Thursday, December 8, 2011

The Sweetest Fruit

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been listening to this song a lot lately,this part always catches my attention,very touching and meaningful.


Inspiring how you're proud of your scars.


Dark as night,you look out for the stars


Beautiful,and you are proud of your flaws.


you don't ask for an approval or a round of applause


but my heart claps in rhythm and all


and my eyes cooled by what they saw


beautiful just the way that you are,


and when i see you i remember Allah


who else could have been known but you.


like a pillar standing firm in truth


a tree with the deepest roots


the darkest berries and the sweetest juices


and the proof of your labor is your baring fruits


submission to the wind cause you graceful moves


and you are humble in your modest ways,


the arrogance stopped,the lower gaze,


you over speaks of the darker day


you made it through,


you are the proof we are gonna be okay


cause only struggle can produce strength


and your eyes i see it taking shape


like a current curves the river banks


once winding like a snake


so over time it will always take


the path that is truly straight


over time it will always make,


the river carved till the path is straight..


the Poet/rapper is Baraka Blue,a Sufi Muslim from Seattle,with his roots originally from Yemen, he has this interesting way of blending rap and hip hop in a genre that he calls spiritual hip hop.


The Song on Youtube...those lines start at about 3:11



Monday, December 5, 2011

The Curious Case of Baby Eloise and Emma Di Silva

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The Curious case of Emma Di Silva...who was announced brain dead after a car accident,but with her husband insisting to keep her on life support and letting her 19 days old baby sleep on her chest daily for skin to skin time,she woke up and came back to life.



On the 14th of March 2011, Emma De Silva and her 19-day-old daughter Eloise set out for their daily afternoon walk. Only metres from home, a car mounted the curb knocking Emma into the air, before colliding with Eloise in her pram.

Baby Eloise suffered head and shoulder injuries and was in hospital for a week. Emma suffered catastrophic brain injuries and her husband, Yoshi, was advised to turn off her life-support machines. He refused, but Emma was so severely brain damaged she was not expected to recover.

Once Eloise was discharged from hospital, Yoshi was determined to ensure mother and baby had the chance to bond. He began a daily ritual of taking Eloise into the hospital and placing the tiny newborn, skin-to-skin, on the chest of her deeply unconscious mother.

At first there was nothing, but what happened next defied all medical expectations. When Eloise was placed on her mother, Emma began to move: first a fluttering of the eyes, then a finger. Finally, after being in a coma for 84 days, Emma woke up holding her baby daughter in her arms.


Both Yoshi and Emma’s doctors are convinced that skin-to-skin contact with Eloise played a vital role in Emma’s miraculous recovery. Dr. Graham Reynolds, a leading Australian Paediatrician, Neonatologist, and Ambassador of IAIM says this makes sense. “It is not exaggerating to say that touch is probably one of the most important aspects of healthy development for both parents and a baby.”

“For unwell and premature babies, touch can literally mean the difference between life and death. Skin-to-skin contact reduces the time these fragile babies are in hospital and it improves their development in the long-term. Even for healthy babies, touch affects all aspects of a child’s development – such as sleep, settling and even their long term mental health and their behavioural, cognitive and social development.”

“Skin-to-skin contact with their baby also affects the brain activity of mothers. It reduces anxiety and improves brain wave patterns. Controlled trials have shown mothers who attended a baby massage course with the International Association of Infant Massage experienced reductions in symptoms of postnatal depression, and their babies developed much better over the long-term too. Yoshi’s instincts to bring Emma and Eloise together were spot on.”

Emma is now looking forward to a long and happy life being a mum to Eloise. With help, Emma is able to feed her baby and care for her in ways that most parents take for granted. But both Emma and Yoshi have a punishing road ahead with an unrelenting physical therapy program, and the need for specialist equipment and ongoing supports.

