Congratulations to Anthony, who 1. got a fat scholarship to study in Egypt for a year, and 2. wrote this Wikipedia article ALL IN ARABIC.
Belated congratulations to my brother, who will be transferring to VMI this summer.
And congratulations to Fatema, the one on the right of the picture, who ended up published in the Daily Star.
Friday, April 28, 2006
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Splenda
"Tastes just like real sugar!" they say. "No calories!" they say. "Made from sugar, tastes like sugar! You can even bake with it!" they say.
The other day, I couldn't find any sugar in the office for my tea, so I shrugged and decided to give Splenda a try. I recall trying it some time ago, and perhaps disliking it, and I have a general suspicion for anything that claims to be just like something else (taste!), particularly when it is also claiming to be not at all like that something else (calories!). But I tried it.
Splenda, my friends, DOES NOT TASTE LIKE SUGAR. It tastes like fake sugar, powdered, chemical sugar. My mouth tasted like stale toothpaste for an hour afterwards, and my tongue felt numb-ish. I drank another cup of unsweetened tea just to get the flavor out, and still it remained!
Also, how do you bake with fake sugar? Ew! EW.
My aversion to Equal and Sweet n Lo (is that what it's called?) is solidified, too. I don't trust any of them. Not only do they not taste like real sugar, they aren't real...anything. If I want sweet, I want *true* sweet, not fake sweet. I don't think a teaspoon or two of the real stuff in my tea is going to cause me any real harm. I can spare 30 calories for a real teaspoon of sugar.
The other day, I couldn't find any sugar in the office for my tea, so I shrugged and decided to give Splenda a try. I recall trying it some time ago, and perhaps disliking it, and I have a general suspicion for anything that claims to be just like something else (taste!), particularly when it is also claiming to be not at all like that something else (calories!). But I tried it.
Splenda, my friends, DOES NOT TASTE LIKE SUGAR. It tastes like fake sugar, powdered, chemical sugar. My mouth tasted like stale toothpaste for an hour afterwards, and my tongue felt numb-ish. I drank another cup of unsweetened tea just to get the flavor out, and still it remained!
Also, how do you bake with fake sugar? Ew! EW.
My aversion to Equal and Sweet n Lo (is that what it's called?) is solidified, too. I don't trust any of them. Not only do they not taste like real sugar, they aren't real...anything. If I want sweet, I want *true* sweet, not fake sweet. I don't think a teaspoon or two of the real stuff in my tea is going to cause me any real harm. I can spare 30 calories for a real teaspoon of sugar.
Monday, April 24, 2006
What I did this weekend
I finally uploaded my stash of pictures from my computer to the internet. Istanbul, Family, Friends in LA. Yeah, they go all the way back to my LA days. I procrastinated a little on the uploading.
Oh, and I looked a lot of apartments (Anyone looking for a roommate on June 1?), but had no luck, so I went and watched Finding Nemo in Arabic with Anthony, tried to burn his dorm down by leaving the popcorn butter on the heat too long, and ate lots of brownies.
Oh, and I looked a lot of apartments (Anyone looking for a roommate on June 1?), but had no luck, so I went and watched Finding Nemo in Arabic with Anthony, tried to burn his dorm down by leaving the popcorn butter on the heat too long, and ate lots of brownies.
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Friday, April 14, 2006
How it went in Istanbul
It went great! 
Except when the man at the restaurant made us stand up and sing "Rollin' on the River," the words to which I do not know. That was kind of really obnoxious.
And although we are capable people who are relatviely experiened with putting on conferences, we owe our hides to this wonderful Turk, Alp. Three cheers for Alp! Without him--disaster.
Everyone showed up, my new shoes did not fail me, only one person had serious airplane troubles, which worked out in the end, there was fruitful discussion, the meals were reliable, no one got sick, the weather was beautiful, my mom gets along swimmingly with Fares, as you can see.
AND we had ample opportunity to enjoy delicious lamb kebab. Here, look, Mohammed and I in Sultanahmet eating kebab! Mmm, kebab.
So, all in all, an excellent trip. More pictures!
Except when the man at the restaurant made us stand up and sing "Rollin' on the River," the words to which I do not know. That was kind of really obnoxious.
And although we are capable people who are relatviely experiened with putting on conferences, we owe our hides to this wonderful Turk, Alp. Three cheers for Alp! Without him--disaster.
Everyone showed up, my new shoes did not fail me, only one person had serious airplane troubles, which worked out in the end, there was fruitful discussion, the meals were reliable, no one got sick, the weather was beautiful, my mom gets along swimmingly with Fares, as you can see.
AND we had ample opportunity to enjoy delicious lamb kebab. Here, look, Mohammed and I in Sultanahmet eating kebab! Mmm, kebab.So, all in all, an excellent trip. More pictures!
What made my week
Before I went to Istanbul, I went dancing almost every night because I knew I wouldn't be able to go for another two weeks, as a business meeting in Istanbul does not usually include salsa music. (Actually, I go almost every night even if I'm not planning a trip to Istanbul, but never mind that.) I met a nice guy, and we talked a bit, and toward the end of the evening, they played my *favorite salsa song ever ever ever* and so I said, "OOOOOH this is my favorite song EVER ever ever! But I don't even know the name!" And he told me the name, but it is Spanish, and I forgot it.
So then I went to Istanbul, and I came back two weeks later, and I went last night to the place I ALWAYS go on Thursday nights and there he was and, my friends, guess what he had done? He had burned me a CD of my favorite salsa song ever ever ever AND other songs he thought I would like. He had even labelled the CD with the titles and artists! And the CD case!
How sweet IS that?
On a related note, I've decided to learn Spanish because I am tired of shouting over the Latin music, "WHAT? I DONT SPEAK SPANISH. WHAT DID YOU SAY?"
So then I went to Istanbul, and I came back two weeks later, and I went last night to the place I ALWAYS go on Thursday nights and there he was and, my friends, guess what he had done? He had burned me a CD of my favorite salsa song ever ever ever AND other songs he thought I would like. He had even labelled the CD with the titles and artists! And the CD case!
How sweet IS that?
On a related note, I've decided to learn Spanish because I am tired of shouting over the Latin music, "WHAT? I DONT SPEAK SPANISH. WHAT DID YOU SAY?"
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