Closing Pandora's Box

I have always been a last minute person. Actually that’s a lie. There was once a time when I used to be extremely efficient, getting things done waaaaaaay before time. But now I’ve realised when it comes to even the most important of things, I leave them till the night before or do them on the day they were due. Essays are one prime example of this. Last year, I can’t recall the number of times I rang or texted the General, telling him how I was having a panic attack because I still had to write 1,500 words of an essay and was going at a rate of 80 words an hour. That’s just a little more than a word a minute. The same happened with my dissertation. Anyway, the point I was trying to make is…yeah you get the picture. This post will not be too long (I always say that and end up writing loads) as I plan to just pass on a few awards I have recently received. Without more beating around the bush, and before I forget due to my laziness, let’s get down to business.

I love This Blog:

This award was given to me by the most lovely Vice Versa (@Cryptic Crap). Ulti Pulti (as I shall call her, with her permission that I still need to get), is relatively new to blogging having only started in April while she should been busy revising for her A-Levels. Her blog is excellent and I very much enjoy reading whatever her fingers type. Apart from the awesome text, her ability to use paint to create stunning (and hilarious) pictures always amazes me. So much so, that you may soon be seeing some of her artwork on my blog. In the mean time, I would highly recommend you visit her blog and see for yourself.

I wish to thank you Ulti Pulti for bestowing this award upon me, for which I am very much honoured!

This is a very difficult award to give, seeing as I only follow blogs that I thoroughly love and enjoy reading. I shall therefore make sure to give this to those people I have not awarded before:

• Reverieriver’s (@Reverie River) blog is excellent. It is like a chest full of treasure in which you know you will always find something of great value; the glittering golden currency of knowledge, rich rubies saturated with thought that get your grey matter going and other pearls and sapphires and emeralds that keep you captivated for a long time. There are very few people out there who when they go to the sacred house for Umrah, remember strangers in their prayers. She is one of those few and I think that speaks volumes about her great personality.
• Welcome to Random Town by lil-bee is a blog that I have recently started following. Her verbal “diarrhoea” is always amusing to read, thought provoking at times and straight to the point. Though she has been blogging since the day she was born, reminding me of Stewie from Family Guy, her ability to write good posts has not declined (maybe because the average length of her posts is about 6 lines). Being Bengali, she reminds me of the General who is awesome thus I make the assumption she is too.
• I don’t think I have ever awarded normal.is.overrated. (AKA Dr R Neo) who is owner of the blog Conceal your thoughts. Contrary to the name of the blog, her posts saturated with her views, questions and comments, all of which are really worthwhile reading, thought provoking and extremely well written. Witty, wicked and worthwhile are just three words I would use to describe her blog. We were recently given a sneak preview of her creativity with words and I can honestly say the manner in which she is able to command words and captivate readers is startling. I think hers is one of the blogs in which you are bound to find a post or topic that will make you nod your head in agreement or smile in amusement. Don’t believe me? Go check it out for yourselves!

Influential blogger:

I have never believed myself to be a good writer and so was genuinely amazed when I discovered Hamza (@Teenage Mutiny) had awarded me with the Influential Blogger award. It is truly speechlessnessising to know that one person at least thinks that. Hamza’s blog is always excellent to read, dolloped with humour, clever and punctuated with more puns than a errrm *insert appropriate word here*. I’d like to offer him my heartfelt thanks for giving me this award, and I hope and pray that my blog can continue to influence, if not people, at least one person.

While thinking of who I should pass this award onto, the first name that came in my head was Leah’s (@Leah’s Treasures). Why you ask? While thinking of the why, I realised one of the main reasons I thoroughly enjoy reading this blog is because of the person that writes it. A truly lovely person whose good nature is infectious. I don’t think I could say a single negative thing about her even if I tried lying. Her blog is just as amazing as she is. The quality of her posts is second to none, each one giving the reader food for thought, giving the reader something to relate to, and each one is just so human. The beauty of this blog lies in its simplicity. Coupled with the fact that at the time of her 1st blogiversary, last Thursday, she had in excess of 400 followers which speaks volumes as to why she is a worthy recipient of this award.

I hope and pray that you all have an excellent, productive and enjoyable week ahead. Stay amazing, stay smiling.

PS
This post was written in a bit of a hurry so please excuse any grammatical and or others errors that make your eyebrows hit your hairline.

