A New Chapter

A new chapter has begun in my educational journey and from now on, you will be reading a lot about my time at this new graduate program. I am pursuing a Masters in Public Health (MPH) with a concentration in Global Health. Don’t ask me what I want to do with this degree! I say that not because I randomly picked a degree program to get myself busy, but because there is so much I want to do! I think this degree will open many doors for me, but it will not be the end of my educational journey. I will definitely pursue my studies beyond my MPH.

I moved into my dorm on April 2nd and am still adjusting to living on my own without family. My parents wanted to visualize the place so I made them a short video. I have edited it (mostly by cutting out the part where you can see me) so I can share it here. Please excuse the choppy editing.

*Lota= Urdu/Hindi term; I’ve had to deal with awkward stares during my bathroom visits. I take this ‘watering can’ with me so that I can clean myself with water once I have finished using the restroom. It’s a religious thing. As a public health student, I think I should start advocating for the use of the lota.

In case you are wondering, I wanted to show my parents that I have lots of space (more than I need). That’s the reason you had to go through the torture of looking through all those empty drawers and cabinets.

Here are videos of the study rooms on my floor:

Here is the gym on my floor:

I have used the gym at the dorm maybe twice because I prefer taking fitness classes at the main university gym.

Technorati Tags: graduate school,dorm,random

Reaching Milestones, One Rock at a Time

[I wrote the following for my first Toastmaster speech. It was supposed to be an ice-breaker speech, where I talk about myself in any way that I wanted to.]

Imagine this: You are holding onto a 20-foot wall with all your might. You haven’t reached the top of that wall yet, but you anxiously look down at the distance between you and the ground. You have your harness wrapped tightly around your body. One end of a rope is securely fastened to your harness while your partner holds on to the other end on the ground. Your face is sweaty, your palms are cracked, and your legs are sore.

That was me on my fifth attempt to reach the top of a wall during one of my very first rock-climbing classes. On my previous attempts, I would get nervous and come down after getting about half way to the top. This time was a little different. One of the class instructors decided that he would be the one holding my rope at the other end. Before I started climbing, he said to me very seriously, “You’re going to the top.”

So, I started climbing thinking that I will be down after another failed attempt. However, the instructor had a different plan in mind. He decided to keep me up there until I reached the top. He kept saying, “I’m not letting you down until you reach that bell.”  There was a bell at the top and I kept staring at it, desperately wanting to reach it. After about an hour or so, I made it to the top.

The reason I talk about this event is because it was a milestone in my life. I told myself, “After this, I can do anything.” Two years later, I decided to take it one step higher. Last summer, I went bungee jumping with my friends. Though I waited till the end to attempt that 100-foot jump, I still did it. Whenever I am faced with a new challenge, I tell myself “You climbed that wall. You jumped off that bridge. You got this!” These experiences summarize my passion for trying new things and the more scary they are, the more satisfied I am after having accomplished them.

[The speech went well, except that I had too many “Uhm’s” and “Ah’s” and I tended to clasp my hands together too much.]

Technorati Tags: about me,toastmasters,milestones,speech,ice-breaker,random

Gurdwara Adventure

I went to Houston,Texas last week to take part in a wedding. My dad’s first cousin’s son was getting married and we wanted to be part of the celebration. Since I am not a huge fan of wedding celebrations, I will just skip to the part about the adventure I had with my cousin (the groom’s sister).

We decided to take a walk in her neighborhood and small white domes caught my eye from the distance. I asked my cousin if it was a mosque and she informed me that it was actually a Gurdwara (Sikh temple).

I got excited. I didn’t want to miss this opportunity to take a look inside a place of worship belonging to a religion so similar to the one I follow (i.e. Islam). So, we embarked on a journey. The Gurdwara seemed close enough from where we were, but getting there took a while. We ran into two or three dead ends before we finally figured out how to get there.

We found a nice man inside who gave us a tour of the building. We saw a shrine that holds the Holy Book called the Guru Granth Sahibji. Sikhs show utmost respect to their Gurus (religious leaders, including the last one-Guru Granth Sahibji) and when our guide entered this room, he prostrated before this shrine.

