Desk Death

How many hours do you spend sitting at work, at home, in the car, in the diner....


well apparently it is killing you slowly!!


yes with the fast pace that life is taking, we are having 24+ hour days, we just don't have the time to exercise, to run, to be good to our back and legs!


i hope this infograph would help us realise the importance of a good stretching in the office, a good walk around the house, an hour in the gym a day...



Via: Medical Billing And Coding


And here is a video for 5 simple office stretches to keep us alive longer ;)





@Alexi13

DIY Fixes!!

Check out this graph for various fixes you might not have known about!! 

Here's the link for it

http://graphjam.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/funny-graphs-that-seems-useful.jpg

@Alexi13

Feel Smarter :)

Just a couple of hints to outsmart some victims you know ;)


(via @stephanienour and www.dilbert.com)


One way to feel smart is to pursue a lifetime of learning. But that's a lot of work. An easier method is to make the people around you appear dumber. I'll share with you some tricks for making your friends, coworkers, family members, and spouses (your victims) look and feel like morons.

1.      When your victim makes any statement of fact or opinion, look at him as if he's wearing a turd for a hat. Repeat what he said, but slowly, as if you're prompting him to see how stupid he is on his own.

2.      After your victim utters a statement of any kind, slowly shake your head in the "no" direction and make a dismissive sound such as "pffft." When challenged to explain your reaction, insist there is no problem, but do so unconvincingly.

3.      Pounce on your victim's every mispronunciation, misspelling, and poor choice of words like a hobo on a ham sandwich. Make sure you dwell long enough on your GOTCHA moment that it creates a lasting memory. (If people try the same trick on you, dismiss them as pedantic.)

4.      When confronted with a new but minor task, such as opening an unfamiliar container, most people require a few seconds of thinking and perhaps a failed attempt or two before they work out a solution. If you see someone in this state, grab the object out your victim's hand and try whatever solutions have not yet been tried, thus making you the successful container opener and your victim the failed container opener.

5.      Continuously instruct your victim to do whatever you think he or she is likely to do on his own anyway, e.g. "Don't step in that puddle." If you do it often enough it creates the illusion that the victim can't navigate the simplest obstacles in life without adult supervision.

6.      Ask your victim to remember details that no normal human could be expected to recall, such as the exact wording of a conversation that happened a month ago. This method can also be used to frame your victim as a liar.

7.      Ask your victim to remind you to do a future task. Pick a time for your request when the victim is distracted or can't write a note to himself, such as when he or she is driving or swimming. Later, after you remember on your own to do the task, remind your victim of his forgetfulness.

8.      Give your victim vague and unintelligible instructions such as "Can you go find the thing I put in the (mumble)?" When your victim fails to find the object, go directly to the correct drawer, produce the object you want, hold it high like Excalibur, and give a victory TA-DA!

9.      Steer conversations away from topics you know little about and toward topics your victim knows little about. If the victim tries the same trick on you, excuse yourself to make a phone call.

10.   Ask your victim to do a minor task for you. After he or she agrees, add a layer of complexity that will guarantee failure. The initial request might be something simple such as "pick up something from the store." The extra layer of complexity is that the item doesn't exist in this dimension.

That's a starter list. You might have some tips of your own to add, let us know!! 


@Alexi13

Building Blocks

Hey all!! 


SuddenlyTwo is back in action after a hiatus! 


This weekend i was reunited with a childhood love of mine, one of the best things to ever be present in a child's toy collection:

I un-boxed some new Lego toys with little young friend... the memory rush just hit me!


remember the excitment when you find those little colorful pieces, the crumbling of the plastic bags holding them while you open them so passionately, the sparkle in your eyes, the huge smile on your face... 


You then quickly unfold the building manual to start the Lego creation


And the fun started, i began showing the kid the ropes on how to follow the instructions, the colors, counting the number of holes, memorizing the underside of each block for better spotting during the build.. 


Halfway trough the build i got excited myself, i started giving him one part of the construction and secretly buidling another part behind his prying eyes, just to satisfy this hunger for Lego!!! 


The toy is such a marvel, gets your brain cranking, figuring out what goes where, how similar the toy will look to the drawings and the image on the box, and my best part of it all, if you can figure out the rest of the build when you are halfway through, without looking at the manual!


What i recall doing is building all the toys, displaying them for a while before dismantling them and throwing the blocks in a huge box where all the ex-toys lay... just to start pulling out the box and build from my own imagination!! 


I believe this is a toy ever child should be exposed to, whould be encouraged to build more and more to work out that creative side of the brain!! 


