smiling in syria

Panique Au Village

smile93 — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 21:07:51 +0000

A couple of weeks ago, my family and I watched a film named A Town Called Panic. It started out as cute and funny, and then things got a little weird (but it was still hilarious). I loved it. If you have Netflix Streaming you can watch it there. I highly reccomened that you do.

(Image via heyuguys.co.uk)

P.S. Although it looks like it is, it’s not really a film for young children.

“A Glad New Year To All The Earth”

smile93 — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 20:19:51 +0000

Happy New Year everyone! Do you guys have any resolutions for 2012? I’ve never really made New Year resolutions in the past, but I do have some goals for the next few months (my second semester in college). I’m planning on trying to get seven hours of sleep every night (but I know there will be times when I’ll have to stay up late working on a paper or project) and exercising two-to-three times a week. I know they sound like pretty simple goals, but college can make normal-life things crazy.

May your new year be full of Love and Peace,

Whatever You Do

smile93 — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 21:41:10 +0000

Earlier this week, I listened to an interview with author Leslie Leyland Fields. Her relatively new book, The Spirit of Food, sounded very interesting to me. Here’s a bit about it from her website:

You are invited to a feast for the senses and the spirit! Thirty-four renowned and adventurous writers open their fields, their kitchens, their tables, and their recipe files to illustrate the many unexpected ways that food draws us closer to beauty, to justice, to Christian community, and to God. All bring a keen eye and palette to the larger questions of the role of food—both its presence and its absence—in the life of our bodies and spirits. Their essays take us to an organic goat farm in Maine, a backyard tomato garden in Cincinnati, a kosher kitchen, a line of hungry Hurricane Katrina survivors, a church potluck, inside the translucent layers of an onion, and many other surprising places where we can experience Eucharistic eating. In a time of great interest and confusion over the place of food in our lives, this rich collection will delight the senses, feed the spirit, enlarge our understanding, and deepen our ability to “eat and drink to the glory of God.”

Although my nationality is American, I’ve grown up in the East where food plays a different role than it does in the West. This book seems like it’s written from mainly American perspectives and I wonder what Eastern authors’ perspectives would be. I’m sure both have and would have great insights, but, overall, I think that Eastern culture has a better relationship with food than the West does. Have any of you read The Spirit of Food?

For Your Ears

smile93 — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 16:27:29 +0000

Yeah, so everything about this is pretty much perfect:

Beautiful Things

smile93 — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 22:27:06 +0000

I want to share some beautiful things, places, and people that have recently caught my eye.

I love this map:

(Via Emily Henderson)

This clock sums up my view (partly due to my personality and partly due to the influence of unconcerned-with-time-Syrian culture) of time. It also sums up my attitude about getting to my 8:30 am classes this semester:

(Via 22 Words)

And stunning photos from Morocco and Turkey by the Sartorialist which I can’t post here because of ownership rights and all that. But please check them out here, here, here, here, here, (ohmy), here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Hi

smile93 — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 19:45:23 +0000

First of all, hi. How have you guys been?

Second, you know all that stuff about moving smiling in syria to Tumblr? Yeah, forget that. It was a silly idea. I think I might just look for a new theme here on WordPress instead.

Third, I’m sorry I haven’t been writing very much. My winter break from college just started a few days ago, so I’m planning to change that. I have lots and lots I want to blog about.

A Fresh Start

smile93 — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 17:43:36 +0000

Hello again!

It’s been so long since I last blogged. I’m sorry. My excuse is that I’m in my first semester of college. Anyhoo, I’ve missed blogging and I really want to get back to it. I’ve decided though…that…*drum roll please*…I’m going to move to Tumblr. I used to have, in addition to this blog, a Tumblr dedicated to pretty things such as forests, charcoal sketches, balconies, folk songs, and starry skies. It was a lot of fun, but it took up way too much time. Way too much. I did learn, however, that while WordPress is wonderful and I will always love it, Tumblr is easier for getting posts out quickly. I also really want a new theme and I’ve gone through all the ones I’ve wanted in WordPress. You know, the theme part is probably the biggest reason for the move. But a fresh start sounds good. And a new theme. I’ve said that already. Anyhoo. I’ll let you guys know when the smiling in syria Tumblr is up and running.

Hope you all have had a lovely autumn,

Yeah, Right.

smile93 — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 17:38:03 +0000

I thought I’d have time to blog in college. Haha.

College (Because All Of My Creative Energy Is Going Into Papers, I Can’t Come Up With A Better Title)

smile93 — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 23:33:26 +0000

On Monday I start my third week of college. Most of my days are filled with going to classes and studying, which is why I’ve been so quiet on my blog lately. I’m really enjoying college life. It’s been so much better than I thought it would be. I’m hoping that after next week I’ll be more organized and have more structure, and thus be able to blog more.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend,

How We See

smile93 — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 18:51:47 +0000

I thought this beautiful graph was really interesting. However, beware if you are like me and want to check every single color and culture to decide if you think it’s correct as that can take a chunk out of your day…