Sometimes: Music to the Rescue

Sometimes I listen to the music on full blast just to suppress an ocean of “noise” raging inside. Music does temporarily rescue me till the “next” time.

I Think: Why Are There Indexes?

Have you ever wondered why are there indexes and glossaries; tags and bookmarks; references and pointers? I think they are there so that we can go back to the good (marked) stuff again and again. These “markers” are little helpers that show us the way when we forget the path.

Flowers On Black

I have always loved flowers in all shapes, sizes and colours. I have always loved taking pictures of flowers. Looking at flower makes me just so very happy. Now i am crazy about another thing related to flowers, that is, creating images with lone flowers on black background. Like this Pansy below:

And the Calandula:

Love this single daisy on black:

And love the pair too:

I did a rose this way as well:

Now i am after several other flowers which want to "do" on black background. I have even started taking two types of pictures of flowers. One as a full composition as a scene. The other as close-ups for this black background project.

I am totally in love with this project of mine and hope you like it too. Don't forget to leave feedback in the Comments section. Have a nice day!

Seven Ways to Improve Your Writing Skills

I used to write stuff on paper long before the blog era. When the blog came I started writing online. I wrote everything that came to my mind (even rubbish). I still like writing but since I now have a small audience that reads my blog (and I want the numbers to increase), I really want to write quality content. I know I would never be able to churn up master literary pieces (ever) but I still want to keep improving the content. Here is a list of things that I do (or at least try to do) to improve my writing which i suggest to you too:

1. Keep writing. If you don’t write you wouldn’t know if you improved or not.

2. Keep reading. Reading content written by other people can remarkably improve your own writing.

3. Increase your vocabulary. It is important so that you can express your thoughts and ideas in a variety of ways. Reading helps.

4. Comment intelligently. This is the time where the web encourages interactivity. People are provided opportunities to interact with each other in different ways. One such way is “commenting” on other people’s stuff. This stuff may range from published writing, uploaded pictures, list of achievements; and the list can go on. When making any comment, try to make sure it makes sense and shows your real emotion (It does not mean for you to start harshly criticizing somebody’s work if you don’t like it).

5. Observe your surroundings. Keeping a vigilant eye on happenings around you will provide you with a chance to write about them later. The more detail you observe the better.

6. Do new stuff. When you do new things or go to new places, you get more exposure of the world. This exposure makes a base for new topics and experiences to write about and to share.

7. Just write! Write on every thing you see or think or feel. No topic, event, thought or feeling is worth discarding; rather it is worth a lot. You just need to, as somebody said, see the extraordinary in the ordinary.

Two Flower Shows in a Day

Today was a busy day for me and that too outside the house. But i was happy since what kept me busy was a wonderful thing for me. Today was "Flower Show Day" for me. Incidentally, two flower shows were being held in the twin cities at the same time. One was being held at Rose and Jasmine Garden, Islamabad. The other one was being held at the Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi. The flower shows were complimented by "Bird Shows" at well at the same venues.

I left home in the morning and went to Islamabad for my first flower and bird show. The weather was lovely and i had a splendid couple of hours. I roamed around the whole arena, looking intently at each and every flower, and took pictures of all sights that pleased my eye. I visited cages of all the birds at display in the bird show. Loved the "Shikra" and the ducklings. There were so many different types of hens on display too. They all were really cute. Twice there was a little shower which made many people run for cover and pushed me to protect my camera. My spirits were not dampened at all. I kept busy with roaming, looking, admiring, and clicking. After a few hours i got a bit bored (since i was on the adventure alone) and headed home.

I took Club Road to head to Pindi as always. When i came near Faizabad; the point where i could turn left to go to Islamabad Expressway or go straight on the Murree Road; I realized there was another flower show going on. So i dismissed the decision to go to the Expressway (my regular route to home) and kept going straight.

When i reached Arid Agriculture University, i turned to go in. I was signaled by the guard to park outside the walls of the uni which i did. Thank God i found parking very easily. After parking my car and locking all doors i headed to the ground clad with flowers and the tent full of different species of birds. The bird show in Pindi was a bit more organised since cages of all birds were tagged with their names (and names/contacts of the breeders at times too). I loved ALL species of hens there. The shaggy hairstyle ones as well as the giant sumo wrestler like ones. There was this breed of pigeons which had curly feathers. It looked very elegant and awesome. I tried taking pictures of the birds (as i had tried at the bird show in Islamabad), but could not succeed. There were no holes big enough in the cages that could let me take a clear shot of the birds, without the cage itself getting in the way. After getting amused by the birds i headed towards the flowers. Before i could reach them, something else caught my attention. There was a stall where some flowers were on display. The distinctive thing about those flowers was that they were all made out of turnips. Gosh! they looked so real. Hats off to the skilled hands who made them. Still admiring the turnip flowers i moved towards the main arena where the flowers were on display (the real ones; not the turnip ones). Seeing so many flowers in one place AGAIN on the same day was awesome. I once again paid individual attention to all flowers and snapped pictures as well. It was fun. But this time around the weather was not as blissful as before. The sun had come out of the clouds and was shining with full force; i.e. it was hot. That didn't de-motivate me either. I took a complete round of the place and only when i was certain that i had seen all the flowers i left the place.

