I Get Confused

 

This song is pretty much the story of my life right now… (ps, video has nsfw bits)

 

 

 Get Confused by Fischerspooner

 

Do I like to have confusion? Yes I do
Am I, am I in any danger? Yes I am
Do I like what‘s happening? Yes I do
And can I deal with it directly? Yes I can

I take the trouble, I take the time
I get the feeling that I‘m doing what‘s right
I may be reckless, maybe a fool
But I get excited when I get confused

Will I have to start all over? Yes I will
Had I the right to make those statements? Yes I had
Shall I meet with opposition?
Did I justify my actions?
Have I forgotten what the question was?
Yes I have

 

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Hot New Blog: Let Em Eat Cake!

My friend Emma just started a new blog that is so fantastic, I had to write a post and tell you about it. Let me first introduce you to Emma as best as I can, because words can’t describe her fabulousness. Em works as a creative cow in a herd by day and a fierce force at London's clubs and parties at night. She also manages to terrorize and disturb the readers of Trend Hunter magazine whenever she can.  Her new blog ‘Let Em Eat Cake’ is a delicious serving of sinful cyber sweets that are very very bad for you but taste oh so good. There is occasional artistic nudity in some of her blog posts, so proceed with caution but be ready for a fun time.

 

+ Let Em Eat Cake

+ This Is Herd (Where Em works as Cow)

+ Em in Trend Hunter Magazine

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New Year Resolution: A Mistake!

It's almost 2009. And with everyone flaunting New Year resolutions, I figured I'd be realistic and admit that I've been screwing up and making mistakes most of 2008. So in acknowledgement/celebration of that, I would like to share the song 'Mistake' by Fiona Apple from her album 'When the Pawn Hits the Conflicts He Thinks Like a King...' 

Check it out in the above video and part of the lyrics below. Pretty poetic.

-----

I'm gonna make a mistake, I'm gonna do it on purpose

I'm gonna waste my time

'Cause I'm full as a tick, And I'm scratching at the surface

And what I find is mine

And when the day is done, and I look back

And the fact is I had fun, fumbling around all the advice I shunned, 

And I ran where they told me not to run, but I sure had fun, so

I'm gonna fuck it up again, I'm gonna do another detour

Unpave my path

And if you wanna make sense... What you looking at me for?

I'm no good at math

And when I find my way back

The fact is I just may stay, or I may not

I've acquired quite a taste for a well-made mistake 

I wanna make a mistake.. Why can't I make a mistake?

----

+ More Fiona Apple

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Me & Kanye West Are Blog Buddies!

Yup, I was ecstatic last night to find out while visiting Kanye West's official blog that he posted about and linked to an article I recently wrote at Trend Hunter Magazine. 

So yeah, we didn't like hang out or go clubbing together, but the man read my article, liked it, posted it in his blog and linked back to my article. So that's kinda sorta blogosphere buddies. Pretty sweet!

Funnily enough, the article is about a door knob that is a light (or is it a light that is a door knob?). See how it went here!

 

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Old Collages

I’ve come across this image as I was organizing and cleaning up my hard disk and files. I created this ‘collage’ a couple of years ago. I was bored one afternoon and had some time on my hand so I decided to create a custom desktop wallpaper image for my PC. It was pretty random, and not really artistic or carefully done as you can see. I just used images from albums I was listening to, a couple of images about my country Syria and my city Aleppo, and even a pic of my nephew pointing his finger and laughing at me. I figured I’d post it here before it goes to trash. Now that I look at it, I get motivated about creating a new one that reflects my current state and mood. Let’s see if I get around to doing it. I will post it here as well.

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New Blog Announcement

 

If you are familiar with The Arab Aquarius, you know that fashion photography is one of my favorite blogging topics. I started this blog back in January 2008 as an outlet to share what I find cool and interesting. This includes music, fashion, art, advertising, photography, design and just about anything.

 

After posting many editorials and fashion photoshoots both here at The Arab Aquarius and at Trend Hunter magazine, I figured it is time to start a blog that is devoted to this niche of fashion photography. Say hello to Fashiontography. Fashiontography will be all about fashion photography, which includes fashion editorials, magazine covers, fashion ad campaigns and photoshoots.

 

I hope you like the new blog, bookmark it and enjoy many creative fashion photography posts in the future.

 

The Arab Aquarius remains my main blog, and photography will still be a big part of its new content, but fashion photography in particular will  be the niche of Fashiontography.