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Title: I thank you – Sam and Dave

This is the final award I have recently been given. When I first looked at it, the word Rad reminded me of German back in high school. Rad in German means bike. But I don’t think this award has anything to do with bikes.

It was given to me by the lovely Sana Castellano (@ A Life Worth Living). Apart from being lovely, she’s funny, witty, clever (aren’t all med students?) and I think she has been going through relationship issues with her blog recently *insert fly inviting moment here* (inserted). Her layout has changed so many times recently that I sometimes had trouble realising it was the same blog I was reading. Now it’s a nice and lovely purple. I think she has resolved her relationship issues with her blog so you can pay her a visit and read some of the awesome things she has to say.

The rules of accepting this award are relatively simple (or not depending on which way you look at them). All you have to do is post a picture you have taken or one from your camera / phone, and give it a caption.

True love in a 330ml can. <3

This picture was  taken by my little brother (or his friend, I can’t remember) at a mosque event a few years back. My hair was so long it wouldn’t fit in my hat. And the eye lashes. Well 2 friends of mine liked them so much they offered to give me a free makeup session involving things that I didn’t even know the meaning of.

Anyway, onto the awarding part. Here are a few awesome bloggers that rank 6.759+ on the Rad scale.

1. Sana Castellano (@ A life worth living) totally deserves this. Yes I know it’s a bit weird to give back an award to someone who gave it to you, but in this case I hope you can overlook that. If you don’t believe me, just check out her blog.
2. Smiley (@ Sparkling Smiles) hates dislikes (?) awards because of the attached rules and regulations. But she totally deserved this. You don’t pre-book people to write your biography unless they’re good. She’s not good, she’s A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. Take a read of her recent posts and you will nod your head in agreement. Every post that her fingers type is just so wow. Pretty good job for butter fingers ;).
3. Zαìήαβ (@ Dummy Escape) is pretty Rad (no not in the bike sense of the word). I like her blog because it’s simple. People try so hard to stand out from the crowd that they end being the same as every one else. This blog is different; it’s not hard on the head, nor the eyes and it’s beauty lies in its simplicity. I like it, and I think you will too!
4. Since I started following Ella Unread’s (@ From the STUPIDEST corner of my mind) blog, I have never left her writing without feeling something. She writes short posts, but they are soaked in emotion and humanity, so much so, you’re bound to come across one that’ll make you nod your head and say ‘Me too’.
5. One blogger that is never afraid to say things bluntly, or speak of topics that many people would rather brush under the mat and act like they never existed is Azra (@ Azurah). Her posts can leave you LOL-ing, shaking your head in disgust or scratching your chin deep in thought and there are only very few people who can do that. I personally have learnt a lot from reading what she has to say.
6. Furree Katt (@ Furree Katt) is cool personified. Her blog is a place where you can laugh and have a generally good time. Her writing is always refreshing and fun to read, and the writer herself is a very nice person.
7. AcetylCholine (@ Critical Velocity) is probably the loveliest, funniest and most awesomest Martian you’ll ever come across. And you still want to know why she’s a worthy recipient of this award?
8. I decided to leave Yours Truly (@  {{ Yours Truly }}) to the end of the list because she deserves a special mention. Like all the other people in this list, she is an excellent writer who can keep you captivated for a very long time in words that are extremely thought provoking and true. She is an amazing writer who writes once every 6 or so weeks. That is why I mentioned her last. :P

I hope and pray you all have a lovely and productive week ahead.

[This is a scheduled post]

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Title: Fireflies – Owl City

Here are the Rules for receiving the award:

1. Thank and link back to the person that awarded you this award
2. Share 7 things about yourself
3. Award 15 recently discovered great bloggers
4. Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award

This award was given to me by Kamila (many many months ago), Yours Truly and most recently by Zainab. Thank you all ever so much for awarding me!

7 things about me:

1. I think I have suffered more colds in this year alone already than the whole of last year. -___-
2. I am really craving a muffin with a hot mug of milk and honey, right now.
3. I procrastinate a lot and had an essay to hand in last week on Wednesday. I think that was the first time ever I felt sick of my procrastinating and nearly cried. But I didn’t. I did the essay instead. Thank you General!
4. I am in a good mood  today (Saturday). After a break in domestic football due to international matches I was once again able to watch my dear Manchester United come back from 2-0 down at half time to win the match 4-2. I only watched the first half because dad’s crew came round to watch the cricket world cup final and kicked me off.
5. I wanted to be a tree at one time in my life (don’t even bother asking).
6. A few minutes ago my brother farted. It was lethal. I smelt it with my blocked nose.
7. I just sneezed and you wouldn’t guess what happened. No, the keyboard is clean. I sneeze farted .

