My Valentine ...

I’ve never liked February, probably because of the whole valentine festival, I never had a valentine and I always hoped that next year is gonna be the one ..
which never happen so far ..

On the 14th I was as usual feeling low, besides that I woke up feeling dizzy, my flue was getting worse , so I decided to take the day off and stay home .
And that night I congratulated myself for escaping to watch the reddish parades filling the streets ..

Next day I had a visit from my aunt and cousin ..
My 11 years old niece was there as well, and she brought me a little valentine's gift ...
She took it the same way Mostafa Amin did, as a day for love, that a one should celebrate by giving a gift to someone they love most ..
And so she choose me ..

I was truly and deeply touched .. it changed my mood 180 degrees around and of course I didn’t bother to correct her or explain the difference between valentine and the Egyptian love day :-)

Reminder :

Remember that, not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.

At the Book Fair ....

Ever since I learnt to read as a child .. I never stopped..
Books mean too much to me .. it literally makes my day to get a new book ..
So you can imagine what a book fair would mean to someone like me ..

A fancy feast when you’re starving .. a fabulously cozy couch when you’ve been running for hours .. lots of toys to a really lonely child ..

Anyway, back to the fair, it was my first time to visit the one in Cairo ..
I never missed it in Alex though, I used to go with my dad as a child then with a friend as I grew up ..
But to visit Cairo .. Well it takes at least four hours on the road back and forth in the fastest train, and the problem always was who would be willing to put so much time and effort just to buy books ..?
Almost none of my friends likes to read .. So asking them to a book fair in Cairo is a lot similar to a trip to Afghanistan ..

But this year I truly wanted to be there ..
I only had my brother to ask .. Luckily he is practically my twin .. he loves reading too.. so his only protest was that it will take the whole day and he’s very busy ..
But he agreed in the end ..

I was waiting for the issuance of many books, that I knew it would be much easier to find in the fair than wandering all over the libraries in Alexandria ..
But most of all wanted to be at the book signing of Bride’s book and Rehab’s ..
I managed to and that was amazing ..

I was deeply happy for them and it felt great to meet someone you read to in person .. and – of course - to have my copy signed by the author .. I was also very happy that Ghada immediately remembered my name when I introduced myself and wished her luck ..

I bought lots and lots of book that practically broke my back to carry, not mentioning my poor brothers who was so tired that he made me promise I won’t ask him to take me again till at least 2015 ..

Finally we went home with our treasures that I couldn’t wait for our arrival to start exploring .. and I started reading the minuet we steeped foot in the train while he fell a sleep when I was saying “ Thanks and I’m sorry … “

Of the so-called Sensitivity ….

I always thought the word reefers to someone who gets more affected by his\her surroundings than others do ..

I’ve also always known for a fact that this – naturally – causes this person to be usually unhappy ..
Well; speaking from my own corner I know that being a sensitive person caused me to be always at extreme in my emotions ..
Small tiny things can make me crazily happy , but also small things can leave me really hurt and sad ..
So far that’s no news .. many people know that and are like that so what else is new ?

The news came through this book I recently read by one of my favorite authors, he was talking casually - and cynically - about sensitivity, specifically in girls .. and he drew my attention to a totally different angle to consider it ..
He thinks being sensitive means – mostly – that you’re selfish and self centered …!!

As shocked as I was, I cannot deny that his words are partially true ..
If you think about it, you gotta be truly and dedicatedly focused on YOU to suffer the sensitivity symptoms ..
I mean, yeah you’re mainly focused on what makes you sad, what makes you happy, how people just don’t get you, and how sometimes it seems that the whole world is out to get you...

I admit that it’s true .. yes sensitive people get that kind of feelings every now and then .. I always thought it means that a sensitive person simply just feels deeper than the others .. things somehow get beyond your skin ..
I never thought that this could be translated to some sort of egoism in some people’s dictionary ..
Coz, yes surly it involves a lot of You but what happens to others affect you as much ..


Just think of those countless times when tears came to your eyes over a friend’s suffering that you cannot ease ... compassion for others who are less fortunate than you are or the joy that would fill your heart seeing a child who smiles or the comfort you brought someone.

I admit that perhaps this is self-centered, but I don’t think it’s selfish ..

Well, I guess I understand now why this guy I once knew used to complain that I’m “ super sensitive “ … now I know what he really meant to say ......