A BMW in any shape or form rocks but a genuine painting of a BMW given to me as a gift is colossal! Thank you!
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I finally got the chance to see the super moon at moonrise. Here are some photos that I took. I also learned a lesson or two. The first, make sure you know your camera by heart. The second one, I should have brought a tripod but got lazy so I paid the price. The shots that follow are not great by a long shot. They serve as a memory refresher and nothing more. Every time I take photos like these, I appreciate how hard it is to make a good shot. Photos after the break. I walked by this church the other day … 
Here comes Dr. Mike. This is what we would say when Michel Salameh pulled in to our driveway. Michel Salameh was a father, a mentor and a friend. He was a witty man always ready to comment and answer with an anecdote from the plethora of Arabic poetry that he knew. The prefix in his name was not because he was a doctor. Not literally at least. People called him Dr. because he owned and ran a medical testing lab. He often made house visits to draw and collect blood from patients. Michel Salameh had a keen mind and was never afraid to state his opinion despite the consequences that may occur. Hs education made him a strong advocate of science, an attitude that more than often put him in difficult situations knowing the highly polarized religious society that Lebanon has. I was saddened this morning to learn that Michel Salameh died last night, New Years Eve, in his warm bed in Roumieh, Lebanon. I can feel the void he left behind. In a sea of men with minds as strong as marshmallows, blinded by religious strife and social bigotry, Michel Salameh was a strong and solid paradigm of kindness, humanity and reason. He shall be missed dearly. 
New York city, my favorite city! The holiday season, the best in NYC! Yesterday, Dec 19, I went to see Christmas in New York. The city is ever so vibrate with the hustle and bustle of the holidays. I wanted to spend the entire day there, but unfortunately was unable to do so due to other commitments. I had to cut my trip to a few hours. You really need an entire day to walk through the city and see everything it has to offer. If you want to see the lights at night, you need more like a weekend! So to make a short story shorter, I went to see the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center and walked a few blocks around that. As much as I was yearning to stay longer, I was unable to. Nevertheless, the trip was well worth it. I love New York any time even for a very short visit. Read on to see some of the shots I took. I hope you like some of them. Merry Christmas! Continue reading Christmas in New York There is ALWAYS another way that is different or even better than yours. That is the lesson that I learned in the past week during my visit to a dear friend. The example is my attitude about the album Chinese Democracy by Guns and Roses. This may sound like a childish or trivial example but it is not. You can extrapolate it to almost any situation. Continue reading Chinese Democracy and a Lesson Learned Tis the time to be jolly! Every year, this time of year, I remember and reminisce about how it was during the Christmas season at home, when I was much younger of course. I grew up in the town of Brummana in Lebanon. I went to a Quakers school, Brummana High School. Back then, we had an abundance of teachers and administrators who came from Britain. When Christmas season came upon us, they all flew back home to their respective families, and I guess did not want to come back too soon. This resulted in us having about four weeks of Christmas vacation! It was great until you went back to school only to discover that you forgot almost everything you learnt in the pre-holiday term. Christmas is big where I come from, but Easter (The Big Feast) is the biggest religious celebration. Nevertheless, people all around us would put up the Christmas decorations and trees, about 2-3 weeks before Dec 25th and leave them until Epiphany (Jan 6). So when the time came, my sister and I would be waiting anxiosly to start putting up the Christmas tree to celebrate the season. My dad, would many times be against it. Why? Well, there were lots of people who were suffering due to the civil or regional war at that time and dad would not want to celebrate anything when others could hardly afford food or shelter. Of course, my sister and I were not happy about the situation but have to abide by the rules that dad set. As Christmas got closer, my dad would start mentioning putting up a tree and a few lights here and there. Yet, still the final decision was not made until Christmas Eve!! It never fails, almost every year, it would be cold and pouring cats and dogs on Dec 24th. Then I would hear the dreaded call, “Amer, you need to go to that place in the woods, that is next to that tree. When you get there, look to your left and you will see a terebinth, with bright red clusters. Then go to that place by our olive trees and get this shrub and that ivy… ” The list went on and on. I had to oblige, even if it were almost too late in the season. Partly because it was what dad wanted, and no one questioned that, and mostly because, hey, we are finally getting into the Christmas season with a tree! I should explain that our tree was never a traditional evergreen tree. It was a composite of different wild green plants and flowers. I remember, white oak branches were always in the mix. At the end of the day, it looked like a painting. My dad would have been dreaming about it for weeks before he would make the decision to execute. So I would put on my boots and a heavy coat, take a hatchet and a sickle, and off I would go. Around 4pm, it would start getting dark but I would still be out there trying to find what dad had instructed be to get. Soon, I would decide to come back home with whatever I could find. If something was missing, so be it! I would return home drenched and soaked from head to toe, dragging everything behind me. It was wet and cold, but I was all warm and fuzzy with delight and because it was a long hike! An hour or two later, the tree composition would be up with lights, ornaments and all, ready for Father Christmas to bring the presents that mom and dad could afford. Regardless, it was very rewarding to all of us since we all chimed in and gave ideas where things would go and how things would be. At the end of the day, I remember that I used to love sitting by the stove and enjoy the great creation that I worked hard to acheive. The whole experience put things in perspective. It always made me grateful for what I had knowing that others were not as lucky. My dad always made sure that we should never take things for granted and that we should always be thankful for what we have. So every year, the Christmas season is like a check light. Despite all the commercial hype and displays of all the things I do not but “must” have, it makes me evaluate and appreciate what I do have. I miss my childhood Christmas adventures, and I miss my dad. Merry Christmas to all! This past week we had one snow storm after the other, here in Edgemont PA. We even broke the record of the amount of snow fallen in one year and word is that we are getting more next week! Despite all its hardships, I love snow.
The photos below were taken with a Canon Powershot A570 IS. Continue reading Snow, snow and more snow … |
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