My Life

This week is sure to suck... Tests in EE, Calc2, Physics, and Computer Science, and a paper on Violence in America for Rhetoric, making this the hardest week i've ever had the pleasure of experiencing at SMU! So sorry if the blog's not updated with anything cool in the next week (if at all). Later haters!

a survey... ON STEROIDS!!

I was really bored, so I filled out this long-ass survey. Oy vey. Anyways, if you care at all about my favorite flavor of ice cream, or every little thing i've done in the last 24 hours, then this is the post for you!

1) What is your name? : Chris
2) Your Age? : 18
3) Star Sign? : VIRGO
4) Parent(s) name(s)? : Oscar and Maria
5) Pet(s) names?: I have a turtle, but he doesn't have a name
6) Road name? : whats a road name?
7) Village / Town? : Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
8) How many siblings do you have and what are their names and ages? : 1 sis, Angelica, and 2 bros, Oliver and Michael
19) Have you always lived in your current house? nope
10) What hospital were you born in? : some place called Medical City in Dallas
11) Who is your best friend? : I don't believe in having exactly one best friend
12) Do you have a boyfriend/girlfriend? : not currently

Appearance + stuff:
1) Your hair color? : jet black
2) Your eye color? : brown
3) Height? : 5 feet, 7 inches, and a little bit
4) Weight? : it changes a lot, but between 150 and 155 lbs
5) Shoe size? : 10.5
6) Your best feature: I dunno, you tell me
7) Your worst feature?: I can be shy as a mofo
8) Feature that everybody comments on? The perfect symmetry of my hair
9) Clothes you are most likely to be seen wearing? Jeans...
10) Glasses or contacts? Both, but I wear my contacts more often
11) Piercings? : nope
12) Tattoos? : nope
13) What perfume/aftershave do you wear? Coolwater or Coolwater Deep by Davidoff
14) Which celebrity have you been compared to?: I can't remember any

Love Stuff:
1) Do you believe in love? : most of the time
2) Soul mates? : I believe in compatibility... not really in destined soulmates though
3) Do you have a boyfriend/girlfriend/crush? : I've got one crush... maybe its you! :-)
4) If so ?what is their name? : wouldn't you like to know...
5) How many relationships have you been in? 2
6) Have you ever been in love? : im not really sure that I've even experienced love before
7) At what age did you lose your virginity? : an age I haven't reached yet...
8) What do you first notice about the opposite sex? : it's hard to notice someone's personality before anything else... so the way it goes for me is eyes, smile, then personality
10) What do you look for in a boyfriend/girlfriend? : someone who's open minded, and beautiful both on the inside and outside.
13) How old were you when you had your first real kiss? : I dunno like 5 years old
14) What is the best type of kiss? : the type that means something...
15) What turns you on? : ummm I'll get back to you on that one, you perverted survey you
16) Where do you want to get married? : LAS VEGAS! Haha, naw I dunno, I haven't really thought that far ahead.

In the last 24 hours have you...?
1) Eaten? : yes
2) Cried? : via yawning...
3) Met someone new? : yea
4) Bought something? : yup
5) Told someone you loved them? : nope
6) Had a serious talk with someone? : yep
7) Missed someone? : I miss lots of people 24/7
8) Hugged someone? : nope
9) Argued with someone? : I don't think so...
10) Told a lie? Yeah... just a lil one though :-)

Random:
1) What's in your mouth? : Chewing gum
2) In your head? At the moment? Well, remember that crush I have......?
3) What do you wish for?: Not to sound like a supermodel or anything, but I wish for world peace... and for a mini cooper!
3) What's next to you? My guitar
4) Listening to? : Two Points for Honesty by Guster
6) What do you want from life?: Satisfaction... and a mini cooper would be nice
7) Who are you talking to? : a few friends on AIM
8) Who do you miss that you haven't seen in a long time?: my family... and my G Tyler from Saudi!
9) Are you happy with your life? : sometimes... I try though
10) Would you change anything from your past?: nothing worth mentioning

Do you... ?
1) Believe in psychics? : yes
2) Believe in heaven? : yes
3) Believe in God? yes
4) Attend church? : sometimes
5) Have a job? : professional procrastinator and afternoon nap taker!
6) Smoke? : no
7) Drink? : not regularly
8) Take drugs? : NO
9) Have a role model? Not one specific person
10) Regret anything you have done in the past week? : not studying harder for my Computer Science quiz