^shrine with Guru Gobind Sahibji

Sikhs also have the concept of ‘seva’, which means to volunteer services to their community.

We were given prashad (food served at religious ceremonies). While I devoured the prashad, I talked with a sweet lady who told us that there was a religious service every Friday for kids and every Sunday for adults. They teach the kids to play tabla (drums) because the religious ceremony often involves singing from the Scriptures.

^Parshad-made of flour and sugar

Here’s some other tidbits I’ve learned from Dr. Google:

-The members of the Sikh congregation that have been baptized are referred to as a ‘Khalsa’. These sikhs carry the Five K’s or ‘panch kakke’ as they are called-kara (bracelet),  kanga (comb), kes (uncut hair), kachha (undergarment), and kirpan (dagger).

-There are eleven gurus, of which the last one is the Guru Gobind Sahibji. The tenth guru established that the last and final guru be the Holy Text that he left behind.

Here’s to a new year with many new adventures to come! =)

A year older

I can tell that I’m getting older when I have to wait in a long line at a pharmacy to fill another prescription. It makes it worse that it’s a new prescription, which my doctor recently prescribed for me. This makes it two medications that I’m taking as an otherwise healthy individual (and I’m only 22).

I think I’m one of the few people that can actually feel a year older on my birthday. Four years ago, I was visiting my uncle and his family in San Jose. My birthday happened while I was still there. The day I turned 18, I had pain and swelling along my gums, towards the back of my mouth. I waited for days until my uncle persuaded me to visit a dentist.

When I walked into the dentist’s office, I explained what was wrong and he immediately said, “Those are your wisdom teeth coming out. They are expected to come out at around this age.”

“I’m getting old!”, I shrieked internally.

A year later, at 19, I was visiting the phlebotomist (the person that does the blood work) and fainted after having my blood taken out. I have been to a phlebotomist numerous times before and this has never happened. Ever since that day, I have fainted at every single blood withdrawal and vaccination. I’ve talked to nurses, doctors, and friends. They all say that maybe I’m scared of needles. But how come I suddenly became scared of something that never used to bother me at all?  I secretly think it’s because I’m getting older.

Three years later, while waiting patiently at the pharmacy, I had the same thoughts about my age. Thoughts about the age I used to be and the age that has entered upon me.

But a sudden epiphany overtook me while typing this:

Yes, I am getting old. I am a year older than last year. I will be a year older next year. But you know what? I might be 22, I might look like I’m 26, I might feel like I’m 30 sometimes, but I’m still young at heart. I do act more mature than most my age. However, I’m also much more adventurous, fun-loving, and I am proud of all that I have accomplished in my life thus far (and I didn’t feel conceited while saying that).

 

^ My pill cutter and medication

A Day At the Bay

Yesterday, I was a front desk volunteer at Upper Newport Bay.

I answered a phone call, guided some people around the center, reunited a mom and child, played a movie for the kids, and played cashier for a little bit.

At the end, before leaving, I decided to buy some of the cool things that were there. I bought two “Quick Guides”; one about birds in Orange County and another about wildflowers in the O.C.

Then, since my mom is finally coming back today (after two months in Pakistan), I decided to greet her at the airport with a red-headed woodpecker by my side (obviously it’s a stuffed animal) so I bought an Audubon bird (with a real woodpecker bird call).

Meet Mr. Woodsworth:

Isn’t he cute?

Here are some more pictures of the area for your enjoyment:

Technorati Tags: orange county,upper newport bay

Community News

Welcome to the first ever community news, where I will tell you what a few of my peeps are up to. This has been a very exciting week for so many. New challenges and adventures have made their way into the lives of many fellow bloggers.

Sister Is-za Jelass just had a new addition to her family. She is still in awe at this newfound happiness that her little Sultana has brought her. Go and congratulate her.

In the meantime, over in Alaska, Single Infertile Female is getting pregnancy-ready. She just had an implantation and now she anxiously awaits the results. This lady has been through so much and she holds it together like no one else. Get to her blog to give her some encouragement.