The IAIM classes are open to all families with a baby up to 12 months old, and are suitable for healthy babies as well as those with additional needs. Dr Reynolds says, “This is a wonderful way ordinary parents can help out the DeSilva family, while at the same time bringing a part of Eloise’s magic touch into their own lives”




From The international association of infant massage


Follow up on Emma here

This Video is not to be missed!




Tuesday, November 29, 2011

#JedBlueDay : Remembrance of Nov 25th

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November 25h, marked the second anniversary of #JeddahRain tragedy that happened back in 2009, a historical rainstorm that marked a day of unforgotten tragedy to all the residents of the city, with a death toll of 120 lives (reported) and more than 350 people missing.

No one who lived in jeddah can deny the damage that affected every house in jeddah that day,if you were safe,someone who is related to you,your friend or coworker,must got affected,either by his house getting flooded,or his car,or at least got stranded in the streets that were at that day nothing but a catastrophic scene of chaos.

of course media and social networks rage followed,a famous hashtag was created #jeddahRain and everyone is blaming the other on why this happened,some said the rain was the heaviest in 27 years and the cities infrastructure was not built to withstand such soaking rain, others blamed the flooding to the corruption and negligence of certain officials and government sectors who were responsible to foresee such events and prepare for it long term and short term.
City residents demanded a public prosecution of all the officials who were responsible for the tragedy, and as we all know, an investigation was initiated,however up until this second, no one have been condemned or found guilty.

Stories are a lot,scars are even more,memories are stuck in everyones minds, sadly in a city that rarely sees rain like jeddah,its population does not get excited when they see the dark clouds like they used to anymore,it immediately puts the city under alert and the families hold their kids from going to schools and everyone gets ready for a scene that they pray for it not to occur.

its 2011 now and the rain season is upon us once again,on the anniversary of that tragic day,a group of jeddah youth were gathered in the district that was one of the worst victims of that day,and in an act of solidarity to everyone who was affected by the tragedy they did a field visit to all the houses and families that the volunteers helped during those dark days and as a reminder of the tragedy so that it will never be forgotten.

you can see a youtube of the event here :
it ended with the saying "We will never forget,We will never forgive".

Shoura Council Member Mr.Najeeb alZamil wrote in AlEqtisadiya newspaper about this youtube sharing his sentiments with the youth.

What is your memory of that day? where were you? do you know anyone who got affected by the rain? share your experience.


Tuesday, October 18, 2011

8 Parentings best kept secrets

7 comments

Kids are a blessing,they fill your life with joy,laughter and unreasonable happiness,but everything comes with a price,some are fun,and some are just meant to be remembered after its all said and done..so i am giving you inside info about what you might face in the future so you know that you have been warned! here it goes:

-your vacuum will go out of the job, you son will suck everything before the vacuum does

-the last place to find your bookmark in, is your book, and if you were lucky, it's never on the page you were reading.

-your hair brush becomes you kids favorite fork for spaghetti,and some times if she was a girl she might experiment hair style using spaghetti and noodles.

-your ten minute naps are always full of surprises waiting for you when you wake up.

-diaper rash cream is your kids favorite shaving cream,and some times, hair gel too.

-your kids can give you a live demonstration of how destructive a nuclear bomb can be, just leave them in a room for ten minutes while you shower, it's more than enough for the disaster to happen.

-Morning Alarms will become history,you will always hear "mama" when its time to wake up,give it ten more minutes of extra sleep and you will get a vibration function with too little hands shaking you to wake up.

-finding your belongings where you left them will be a thing of the past, it will be so forgotten you will tell your kids bed time stories about how once upon a time there was a man called daddy,and he used to leave his wrist watch on a coffee table,and comes back and find it right where he left it!


Yet,you will still be very happy for all the things they do,and you can never be thankful enough for having them.. :)
Are you a parent? share some of your hidden gems!

Monday, October 17, 2011

Mile Street [Photo]

2 comments
So,i am finally getting the courage to do something i always wanted to do,i will start publishing some of my photography work here in my blog,but i will keep the ones on my blog to show the process through which i deliver my work.