Favorites:
1) Favorite colors? : Most shades of blue.
2) Favorite place to be?: Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
3) Favorite season? : Spring
4) Favorite animal? : Rabbits
5) Favorite item of clothing? Any of my 4 pairs of jeans
6) Favorite song? That's a really tough question!
7) Favorite film? : The Boondock Saints, or Disney's ALADDIN
8) Favorite food? : Middle Eastern... or TACO BELL!
9) Favorite subject at school? : Right now, my English class
10) Favorite past time? : playing the guitar
11) Favorite object? : my guitar
12) Favorite actor/actress? : Can't think of one in particular
13) Favorite TV show? : I don't watch much TV other than Mavs, games, but SCRUBS is a badass show.
14) Favorite sport? : Squash
15) Favorite flavor ice cream? : Cookie dough

Lasts:
1) What was the last thing you ate?: STALE-ass popcorn
2) The last thing you said out loud (not on MSN)?: "bullshit"
3) Last person you phoned?: Tyler, up in CANADA!
4) Last time you cried? : I can't remember
5) Last time you got drunk?: In the summer
6) Last promise you made?: I don't remember...
7) Last time you said 'I love you?and meant it?: Does it count when it's to your parents?
8) Last time you thought about sex?: please... I'm a guy
9) Last person you kissed?: Probably my mom, when I left from Christmas break... damn that's a long time!
10) Last film you watched?: My Sassy Girl
11) Last thing you bought?: Foooood at La Madeleine
12) Party you went to?: Barties are stubid
13) Person you danced with? : I can't remember

Choices:
1) Hugs or kisses? : hugs, cause they can be used in so many ways
2) Summer or winter? : Summer, for shizzle
3) Day or night? : either/or
4) Early or late? : late
5) Stay in or go out? : I'm down with either
6) Flowers or chocolates? : mmmm chocolate!
7) Christmas or birthday? : Christmas, hands down

More random questions...
1) What is your best talent? : I try to be sensible...
2) What is your worst habit? : AHHH! PROCRASTINATION
3) Best thing about your personality? : I don't know... YOU TELL ME!
4) Worst thing about your personality? : That sometimes I'm not outspoken enough
5) Proudest achievement? : making the honor role at Taft!
6) Embarrassing moment? : One time time in 4th grade I farted during story time... yeah that was pretty embarrasing
7) Five things you wish you were able to do but can't?: play the guitar better, speak Arabic, repay my parents for everything, make all the right decisions, think of a fifth thing to say
8) Describe yourself in one sentence? I try to be open minded, responsible, and optimistic... sometimes a little too hard.
9) Where do you want to be in 5 years time?: Done with grad school and working.
10) Where do you want to be in 10 years time? Married and making money? Ahhhh I don't really think that far ahead.
11) What is the next Cd you hope to buy? BUY??? CDs??? Nonono... STEAL and MP3s!!!
12) What is the next movie you hope to go and see?: The Pacifier hahaha jk, I dunno maybe something foreign for a change?

A Long Post

The entire situation surrounding Terri Schiavo and her feeding tube is rocking the nation and sending us into debate. For those of you who don't know, Terry Schiavo is a brain damaged American woman from Florida, who has suffered severe brain damage since becoming the victim of a severe heart attack. Apparently, for a while now, her husband has been trying to have the tube which keeps her alive removed, allowing her to finally rest in peace, and escape the complications of her life. Much of her family, however, does not want this tube removed, and wants Terri to keep living. On March 18, the tube was removed for the third and most likely final time. Since then, numerous appeals by Terri's family have been denied by the court, and for the time being, it looks like the tube will remain disconnected. It's a pretty sad story.

The whole case of Terri Schiavo brings up all kinds of issues, like euthenasia, legal guardianship, and such, all of which have been debated, but not quite as hotly as they're being debated right now. We talked about euthenasia last year in my Ethics class, that's why i'm writing about this now. Now, i'm not gonna talk about Democrats and Republicans and what each is arguing for and all that crap. Personally, i'm not entirely sure myself whether I believe the tube should be in or out. The issue being debated is, but shouldn't be, about whether the husband or the family has guardianship over Terri. What everybody should be asking themselves is whether they themselves believe she should die.