Now, lets plan out YOUR day for tomorrow.

For breakfast, head on over to Muslim Wife’s Kitchen for some great recipes. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Make it special.

Before you head out the door, check out some advice from Little Auntie. Who knows? She might enlighten you with some great wisdom. Auntie might be little, but she’s got a lot to say.

Next stop, off to work. We all know that work can get boring. Especially if you have a job that is repetitious, your brain can get fried easily. If that’s the case, then check out some of Kanwalful’s ‘do and don’ts of grammar’.  If you happen to fall in one of the categories, then stop immediately.

Then, since you don’t feel like concentrating on your work anyway, check out Sisterswhoblog Network and join, if you haven’t already. It’s a great way to make new friends online and get some followers to your blog.

Now, you’re going to head home. If you’re a guy, go buy some flowers for your wife (if you’re married).

When you’ve arrived at home, sit back, relax, and read some advice that sister Nachida gives for Muslim converts. She has some great advice to share with y’all.

Finally it’s bedtime. You’re exhausted and just want to cuddle up in your bed with your favorite blankie. Before you do that, make sure to check out recommendations from Ummah Reads for some great books you can read to your children before you put out the lights. (My parents never read to me when I was little, but I strongly encourage you all to do that with your kids)

Now go to sleep! Sweet dreams!!

Gladiator

A month ago, I had chest pain on two different days within the same week. The chest pain was in the lateral left chest region. The pain wasn’t too bad. It was minor pain that felt a little tingly. However, a couple days later, as I made my way into the Microbiology final, two of my fingers went numb on my left hand: thumb and index finger. That scared the heavens out of me! I kept thinking, “I hope it’s not a pre-heart attack .”

I called in the next day to make an appointment and when I told the operator my symptoms, I was promptly connected to a nurse, who asked me some questions:

“Where was this pain?”

“Are you feeling it right now?”

“When was this?”

“Do you have difficulty breathing?”

“Do you have trouble standing?”

“Do you think you will pass out?”

“Are you in any pain right now?”

(Note: If I was really having some kind of emergency, I would have been dead and gone by now)

After the nurse made sure I was okay, I was connected to a receptionist. He asked me some of the same questions and then made an appointment with a doctor for the same day (in fact, just two hours later!). Usually, I have to wait a month for an appointment with a doctor, but I guess I said some keywords that prompted Kaiser to handle the case a little differently.

As it turns out, according to the doctor, it was not heart-related. Instead, he asked me some questions about my computer/typing habits and he speculates that it is probably related to a pressure on a nerve that runs the length of the hand.

Here are some tips he gave me on using the keyboard safely:

-Make sure your wrists are lying flat

-Make sure your fingers are not awkwardly curved like this:

-Sit at a comfortable distance from the computer. Don’t sit too close.

-Your fingers should be flat and slightly curved:

He then gave me a hand brace that I am supposed to wear at night to keep my hand in a neutral position. I loved the brace so much that as soon as I got home that day, I wore it around the house for the next couple of days. It made me look like an amateur gladiator, who could either not afford to make a hand armor out of metal, or ran out of metal because his body armor took too much material; hence the title of this post.

Technorati Tags: random,gladiator,kaiser,doctor,keywords

Ten Things

Here are ten things about me that you probably don’t care to know, but since Sister Zaufishan had tagged me in my comments, I couldn’t give up this opportunity.

1. I should be studying right now. In fact, when I am supposed to be studiously looking over my textbooks and filling my brain with information, I end up going online and either reading other blogs, or writing a post myself.

[I am taking Human Anatomy at a community college because I need this as a pre-requisite for admission into optometry school. And this class has become a real challenge since it’s a semester’s/quarter’s worth of material crammed into 6 weeks.]

2. I got lost yesterday. Actually, I have this innate capability to get lost, even if I have treaded those same streets since the day I was born.

[I have a blog called Destination Orange County and there is a Library challenge that I have signed myself up for. I’m supposed to be visiting all the libraries in Orange County in the year 2010. Yesterday, I went to Seal Beach branch and got lost on my way there.]

