree-nit Willa Fayrizon?

    I'm alway thrilled when I see my grandma's name light up on my cell phone.

    Grandma: Shoo abooch 7acha nazalto boss (bus) 3al urdun?

    Me: Mish bus. Suburban.

    Grandma: Shoo hath?

    Grandma: Ya sitti inti 3indich sp-ee-ree-nit

    Me: La ana 3indi Verizon

    Grandma: Yeeeeee yakshaili. Hatha Fayrizon bitla3 ghali 3alay. Ana Sp-ee-ree-nit.

    I swear grandmas are the best. Their innocence is just way too adorable!

    Wednesday, March 4, 2009

    Asoom the Car Saleswoman!


    I'm adding car salesperson on my resume. Let me tell you how fun this profession is!

    I'm helping my dad out getting rid of some cars in his overflowing lot so I set up a website that consits of lots of photos and one sentence entries. Then I advertised my website. Me and my dad negotiated a decent enough commission so if all the cars I list sell I could make what I made working a few months at my last part-time fun job.

    So far I've been up and running for 2 days. I take care of the emails, my dad gets the phones. He's already complained that my customers just like to call and ask lots of questions but noone buys and now he has a headache from the rings. Sheesh dude it's only been a day, I think he's just jealous he didn't think of this before.

    Did I mention I know nothing about cars?

    Sunday, March 1, 2009

    "They're boys, that's what boys do"

    My sister in Jordan decided to take the family suburban to pick up someone from the aiport as opposed to her own small car. She comes back to discover her car to be slightly damaged as if it was taken for a joyride during her absence. The most likely explanation and what almost certainly noone doubts happened is that my 16 yr old cousin who lives in the adjacent apartment got a hold of the spare key kept by my aunt.

    So when my sister called my dad to report what happened he yelled at her for driving the Suburban around, something she's not supposed especially not from irbid to amman. Ummmm what about her stolen crashed car?..."well they're boys, that's what boys do!"

    WHAT-EVER!