Sigh

An Apology from a (terribly) Lazy Blogger

 I know. I know.

It's been nearly nine months since my last post.

And then I wonder why I don't have enough readers.

I wish I could get away by saying that I've been incredibly busy, but I know bloggers like Nida who, despite their taxing schedules, never forsake their blogs.

I should really try and follow their examples.

I suppose I ought to shed some light on what I've been up to the past few months so I'll give you a brief summary of that below:

After giving my SATs, I had my MOCKs in March followed by my final CIE A Level examinations. Thereafter began a summer 'vacation' that promised to test the limits of my endurance by showering me with a multitude of university entrance exams. Since I took both Math and Biology in A Levels, I applied to both Engineering and Medical universities.

I will not bore you with the drab details of it but I assure you that the months of July, August and September were probably the most emotionally grueling days of my life. It felt as if my entire future hung in a delicate balance. It made me wonder at times why I was getting so worked up over university admissions although there are much higher things in life to strive for. But all I did was keep my head down and doggedly push on ahead.

This ordeal finally ended on the 23rd September when the most dreaded of entry tests-the MCAT- was held. Alhamdulillah, it went a lot better than I expected (considering that I had to rote learn books of a completely different board in two months)

Tomorrow, the merit lists are finally going to be uploaded and we'll find out which medical college we made it into. I hope everything goes well, In sha Allah.

I'll keep you updated!

Hnia

Those Trusty Bookmarks...

Peace and Salutations,

These days I'm reading Ship Breaker.

 

One of it's pages is being chewed upon by this strange creature.

  

 

This adorable page corner bookmark is the creative product of the blog 

I Could Make That. I found it using Stumble Upon a few months back and decided 

to finally try it out last night.

The last book I finished

This one was supposed to be for my brother but he took a fancy to other monster one I made.  So I kept it for myself.

Here's some pictures of two of my older bookmarks.

  I used one of the postcards my father brought for me from Uzbekistan.

And personalised it a bit.

It reads:

Willows whiten, aspens quiver

Little breezes dusk and shiver

Through the wave that runs forever

(from The Lady of Shalott by Tennyson) 

Does the road wind uphill all the way?

Yes, to the very end.

(from Uphill by Christina Georgina Rossetti)

I love to feel the ocean blowing in my face.

Wave as the old boats depart.

(from Midday by Yusuf Islam) 

I do not want people to be very agreeable as it

saves me the trouble of liking them a great deal.

- Jane Austen 

Release the hanging emblem 

Across the evening sky 

Bathed in the seaward dance

Of your graven romance.

(Necromancer Romance by Ayra Luccan)

Dear distant kingdoms, foreign winds and water,

hopes and dreams and innocent sunshine,

Yet could my heart be passed back to me by my passing from your courtyard,

still it would not want an exile's camp.

Yours truly.

But avoid the city after dark -Midday by Yusuf Islam 

Oh, I kept the first for another day.

Yet knowing how way leads on to way.

I doubted if I should ever come back.

-The Road Not Take, Robert Frost
 

The future is uncertain, like a feather in the wind

-Mine

The majesty of nature imposes silence over all

-to complement its stillness

-Mine

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep, 

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

-Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,

Robert Frost

  

☮

Hnia 

 

Supremely Annoying Tests

© The College Board

Yes, you've guessed it! The dreaded 3 letter word: SAT!
Or SAT Subject Tests in Physics and Chemistry, in my case. Today was 28th of January, the last Saturday of the first month of the year 2012. And a testing date for SAT.

It was my first experience with this test. There aren't any test centres where I live so I had to wake up 4:45 in the morning so my father could drive me to a nearby city where my test centre was. We reached there at around 7:00 am. Then followed almost three painfully boring hours where we basically sat in the waiting area and waited (no, seriously?), got ourselves checked in and then waited some more in the examination room. At around 10:00, after entering our personal details on an immensely completed answer sheet which involved filling in a series of obnoxious circles with our pencils (No.2!!), we began our tests. I chose to do Physics first even though it's the tougher of the two subjects. I was a bit disorientated at the start but soon, everything sort of fell into rhythm and I found that I could ignore the extremely uncomfortable table and the depressing yellow lights overhead. After a 5 minute break, I began Chemistry which went quite well, Alhamdulillah. By 12:15, I was finished and gratefully exited the room, with the burden of SATs finally lifted off my shoulders.