3. I volunteer at the Braille Institute of America. I basically assist the teacher in one of the classes. The Braille Institute of America is a non-profit organization that conducts classes for the visually impaired. These classes are meant to help these students develop self-confidence and awareness so that they can live independently.

4. I also volunteer with an organization called Hospice Touch. I get assigned to an elderly patient that is terminally ill and visit her once a while in order to provide her comfort as well as social interaction.

5. I have signed up to be a volunteer at the Upper Newport Bay, where I will be helping with tour groups, as well as with other cool things.

[I don’t know exactly what I will be doing just yet, but there is a training held in July which I will be attending.]

6. I help out at the Golden West College garden. Basically, I weed and weed and weed, but love every bit of it.

[I mention these volunteering responsibilities so that maybe others can realize that there are so many different ways to help out in the community.]

7. I miss my mommie. Yes, I didn’t think it was possible. My ammi is visiting Pakistan after 6 years and she went alone this time. She left at the end of June and will come back at the end of August.

 

8. I love to sleep. I can never sleep enough!!

9. I love to eat. I eat everything! (unless I don’t eat it due to religious restrictions) I love buffets. I love Thai, Chinese, Mexican, American, Pakistani, Indian, Arabic, Persian, Turkish, and Japanese cuisine. Note that these are what I could think of at the moment. Basically, I just love to eat.

10. When I become an optometrist, I want to work in either Vision Therapy, or Low Vision Therapy.

In Simple Terms: Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s Disease occurs when there is an increase in neuronal cell death in the hippocampus. The hippocampus is the part of the brain that is involved in learning, memory, as well as with emotional responses. If you are going to lose neurons in this part of the brain, this will obviously have an effect on your learning and memory. Brain imaging from Alzheimer’s patients shows atrophy (or degeneration) of the brain in areas that are involved in learning and memory.

Risk factors of Alzheimer’s include:

1. Age- risk increases after the age of 6o and doubles every decade after that

2. Genetics- if your relative has the disease, your chances of having it increase

3. Cholesterol-high levels of cholesterol are related to an increased risk

4. Injury- a head injury will likely increase the risk

5. Gender- this disease is more common in females than in males

6. Lack of mental stimulation

The critical and toxic molecule in Alzheimer’s disease patients is beta-amyloid, a protein that forms plaques in the brain. Beta-amyloid is formed when an Amyloid Precursor Protein (APP) is cleaved into Ab-40 and Ab-42 (both beta-amyloids) by an enzyme called gamma-secretase. Of the two, Ab-42 is the toxic substance that forms plaques in the brain. An increase in Ab-42 causes degeneration of neurons in the brain. Drugs that inhibit gamma-secretase activity have been found to be effective in reducing the progression of Alzheimer’s.

The mechanism by which beta-amyloid induces death of neurons is through its interference with the reuptake of glutamate. Glutamate binds to the NMDA receptor in the brain, which in turn lets calcium ions flow into the channel. However, if too much calcium comes in, it induces activation of calcium-activated proteases, which leads to cell death. Drugs that inhibit NMDA activity (like Memantine) are also used as treatment for Alzheimer’s.

DNA damage within neuronal cells is also prevalent during the course of the disease.
Even though the Alzheimer’s brain increases DNA repair enzymes as well as BCL-2 ( a component that protects against cell death), the battle between damage and repair is ultimately won by the degenerative neuronal cells. Thus, there is more damage than repair occurring in the brain of these patients.

Here’s what YOU can do to slow this degenerative process:

1. Crossword puzzles. Sudoku. Anything that keeps your mind alive.

Learning and mental stimulation enhances BDNF (brain derived neurotrophic factor), a neurotrophin that supports the cells and makes them ‘feel better’.

2. Take a hike.

Physical activity increases BDNF.

3. Eat healthy

Diets high in fats and sugars decrease BDNF activity.

4. SLEEP

Sleep enhances the activity of BDNF.

5. Quit stressing

6. Get your Vitamin E

Vitamin E slows the progression of Alzheimer’s.