 

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Arab Aquarius Update :: Feedback Please!

Hi Everyone.

I made a little change to the blog's template. Now it has 3 columns instead of two. The size of the post area is now a little bit bigger, and the extra column gives me more space to organize my other content.

Also, since my blog has a rather 'open' vibe that includes fashion, music, fun advertising campaigns and design, I started adding an 'identifier' word to the titles of new posts to make it easier to tell what the post is about. So for example if you don't fancy a fashion post, you can tell from the title which starts with "Fashion ::" and just scroll to the next post without having to study the content of the post.

Ofcourse you can always use the labels I provide at the top of the right column to filter the content according to what you like.

I have also adjusted the posts to be expandable, so that I can have the post display a bit in the main blog, and if you want to see the rest of the content you click on the link to read the rest of the post.

I think this is better because some posts have too many images, so the reader has to scroll down for too long to get to the next post.

If you have an opinion or recommendation about these changes, or any other change you'd like to see, please leave a comment in this post or drop me an email.

I would love to hear from you.

The Arab Aquarius

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It's a mad world

Such unnecessary violence is just sad. Over this past weekend, a suicide bomb attack in Damascus, the capital of my country Syria, killed 17 innocent people and left many injured. That is the deadliest attack in Syria since 1986.

Just because someone decided to kill as many as he can on his way to 'heaven'...

We live in such a mad world...

+ read more: 1 , 2, 3, 4

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The First Taste >> Never is a Promise

Fiona Apple's debut album, Tidal, came out back in 1996 just when I started to develop my own taste of music beyond the popular top 40. I was fresh out of highschool and it was during that time that I started listening to Tori Amos, Bjork and the alt rock scene.

It was two years later, sometime in 1998 when I was living in Jordan, that a friend and music lover (hola Tarek, wherever you ended up!) made me this mix tape (yeah it was when tapes where still used, I am THAT ancient) which contained a collection of brilliant songs. Two of the songs on that mix tape were from Apple's debut album, The First Taste, and Never is a Promise. And as corny as it might sound, I fell in love with Fiona Apple from the first taste.

Even though the songs are 12 years old, they are still my favorite Apple songs, the melody and lyrics are just brilliant. Give them a listen and let me know what you think.


SONGS

>> Fiona Apple - The First Taste

I lie in an early bed thinking late thoughts :: Waiting for the black to replace my blue :: I do not struggle in your web, because it was my aim to get caught :: But daddy longlegs, I feel that I'm finally growing weary of waiting to be consumed by you :: Give me the first taste :: Let it begin, heaven cannot wait forever :: Darling just start the chase :: I'll let you win, but you must make the endeavor

>> Fiona Apple - Never is a Promise

You'll never see the courage I know :: Its colors' richness won't appear within your view :: I'll never glow the way that you glow :: Your presence dominates the judgements made on you :: But as the scenery grows I see in different lights :: The shades and shadows undulate in my perception :: My feelings swell and stretch, I see from greater heights :: I understand what I am still too proud to mention, to you :: You'll say you understand, But you don't understand :: You'll say you'll never give up seeing eye to eye :: But never is a promise, and you can't afford to lie.
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Size Matters :: is 13 inches big enough?

Hi everyone! Sorry for not updating the blog much recently. I have been practically without a PC for a few days.

The display of my notebook of almost three years (Toshiba Satellite) died. Since the notebook is not under warranty anymore, replacing it with a new display turned out to cost almost half as much as the price of a decent new notebook these days. So I decided to buy a new notebook and then either find a used display for my old Toshiba or just get an LCD and hook it up. 

I went back and forth between getting another 15 inch notebook, like my old one, or getting a smaller more compact one. Since my notebook is my only machine, having a big screen is desirable for both work and entertainment. But because I move around and travel pretty often, I finally opted for a 13 inch Dell Vostro which weighs just 2 kilos. I think the portability is more important, and if I find that the small screen is just not enough, I will most likely get a nice LCD screen to hook it up at my place.

The Dell Vostro is not the coolest kid on the block. It is actually far from it when it comes to the looks. However, being a business class notebook, it's performance is solid and its price was right for my budget.

I will be getting it after a few days, so be patient with the scarce updates, and I promise you to have lots of nice posts up after I get the new notebook.