I reached home hot, hungry and exhausted. But i was happy as i had seen so many birds and so many flowers in the same day. I love all living creatures (yes even insects in case you were wondering) so it was a double treat for me to be able to attend the two flower (and bird) shows in the same day. I would like to go again. Let's see if i can make it or not. Wish me luck! ;-)

23 March – Then and Now: As I Remember It and As I Want It To Be

When I was a little girl (and a bit older), 23 March (Pakistan Day) used to be a whole lot different than what it has been for a few years. I remember being very excited to see the march past of the armed forces on PTV. For that I would wake up around 8:30 a.m. so that not a second of it is missed. I would sit through the whole session of the parade; till the very end when the last of the last floats, representing the different provinces of Pakistan, would pass by on the screen. The fly past also used to be one of the most exciting moments which I loved to watch. The fighter planes leaving trails of coloured (or white) smoke behind, while doing acrobats in the air was nothing less than magnificent. Only after several hours of staring at the TV and watching the concluding moments would I leave the sight of the screen. I even used to have the wish to watch this whole parade live and got a chance once too.

Apart from watching this march past, I remember having a warm and exciting feeling on that day. I used to feel so proud of the armed forces. I used to feel so elevated about my country Pakistan. I used to be beaming with pride and energy on that day; and had loads and loads of pure happy feelings and good vibes.

Now (for the past few years) the only happiness I get from 23 March is that it is a holiday. The pride for the armed forces has left my heart completely. That loving warm feeling has been replaced by extreme hatred and anger (yes for the armed forces). I am no longer bothered if there is going to be a march past or not. And even if there was one, I wouldn’t be bothered to see it even for a minute. I can only think of the sufferings of my country men and think of ways to be able to help. I think how the army has destroyed its image in the eyes of most Pakistani people and wonder if it would ever regain its glory. I also think of the high class leaders in whose hands the fate of my country rocks. I wonder if we would ever be able to get rid of them. All the TV programs blurting out national anthems and talking of the glory of this day feel only like eyewash for the masses. It seems like the media is ticking one more event off its list of coverage. Everything seems so artificial.

I long for my childhood-like 23 March to return where feelings were pure, pride for the armed forces was in our hearts, TV programs commemorating this day actually had a message to deliver, and most of all everybody was proud to be a Pakistani and optimism was in the air.

I Think: Desire for Perfection

Sometimes the desire for perfection can lead you astray where you end up doing absolutely nothing, let alone something perfect.

Made for Each Other

Made for Each Other Originally uploaded by Monazza Talha

Walking hand in hand side by side, they looked not like two but one. Facing hardships of life, yet making each others' life wonderful by being there for each other. Filling each others' gaps with qualities of their own, they kept complimenting each other. Trundling along that path was immensely amazing only because they were together. They didn’t care about the blisters in their feet as they could tend to each others’. Being one was because of their selfless affection which turned into their strength. Enlightened by this truth they progressed, never leaving each other behind. They were unaware of the destination towards which they advanced. But they knew deep in their hearts that it didn’t matter where their path ended. They were immersed in each others' generous love so much so as to notice the surroundings and the hardships.

They were destined to be together forever. They were made for each other.

Hey MSN Bug, Bug Off

Lately, I have been seeing this bug while signing out of Hotmail.


I have still been pretty lazy to Google to see what it actually is but i am kind of annoyed at this. There have been loads and loads (and tons and loads) of the "Unresponsive Scrip" errors like the one below, but this "crash error" (as i call it) is just too much:


I wonder what Microsoft people are doing that is causing this. Or maybe its the clash of the technology giants where one is being un-supportive of the technology of the other (i am seeing these errors in Firefox). Not having any insider sources at any of the mentioned organizations, I guess I will HAVE to Google stuff now to find out. *giggles*

Is anyone else facing the same fate as myself? Which browsers? Do tell. :-)

Cooking Blues - Boiling Chick Peas

Cooking may come naturally to some people (so I think), but I surely am not one of them. No matter how confident I feel while entering the kitchen, the results are not always over the top. Sometimes even the trivial task of making an omelet turns out to be a disaster (but off course only when I am improvising). A few days ago I took up the task to boil some chick peas. I had taken instructions from my mother, but I was still a bit apprehensive about the outcome. To most of you this may seem like the basic of the basic “cooking” task, but for me it was something bigger.

So I set out in the morning by soaking the chick peas in water. Then I went to office. By the time I returned home, in the evening, the chick peas were soft and had swollen nicely. I even chewed a few, just to be sure and was pleased of what went into my mouth.

Then I drained their water, put them in the cooker and poured some fresh water over them. After sprinkling a big pinch (ok maybe a bit more) of salt on them, I tightened the lid and waited for the pressure inside the cooker to be built.

After about 10 minutes, the weights on the cooker started swaying. I knew things were going right so far. I set an alarm for 30 minutes and went to watch some TV. When the 30 minutes were over, I turned off the stove from under the cooker. Oh did I forget to mention I actually turned the stove on too. Had I not done it, only a miracle would have made the cooker weights sway. *giggles*

I left the cooker there, removed the weights and let all the steam escape through the top holes. When I was sure that all the steam was out, I opened the lid. There they were; the nicely boiled chick peas that were just the right amount of tender. I hastily filled a big bowl of those and heartily feasted on them. Any lost confidence of mine in the realm of cooking was replenished with that meal. I am happy and thinking what to “cook” next.