Other interesting facts:

-Patients with rheumatoid arthritis that take Ibuprofen do not get Alzheimer’s because Ibuprofen affects the activity of gamma-secretase in such a way that it reduces the production of beta-amyloid.

-Bilinugals have a lower chance of getting Alzheimer’s

Reference Websites:
http://www.cmj.org/Periodical/paperlist.asp?id=LW7347&linkintype=pubmed
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2772133/?tool=pmcentrez

*Lecture at University of California, Irvine

First Award

Kanwalful gave me my first blog award=)

Where will you be in ten years?

I don’t know. However, I know where I want to be in ten years. I want to be done with my Optometry Doctor degree (O.D. degree) and possibly have done my Masters in Microbiology. I want to be married to a financially, mentally, physically, as well as spiritually stable man, who is a couple of years older. I want to have already written at least one book on either overcoming depression as a disease, or maybe a fiction book about a Pakistani young man living in Mexico. I want to be a frequent contributor and an expert on eye-health issues for Prevention magazine. I want to have established an Islamic educational organization that deals with informing the Non-Muslims that are either elderly, deaf, blind, or homeless about Islam. Lastly, I’ll just throw in some cute little kids (no more than two) that I’ll be raising with utmost care. There is a LOT more that I want to do, but in ten years, this seems like quite a bit.

Ten people who deserve this award?
1. Amber Misk
2. Zaufishan Iqbal
3. Bubbli
4. NeverEver
5. Sister Safiyyah
6. Abez
7. The Gori Wife
8. Sister C
9. Banana Anne
10. Sadaf Farooqi

And I would like to include all my followers in this award as well. You girls deserve this award too=)

Lucky Student

Getting added to classes that you are petitioning for is purely a matter of luck. During my time at  University of California, Irvine, the system for adding classes involved wait-listing myself online and hoping that others would drop so I could get in (It also helped if I was at number 5 rather than number 55 on the wait-list). However, for ‘classes-in-demand’, due to an easy professor or because it was a pre-requisite for Upper Division classes, the chance of getting in were almost 0 (at least with my kind of luck).

In Golden West College and possibly other community colleges, the system for adding is a little different. The teacher decides how he/she wants to add petitioners to the class. I’ve had an English Professor who had the students write their names on a piece of paper and then he did a draw, where he pulled out as many names as seats available (due to the absence of registered students).

Yesterday, I wanted to petition an Anatomy course at the same community college. I got to the 8am class at 8:20am. A huge line was neatly formed from one corner of the room to the other. At the beginning of the line stood the Professor with a Halloween ‘Trick or Treat’ bucket. Students were pulling out something from this bucket, and then moving along.

I asked a girl about this unusual scene and she told me that the bucket had little cards with either a smiley face or a sad face on each. Whoever got the smiley face could grab a chair and stay for the class, while the ‘sad face’ people had to leave. The ‘smiley face’ individuals would be given add-cards that they could use to add the class online. 

Considering my luck, I decided that I would probably not get the seat. Nonetheless, as always, I still had to try. I was the last person in line.

When I got to the ‘Sorting Bucket’, I pulled out a card that would determine my fate.


And guess what? 


I got in the class!!

My first quiz is tomorrow and my first exam is on Thursday, so I should probably be studying right now.

Join Sisterswhoblog!

If you’re a Muslim woman with a blog, you need to join sisterswhoblog network. It’s a great place to meet other Muslim sisters from around the world, and get more followers to your blog. It’s easy to join and very laid back. I’ve made many friends already in this past month.

Plus, there’s a competition that’s going on right now.

You enter your blog in the appropriate categories, and if you win, there is a possibility that you get to travel to Queen Rania’s palace in Jordan. How cool is that?
So, what are you waiting for? Please join NOW! There are about 73 followers when I last checked. However, the goal of Sister Amber Misk is to increase the membership to 1000 followers. If you’re a follower on my blog, or even if you are not, if you read this, then go check out sisterswhoblog network. GO!

Click here for their online magazine.

*all pictures taken from sisterswhoblog site.

