Awesomeness Documented

This morning I did something incredible:

(That there is some mighty fine parallel parking for one who's never done it before!)

Or at least it felt incredible--until I stepped out of my car:

D'oh!

For a Monday Morning

When she learned that she

Didn't have to plug into
Someone or something
Like a toaster into a wall

When she learned that she
Was a windmill and had only
To raise her arms
To catch the universal whisper
And turn
turn
turn
She moved.

Oh, she moved
And her dance was a marvel.

--Carol Lynn Pearson

It's a new week.

Make it marvelous.

Cool Middle East Stuff

It's been 6 years and two days since I moved to Emirates! For the first time, I mean. How crazy is that?

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Here's a link to my parents' photos from the Middle East: here It's really cool, and I am so jealous of their travels.

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Tomorrow I'll be checking out the Organic foods store in Dubai Mall. I'll take the Metro, which unfortunately smells like portapotties. What is up with that? It's worth the 40-minutes of Stank and the ten minute bus ride to get there. The more I go to that mall, the more I like it. I hope to take lots of pictures. Whether I post or not is another matter entirely.

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My friend and I cooked and ate dinner at my sweet new apartment tonight. I forgot to take pictures though :/

The weather was lovely today. On the way to my sweet new apartment, I looked at the dash and then said to my friend, Wow! It's only 40 degrees! I love this!!

Later, we were sitting on my balcony (I have a balcony!) eating guacamole and asparagus and talking about what a lovely evening it was.

How lovely exactly? Well, you can find out for yourself at temperatureworld.com. Or:

104 F

I really love the summer. Even when I don't have any ice cream to eat :(

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What else do I love?

These folks:

From left to right that's: Jyms (I guess it's actually "James" but the way he says it, you can't tell), Me(!), Isaac, Esther, and Evans. Today they taught me that "Mambo" in Swahili means 'Hello'. So does 'Jambo' (which *always* reminds me of that one part in Mean Girls). Esther is going back to Kenya this week :( but said I could visit any time! :) So the only question now is: Who's coming with me? Safari, baby! YEAH! Also: Kenyans! Woohoooo!

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I know I still owe pictures of....everything. I might get around to them sometime.

For now, here are some photos of me eating ice cream:

Being spoonfed chocolate ice cream in Salt Lake City, 2009

Spoon Me! (fro yo) with Kalli during my visit in 2010

Some put on a game face. I prefer, well, this:

More Spoon Me :) Acai Berry and Chocolate with strawberries, raspberries and chocolate chips :d

In front of the Astronomical Clock, Prague, July 2010 That's my second serving (4th scoop!) of raspberry and chocolate gelato. I got one (two) more before the night's end :)

Bakdash Ice Cream in Damascus, Syria, 2010. Raspberry and Chocolate again. One of the guys gave me a free cone (not pictured). I love this place, and not just because of the free scoops :)

May your summer be filled with exotic travels, beautiful people, hot (but insanely gorgeous!) weather, and lots and lots of delicious ice cream.

Until next time,

Le Ray

FOUND

Last Fall, the phone I'd had for five years--my very first cell phone ever that I (my parents) bought when I first moved to the UAE--finally gave out. I was unemployed and broke at the time, so I went to the store and got a cheap-o replacement.

Then this summer, my genius self managed to leave that phone in Utah. After a month of being out of touch, my dad insisted I replace it. This time, I went to the store and found an ever CHEAPER cheap-o replacement, but it was Motorola and I really loathe Motorola phones. I was lamenting the situation to my boss one day (before the crappy ol' Motorola entered the picture) and suggested I get a work phone.

And I was like, Oh great. A work phone so I can work all the time and never again have any excuse for missing an email or call or text or facebook notification.

But then I learned I could get a Nokia, and I really love Nokia phones.

So yesterday, nearly two months after ordering the phone, I got it! The Nokia C5. She's soooo lovely. A little dumb--I still haven't been able to access the internet?--but beautiful and easy to use and oh how I missed my Nokia!!

I didn't realize until yesterday, though, how much I missed having a camera on my phone.

Check this out:

This is the view from my desk:

I call it my office 'sweet' (heh heh)

Last night, I went grocery shopping with my Kiwi BFF at a store called "HyperPanda". (I am not even lying.) One of the great things about this store is it has bargain bins! DVDs for less than 10 bucks, baby. Yeah. That's where I found this:

It's Hercules in Arabic!! I didn't buy it.

But the even cooler thing about HyperPanda, other than its name obviously, is its Best Sellers bin.

Sweeney Todd, I Am Legend, Blood Diamond, The Departed, The W--whaa?

Yep. The Work and the Glory--all 2 of 'em! But I don't mean, Only 2 DVDs. They had dozens of copies of The Work and the Glory! At HYPERPANDA! In the UAEEE.

This, friends, is why I love having a camera phone.**

**Well obviously a real camera would have been just as good. But my stupid battery is dead and I'm moving and can't find the freaking charger and it's a US charger anyway so even if I did find it, I would also have to find the adapter and I really don't know where that guy is loiterin' these days.