Award to 15 other bloggers

1. Tazeen @ Crimson Sky.
2. Kitkat @ Kitkat’s Tales.
3. Leah @ My Tasty Treasures.
4. Anna K @ A he♥rt for all.
5. normal.is.overrated @ Conceal your thoughts.
6. Randomhyper @ Organized chaos.
7. рεяfεcтℓγ▪ιмpзяfзcт @ Politics of a Torontonian Hijaby.
8. justine love @ Psycho Chick Lessons.
9. SaJ @ Bleargh!
10. Sidrah @ Under The Magic Tree.
11. me_duress @ Another Man's Dream.

Stay smiling! =]

[This is a scheduled post]

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Title: Fireflies – Owl City

It has been exactly a week since I last posted, and as I have recently received a lot of awards from lots of lovely people, I think I’m going to spend the next few days working on them.

*****

So here are the rules:

1. Thank and link back to the person that awarded this to you.
2. Link posts by you and fellow bloggers that YOU find inspirational.
3. Give the award to 10 fellow bloggers.

This award was given to me by ¤•˚Zαìήαβ˚•¤ (@ Dummy Escape). Thank you ever so much for giving me this honour! You should pay her blog a visit, despite it being very pink, it really is simple and sweet.

I’m going to combine points 2 & 3. Here are some bloggers and their blogs that truly light up my blog-reading:

1. Sara (@ Sweet Serenity in Islam) is extremely knowledgeable, and well spoken. Her blog is for everyone, Muslims who wish to improve their faith and non-Muslims who wish to learn more about Islam. Inspiring Post: Fulfilling our dreams.
2. Though Aeesha S. (@ Aeesha’s Recital) hasn’t recently posted any long and detailed posts, there are many many things one can learn from what she has to say and be duly inspired. While browsing through her blog looking for a relevant post to share with you all, I came across the following one-liner that sums up my point. Inspiring Post: An appraisal.
3. One blog that I have recently started following (literally last week) is Audacious Tori’s (@ Audacious Tori). The reason I like it is because her posts are simple, and usually short but extremely truthful, blunt  and hard hitting. Inspiring Post: When it is over?
4. Another new blog is Chymere Hayes (@ Chymere Hayes). ‘A personal journey to success’ from which we can all borrow a few words of wisdom. Inspiring Post: Note to self.
5. I know I have mentioned Gary (@ Khlanie) a few times before, and if any one deserved this award he surely does! Amazing writer, humourous and inspiring, I have trouble finding words to describe him. Inspiring Post: Positive energy saboteurs.
6. Amira (@ The Stranger’s Diary) is another very knowledgeable blogger who is always interesting to read. Inspiring post: Should be sleeping (a few pictures).
7. MoniqueS (@ My social anxiety disorder), writes from a personal perspective about the title of her blog. There are many ill conceived concepts regarding anxiety disorders and her blog goes a long way in shedding some light on the hidden secrets we may not normally notice or overlook. Inspiring post: My film career and social anxiety.
8. There are some people, whose words make you realise the value of living each and every day. The writer of TheraScribbles is one of them. His words are from the heart and talk about his battle with depression. Inspiring Post: Should I stay or should I go.
9. Asma Khan (@ Stay Blessed) is an excellent and thought provoking writer. Each of her posts leaves one nodding their head in agreement. Inspiring Post: Toxic Relationship.
10. I need a break. Don’t hold your breath for this space.

Hope you are all having a lovely, relaxing and enjoyable weekend.

