Book Review: The Perks of Being A Wallflower

 Just finished reading "The Perks of Being A Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky and I must say... if you haven't read it yet then you should. I heard a lot about it but never really got around to buying it until a friend just handed it to me and told me to read it. I was expecting a sappy teenage love story but on the contrary, it was the farthest thing from sappy. Although the characters were teens and it had tidbits that discussed love, it was definitely one of the most intriguing books I ever read. Start reading, and I dare you to not finish it within a week.

The protagonist "Charlie" is a naive teenage boy that discusses the events and details of his life in letters he sends to an unknown reader he calls "Dear Friend". He's as the books title directs you to assume, a wallflower; from a slightly dysfunctional family and is the farthest thing from ordinary. His trail of thoughts are written in his letters which gives the reader insight to why he acts the way he does without straight out stating the not so obvious.  I'm not going to give away the plot. Instead, i'm going to leave you with pictures of passages from the book in hopes something may spark your interest and encourage you to read it.

Opening Of Jusho

This week was the opening of Jusho, a Kuwaiti owned Japanese restaurant and I was honored to attend. Located in front of the Chewy Gooey Cafe in 52 Degrees, the tables and setting captures the theme of modern Japanese decor. The food was delicious, the staff was friendly and willing to make adjustments and more than happy put up with picky demands. The place is overall perfect to go to as a chic hangout with a group of friends.

I'll leave you with pictures:

The menu and table:

 The drinks: Lemon House Iced Tea, very refreshing specially for tea lovers.

Starters: Spicy Edamame and Salmon/Avocado Salad

The salad was one of my favorite dishes, what made it different from other Japanese restaurants was that there were tiny pieces of mango mixed inside and the sauce wasn't too mayo-ish making it perfect.

The Maki's:

Fried California: Everyone enjoyed the roll, but personally I don't like fried food.

Jusho Maki: Definitely something you'd go back for. 

M-B Maki: Also another really good roll, very light but still tasty. 

Jusho is owned and run by: Asrar Al-Ansari, AbdulAziz Al-Barrak, and AbdulAziz Al-Mojel

Twitter: @Jusho_Kwt

Instagram: Jusho_Kwt

Let's Make The World A Bit Brighter

     What if there was a way, that you could be a part of making the world a truly better place to live in? Would you want to? 

Would you try? 

     We all want to do good but sometimes can't think of anything there is to be done. We're blaming society for being corrupt and lacking a sense of humanity yet we are society. So to make it a better place, we must change ourselves and our attitudes first. This post is to inspire you and give you ideas about random acts of kindness that I hope you try at least one. Open your mind, heart and arms to new and different things. You never know what tiny act you venture will change the lives of those who are desperate for change. I'm not trying to breed a pack of Mother Theresa's, just giving out a few ideas to those who want to do good but need some pointers:

-We live in Kuwait, the weather in summer is scorching hot! Think of the workers who have to work outside in the hot weather. Some, work with metal equipment while we're lucky enough to be in air conditioned places yet still complain. 

Go to the co-op, buy a box or two of ice cream sandwiches, start your engine and go cruising around the neighborhood passing them out to all the workers outside.  Do the same with cold water bottles. 

-You're waiting at an office, changing room, by the pool, or wherever it is you are and there's a person next to you. 

Smile.

Say hello.

And if you're comfortable talking to strangers, then converse. Ask the next person you meet what their passion is, and share your inspiring dream with them. Who knows, you might be the kick of insouration a certain stranger needed. Strap your heart to your sleeve. Staple your passion to your tongue. Sew your dreams in your mind. Scratch your vulnerability into your chest. And tattoo your beliefs on your lips. And hope those beliefs are manifested with an open mind.

-Every Friday as muslims, the men attend Friday prayers and women stay at home to pray and read Quran. Friday's are blessed days for us, so why not make good of it and go the extra mile to give back to the planet or make someones day.  Muslim or not, one day a week should be every human beings duty to do something selfless.

If you have a garden, plant something in it.

Donate a Kd, or two after prayers to a street cleaner, beggar, construction worker, gas station attendant or whoever you feel needs it. 

Hopefully there's something in there that sparked your interest. If you have any other ideas or suggestions, do share! :D

سر مفضوح

I've been taking a shot at Arabic poetry lately and decided that i'm comfortable enough to share something i've written with you, my lovely readers. I hope you enjoy what you read as much as I found comfort in writing it. 