This Photo was taken in Chicago in Winter 2009..it was a rainy/snowy day in the Mile Street,the most well known shopping spot in Chicago.

Please roll your mouse over the image so you can see the image,straight out of the camera,and after editing and processing.



I am not a photojournalist,my work is not meant to be an accurate replication of the reality and its not intended to deliver it.
i take pictures to express a vision i have in my mind and i work with the aim to deliver that image to the viewer,so the image that you see might not exist in reality as you see it,but how i visualize it through my camera.

So Welcome to my realm,sit back and enjoy,and i would be glad to hear your comments,and if it got good interaction,i shall make this a frequent post.




Saturday, October 15, 2011

What can you miss in 4 years?

1 comments
Two weeks ago,the US media paid close attention to the Italian courts in the law suit against Amanda Knox the US exchange student who was accused in 2007 of sexual assault and murdering her English roommate Meredith Kercher in her apartment in the widely known quiet city of Perugia,Italy.

The conviction was reversed and she was exonerated,she finally returned home in seattle,WA,among her family and friends once again.

Undeniably,such incidences are not something that anyone would want to happen to any one anywhere in the world,its shocking and grieving,especially with the conviction reversal,the trial was not considered a victory,since the real killer remains unknown and on the loose.

i paid close attention to the trial on what growing to be my favorite radio channel WUNC,as i heard all what was happening and the circumstances of it,my mind dived in its own thoughts,how an exchange student full of enthusiasm and excitement flying to one of Europe most iconic countries,and within a week her life turns up side down,and remains so for 4 years.

so i thought "i wonder what did she miss in those 4 years,after all,4 years can pass in front of someone like a blink of an eye.
so i decided to do some research,to see what are the key events that happened in 2007-2008,2009,2010 and 2011.

A lot! Not only Amanda missed the running,election and inauguration of her country's first African American President,and the running of the first female presidential candidate,or the death of Saddam Hussain,but also missed witnessing the infamous financial crisis of 2008,which still resonate with effects till today.

Summoning my research,i found that Amanda have missed over 500+ global events in the time she was in jail,and i only realized how many they were when i decided to list them in a blog.

but then again,as i took the back seat in my usual procrastination,overwhelmed by the amount of events that took place in those four years,i gave it a second thought.

Amanda is an average American girl who went to study outside of her country when the mishap happened,so what did Amanda really,really miss?

i came up with a few:


-She Definitely missed the inauguration of President Obama,and Sadly she was released in a time when his popularity is on the decline.
-ِAm sure she did not miss the job market decline,probably she won't believe the drop in economy and how it affected life in US.
-Last time she used a cellphone,it used to only make phone calls,texts,and some phones have emails.
-She missed 4 Generation of the revolutionary iPhone,the Phone that changed communication,and yet evolves to improve day by day.
-She missed the Launch of Android OS,the iPad.
-She Definitely missed 5 seasons of Greys Anatomy,3 Seasons of Lost,2 of Prison Break.
-Last time Amanda used the internet,Facebook was merely a social website to connect with your friends,i bet by now she is in a culture shock of what Facebook is now.
-Twitter,the 140 letters that flipped 3 presidents and was a cornerstone in the ignition of the Arab Spring.
-YouTube becoming a replacement for entertainment and TV for many internet users,last time Amanda used youtube,it was still something very new.
-Music enthusiasts significantly shift from CDs into Digital MP3 as the main way to purchase,listen to music.
-Netflix Online Streaming,which started in 2008.
-Paris Hilton going to Jail,and Britney spears going bold,Micheal Jackson Dies and his Funeral becomes the first live youtube funeral in history.
-Apple Takes the lead to become worlds biggest computer corporate.
-Definitely she missed this
-And this


These are probably the highlights of what would the average Amanda have missed,i bet she have a lot of catching up to do, luckily for you Amanda,missing on technology means you will only get whats coming next,which is always better,so will follow up pretty quick.

