Kindness

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” Mohandas Gandhi.

Walking down Bliss Street the other night I passed by a white kitten that caught my eye. It was beautiful to be sure, but the thing that captivated me was its lack of tail, completely severed from the base, as well as its evident limp.  My heart broke a little as I wondered how this little kitten could have been so grievously injured. Surely no person could have done this? Yet the kitten was obviously domesticated.

I bring up this story to remind us all to treat the world and its creatures with kindness. Some people don’t like animals, and that’s fine, but it is beyond cruel to treat their innocence with malice. AUB is filled with animals, namely cats, and many of them have sadly endured their own cases of cruelty, at the hands of none other than our students. 

If we must judge a person, we should judge them based off of how they treat their inferiors, a truth that applies very much to our treatment of animals. Never forget that our world belongs to not just ourselves, but a diverse plethora of plants and animals alike. It’s the least we can do to treat them kindly.

Magic

“Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.” Roald Dahl. 

I believe in magic, wholeheartedly so. I think it’s magic when people smile, or when professors let us out ten minutes early. I think it’s magic when I find someone else as in love with Star Trek as I, or as obsessed with mermaids.  I think it’s magic when you believe it is. 

I’m not going to write about how thrilling it is to finally be in my senior year, or how wonderful it is to be Editor-in-Chief of Outlook, with such an amazing team behind me.  I don’t think I could find the words.

Instead I want to wish all of AUB a little bit of magic. I wish you a kind professor, a fluffy cat to pet, and someone to watch Star Trek with.  I wish you the courage to speak your mind and the wisdom to learn from your mistakes. I wish you a lovely autumn breeze, clear skies and a nice cold lemonade.  

I wish you magic.

Spring 2011 Schedule

Summer 2011 Schedule

Walking

Walking is such hard work sometimes,
To put one foot in front of the other,
requires motivation.
For what though?
Why am I walking?
Where am I going?

Can someone tell me why,
why am I still trying?
Where am I still going?
Long, endless, broken roads
continue, infinitely, and
sad, hopeless, broken people,
are everywhere.

To put one foot in front of the other,
requires motivation.
Give me some,
send me motivation.
Tell me why I should bother.
Though, the fact that I am asking,
Is hopeless enough.

Roadside grass was once so green,
it's a dull shade of olive now.
No life, no rhythm,
where is the beauty?
The sky, once so blue,
It's empty though, if you really think
about it. About everything.

I like to look up when I walk,
better than seeing my shadow.
Dim skies and blank heavens,
Thoughts don't exist upward.
Walking is such hard work sometimes,
when I could just lay down,
and stare.

Why am I still walking?

Tick, Tick...

Tick, tick, forever ticking,

How can you stop time?

How can I take back my life?

Leave some room to find?

It’s all been taken from me,

All that precious space,

All those years have flown away,

Wrinkles on my face.

She passed away so long ago,

And I, as well will go

Life flies by when you are still,

Rivers always flow.

Tick, tick, forever ticking,

Why can’t I stop and think?

Why have colors become a blur?

Perpetually, everything shrinks.

So You Smoke Arghile

Admit it, we’ve all tried it. It’s an integral part of our Arab culture. Yet I find that so many people are unaware of the adverse affects of arghile, believing it to be the healthier alternative to cigarettes. Ah, so amusing. Time to burst the smoke filled bubble of ignorant chain-smokers whose lungs will undoubtedly thank me.

Did you know that smoking arghile (also known as Hookah, Hubble-Bubble, Sheesha, and I-want-Lung-Cancer) for one hour is equivalent to smoking 40 cigarettes? Read it again. 40. 

Did you know that arghile smoke has no filter to prevent  toxins from entering your body? Yes, it may be a water pipe, but water-filtered smoke damages the lungs just as much as cigarette smoke, if not more. 

Did you know that arghile contains nicotine, so is in fact addictive? One hour of arghile is the same as smoking 100 to 200 times the amount of smoke from just one cigarette.

Did you know that the flavoring of arghile is even worse than the natural tobacco? Flavors make it much easier for harmful toxins to absorb into your bloodstream, as well as containing tar that sticks to the lungs and trachea.

Smoking cigarettes and cigars are terrible for your health. Smoking arghile is even worse. In fact, in comparison to cigarettes, arghile is known to contain 36 times more tar, 15 times more carbon monoxide, 70 times more nicotine, and high levels of arsenic, lead and nickel. 69 different carcinogens in total. Still not convinced about its detrimental affects? I continue. 

Sharing a mouthpiece without washing it, as is often done in Lebanon, increases the risk of catching flu, colds, infections, and oh yes! Oral herpes. Need I say more? 

Arghile has been linked to several types of cancer, namely lung, mouth and jaw cancer, as well as heart disease, dental disease, and even infertility and impotence. Arghile smokers are also seven times more likely than non-smokers to have symptoms of gym disease and mouth cancer.

Lastly, arghile smoke, as with all other types of smoke, is worsened through second-hand experience. So, by smoking your sex-on-the-beach-flavored-oral-herpes-infested-water-pipe you are basically imposing your unhealthy habits on other people. Which isn’t really nice now is it?

But hey, I bet you couldn’t see through all that smoke.