Tired of follower hunting?

Let me just answer the question plain and simple: Yes.

I am guessing a lot of people feel the same way. Let me explain.

Obviously, I am not going to get to the point right away. First of all, here’s a little history:

Roughly two years (or more) ago, I started a blog titled ‘Naina’s Dilemma’. I wanted to write about a fictional character Naina, and follow her story through blog posts about her post-graduation life and mid-nagging-mom-to-get-her-to-find-a-suitable-husband life (phew! That was a long one!). She was eventually going to get married during the course of the blog. I was new to blogging and wanted to see what it was all about. I secretly wished I would get many comments on the blog and my blog would become a hit with people from the same cultural background as myself. However, after a couple of months (like two months), I got tired. And I deleted the blog. I was disheartened and thought that this was the end of my blogging ‘career’. I was a failure, I thought.

Then, last year, I decided to start another blog after I had shadowed an optometrist. I wanted to write down all my shadowing/optometry experiences in one place and when I got interviewed (hopefully) at a optometry school, then I could tell them all about my blog. Who knows? Maybe they would be impressed. 

I had two posts on that blog when I decided to delete it and move all those posts to another all-encompassing blog, Rukhpar Mor. I had commented on a couple of blogs with this same nickname (which I had made up in a matter of a minute when I was commenting on a blog for the first time) and thought that it reflected a lot about where I was in my life. This new change of blog name and address took place in September 2009. A new blog had been born.

A few months into blogging at Rukhpar Mor, I decided that I really did want to have a separate blog for my optometry experiences because I didn’t want all my thoughts to get muddled together in one big mush of a mess. So the optometry blog (now called ‘The Ocular’) was reincarnated.

Two months ago, the blogging fever got the better of me and I started yet another blog called ‘Destination Orange County’. I have decided to blog about my adventures/dining/aimless-roaming-around in Orange County in one secure place.
With these new additions to my writing life (which previously only consisted of endless journaling and essay writing), I decided that I did not care about getting any followers. I just wanted to let out my feelings and share my thoughts/experiences/emotions/anything with whoever might be fortunate enough to come across my blogs. Secretly, however, I prayed. I prayed that I would fill my blog with great content that would attract readers. I prayed that my readership would grow to a vast number, the size of facebook users.

Then, one day, wham! I thought to myself: “I need to start commenting on, and following other blogs. Maybe that way I could grow my followership" But I was still too picky. I went around the internet and found a couple blogs that I thought were interesting and followed them. I started to comment regularly. I got some of my earlier followers that way. Everything was sunny and bright on my side of the fence.

Last month, however, I got frustrated again. I wasn’t getting anymore followers! So I looked around for ideas to grow my readership. I found out about two different networks-Sisterswhoblog and 20somethingbloggers. I decided to join and see if it would help. Luckily, I was able to increase my followers from 10 to 19!!!!!!!! ( yes, this deserved that many exclamation points). I was, needless to say, on the greener side of the grass once more.

But now, my dear reader, I am becoming a follower-holic. I have been spending hours and days on these networking sites and leaving comments along with my blog name for prospective followers. I am getting weary and tired, like a sailor caught amidst a storm. My head has been hurting from spending too much time in front of the computer screen (at first, I thought it was dehydration, but I have been chugging down numerous glasses of water to no avail).

I have decided that I am thankful to my Lord for the followers I have. I will focus on writing great content that will benefit my current peeps (followers) and maybe new followers will make their way to this blog. I will (at least for the time being) not stalk other blogs to get more followers on mine.

In the meantime, I want to send a message to all my lovely followers:

I really appreciate that all you women (yes, all my followers are women!) are following me. I want you to know how much it means to me. I also would like to ask you peeps to write me a comment and let me know what kinds of topics interest you. I want to write content that will be interesting to those that are following me, so that they can come back over and over again to leave comments. I love you all! :)

Technorati Tags: random,social networks,blogging

The Star Blogger Award

I would like to award a star blogger award. I was fortunate enough to get in touch with a blogger who has been very kind and helpful to me. The new style of this blog is due to her generosity. She took some time out to design this new layout and I would like to thank her for this favor. I made this award for her. I don’t know how the blogger award system works, but this is my attempt at expressing my gratitude. Here you go, Johana:

* you can check out her AWESOME blog here.