Also, I'M MOVIIING! Pictures to come!

Soon!

Probably!

Maybe?

:/

Do You Know TED?

Guys, I am not even going to get into my love for TED. I won't even mention my secret desire to win the lottery for the sole purpose of going to TED every freaking year for the rest of my life no matter where in the world I am or how much it will cost to get to TED.** And I certainly won't mention that I love good talks so much, I have an iPod playlist devoted solely to speeches.

Nope. Today, I am just going to share with you THIS amazing man:



And this one, too:



because he is amazing for completely different reasons. He's also an excellent speaker with AWESOME things to say.

Watch both. And then explain to me how THE HECK Keith Barry does it. WOW. He blew my mind. And does he not have such a cute little accent? I like in the beginning (~:29) when he's like, And various 'udder' techniques. haha.

Oh, and if anyone is keeping track of these things: I just had a birthday. None of you got me gifts. (I keep track of these things.) I think, if you want to make up for it, you should really get me this, You can pool your money if you want! I'll do the rest of it.

**Please don't remind me that cost is not the only factor in attending this conference. *sigh*

23! ...again

Today is my birthday. (Happy birthday to me!)

Last year was my 22nd birthday and it was really lame. Partly that was because I had moved to Jordan a few weeks before and got into the habit, at age 21, of telling cab drivers I was 23. I didn't ever consciously decide to be 23. It's just that one day a cabbie asked me my age and I blurted out 23, only to realize that I hadn't even turned 22 yet. What??

And then I did turn 22 and not a soul in the country knew about it. That was lame, but then again, how often do you get to celebrate your birthday in secret? I bought my friend Maranda dinner at the mall (Indian food!), and then we went shopping at Carrefour (oh man. if only you knew how funny that really is) where I bought myself The Alchemist and single-serving containers of ice cream, which we ate while watching the third Pirates of the Caribbean.

I think I'd have preferred ice cream cake, candles and celebratory comments, but it was alright. Indian food, ice cream and Johnny Depp really make for a great celebration :)

Today was much different. I was with a hundred other people with whom I've spent only the last 48 hours, and they were awesome! First thing this morning, they were sending me birthday wishes. This afternoon, they sang to me TWICE. And this evening, they bought me a little ice cream cake and lit a tealight on top. It was so sweet (and delicious!).

Oh yeah, and I'm in Prague right now. Here are three of today's pictures:

This city is beautiful. ♥ ♥

This is me and Jeanne:

She is Australian and over 60 and the coolest woman ever. She's here with her husband Bob, and last year she went to Peru and hike Machu Picchu! She's also spent a night in the Burj al-Arab. I adore her and wish I could take her home with me as a birthday gift for myself.

It's late now and I must wrap up this post. And since you all can't be here with me, I'll bring a bit of me to you:

Shirtless Europeans!!

♥,

Me

A few things about life that are cool

First of all, meet Kandee Johnson. She's a makeup artist/blogger/YouTube guru who is just so awesome that my usual emphasize-by-capitalization won't even do her justice (so I didn't even bother). She has lots of great videos, ladies, but I think my favorite is this one:



Be nice to yourself--and your skin--today and try the Lemon Trick. It's *so awesome*. And funny! For the Win! (I use fresh lemons on cotton rounds.)

She's also the one who taught me about the wonders of olive oil. She didn't lead me to this page, but something in one of her videos led me to do a search which ended in this page. So who, besides Genius Makeup Artist Extraordinaire Kandee, knew that olive oil actually helped cleanse your skin of OIL? How cool is that?! Guys, it's so cool that if you were here with me, in person, right now, I would totally let you caress my face. And yes, 'caress'. Because with skin this smooth and moisturized, it's all you would think to do. Mmmmmm.

Try that, too--the oil, I mean. (Caressing will come later.) I recommend doing it right after The Lemon Trick. Your skin will freaking glow! It's so awesome.

Second, last night was taco night and our friends made salsa. Made salsa. Mmmmmmmm.

Third, Toy Story 3. I saw it this weekend. As with the above, I will dispense with the usual hyperbole and write simply: Go see it.

Fourthly, Spain and Germany are playing tonight. I'm a little bothered that The World Cup has boiled down to three European teams, but you know what? Spain is in! And that's what counts. I can't wait to watch.

5thly, I'm getting an apartment this weekend. Or, more accurately, starting the month-long process that will end in the keys to a sweet new Dubai domicile. Yessss.

And finally, next week is my birthday. After another year of waiting, it's here again! And I will be spending it in Prague. Unfortunately, I'll be wrapped up in conference stuff all day, though that is decidedly better than being wrapped up in office stuff all day in the hot, humid university-by-the-landfill. I'll be in Prague! I hope I get to eat really good bread.

You know what else I hope to eat? Good vegetarian dishes. They asked me on the application if I had any special dietary needs and I said I was vegetarian.

I hope I don't regret it.

Love,
Me