What else,follow readers,do you think Amanda would have missed?



Disclaimer: This post is intended to be light weighted post about what is considered to be a heavy matter,so the humor is intended,and its NOT by any means intended to degrade the loss of Amanda's friend and Meredith's family,its intended as a light hearted welcome back to Amanda Knox to the US.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Blog under Maintenance

0 comments
Folks,i am doing some renovations on the blog,and for that you might find some of the comments are missing,i am enabling a way to make it possible for Facebook, Twitter, google IDs to be used in comments,in hope to get more traffic into the blog and hopefully revive it and give it a good jump start.

it should be resolved by tomorrow,hopefully.

i appreciate your patience and i really appreciate you passing by!

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Kawasaki Disease: A Parent's Experience.

8 comments
No,its not a disease related to the Motorsport bike.

Kawasaki disease is an auto immune disease where the body develops antibodies and attack blood vessels,and causing Vasculitis,or inflammation of blood vessels,it usually develop in children below age of 5 and most commonly infants and toddlers...the is a racial predominance in Asians,but it does occur to different races and ethnicities.

Signs and symptoms starts with a fever that doesn't respond to medication,and stays for over 5-7 days,also,the child lips and oral cavity becomes reddish and its known as strawberry tongue..the skin might show red patches that resemble rash,and a very distinguishing symptom is the bloodshot red eyes,they eyes look so red as if its a horror movie.

If the disease left untreated over 7-10 days,the inflammation will involve the coronary arteries that supply the heart,and develop aneurisms...and result in myocardial infarction and death.

The tricky part about this disease that its diagnosis is purely clinical and highly,if not solely depends on the pediatricians knowledge and experience with the disease,its frequently misdiagnosed,and always dismissed as throat infections and children are given antibiotics,which of course doesn't work.

Its treated by administration of IVIG "Intravenous immunoglobulins" which tricks and attract the circulating antibodies and sort of "bond to them" and sort of "neutralize them"

If this treatment is established in a timely manner the kid most likely will recover completely,and the heart should remain intact,if it was established at a later stage and after cardiac involvement,the child will recover and should remain under continuous observation for heart changes from the aneurisms,treatment also involve anti coagulants like aspiring in low doses daily for a period of up to six months,depending on how much damage there was,giving aspirin is controversial but this disease is one of very few indications to give what other wise considered a drug not recommended for kids.

It was the love of god that got us to treat our daughter on time,being in makkah at the time we went to a pediatrician who diagnosed it as a typical throat infection,i and told us the eye is reddish from lack of sleep,gave her antibiotics and that was that..thanks to her mother who was not convinced,and her pediatrician back in US who was very vigilant in giving antibiotics,we decided to take a second opinion, so i simply put a Facebook status to help me find a good pediatrician,and one recommended her Pediatrician professor in Jeddah,and we went to him.

Imagine your self in my place,he was very warm and welcoming,asked us how did we get to know his practice..then asked whats up.
as i started telling him,and in the middle of me speaking,he suddenly stops me and ask me another question,and as soon as i say my answer he cuts up my answer and ask me another...i was fuming..but carried on,in the again he asked us who referred us to him.
then he asked us,whats our financial status? i told him we are students...no jobs yet...he immediately referred us to the teaching hospital he teaches at and gave us immediate admission papers,and broke the story down to us.

He told us he immediately knew her illness the second he looked at her,and his repetitive questions were to double confirm it,he was worried and rushing to send her to the hospital and establish the treatment,he told us you guys must be really good people,as he did his subspecialty training in this specific field and he have extensive experience in it,and he thought we were referred to him specifically because of that from another pediatrician,and he was stunned that it was pure coincidence.

We went to the teaching hospital,a friend of mine helped us in the admission,who was an intern there and i am very thankful to her,the treatment was established immediately,and she was admitted for 24 hours,the fever went down,almost immediately as the treatment started.