فوا كبدا من قصهّ لن تحكي

واكتم اسراري وانا بداخلي صراخ العجاجه

ينجلي هم و تتزاحم الافكار في ذهني

زحمهّ فجر اطلق الليل به سراجه

يتراكم همي المتلاوي

و ادور مواساهّ بين اهلي و اصحابي و القى كلن مع احجاجه

اشكي همومي و ارفع ايديني لربي بدعائي

و اثق بأنه رب البشر سيحسن تدبيرهّ اموري 

واعرف ان لو طال بي الدهر، الهم انا بلقى فراقه

يا عاشق الشعر شلي بينك وبيني ...إلا بيوت عباد الله تناقلها"

الشعر بحساسه يمثل مضاميني .... والناس بحساسها انا امثلها 

قدام تكت على الاشعار بيتيني ....تتعب على قيمة الفكرة واحللها 

 "الشعر ما هو قصايد بالدواويني ....الشعر افكاار والمبدع يوصلها

-فزاع

 ،بدأت بكتابهّ الاشعار بالعربي و اتمنى يعجبكم 

Thoughts That Breathe and Words That Burn

     I've fallen in love. Not with a person, but with words. Literature. It's fascinating how sometimes you read something written by someone else, their words. Their thoughts and feelings, written so perfectly that it feels as if it expresses what your own words have failed to explain. I'd like to share two poems with you, my lovely readers and hope that you enjoy them as much as I...  
    I wish I could be literature, so that my mind would know secrets of word weaving and storytelling. “I wish my blood was made of words, traveling through vein like phrases. My body a whole dictionary, my organs novels and encyclopedias. 

     I would breathe in letters, exhale metaphors, bite into punctuation, commas between my teeth, soliloquies down my larynx, epistolary journals against my lungs, and poetry, like oxygen, around my heart. I wish I could be literature, so that maybe, just maybe, my fingers would learn the patterns of storytelling and my mind would know the secrets of word-weaving, like a shuttle on a loom. Back and forth. Back and forth. Slowly building the colours, weaving my word-skin into the tapestry, and finally say: here, look, this is who I am.” 

I know it's a song, but this is one of my (many) favorite Khalid Al Faisal poems:

ياضــايق الصدر باللــــــه وسٍع الخاطر

دنـــــياك يازين ماتســـــتاهل الضيقه

اللــــه علـــــــى مايفرج كربتك قادر

والله لـــه الحكم في دبـــــــرة مخاليقه

حـــلو العيون إستهــــانت دمعها الحادر

كــف العباير حزين الدمـــــــــع ماأطيقه

حســايف الحزن يغشى وجهك الطـــاهر

والـــورد في وجنتك حرام تغــــــــــريقه

يفـــداك قلبٍ على ماتشتهي حــــــــاضر

يفـــداك باللي بقى لي من معـــــــــاليقه

مافـــات خَــلًــــه ولاتهتم من بــــــــاكر

واغـــنم من اليوم ماساقت توافيــــــــق

"Beyond my solitude is another solitude, 

and to him who dwells therein, 

my aloneness is a crowded market-place and my silence a confusion of sounds.

Too young am I and too restless to seek that above-solitude.  

The voices of yonder valley still hold my ears, 

and its shadows bar my way and I cannot go.

Beyond these hills is a grove of enchantment and to him who dwells therein, 

my peace is but a whirlwind and my enchantment an illusion.

Too young am I and too riotous to seek that sacred grove.  

The taste of blood is clinging in my mouth, 

and the bow and the arrows of my fathers yet linger in my hand and I cannot go.

Beyond this burdened self lives my freer self; and to him, 

my dreams are a battle fought in twilight and my desires, the rattling of bones.

Too young am I and too outraged to be my freer self.

And how shall I become my freer self unless I slay my burdened selves, 

or unless all men become free?

How shall my leaves fly singing upon the wind unless my roots shall wither in the dark?

How shall the eagle in me soar against the sun until my fledglings leave the nest 

which I with my own beak have built for them?"

~ Kahlil Gibran

I Dare You

To compliment a random stranger the next time you go out. Ignite a spark of  change. We're used to walking around and having death stares shot at us. Let's replace that ugly habit with your beautiful smiles! It doesn’t matter what it's about, whether it's their shirt, the colour of their eyes or the way they did their hair... anything. But you have to be sincere. It can be the simplest thing, but that’s the rule. You don’t even have to start a conversation with this person or stick around and see what effect it’ll have on them. Just smile, say the words and say good bye. That’s all.

You have no idea what impact you’ll have on that person and no matter how bad a day they’re experiencing,  you’ll most likely have made their day.