not alone

his breathing never really slowed. he thought that by walking through the rain he would cool down, that his tension would ease. but his anger was too great, too determined to let him go. his fists were clenched, his nails digging deep into his palms. his breathing was calculated. and heavy. like an iron pendulum it raised his chest and lowered it. his walk nearly matched his breathing. with determined steps he pushed the way behind him, every step taken to restate his anger. his frustration. he didn't walk quickly, or slowly, but with the intentional steps of rage barely under control. with every step his sandals hit the wet ground his body got ready for the next one, raising his foot to relink it with the ground a few feet further. the rain flowing down his hair, face, clothes, eyes, nose, ears and toes didn't slow him down. he was drenched but didn't notice. he didn't notice the dark either. he was shaking with rage, not cold.

when he approached the other he didn't see him at first. not because of the dark, but because he didn't see him. the other was slightly slower, walking with a casual stride, his sugegasa shielding him from most of the rain. when he saw him his first thought was sheep. sheep, cattle, all to the slaughter. he felt his breathing slow a bit. he was gaining on him. he felt his breathing slow and he heard the rain less and less, his footsteps further and further away. his breathing slowed, his hearing lowered and all he could see was the other. his sugegasa, his casual stride, the sound of his footsteps. to the slaughter. sheep. he was gaining on him. he grasped his katana's tsuka. all he could see was the other, all he could hear was his footsteps, with his heartbeat faintly in the background. his training had taken over. when he was but an arm's length from him, his katana left its saya, in a round motion that went from bottom to top, from kidney to shoulder, both his hands precisely gripping the tsuka, a matter that took a blink beginning to end.

sheep to the slaughter.

death of a blogger

i'm vain and selfish. i believe in equal shares (that is, i am vain as a i am selfish).

as such, i would like to announce that specsan is no longer among us (bloggers, that is). nice thing about blogging is that people get resurrected all the time. as such, keep tuned in for spec's blog (just don't hold your breath).

if you're a fan/friend of spec, please pour your anger in the comments section below. i promise to read every one of them and wonder what you're hoping to accomplish being angry at a virtual character.

lovers' hell

i hate valentine's

i hate the red. i hate the hearts. i hate the over-priced roses and the cheezy chocolate boxes. i hate that chics expect some sort of recognition of this totally artificial commercial scam of an occasion. it's not enough that their schizophrenic personalities keep us on our toes 95% of the time, some idiot who wants to sell greeting cards decided to make that time feel like a relaxing holiday. i hate that people congratulate each other and that it's impossible to go out because of all the special offers restaurants have. i just absolutely hate it.

habby valentine's day, boys and girls.

going gray

my father's hair went gray in his early thirties. now you need to understand that hair on my dad's side of the family is used to roughly describe the coarse substance growing on their heads. the up part is that they go gray, not bald, so it's a mixed blessing. on mom's side it's soft, smooth hair. they have the tendency to go bald (at least my uncles and grandpa).

i inherited the bad hair. when i used to cut my hair mom used to gather it to use it to scrub out stubborn spots around the house. my girlfriends had to wear leather gloves to "stroke" my hair. but, deep down inside, i was consoled by the fact that at least i won't go bald. the few gray hairs i have near my temples tended to confirm that. but to "handle" my hair i shave it off every couple weeks.

recently i let it grow longer and all my bets were lost. it turned out my hair is thinning. i really wanted to have gray hair rather than no hair.

undead mummies

as i was walking down the long tunnel which is the main bulk of dubai's international airport, and passing rows of chairs which are placed there for the comfort and convenience of weary travelers, i noticed something out of place. among the chaos of the travelers, on the floor beside the chairs, were bundles of blankets. the blankets were vaguely human-shaped. i stopped to further investigate.

now you must imagine the picture. there were tens of these mummies thrown along the tunnel, all placed in intricate positions to allow as many of them to fit along that line, all wrapped in different-colored blankets. i got closer to one and was rudely shocked by a movement under the blanket. there were people underneath! they were sleeping, wrapped head to toe in the blankets. literally. don't they suffocate? do they live there? is there a creepy mummy-nation resident in dubai's airport? the look of the crowded bathrooms seemed to confirm that theory (i had to stand in line to pee, and that's in the men's bathroom, the business lounge was literally over-filled and people were being sent away!)