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Title: Fireflies – Owl City

This is the story of my life,
And I write it everyday
I know it isn’t black and white
And it’s anything but grey
I know that no I’m not alright, but I feel okay ‘cos
Anything can, everything can happen
That’s the story of my life…

I’m gonna write the melody
That’s gonna make history,
And when I paint my masterpiece I swear I’ll show you first
There just ain’t a way to see who and why or what will be
Till now is then
It’s a mystery, it’s a blessing and a curse
Or something worse

This is the story of my life
And I write it everyday,
And I hope you’re by my side when I’m writing the last page.¹

The lyrics of the song posted above, is one that I first heard a very long time ago with a very special person. Though that person is no longer here, this song still reminds me of her and the promises we made together. However this post is not one about Charley, but about life. That same life, which like a credit card that is topped every midnight to a balance of 86,400, many of us forget to exploit to it's full potential. Just stop reading for a minute, and think about it. If you were told you would be given a total of £86,400 to spend each day in whatever way you liked what would you do? At the end of each day however, any money left unspent would be discarded and you would not be able to transfer it to the next day. Would anyone in their right mind let any of that money go? You could use that money to spoil yourself and others, give to those in need, fulfil your dreams and the list goes on and on and on. It’s the same with life. There are 24 hours in a day, 60 minutes in an hour, and 60 seconds in each and every minute. That’s a total of 86,400 seconds, which once gone will never come back. What have you done with your balance? Many of us are guilty of not living, but merely existing.

That is not to say that when we are overcome by difficulties, hardships, grief or run out of breath we don’t stop and take a Time-Out. The one that has never experienced suffering never lived and the one having suffered was unable to find happiness never learned.² Sometimes you don’t want to go on, sometimes you’re so tired, exhausted and worn-out by trying to live that you just wish to stop. Like my lovely friend Marshmallow said to me:

It’s okay to say, “I wanna stay in bed today, I’m taking a day off”. Let someone else carry your burdens for you for a day, just like you carried theirs.

It’s okay to hurt and to cry, but it’s stupidity when that same hurt, whether it be due to the breakup of a relationship, loss of a job or the death of a loved one for example, steals your life and makes you dead. The world unfortunately goes on, and unless you jump back on the ride, you’ll get left behind.

Those that sow in tears, reap in joy.³

*****

Fear not when, fear not why,
Fear not much while were alive,
Life is for living not living up tight,
See ya somewhere up in the sky,
Fear not die, I'll be alive for a million years, bye bye…⁴

Conditions of accepting award:

1. Thank and put a link back to the person who so kindly gave this award.
2. Share a few things about yourself.
3. Pass the award onto some mighty fine bloggers.
4. Inform these mighty fine bloggers that they have received the award.

Here goes:

1. I was totally humbled and honoured to receive this award, given to me by the amazing Gary (@Klahanie). If you have forgotten the worth of living, or have realised that you just do not know how good it is to be alive, then I would tell you to read (not recommend) Gary’s blog. Each and every post is written with such honesty, emotion and thought that it is bound to leave a mark on each and every reader. Each and every word written is so beautiful, that it is poetical. Thank you ever so much.
2. This is the first hardest thing I find…
   1. My brother has started calling me ‘red nose reindeer’ as I have a spot on my nose. It’s bright red because of all the poking I’ve been doing to it (any help?).
   2. I appreciate and really value the simple things in life; family, friends, memories, moments and coffee dates for example.
   3. Whenever starting on a project, I always go for the designing first. The writing comes later. If it doesn’t look good, who’s gonna read it?
   4. I suck at remembering in general - names, dates, names of diseases and drugs, the list is endless. If I forget your birthday, forgive me!
   5. I’m not married but I celebrate anniversaries.
   6. If you gave me a jar of green olives, NOM NOM NOM, and you’ll have no idea where it went. They are from heaven.
   7. I want to be a paediatric surgeon one day insha’Allah. But I wouldn’t mind being a teacher.
   8. If you have a packet of cookies, you can bribe me to do pretty much anything (nearly).
   9. I don’t know why I am still making this list, it has taken me 20 minutes just to write the last 8 facts.
3. This is the second hardest thing I find…
   1. Ella Unread (From the STUPIDEST corner of my mind)  is a blogger that I recently discovered. Though I haven’t read much of her writing, but from the little I have read of her poems, I have to say they are beautiful. You may read one of her poems and nod your head in agreement because they are just so…human.
   2. Kamila’s blog (Basket of Dreams), is full of sugar and spice and all things nice. She writes about so many different things I don’t where to start. But one thing is true, after reading her blog you’ll want to do some of the ideas she proposes because they are just so cool!
   3. Apart from the fact that AcetylCholine (Critical Velocity) is a bad influence on me Martian (I think ), she writes about everything and nothing from the umpteen number of Ipod headphones she’s been through, or more recently how cytochrome bc1 complex lead to the invention of a cuss word. Her style makes it worth reading.
   4. Gelovsky (GELOVSKY ^_^) is an optimist, sarcastic and fantastic who is another blogger I have recently started following.
   5. Pooja (Just Breathe) is honest, straight up and living life to the full. No beating around the bush one may say, and that is why I think she is deserving of this award. Keep, smiling, keep eating the Gulab Jamuns⁵ and keep living!
   6. The person with no name an undisclosed name (TheraScribbles) suffers from depression and started writing as a way of helping. The blog is extremely thought provoking, eye-opening and inspiring.
   7. Hijabi Hippie Hypo (Hijabi Hippie Hypo & Overcoming Obstacles) hasn’t written for a very long time and so I hope this gives her reason to change that. Her blog is always a pleasure to read, full of pictures, drawings, book and film reviews; there’s always something new to keep you interested.
   8. Leah’s (My Tasty Treasures) blog is tasty and one of the major reasons why is because it requires the reader to think, and asks questions. There are lots of pretty pictures coupled with wonderful bits of prose.
   9. Furree Katt (The Jackky Bhagnani Obsession) deserves this award because I once gave her an award that she gave to me. That’s like someone giving you a gift and you giving it back to them, which is not very nice. And so to make up for it, I’m giving her this, for her passionate, interesting and funny writing.