Here are pics of some interesting Lego "sculptures", and links below as well for more galleries!

http://www.henrylim.org/LEGOSculptures.html


http://legoisfun.blogspot.com/


If you have any Lego sculptures, tpys or pics of them in your archives, do share!! 


Happy building!! 


@Alexi13

Pepsi-Beer!?

Have you noticed the new stay-tab opening mechanism on the Diet Pepsi can... my first thought was how similar the popping sound is to opening a Heineken beer can!!! 


What do you think? do i like this tab or the previous one?

@Alexi13


Follow me on Twitter.com/Alexi13

TEDxDubai - Ideas Worth Spreadin'

TEDxDubai was held on Saturday 4th December in Dubai, with a collection of speakers sharing their ideas,,

Just a bit of history on TED, it stands for Technology Entertainment and Design, in short it is a conference where speakers are given an 18 min window to share their ideas under an umbrella of "ideas worth spreading", to leverage on the power of ideas to change the world.

TEDx is a program that enables schools, universities, businesses or individuals to have a TED-like experience by themselves hosting, organizing and designing the event.

This year's TEDxDubai in its 2nd edition built on further on last year's success, i'll be sharing my experience at the events and highlighting the points that i saw positive and the areas where work is needed...

The event registration was done by filling a form online and being selected for the event, then receiving a digital barcode as a confirmation! A green approach to a paperless registration and entrance, very well done indeed, i do hope to see this being picked up by others soon, makes it so easy, and avoids losing your ticket ;)

The goodie bag was differently thought of as well, it was a specially designed scarf for TEDxDubai, tied to form a loose handbag, with a note pad inside, indeed a nice touch, and was worn differently by the attendees, some held it as a bag, others as scarfs, others as a headband, i tied it to my backpack :p ... 

The wristband also was designed differently, with a clip on mechanism, and made of cloth instead of those annoying rubber or plastic ones which you must rip off after an event,, this was a nice keepsake, as well as your key to get into the after party at ARMANI/privee later in the evening.

This year's event was titled REBOOT, and as per the TEDxDubai blog (http://tedxdubai.com/blog/tedxdubai-2010-reboot/), it revolved around

The list of speakers consisted of the following: (Read More) 

El Mariachi !

FINALLY ! 

after 3 years sittin in its coffin, the guitarrrra came out!! i enrolled today to take classes and try to master the instrument!


Went over to the Sing n Swing center in Ibn Battuta Mall, and met the teacher, his name is Nitin Joe.. very cool guy, if u ever wana learn, he the man!! 


so we started by restringing my guitar since i had a broken string,, and we were off!! 


i opted not to follow the classical type of music on the guitar and more into the spanish,, since i wana play hopefully the classic spanish ballads and rock songs and such... 


First off, got accustomed to the notes, the chords and the scales,, and started practicing them with the teach, and gettin some tips on hand and finger positioning..


yes it was frustrating to see how difficult it is to control each finger to hit the notes well, was a bit boring since you kinda keep on repeating the scales.. and thats how it will be for the next couple of weeks till i get it right :D 


i must say when i saw him playin the notes so easily, that was it, i must practice hard every day!!! 


hopefully next time ill post a vid about me playin my first correct notes :D 




@Alexi13


Follow me on Twitter.com/Alexi13

I See You and the World Through You

Je t'aime (by @LaSahely)

Waiting for Godot?!

did you get 5 mins to think about your day today? 
did you get 5 mins to think about your parents today?
did you get 5 mins to think about next week's plans?
did you get 5 mins to think about that pending favor for a friend?
did you get 5 mins to read about world news?
did you get 5 mins to practice your guitar lessons?




in this modern day and age you barely have some alone time, to either check up on your family, friends you havn't seen since college, practice on your new guitar... we live in such a fast paced age, such a flooded system, that we developed the special skill to cram and live a + 24hrs day into a single day... 




i am lucky to still have the now scarce "Me Time" almost every day,, with my daily commute from DXB to ADH, i get to have some "Me Time" to enjoy, whenever my boss (who rides with me almost daily) is on the phone.. i get to switch off from the world for coupla minutes during the long straights on the drive (thank you cruise control and comfy seats!!) These are like tiny bites of ur fav chocolate, where you can forget about the coming surprises in your inbox, the freezing office, etc...




yet the best time i have found to really switch off from the world, escape it all, and forget about everything, and indulge in the much needed self reflection which keeps me sane in this crazy world!
my refuge, the plane!! 


yes the plane is becoming my favorite place in the world right now (other than my lover's arms). With an almost monthly commute in the phallic fuselage, ive grown accustomed to its serenity. Surely my best isolation tools (Beats n iPod 160GB) come in hanndy to fliter out the screaming babies, the talkative "OOO-MMM-GGG, cnt-believe-u-r-on-the-same-plane-as-me convo people", the snoring neighbour and the random PA annoucement of the captain's horn blowing,, 

and this is it, you, alone, your fav track ON, a good book/movie/anime and you are off to an amazing time... away from the whinning of your other half, the smartphone! to be able to just have 3 hours of peace while awake,, this is priceless!! 




this is when you plan your weeks to come, this is when you organise your activity list, this is when you take your time missing the ones you love, this is when you come up with your best ideas, this is when you are you...




take a trip people, u deserve it !