P.S. The disqus commenting system is not cooperating. All the pre-current-template comments have disappeared from the blog. If someone knows how to fix this, do let me know:)

2010 Best Blog Award

Sisterswhoblog invites YOU to give your suggestions/ideas/whatever-pops-in-your-mind in order to make this award special. Any and ALL suggestions are welcome.

You might get one these for sharing your lovely thoughts:-)

*Organized by Sister Amber Misk.

Fatima wants to fly!

Click here to be taken to a website that shows you how to make an animated film very easily. I have tried Windows movie maker, but this is much easier. Enjoy my pathetic attempt at an animated film:

For some reason, my animations never have that ‘clean’ finish. *sigh* Now, back to studying for Physiology…

Followers Update

Thank you my followers, for following me!!

*big giant teddy bear hug*

Oh and I would also like to thank my followers on this blog:) I love you gals!!

*Inspired by Johana Hill

The Twitter Maze

I made it past the twitter maze.

I joined twitter this weekend, after I deleted my Facebook account (which I sort of regret), and for the past couple of days, I have been sending out pointless ‘@messages’ to random people (on twitter)  just to figure out how it actually works. Don’t worry if you don’t know what these ‘@messages’ are-that’s why I’m writing this post.

I am happy to announce that I finally understand this world of twitter and want to share some basics with others who might still be confused.
Here’s the un-official Twitter Guide:

Twitter is a social networking site that keeps you in touch with your current as well as prospective friends, family, employers, employees, etc (?). It’s like facebook because you constantly update your status to reflect your current financial/emotional/mental/etc. state. However, there is a shorter word limit to these statuses (only 140 characters) and there is a new ‘code’ you have to learn in order to send your messages to specific people.

I just want to make some things clear before proceeding:

-If you want to send direct messages to someone, the recipient of that direct message needs to be following you in order for him/her to get that message.

-If, however, you want to send a ‘shout-out’ to someone, that person need not be following you (and you don’t need to be following them either).

Now, let me explain what each of the above means:

-A “direct message” is a message that only the recipient can see (i.e. it is not posted on their homepage, but they get it in their ‘direct message’ link on the right side of their homepage). It’s like the facebook’s inbox feature. If you want to tell someone something privately, you would use the inbox on facebook. Similarly, “direct messages” is twitter’s private messaging system.

To send a direct message, type: d username message. For example,
d rukhparmor I LOVE your blog!
     

-A “shout-out” is actually called an ‘@reply’ or ‘@mention’ in twitter. It’s like writing on someone’s wall on facebook.

To send an ‘@reply’ , type: @username message. For example,
@rukhparmor You are so AWESOME!
To send an ‘@mention’ , it basically means that you are mentioning that person’s name in the body of your twitter message. For example,
@rukhparmor did you know that @XYZ is single?
(the person with the username XYZ will also get this message since you have the ‘@’ symbol in front of their username)

Now you know how to send messages on twitter. You should also know how to find the messages you have received.

On the right side on your homepage, you will find a box with your username on top and ‘following’ and ‘followers’ right below it. If you look under that, there is a menu that has these options:

‘Home’, ‘@username’, ‘Direct messages’,  ‘Favorites’, ‘Retweets’

If you want to see who mentioned you in their message or if someone sent a ‘shout-out’ to you, click the ‘@username’ option.

If you want to see your direct (private) messages, click the ’Direct messages’ option, and so on.

I hear that there is a lot more to twitter, but this is where I’ll stop.

The above guide will hopefully make your journey with twitter a bit more pleasant and enjoyable. :) Don’t forget to follow me on twitter!

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Life Updates

8:48pm Pacific Standard Time. Orange County, CA

It’s officially 8:49pm. It took me a minute to write the previous sentence. 8:50pm. Maybe I should ignore the numbers on the bottom right hand side of my laptop. 8:51pm. Arggh, it’s too tempting.