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USM Granted Apex Status

Congratulations to USM (University of Science Malaysia), where I am currently doing my PhD, for beating all other Malaysian universities and being granted the APEX status.

Apex (Accelerated Programme for Excellence) is an effort by the Malaysian government to drive the selected university to compete with the best universities in the world of education. This includes hundreds of millions and various other support programs.

By giving USM the Apex status, it is projected to break into the world’s top 100 universities ranking in 5 years, and top 50 by 2020.

+ read more

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Secrets

+ Pictures credits

LISTEN / DOWNLOAD

>> Placebo - Commercial For Levi

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How Ironic...

I took this picture on July 17, 2008 in Shah Alam, Malaysia. A pretty conservative city right next to the capital, Kuala Lumpur. It's at the swimming pool of the condominium where my brother stays. I find it completely ironic that pools in a somewhat-conservative Islamic country forbid swimming in shorts and demand speedos. Go figure!

Needless to say, I swam in my shorts. Not out of shyness, but I need to loose a few (ermmm, more than a few) before I don a skimpy swimming suit.

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Happy Six Months Anniversary

It's been six months since I started The Arab Aquarius, my first foray into blogging. I never thought it would bring me so much joy and open up new horizons and opportunities that may be career and even life changing. I started this blog because I thought it was about damn time I had my own. And I wanted to share what I like and find fascinating in music, fashion, design and anything else. As you can see from the archive, the blog is still evolving and maturing.

The greatest thing that has come off this blog so far is that it helped me join and start writing at the awesome Trend Hunter Magazine in February. My first few articles in Trend Hunter used material from posts I already wrote here. It gave me the confidence and guts to try it out. Since then, The Arab Aquarius has been both influencing and being influenced by my experience at Trend Hunter.

During these first six months, the blog has attracted over 60,000 visitors and 100,000 page views. Which, to me, is simply amazing, considering it is just a personal blog. I thank all of you who read this blog. Those who followed my journey since its start, and those who are new. I hope you enjoy it, and I look forward for the next 6 months.

In celebration of this mark, here are the top 5 posts with most traffic during the first 6 months of 2008:

1. Crying Men

2. Weezer - Pork & Beans

3. Batman: Got Milk?

4. Toyota: Well, At Least He Drives a Prius

5. Handcuffed with Sony PSP

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Pictures from Syria

Oh how I've missed my home country. It's been over a year and a half since my last visit. I came upon these beautiful photographs taken in Syria by New Zealand based photographer Ben Smith.



I miss the clothes, the food, the weather, the faces, the relatives and the obligatory "gossip".

If you ever consider visiting the middle eastern region, make sure to visit Syria and experience it's unique blend of the old and the new.

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Read Me in T3

Four of my Trend Hunter articles are featured in the May issue of T3 magazine! Super awesome!!

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Sweeeeet!

I am honored to be "promoted" into a senior Trend Hunter within a very short time of my joining the awesome TrendHunter.com

I am also very very honored to be the featured Trend Hunter.

See my top 20 trends here

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I'm Covered in Darkness

Been spending so much time underground >> I guess my eyes adjusted to the lack of light >> I got covered in darkness >> Covered in darkness >> Hibernating :: always waiting for something new >> Happiness always ending in the blink of an eye >> There was no one attending >> No one attending >><< Ever wonder why I never really truly connect although my eyes are open? >> I can hold your gaze :: but I am never connected >> Never connected >><< Turning pages over >> Run away to nowhere >> And it's hard to take control when your enemy's old and afraid of you >> You'll discover that the monster you were running from is the monster in you >> Better to hold on to love >> Change will come... >><< It doesn't really matter where it all began >> All I know :: I was lost >> I feel lost >> Lost :: No

Darren Hayes

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KL KL

I am visiting Kuala Lumpur for a while, so my posts will not be regular as usual. I Love KL!

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Good to be Proven Wrong!

I had to go to my embassy in Kuala Lumpor yesterday to process some papers. To say it was a complicated process is an understatement. One part of it involved tracing stamps on three passports for me and three for my brother. I was dreading it beforehand, I have always faced trouble, bureaucracy and delays when processing papers at government agencies. I was glad to be proven wrong this time. The embassy was extremely helpful and accomodating, and with the help of its super nice officers (thank you Mr. Hamza and Mr. Samer) I was able to finish processing the documents and get the papers I wanted within the same day. The effeciency of the embassy made me proud to be Syrian.

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