@Alexi13


That's my buttermint for the day


Follow me on Twitter.com/Alexi13

Pandora's Box

love, life’s pandora’s box!! 

My All :)

so full of surprises it does not come with a manual, so scary that the only protection is abstinence, gives you such a high that coming up with a cure is banned, so heart warming that global warming might be a result of it,, 

never thought id be writing about love, i mean there goes my man card out the window ! 

well, how many of you think that these fairly tales we read about are so hard to come by? how many of you think that soul mates are only in movies? how many of you have listed your perfect match criteria and then started to cross off stuff just to find som1? 

The thing about love, is how unexpected it is, you could be walking down the street bump into the woman of your life, say sorry and smile and find urself happily ever after, or say hi and smile and walk away without both you knowing what might have happened... i never accepted that and always followed through after the hi n smile,, till i found her...

till i found my baby girl, till i found the one who makes me laugh hard, till i found the one that warms up my heart with her smile, till i found the one that can reach with her arms around the world just to hug me, till i found the one that bakes the most amazing cakes, till i found the one that can give me the best goosebumps at the best and most unexpected times, till i found the one that can Ikea my heart as her own refuge with such ease, till i found her,,, 

all of that at the most unexpected of times, i found love, the journey is crazy and never enough!! 

i love her 

@Alexi13

Follow me on Twitter.com/Alexi13

Boys And Their Toys

So I went Karting today!! 

Yesss Yess.. boys and their toys!! 

It all started out of boredom, when one day we decided to pass time me and some buddies, all of a sudden we find ourselves competing with each other for the best lap times (duuuhhhh, we are boys!! hellooo!!!) 

My buddy Zee is a formula 1 freak and loves it, he started sharing how most F1 drivers start off in karting, and we asked around and found that some competitions are on the calendar in the Dubai Autodrome! Ali and Zee, HOOKED!

We started training more, gathered some friends, got the support of our company and entered a 24hrs endurance race!!! yes the results were good :D 

Another round of this race is up in 4 weeks and we had our first training session 
tonight,, 

It is quite a pleasure to be part of a team that strives on friendly competition, we are able to push each other to our best performances with the classic guy teasing process!! Guess our male hormones are the hardest to control, our ego always finds a way to pop up and challenge others, even when we know we can’t be up to the challenges! Yet, I believe this is grounds for a healthy team spirit, ok sometimes ;)

Tainted Ink?!

  

Tatu, or most commonly know as Tattoo or Ink, a marking made by inserting indelible ink into the dermis layer of the skin to change the pigment for decorative or other reasons, is considered one of the most controversial forms of body modification/decoration or as i like to see it, ART!

you guessed it, im inked, 4 pieces of art to be exact,, 

My Hand of Fatima or Maryam

I've always been interrogated about my ink:

- where, when did you get?

- does it hurt?

- what does it mean?

- but ur name is Ali, isnt it haram (legally forbidden by Islamic Law, and other religions apply here)?

- do you regret them?

- why did you get one? two? three? four?

- is it addictive?

- can you remove it?

Well, to be honest i do not mind answering most of the questions, they are part of who i am, they each relate to a single or many pit stops in my life which i have chosen to keep forever to remind me of them and for other various personal reasons. 

The question which bothers me the most though is #4!! simply because religious beliefs are some of the most personal to a person, one's relationship with the deity he worships is to be only probed by himself, and himself alone. Don't you think i would've thought of whether it was or not, of whether i might be seen as a Kafer (Those who deliberately hide the truth; unbelievers, truth-concealers; one who is ungrateful), don't you think that this is my personal decision and none of your business? well i did my part and looked it up and came up with some interesting findings!! here goes....

To start off, tattooing is forbidden in Judaism, Christianity and Islam,, guess im screwed wherever i go ! now the juicy why(s):

- Fundamentalist Christians consider it to be an activity that was done by Pagans, so non-believers, thus haram.