I should be working on my paper right now. I have a physiology lab 9:00am in the morning, which will last for about 3 hours. I have a break for 3 hours and then microbiology lab at 3:00pm. (My paper is for the micro lab.)

I have finals in a week and a half. I have three more papers to write for the micro lab and a quiz next week for the same micro lab. Hopefully, I managed to stress some of you out and you can imagine the painful agony of a once-upon-a-time college life. Unless, you are already in college. In that case, you are probably also going through the same. But, then, it’s also true that college is not the only time of life that is full of stresses. Just thinking about having my own house, paying bills, working hard, and getting older is already stressing me out as well. Maybe I should actually follow my own advice in my last post on Mindfulness.

Since I really really do NOT want to work on that paper, I will update the reader on what’s been going on in my life:

1. I started a new blog:) It’s called “Destination Orange County”. I had decided to post about my adventures at the different libraries/parks that I have been visiting in Orange County and figured that it would be better to have a separate blog for that.

2. I read an article about the prohibited and permitted items allowed into Gaza (not compiled by Gazans themselves) and that made me sad. I wish people everywhere had the freedom to choose what they wanted for themselves and their children. The article was by GazaMom.

3. I got in touch with a blogger named Johanna Hill, who blogs at The Mercurial Wife. She had offered to help makeover her readers’ blogs and I decided to email her. She responded today and that made me very happy. :))

4. This is my last quarter (hopefully..) and I will officially be a Bachelorette (Is that the word?) in Biology:)

5. Sister Umm Afraz had given me a favicon, which appeared next to my blog address. But, since I had been trying to make-over my blog, I lost it. Hopefully, I can get a new one.

Apparently, blogging has become a popular thing. I personally love reading about other people’s lives and business and such. It’s officially 9:26pm and I think I will go to sleep (so much for the paper).

There goes my thought, amongst the clouds.

I have been practicing a technique called ‘mindfulness’, which emphasizes the value of the present moment. “Be here now”, I keep telling myself because all I have is ‘now’. My past is full of pain, mistakes, and regrets as well as some happy and exciting times. However, I, just like many people, narrowly focus on the negatives and not the positives. The positives are conveniently camouflaged amongst the overbearing shadow of the negatives.

The past has trickled through our hands, like the sand on the beach.

The other extreme is the future. “What will I do after I graduate?” “I don’t think I will be able to get into optometry school” “What if my husband gets sick of me and leaves me?” (I have seriously thought about the last one).

The future is a tiny dot on the canvas. It will take shape and present itself once the time is right. It is impossible to know the future from where we stand, because, by definition, it is afar and not something we can achieve since we only live in the present.

All we are left with to change, alter, or improve is the present. Mindfulness tells us to watch our thoughts from a distance, silently and observantly, without judging or criticizing them, and make note of them. Then, just as the past trickles away from us, we let these thought float away.

One particular exercise that I learned was very helpful. Setting a timer for 5-10 minutes, find a comfortable place to sit and relax. Breathe slowly and deliberately. Notice the thoughts that come to your mind. Just  notice them. Do not judge or criticize them. Notice them come and then, envision a creative image, where you let them go. You could imagine that they are formed into the clouds and slowly float away, as I did. Or you could be more creative and come up with something else.

I used different kinds of imagery while picturing my thoughts leaving, but after a while, came up with the clouds floating away (since it is easier to imagine).

Here are some of the other ones I imagined:

-I am sitting on a tree, and I see my thoughts coming out of my head, becoming fruits on the tree and falling to the holes in the ground (conveniently dug up by beavers). The dirt fills the holes.

-I see my thoughts on a plain piece of paper, which I crumble and throw in the garbage. The garbage is taken away on a huge truck and dumped into a big hole somewhere, and covered with dirt.

This strategy empowers you in two ways. First, it acknowledges the fact that there is something that is possibly bothering you, yet you do not let it. Second, it forces you to let go of those thoughts without being critical. This exercise works wonders for me, but I still have a long way to go before I master it.