Have a lovely weekend everyone. :)

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Title: Story of my life – Bon Jovi
¹Lyrics from the same song as the title
²For your story, Part 2 – page 8. 
³Psalms 126:5
⁴Young Forever – Jay Z feat. Mr Hudson
⁵Gulab Jamun – A popular sweet eaten in the subcontinent.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

Some of you may remember I posted a collection of reflections back in September in the name of “For Your Story” which dealt with my reaction to the passing away of Charley. A very lovely friend of mine, Yara, drew a front cover for it (above), signifying the single path which in its continuation leads to life and ultimately to death. Is death not a part of life, just as the two sides of the tree are still part of the same tree? It is an amazing drawing and I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to her for sparing some of her time to make this drawing.

I’d also like to thank Hijabi Hippie Hypo for awarding me the versatile blogger award. There were some conditions to go along with the award, and as I have already made it once, you can view it here. It is also her blog’s 1st anniversary today and so a very very happy birthday HHH! You all should pay her a visit (click here).

In other news, I was requested by a reader who wished to remain anonymous, that I should start a medical blog. What do you guys think? If you’re going to give me thumbs up is there anything in particular you’d like me to start with?

Yesterday I heard an amazingly thought provoking Khutbah (sermon) on Jumu’ah which I shall share with you soon. Also, I’ve been working on the ‘closet’ post which is self reflective and consists of 2 parts that will be posted in the near future (next week-ish).

That’ all for today because the football is about to start, so I take my leave, and wish you all a very happy weekend. OMG! I’ve missed the first half. NOOOOO

:)

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Title: Reach – S Club 7
Drawing Cover for For your story by Yara.

Today was a meh day. Just one of those days. My mind was all over the place, wanting to visit places I didn’t want it to go, worrying about people; those who I hadn’t heard from in weeks, and those that were ill. People tell me to worry less and I just roll my eyes because worrying is what I do.  It was in this confuddlidified state of mind I got on the bus and made my way to university this morning. You know when you just want to get from A to B, do what you have to do at B, and just come home without drama or anything out of the ordinary? Yeah I wanted today to be like that. But what a day it was going to be.

“Stop looking at me bruv,” an annoyed voice said at the back of the bus. I was sitting on the top deck, in my seat (the one I always sit in) reading Where does it hurt¹ that Pink recommended to me. I realised I had read the same sentence about Molly twice.

“I said stop looking at me! And don’t you dare lift your hands up at me.”

No reply.

“Bruv, I’m telling you, if you don’t put your hand down, I’m gonna f*** you up proper.” What is wrong with kids? I thought to myself, why can’t you just shut up and let me read about Molly and her addiction?

“Are you deaf or something? This is the last time I’m telling ya. Put  your hand down, and don’t look at me.” The other person who was looking and had his hand up didn’t reply. I got a weird mental image of a little child with no face sitting there at the back, with his hand up waiting to be granted permission to speak so they could reply back to the other angry voice. Put your hand down and stop looking at him you dumbass, I thought.