Obviously, without bringing religion in to the matter, the only person who has the right to decide whether someone lives or dies is that person him or herself. But when you have a situation like this, the issue becomes really complicated. At what point should it be left up to someone else to decide the fate of another person? The big question to answer here is "at what point does "life" end and "being a vegetable" begin? The current popular standard seems to be that life ends at the point at which a human being is no longer an autonomous being, and is uncabale of acting for him or herself and making decisions. There are extremists out there who believe that it is not the mind which defines life, but the body, and that as long as a body is functioning, that body is alive. But for now the standard seems to be fixed upon the state of the mind. There's also the question of even with MRIs and brainscans, can we really be absolutely sure that there's absolutely nothing going on in Terri's head?

Obviously, different people will have many different answers and solutions to this issue, as everyone has different views on religion, life and death, and all that good stuff. Like I said before, it's a touchy issue, and I'm not entirely sure myself about what I think. But I DO think that this is an important issue and something we should all be asking ourselves about, whether we've been in Ethics classes like me or not.



This post was more of an Op/Ed entry and less of a blog, and I apologize for that. If you don't like it, grow a freaking heart and read it again. I'll do a real update later.

Pimp My Ride!

In The American Dream, my Rhetoric II class, we talk about all kinds of aspects in American life, Violence, Gay Marriage, etc... Anyways, right before Spring Break, we were talking about SUVs and how they play such a huge role in modern American life. To end the whole unit, we had to write this paper on SUVs and whether we agreed with the whole proliferation of SUVs and how they are used today. Well to kick off the whole paper, we had a class discussion on the whole topic, and I swear, I was the only guy in my class who was against them! I dunno if its just because we're in Texas, where bigger is better, and we all want to be like Toby Keith and rough it out or whatever, but geez. I can deal with the cowboy boots, I can even deal with the huge hats. But YOU DON'T NEED A HUGE POLLUTION-MOBILE TO BE A COWBOY... especially if you live in the suburbs of Dallas.

Now, my family owns an SUV. I know, I know i'm a hypocrite. My parents brought it cause it was the only car big enough to fit a family of six, and fit in our garage at the same time. But if its any consolation, we barely drive it due to the fact that my family is overseas 11 months of the year. Even though my dad says its mine if I want it, I still don't touch it. It's actually one of the main reasons I'm 18 and still putting off getting my driver's license.

So, to sum up, if you really want to be a cowboy, instead of buying an SUV, go out and buy a mini cooper (a sweet ride). Then take the extra $12,000 you'll save and buy some chaps, a lasso, and a DVD of Walker, Texas Ranger.

YEE HAW!


P.S.: Watch this for a good time: http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/end.php

One Filipino and 4 Pakis in one house.... it's a sitcom waiting to happen!

R.I.P.

My sweet blog layout got deleted, and until I get it up again, this will just have to do... Don't worry though, it won't be long.

P.S. I'm on spring break and I'm having a blast. PEACE!

Call Ended

I swear, the guy above me must own a rabbit farm or SOMETHING, because I hear loud, squeaky noises seriously like every other day....

I'm seriously contemplating turning off my mobile. Every day I walk around campus, and see that over half the people walking around are all talking on their mobile phones, talking about where the frat party is tonight, or how this girl was so drunk last night that she got with that guy. When I walk around, especially on days like today, I try to take in all the sights and sounds of springtime, the sun, the leaves coming back to the trees, etc. (Spring IS the most beautiful season after all). Anyways, I talk a lot of smack about cellphones, and how they are unnecessary and make you too accessible. I usually try to only use my phone to check the news or sports scores, but its starting to seem like my phone is starting to play a bigger and bigger role in my everyday life. This weekend, one of my friends saw me walking with my cellphone and was like "wow, you're always on your phone." At first I thought "no way...." but then I came to realize that it was true, which makes me a bigtime mondo hypocrite. So as of now I am CUTTING BACK. They should make a patch for this kind of thing.... Sooo, if you're one of the people who I talk to incessantly over the airwaves, please try not to call me unless it's REALLY important.... unless you want to talk about the frat party or the person that's hooking up with your barber's sister's boyfriend's car mechanic... then its ok. :-D

Currently Listening To: Sir Duke by Stevie Wonder
Feeling Like: Dazed and Confused

WOWZ LOOK AT ALL THE LADIES!... ER, BOYS.... LADYBOYS @_@ 

Wow that sure is a hott chick!! Except that she's a guy.... hahahaha well what can I say except that that's Thai culture for you. In Thailand they're called "Ladyboys." Just look how big the grin is on my face hahaha!!

more from saudi... ducks in the desert!