- Catholics, well i guess this sums it up,  Leviticus 19:28, which reads "You shall not make any cuts in your body for the dead, nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves..." 

- Jews take it a bit further by stating that "tattooing is simply something NOT done", et voila!! and the Germans worked on this quite well, if you ever wondered why Jews in concentration camps used to be tattooed with an identification number, yes, it was an act to separate observant Jews from their God.

- Islam, now here is where it gets tricky, since there is no apparent instruction in the Holy Qoran (as per my research), but rather a series of Hadeeths (narrations concerning the words and deeds of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Hadith are regarded by traditional Islamic schools of jurisprudence as important tools for understanding the Qur'an and in matters of jurisprudence) well,  the most specific one goes like this "cursed the one who does tattoos and the one for whom tattooing is done", moreover, other scholars/ important ppl in Islam have said that 

      - “Islam denounces excesses in beautifying oneself when it alters the physical features that Allah created him with. The Glorious Qur'an considers such alterations as inspired by Satan, who "...will command them (his devotees) to change what Allah has created...” (An-Nisa': 119)

      - “May Allaah curse the women who do tattoos and those for whom tattoos are done, those who pluck their eyebrows and those who file their teeth for the purpose of beautification and alter the creation of Allaah.”

Soooo, apparently its forbidden to pierce, tattoo, enhance, alter and bring any modification to your body, since it is a an act of Satan, to modify the appearance which God gave you, which in turn is apparently "perfect"

My Rocks

Well, the Islamic point of view, since i am most concerned by it, since the question i get start by "but your name is Ali,,,", so basically, i am a Kafer, an unbeliever (face palm!!) but hey, isn't my grandma also who is a devout believer since she dyes her hair , isn't my sister who has pierced ears, aren't most women who have "enhanced" body parts? isn't my dad who has teeth bridge? hmmm arent the poor animals we eat which are tattooed in order to keep count and identification? 

too many questions which surely i am not the right person to answer, 

a quickie though, funnily enough, if a person converts to Islam, all his previous sins are exempted hmmmm,, but this is for another time to explore :)

Finally, personally i see them as part of who i am, as snapshots of my personal history, as art on my body... i do not truly care what any1 thinks of them, they are on me, for me :) my relationship with the Divine is between me and him, and im sure ill sweet talk him into giving me a "free jail pass card"...


P.S: all ink done at the best studio in the middle east Skin Deep by the famed master Hady Beydoun 
check out his FB page http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2251836098

And there's my buttermint for the day :) 

@Alexi13

Follow me on twitter.com/Alexi13

One Half of SuddenlyTwo (@Alexi13)

wasssap peeps! (yea, not the wisest start for my first blog post i guess :$) 

well a snapshot of who is @Alexi13 is in order so here goes!

Born into a multicultural family with an Arab and European mix, in the land of cheese and wine... i am what you might call the mischievous rebel when growing up, always being questioned about my heritage; a fairly challenging experience considering i grew up in one of the most diverse countries sociologically wise, the land of the Cedars, the land of the Phoenix, the ex-Switzerland of the middle east and soon to regain its title! I've always valued my parental background and so glad my parents have been able to show and teach me the best and worst about their background, their experiences and life. I was still subject to failures and successes like any other teenager growing up, but ever so glad of becoming the person i am today, the pride of my parents, the pride of my lover, the crazy friend of my social circle, the achieved professional i am to become.

residing now in the UAE, Dubai more specifically, i ventured into the world of digital media and marketing and have become a, hmmm, let's say "consensual victim" of the web and the social media cloud that has spawned around the world. Working in one of the biggest local and regional media company, with an amazing team, i am bound to share much of the knowledge and experiences i go through with you all.

You might wonder what makes me so special to blog, to be worth reading, get to know; in all humility, i am one of those persons who likes to keep a positive mark with everyone i meet. The buzzing bee i am allowed me to grow an amazing circle of friends, within my home country and the desert, friends who became more of a second family to me in the recent years. I believe one of the essential things in a person's life is the circle of friends, the circle of life (yea huge Disney fan :$ ) one builds; and my circle has proved to be the best support i can have in any endeavor, but that is another topic to blog about.

ddnt think my first post would be so long, or so personal, i hope it is not some random blabber to some, but just ddnt know where to start or to end, and found myself writing and writing...

well you'll get to know the crazy me in my future posts, my zest for life, my passions, my friends, my interests, the love of my life, family, views on this unpredictable life we are living!!

big shout out to everyone out there!!  hellloooo?!

@Alexi13,

follow me on twitter: twitter.com/Alexi13

there's my buttermint for the day!