That’s when we heard it, an extremely loud thud of something hitting against the window. The something in question was a head. Everyone turned around. The fight had begun. Obscene words mixed with punches  were thrown to and fro, some hitting their targets while others missing. A man got up and tried to restrain the two boys as another ran down the stairs to call the driver. The bus suddenly pulled up on the side of the road and the driver signalled to a passing by police car. Next thing I know is, police are taking my details as a ‘potential witness’. What am I going to tell them? I was too busy engrossed in the lesson Molly, an elderly lady addicted to heroin was giving to a doctor. The driver told us the  bus wasn’t going to be going anywhere soon and so we should all change. Great. I couldn’t be bothered to wait for another bus so enjoyed a wet, rain-filled half hour walk to university.

University today was boring. I spent it alone on level 6 AKA the psychiatric level, in a teaching room reading journals. NSS² as one of my friends calls it, had finally begun. Reading journals, research papers and reviews is extremely boring, time consuming, and mong-out-ing³. If you don’t know what one looks like or what it contains, you can download a couple by clicking here, here, and here. The 3 I have linked to are of 9 I read today relating to my research project titled, ‘Lysophospholipid induced reactive oxygen species production in microglia’. It took me a good few days to decipher what that meant, let alone start investigating it. No wonder this semester is called NSS. Anyway, by 4pm I had had enough. My brain couldn’t take any more torture so I decided to call it a day and get back home. That’s when incident number 2 happened.

It had been raining pretty much all day and now it was raining heavily. I was standing at the bus stop, hoodless, waiting for the bus to come. The bus shelter was packed with people trying to get away from the rain. A pregnant Asian lady walked up to the middle-aged white guy who was sitting on the seat smoking a cigarette and drinking beer, and asked if she could sit down. “Don’t tell me what to do in MY own country,” he replied giving her a disgusting look. He didn’t stop there but went on and on and on about tax-payers money being stolen by 'Pakis who do nothing but sit at home and live off benefits’. I wonder how long he had been waiting to let it out his frustration and hate regarding ‘Pakis’?

My bus came so I gave the man one last look, prayed for a safe and quiet journey home and got on. On reaching the bus station I had an ‘inviting fly moment’ when I discovered Mr Racist was there. How the hell did he get here so quickly? He was sitting on the floor surrounded by a few community support officers and on closer observation I noticed he was hurt. There was blood all over his face coming from a cut on his left cheek. Why is it all the racist guys I have met have an injury on their face, usually a scar and this time a cut? In my bag I always keep a first aid kit, consisting of a few sterile wipes, some plasters and paracetamol. Was it worth me wasting my stuff on a guy who probably had nothing nice to say to me? I walked over, gave him some water to drink, cleaned his blood smeared face with a moist wipe and put a plaster on his cut. Then I finally walked home.

*****

I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge an award given to me by the ever so lovely Kamila who is the amazing owner of Basket of Dreams. Though there are rules attached to this award, I wish to sincerely apologise that I am in a bit of a rush and due to a lack of time, cannot therefore fulfil them. =( *hangs head in shame* Forgive me Kamila!

With that, I wish you all have a restful and enjoyable weekend! :)

PS
I wrote this is a bit of a hurry so please excuse any spelling and or grammatical mistakes.

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Title: Bad Day – Daniel Powter
¹Where does it hurt? – Max Pemberton
²NSS – abbreviation for ‘No social semester’ referring to the lack of social life I will have this semester due to the amount of work.
³Monged – adjective, normally used to describe one that is stoned. I use it to define a feeling, that is abnormal such as feeling ill, tired, bored etc etc.
Photograph of a random London bus was taken from here
Photograph of moist wipe taken from here

It is that time of year when people sit down and reminisce over the happenings of the year that is reaching its end.  The good times bring laughter and the sad times bring with them a silence which in it self is louder than any other sound. But it’s not the past that I dwell on, for it is something that we can not change, cannot undo, cannot repeat but instead I look in the mirror and note what I have become. Am I happy by what I see? From being that individual who used to give others endopolitis (don’t Google it, you wont find it) I am in need of being infected by it. I’m a lot quieter, a lot more reserved, but that doesn’t mean I don’t take part and enjoy. I’ve learned to appreciate the value of family (yeah, smelly brothers included), the wonders of friends and friendship, the significance of the other small things we overlook and take for granted; the coffee dates, the laughter and having someone to give a hug. I’ve come to realise we do not remember days, we remember moments.