I have a feeling that for the next week I will be walking around in kind of a daze

Just get me out of here already

Shizzle

Today was fun... saw a movie then went to Sushiyama, a pretty authentic Japanese restaurant. Met some new people today, including someone who finally knew what a shawarma was. I felt like a fool at the restaurant though, cause everyone knew all this stuff about Japan and Japanese food and I was like this total wannabe. I learned part of "I Believe" by Shin Seung Hoon on my guitar, so that's pretty cool too.

I've been kind of stressed the last few weeks with school and "other matters." The two weeks after spring break are gonna be crazy too, so I guess all I can do is live it up during spring break. Starting next Friday, the Dhahran bundus will be reunited once again, and we're all gonna road trip it to a few random ass places, but I think its gonna be a lot of fun, so I'm really looking forward to it. I'll be sure to post pics from Spring Break and more from Saudi up here later.

The Mavs lost today... I don't really seem to care though. Maybe I'm becoming desensitized... Heh, looks like extends beyond American Airlines center after all.

Feeling Like: Always Tired
Currently Listening To: Aaja Ni Aaja in da mix by DJ DarknDesi

My street in Saudi... not what you really expected huh? 

Mafi Mushkila!!

I love Saudi Arabia. I consider it my home. Although I'm not technically from there, I always tell everyone that I am. Growing up in that particular area of the world, I have had more than my share of confrontations with anti-western Saudis. While the majority of Saudis embrace western and American culture and people, there are definately those hardliners who don't want Americans there; i've even seen little kids who have no idea why they're angry but talk craaazy smack about Americans anyways.

If you walked up to some random person and asked them why Arabs are so angry with America, chances are they wouldn't be able to tell you exactly why, the reasons for this being that there are many of us who fail to view many events from any point of view other than that presented in the news. Arabs in general are not a bunch of crazy jihaders running around causing chaos wherever they go. They are civilized people just like any average person in any other part of the world with families and dreams, and also like you and me, they are able to feel anger. I believe that the reason that some Saudis are so angry lies within the state of their own country. Saudi Arabia is one of the few countries that is still ruled by an absolute monarchy, with a (now defacto) ruler who has the final say in all matters. Saudi Arabia is also one of the wealthiest nations in the world, as it sits on top of one-fourth of all known oil in the world. Unfortunately for the Saudi people, the much of the massive revenues generated by oil income never reach the public. Much of the money is kept by the royal family or members of the government, who enjoy a lavish lifestyles. Of the money that does go into the country, the majority of it is spent on beautifying the country, planting trees and whatnot rather than given to the people, and thus, Saudi Arabia is seen as a "third world" country.

So what exactly does this have to do with America? Well, the government is so intent on maintaining its oil status that it hires well-educated expatriate workers from the U.S. and other countries help do this. By doing so, the government gives away much needed jobs from the Saudi people, keeping them from earning the money they would need to provide decent lifestyles for their families. This rift is only further magnified by a strong US support of the Saudi policy. So, we have seven out of ten workers in Saudi is foreign... 25% of the population is unemployed... NO WONDER THEY'RE PISSED! It is this anger that leads to some of the crazy stuff we see on the news every day. When I see that another confrontation between Westerners and Arabs has taken place, regardless of the location, it makes me sad. Because its not as if the Americans are coming over to Saudi Arabia purely to take the jobs of the Saudi people and keep them oppresssed. And don't they to have the right to pursue careers which would support their families?

Personally I don't believe either side is right or wrong. While Americans do have the right to work wherever and whenever to support their families, this right cannot be denied to Saudis as well. Also, while the Saudis are understandably angry with the Americans, and the Americans are angry with the Saudis for attacking them, I don't believe either side is right by bringing violence into the mix. Not a single human life is worth sacrificing just because you can't find it within yourselves to coexist and compromise with one another, and anyone who believes that is a friggin dumbass. So what is a reasonable solution to this little problem? Honestly, I don't really know. Last month, Saudi Arabia made a big step towards democracy by holding its first municipal elections, where half the members of a future council will be elected by the public. THIS IS HUGE!!! While the monarchy will probably hold some kind of majority rule, this is definately a step in the right direction, and opens the doors to bigger and better reforms.




Listening to: Norah Jones
Feeling Like: A tired mofo

NERD ALERT

I'm "not nerdy, but definately not hip." Haha, what are you??

Mad props to Jackie cause I stole this from her blog.
Or shall I say JACKED from JACKIE. HAHA...............