More than a Year!

Dear Reader, 

This post is exactly 2 months and 2 weeks overdue. :-S 

Image courtesy of  justcalendars.org 

You see, on April 13th 2010 I published my first blog post. And now I've been posting letters to the great wide interweb for more than a year now. Alhumdulillah. If you, dear reader, had told me two years ago that by the time I finished my degree I would be addicted to reading blogs and blogging myself, well I wouldn't have believed you, thought you were being absurd and dismissed the comment altogether. But I suppose LIFE is full of unexpected turns. I suppose I should given myself a virtual pat on the back for having gotten through a year of virtual blogging, but honestly it seems rather childish ... fine I'll do it anyway, since you insist. Thump, thump. And Inshallah, I'll still be blogging years from now. 

I'd also like to thank you, dear reader, for actually taking the time out of your own life to read about my silly obsession with books and poetry.    

As occasions like this usually require some form of reminiscing, I went back and re-read my first-ever-post. It made me laugh. Probably because it was full of jokes that only I would get. ;-) However, there was this one paragraph that I found particularly humorous because, even though so much has changed this past year, this particular statement still hold true:

"Well, it all began with my brothers - as much in my life does. I have two (quite an unremarkable number) one older and one younger than myself; being stuck in the middle has not been easy. Both of them had been loitering around my bedroom door comparing the size of their muscles - typical male behaviour, the details of which I'm sure you would not want to know. Anyway, having no other book addicts in my house, I am constantly trying to engage my brothers in some even marginally intellectual conversation."     

Also, I noticed that the entire post sounded as if I was telling a story. I like that. I haven't written a story/anecdote on my blog for some time now. If you would like me to write more story/anecdotal posts rather than just reviews of books and poems, then let me know in the comment section below.   

Anyway, I have a few surprises in store for the month of July, as it promises to be busy with activity. That is if the lovely British Summer weather, decides to hold out, Inshallah. Until then.    

Nida

this Literal post of Poetry

Dear Reader,

I'm sorry this post has come so late
but it has taken me some time to make.
You see, I wanted to do something distinct,
challenged myself to follow my instinct.
So I began to write in this very rhyme,
did my best to keep the meter in time,
resulting in this literal post of poetry.
You, dear Reader, ask what inspired me?
It's because of this amazing chapter I'm reading
in this book, through which I'm currently speeding,
it's called Tales from the Perilous Realm
with short stories and poems that overwhelm.
Written by Tolkien, an author of repute.
To him I send my most awed salute.
He once wrote a story for his second oldest boy,
to console him when he lost his little dog toy.
Finally being published under the name Roverandom,
displaying fatherly affection, now seen so seldom.
This book's similar to The Tales of Beedle the Bard
and, I guess, for the same reason it holds my regard.
To end, I thought I would share a poem or two,
but I've realised that I have nothing much new.
Well, at least nothing good enough for you to read,
so I'll give you something else to satisfy your literary need.

It's an extract from the poem, The Sea-Bell

also by Tolkien. It reads quite well:

"I heard a sea bell swing in the swell,

       dinging, dinging, and the breakers roar

on the hidden teeth of a perilous reef;

       and at last I came to a long shore.

White it glimmered, and the sea shimmered

       with star-mirrors in a silver net;

cliffs of stone, pale as ruel-bone

       in the moon-foam were gleaming wet.

Glittering sand slid through my hand,

       dust of pearl and jewel-grist,

trumpets of opal, roses of coral,

       flutes of green and amethyst." 

It's a beautiful way of describing indeed,

a beach and sand and green/purple sea-weed. 

A brilliant way of capturing the imagination

Inspiring, in spite of my aspiration.  

I believe I now have more poetry to write, 

and Inshallah, bring my writing to a new height. 

I hope to meet you once again in a few days,

But now it's time for us to part our ways. 

Nida  

Summer Yey! Oh....it's raining Again

Dear Reader,

Image courtesy of
Fix My Slow Computer

Sorry for the blogging dry spell. Due to the not-so-summerie weather we've been having here, my time this past two weeks has been quite thoroughly divided between my uni friends and writing Life in Conversations. 

I would like to say that I've written thousands upon thousands of words that go towards my summer goal, but the sad truth is that I made an awful blunder last night. The entirety of Chapter 3 was, somehow, accidentally deleted.  And now my unfortunate word count is even less then what I had started off with. I was awake until 4 this morning, rewriting all that I remembered. I still have the ending section of the chapter to go, which is about another 1,500 words. But Alhumdulillah, I think this new Chapter 3 is actually better than the one I wrote before. All I can say is that everything happens for a reason. 

Anyway, sitting here in my bedroom in a sweater, it doesn't actually feel like summer has started yet. But my calender tells me other wise. So I guess it's time for another sampling of my current reading list. 

1. I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore
2. Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
3. The History of the Khalifahs by Jalal ad-Din as-Suyuti 
4. The Biography of  Abu-Bakr as-Siddeeq by Dr. Muhammad as-Sallaabee
5. The Biography of  Ummar ibn Al-Khattaab by Dr. Muhammad as-Sallaabee
6. The Biography of  Uthman Ibn Affan by Dr. Muhammad as-Sallaabee
7. The Black Tulip by Alexander Dumas 
8. Sybil by Benjamin Disraeli
9. Forever by Maggie Stiefvater - there is still a whole month before it's release!
10. The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater - also not yet released (ugh!)

Instructions: click on the picture to see all the book titles properly 

I've also incorporated those books I intend to read during Ramadaan as it will Inshallah begin at the beginning of August. But, currently I'm reading Rebecca. I'm about 88 pages in, and though the pace so far is quite slow and the plot is slightly cliché, this book has reminded me of why I love writing and literature so much. The prose and descriptive pieces hold this marvellous poetic resonance that is often scarce in modern literature. In this hectic and fast paced time, even writers just want to hurry along with the thrill of the plot and not pause by the roadside to describe how the "nettles were everywhere, the vanguard of the army. They choked the terrace, they sprawled about the paths, they lent, vulgar and lanky against the very windows of the house."  It's the metaphors, similes, symbols, literary paradoxes and oxymorons that I miss most. 

In Rebecca, there is also this one quote  I came across that really made me think and which I thought I should share with you, dear reader:

"Happiness is not a possession to be prized, it is a quality of thought, a state of mind."      

Anyway, during the week of my absence, I read three little books that left me smiling and laughing: The Tales of Beedle the Bard, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Quidditch Through the Ages, all by J. K. Rowling. Now I'm not a huge Harry Potter fan, but after The Deathly Hallows I really wanted to read The Tales of Beedle the Bard and I must admit, I like it far more than any of the Harry Potter books. I can't help it, I just have a thing for fairy tales, parables and short-stories-with-morals. I can even see myself reading it to my own children 15 years from now. 

The other two I just sort of stumbled across and, being a compulsive completionist, well I just had to read them. They're pretty good and really make it hit home how large the detailed the Harry Potter universe is.  


So, that's all I have to say for now. I know that this post is quite dull and lifeless, but I'm quite exhausted to be honest. I promise, next time the post will be much livelier, Inshallah. Until next time, take care.
Nida