The scores will be sent by the 16th of February. I hope, InshAllah, they turn out to be good!
That's enough from my end for now. I feel sleep creeping up on me...

☮ 

Hnia

Back after a long break

 

Peace and salutations!

It's been quite a while, has it not? I wish I were more persistent in updating my blog. But alas, my laziness knows no ends.

Anyway, on a much more brighter note, my blogging friend, Nida started an online novella called Honour and Honesty and I was pleasantly surprised to find my name in the Acknowledgements page. Follow the link and immerse yourself in this extremely promising story! 

I just finished off with my mid terms a week ago and now I have my SATs at the end of January. Things look rather bleak ahead, with exams and university registrations piling on top of each but I'm praying that all goes smoothly, InshAllah.

Also, I completed a book by Diana Wynne Jones (who happens to be one of my favourite writers!) today. It's called The Magicians of Caprona and it was absolutely wonderful! It had quite a colourful cast of characters and some very funny scenes too. It's part of her Chrestomanci series and a lovely addition to it, I must say. 

Got to go now, Wish me luck!

☮

Hnia

Welcome, Ramadan!

To all the Muslims of the world,

Happy Ramadan! 

Today happens to be the first roza,or fast, in Pakistan. I must admit I am very excited. A mysterious peace has settled over everything ever since the moon was sighted yesterday, marking the beginning of the holy month.

Sehri ended at about 3:45 am today and our Iftari will, InshAllah, be at around 7:15 pm. At our place, we usually open our fasts with dates and have some fruit chaat (my mouth waters at the very word) Then after reading our Maghrib  prayers, we have our main dish which can be something fancy like pasta or the traditional roti salan (err...bread and gravy)

Ramadan is an ideal time to improve ourselves by giving up bad habits and taking up good ones. A teacher of mine told us to make honest lists of all the negative things that we do and find in ourselves and promise to give up atleast one of them. I thought that was a really good idea.

I hope that all of you have a blessed Ramadan. May we all earn the favour of Allah this month. InshAllah.

Salam.

Hnia

Back from the Mountains!

Peace and salutations,

I am going to dedicate this post in relaying to you some of the details of a wonderful trip to Bhurban I took with my family last week.

Bhurban is close to a very popular (and hence unbearably crowded)  hill station, Murree, whose name surely no Pakistani can not have heard. Bhurban is much less crowded though. It's also located at a lower height than Murree so it is slightly less cold. The weather there was very pleasant, with cool breezes flowing all day long. It even drizzled one morning but ,thankfully, not enough to hinder our outdoor exploits.

The start of the hiking track

The main attraction for me there was the hiking track. We usually went there early in the morning so there was often not a soul around. Just my family and I happily trudging along. Coming from a busy city where the blaring of car horns are the main sounds that can be heard, the peace, quiet and solitude there was amazingly refreshing. It inspired me and awed me. I listened to the birds calling out to each other, saw the thin, almost feathery leaves that silently fell from the branches. The crunch of old leaves underneath my feet and the beams of sunlight forcing their way through the canopy overhead filled me with admiration for nature. At many times, I halted in my tracks, took out my poem diary and jotted down my thoughts in a few sentences. Descriptions from the many books I had read were swimming around in my head and for once, I could understand and experience what authors meant when they described forest scenes using various phrases.

THE SQUIRREL BENCH!

I saw some really curious species of butterflies there (unfortunately, I seem to have deleted the pictures I took of them) and some particularly large and hairy crows and funny looking toadstools. The benches there were very cute, with squirrels for support.  There was also an old man who gave rides on a beautiful white horse.

The huts.

I was also able to catch up on my reading. I finished Castle in the Air there and started Sense and Sensibility. 

On the whole, it was a very enjoyable family trip. I hope I haven't bored you with all these long descriptions though. I'd love to hear where you went in your summer vacations in the comment box.

I'm planning to post a bunch of reviews on books I've read this summer and change my blog's layout. I've just realized that I've hardly written anything about my great love for books. I shall provide some evidence soon, InshAllah, if laziness does not strike me again.

Until then.

☮ 
Hnia