if you're ever in dubai, make a note of that, they really ARE there

backwardness knows no boundaries

i've honestly though i've seen it all with the wedding procession on abdoun bridge, but on a relative scale last night i've seen something much, much more backward. again, this goes to show you that nothing; not money, exposure to foreign cultures or anything apparently can fix backward nations. shamefully, it's the nation of which i'm part.

i was driving down szr (sheikh zayed road), which happens to be one of the main roads in dubai last night. the road is 5 lanes of beautifully flat dried petrol. to those who don't know dubai, this road is like a main artery in dubai, so it's always packed going one way in the morning and packed going the other in the evening. but around 10 it's nice and free. last night i was going home around 2330 and i was doing a comfortable 120 when all of a sudden the traffic slowed. around me i was seeing crazy people in cars waving uae flags and honking and shit and my first thought was "we must've liberated palestine!" but it turns out the uae beat ksa in a soccer match. wtf is wrong with these people? don't they realize how insignificant that is compared to anything worthwhile in the world? to go around all patriotic like it was a great national victory is silly, but hey, people are entitled to their pet peeves.

that, of course, until you realize how backwards they are.

the traffic kept on slowing to a complete stop. a couple hundred meters ahead smoke starting rising. white smoke. the sort of smoke that burning rubber makes: not fire burning but donut burning. the fucking idiots slowed the traffic, blocked all 5 lanes and started doing donuts. they blocked a fucking highway to do donuts because they won a soccer match. can we blame hitler for wanting to burn us alive? after what i saw last night i feel like burning myself in an oven.

dubai traffic festival

that is what the people living here call dubai shopping festival. although this isn't true because dubai's traffic is nightmarish all year round, trying to do shopping in that sale is an absolute nightmare.

mind you, i hate shopping. it's such a burden and i have no idea how females stand it. i buy clothes as to not look like a bum (although i end up looking like one anyway). it's my brother and mother who pushed me to shop. now if shopping sucked before, it was absolutely horrible this time. see, there were sales and we were near the end of these sales.

the shops look like their storage rooms have thrown up in their showrooms. clothes, shoes and accessories all compete for the limited space which is usually empty outside of the sale season. you have to literally dig through piles of clothes to hopefully find something your size. which reminds me, when did guys shrink as to that an xxl doesn't fit me? i know i'm big but what can obese people do? wrap themselves in blankets?

then of course there are the hoards of shoppers. i know the prices are reduced but the shit isn't for free. i think the concept of paying for less is attractive, regardless of how much the stuff actually costs.

idiots (including me).

karaoke

karaoke means empty orchestra.

we were the first people to arrive at c-bar, so we had our choice of songs, but those who came in after us were really unfortunate. when my turn came to sing, the place wasn't crowded enough to drown my voice, so during my song i could see people running out of the place with their hands covering their ears with what looked a lot like horror covering their faces. i couldn't tell for sure cuz i couldn't hear through my singing, but i think they were screaming in anguish. when the first one ran out i turned around to check if there was a fire or something behind me, but apparently it was only me they were fleeing.

i didn't mind, i had a blast. in fact i decided to bestow my voice upon these people every week.

new hijri year

habby new hijri year, boys and girls.

it's been a war here in dubai, since the government decided that the public sector will get sunday off instead of saturday, but the private sector will get nothing extra off (except lazy companies like ours, he3). the public opinion is hilarious:

concerned newspaper reader: "if the gov wants more locals to join private companies, what kind of message will this be sending out?"
sami: "dear concerned idiot, if one is thinking about joining the private sector and is having second thoughts because in the days of the public sector he had an extra couple days off a year, i think the private sector will be better off without him"

other reader: "how come the public sector gets an extra day off? does that mean they work harder than we do"
sami: "no, idiot, it doesn't, it means that they work less than you and that extra day is just further proof of that concept"

long days, pleasant nights..

soleil

ok cirque du soleil is one of the best experiences you can go through in an adult lifetime. i've seen it on tv but to see in real life is something else. it leaves you absolutely spellbound. i really really REALLY enjoyed it. if you're reading this and in dubai drop everything and go buy a ticket NOW.

yalla.

what are you still doing here? go. go, yalla.