Now this is where i believe it was divine intervention that got us through,her treatment at the teaching was absolutely free,it didn't cause us a dime,and if we were sent to a private hospital it would have costed us 80'000 Saudi Riyals,yup,80 grand!
the IVIG was giving in 8 fluid bags,each cost about 10'000 riyals,and IVIG treatment is known to be extremely expensive world wide,i tell you,its love of god.

But it didn't stop there,the same day,after she was cleared and discharged,we went and dined in our favorite place,and went back home,my daughter and her mommy were sleep deprived and dead tired,they laid on the bed,mommy was hugging her daughter to sleep before she put her in her crib..but both slept..so did i.

Suddenly,we woke up by a loud cacophony of a glass bowl shatter,and a scream who i recognized to be my daughter,in a split second i woke up,turned the light and went to her side of the bed,what i saw was horrifying.

My daughter was on the floor,surrounded by a pool of blood and tiny million little pieces of glass fragments from the bowl we used for cold compressions last nigh,her face was covered in blood from a wound in her forehead,we cleaned her as carefully as we can,and took off immediately back to jeddah once again at 3 am in the morning.

Luckily X-rays were clear,she had superficial wounds and a deep cut in her nose,but fully recoverable,no fragments were forced into the nostril,Hamdulillah, We however, were traumatized by the whole experience,it took us a full month to relax and sooth out the tension that built up,i remember waking up every two hours to check on her fever and everything.

We just got her ECG and ultrasound done last week and she was cleared and her heart is intact,we stopped aspirin for good,and a routine check up is planned every six months.

As a parent, i learned that you can never be careful enough,and no matter how careful you are,accidents will still happen, and all you can be is a caring parent,don't look at what happened,and think of what you can do ahead,it was a horrible experience,i am glad it ended,and i pray to god no one,no matter who they are,would go through it.

This was supposed to be a short comment that blew out of proportions O.O i took the liberty of posting it as a blogpost in my forsaken blog. i shall say thank you to Under The Abaya,as she who got me to write this post by asking about it, which by the way,is the second time i write this post,because the first time i wrote it was deleted by mistake!


Tuesday, September 20, 2011

How does it feel?

4 comments
to be 83 and outlived your entire generation?


lets hope this time i can get the wheel up and running,i really,really really,miss blogging.

Thursday, September 1, 2011

formspring.me

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Go Ahead,ask me anything on your mind. http://formspring.me/Dentographer

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

The Senior and Me

5 comments
Me: Hey! Check this out,its called an ipad 2,its an apple product,but i want to show you somthing in it that i think you will really like!

Him (Senior over 60 of age) : show me.

Me: *Launches Quran Reader HD app*

Me: so as you can see,this is a quran app,you can read the quran,change the font size,translate,recite and do everything with a finger of a button!

Him : nice,how much is this?

Me: well its 499$ for the ipad and 7 dollers for the app.

Him: pricy..!

Me: Well,this is all what you need in one simple app! it even gives you tafseer!

Him : hmm,sounds good,but check this *grabs a copy of quran*
this is the holy book,printed in the size i want,i can read it,recite it,and it has tafseer and translation on the side,printed clearly enough to read it,and its free,so why would i pay 700$ for something i can do for free?

Me: *leaves angry*
Me: @#$@)*$&#&%#$))!!!!!!

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Hello?

6 comments
Is anybody still here? i miss you all,any body miss me?