Uh, and I heard ‘em say, nothin’ ever promised tomorrow today.
But we’ll find a way
And nothing lasts forever but be honest babe, it hurts but it may be the only way.
They say people in your life are seasons,
And anything that happen is for a reason…¹

*****

When I started blogging back in August, I remember sitting there for ages just thinking of a title. That was probably the hardest part of it all. After consistent nagging from a few friends (Supz in particular) Closing Pandora’s Box was given a virtual birth. At that time I couldn’t even dream of having so many followers let alone receive a blog award, all thanks of which go to Furree Katt, who gave it to me. Thank you Furreeeeeeeeeeeeee. :)

According to the rules, I have to state 7 facts about me and award it to 7 others. Then those 7 people will have to do the same. So here goes:

7 facts about me you probably* didn’t know:

1. I eat when I am bored. And if I stop eating when I am bored then you know I am extremely bored.
2. I rarely ever get spots on my face, but when I do, they’re always in the same few annoying places.
3. I have never eaten prawns. Most people when they hear that have an ‘inviting fly moment’ which basically looks something like .
4. I write out every blog post by hand first using a special pen before finally typing it up onto Windows Live Writer. Even then there are countless mistakes.
5. I absolutely, very muchly, totally love adore football. I’m a bit of a fanatic really, borderline obsession some may say. Manchester United all the way!
6. I have the concentration span of a cucumber. Sitting in lectures I get distracted less than half the way through and start writing poems, drawing, texting, or just eating.
7. I absolutely, very muchly, totally hate despise writing about myself. I just don’t know where to start really or what to say. Ummm...

7 bloggers who I give this award to, in no particular order:

1. Smiley’s (╚» š ρ α я к ℓ ι n g š м ι ℓ є š «╝) was the only blog that I used to read before starting my own. Her writing is uh-maz-ing (is that spelt right?!); being extremely captivating, full of humour and so naturally written. (forgive me!)
2. Yours Truly ({{ Yours Truly }} ) writes very rarely, but when she writes, she writes absolute gems. Write more youuuuu!
3. Furree Katt (The Jackky Bhagnani Obsession) was the one who gave me this award and though it is slightly weird to give the same award back to the person who gave it to you, I must do it for one simple reason. Before I started blogging I used to dislike Bollywood a LOT, but it is because of Furree’s undying love of Jackky that I’m willing to give it another chance. Oh and her blog is very very lovely to read.
4. Alice (Alice in Galaxyland) was recommended to us by one of our lecturers at university. Her blog, mainly about science and all related matters, is extremely interesting, oozing with logic and lots of mind-blowingly amazing pictures.
5. Street Guru (What the world needs now...) writes posts that are full of inspiration or food for thought. Every post has something for everyone to take away and it really does live up to the title.
6. Alpha Za (Home of the Snapping Turtle) is an excellent writer. He writes about current (and relevant) matters in such a witty manner you can’t help but shout Bravo! while LMAO-ing or ROFL-ing.
7. рεяfεcтℓγ▪ιмpзяfзcт’s (I haven't lost my mind.) is a blog I recently started following. It’s quite good actually, the striking i have no fear honesty with which it is written is really intriguing.

This will probably be my last post of the year. So I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very happy new year. Don’t look back on the past with tears in your eyes, but open up your arms and embrace what the new year has to offer. Go that extra mile, treat yourself, give yourself what you truly deserve, don’t settle for second best. I remember talking to someone at the beginning of this year of all the hard work and the challenges that were looming ahead and he said something quite simple yet so profound:

There will always be obstacles and challenges in whatever you do, try not to think of them as such, think of them as being opportunities and that way you’ll be less daunted. Think of it like this, you’ve only got once chance, you’ve got the opportunity, don’t let it pass you. Grasp them whenever you can.

May this new year bring you all happiness, success, love, but most importantly may it bring you what you deserve; the fulfilment of your prayers and wishes.

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* Some of you may already know some of these things, hence the emphasis on ‘probably’.
Title: Home – Michael Bublé
¹ Heard ‘em say – Kayne West ft. Adam Levine