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Book Review : From My Sisters Lips

1 comments
From My Sisters' LipsFrom My Sisters' Lips by Na'ima B. Robert

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


The Author describes her and others journey to discover islam,she talks about how her perspective in life changed and how everything is viewed differently after she embraced Islam.


the book can be divided into sections,where each section discuss a different topic,it begins by the journey in discovering a new religion by someone who is least to say a feminist rebel against all restriction,and living it large.


the second part talks about the after math,the journey in learning and educating them selves the teachings of islam and how they fight their own thoughts to reach a convincing reason within to practice what islam says.


third part discusses life in practice of islam,Jobs,relationships,sexuality,marriage,families,fashion and night life,before and after and how it impacted the muslim women personality and psychology,and motives.


the book ends by what the author believes is the ultimate gift she found by islam which is the sisterhood of muslim women,which the author believes it as the strongest bond she has found in her life.


the books is an interesting read,enlightening even for a muslim born like me,however, there are some ideologies that i don't agree on and to me it shows a stiff representation of islamic teachings.


obviously the book carries feminist ideas all through,which is understandable coming from an author who were a feminist activist, and still could be,but in a different mold after islam.


the Book was given to my wife as a gift from a revert muslim who recently joined islam and found the book interesting,i think this book gives a candid insight into a sample of muslim women who are living in the western world,described in their own words.

From My Sisters' Lips



View all my reviews

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Rest in Peace

2 comments
....My cousins death,was by far the deepest event that ever took place in my adulthood,left me with so many questions and so many thoughts i barely pass a day without thinking about it,it changed me.
he was one year older than i am,single,and taking care of his mother and sister since he was 12,he was a week away from finishing his training and starting a new job.
working 12 shifts and comeback home at 10pm half past dead only to find a grumpy mother yelling at him to take her to a wedding,he never disobeyed his mother so he took her,on his way back..a collision happend because he couldnt keep his eyes open.
went to the hospital..two days and discharge papers said nothing wrong with him,with only some contusions that will go away,they gave him paracetamol.
a week after,he couldnt endure the pain he was in,he cant go to the bathroom cos he cant pass anything out..he turned yellow.
all hospitals rejected to take him unless he put a minimum of 5000 Saudi riyals down payment, he went back to the hospital he was admitted in the first time.
upon inspection,he was diagnosed with an undiagnosed lacerated intestine,and his feces were pooling in his abdomen from that wound.
went to surgery,from surgery to ICU from sepsis,from ICU to the hands of his creator.
his death caught us all off guard,it took me a week to realize that his death actually meant he is dead,i kept asking my dad what do u mean he is dead? are u sure he is not just asleep or in a coma? then it slowly settled. he is gone. forever.


he was the person in our family that went through the most struggle throughout his life,from the day his parents got separated,to the day he died,literally. he only finished high school, then he looked for a job to support his family,he might have done alot of wrong in his life,but he NEVER failed his mother,always there,and always provided food on the table.
we grew up together,i remember everytime we got into a fight,everytime we laughed,everytime we both got beaten by my dad for doing somthing wrong.
i remember the day we stole grandpas car,we almost hit the wall of our nextdoor.

now that he is gone,i recall everything he said to me,i really never understood why he thought so highly of me,he was the most supportive among all my cousins every time i speak to him about my life and what i did so far,he was so proud of me,more than i am to my self,always spoke of me with pride,and always repeated "no matter what u become,a dentist,a photographer or anything else,you always remain the same person who i grew up with,and for that,i consider you the most genuine"
if i only knew that he said all that he said to me because he will depart this soon,i would have reacted differently every time he said something.

now that he is gone,everytime i see my kids,i remember that his hands didnt touch them,everytime i capture a photograph,and comments spree on them on facebook,i recall that his eyes didnt see them,everytime a happy incident happen to the family,i remember that he is no longer there to celebrate it.

people die,i have other relatives who died before but it never hit me the way my cousins death did,i still wake up at night and do nothing but thinking about him.

i move on from event in my life fairly quick,but this one seems like its gonna last for long.

but i promise you this my cousin,every success that i will achieve in my life from now on,is dedicated to you,because you,Ahmad, never doubted who i am.

R.I.P
Ahmad Al-Yamani, you will never be forgotten.
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P.S. this post started as a post for 2010 outcomes and 2011 resolutions,but ended up with this,you will know why in my next post.