Somah

[VIDEO] Egypt Has Inspired Us All

I put this video together as a tribute to the Egyptian Revolution that truly inspired the world. I hope you like it :)

Gay Egyptians are "Born This Way"

When Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" single came out a week ago, I didn't really care for it that much. But this little girl made a believer out of me. The message in this song (be & love yourself just the way you are) struck a chord with me given the current situation in the Middle East, and Egypt in particular.

Right this minute, millions of gay Egyptians are cautiously trying to find their place in a new Egypt. As the promise of freedom and reform echos across Egypt, decades of torture, abuse and scapegoating may soon come to an end. There is hope that the torture and humiliation gay Egyptian men had to endure in 2001 may never happen again.

But even when the torture ends, mental and psychological damage inflicted by society on its own who are gay is whole different ballgame. How can we expect young gay men and women to grow up with any sense of pride and self-esteem when they are told from a very young age that being gay is "perverted", "disgusting", and "a family disgrace." Strong societal aversion and lack of any positive gay Arab role models are the two most important things we need to address to complete the free environment so many are yearning for.

The Egyptian Revolution has been a fight to restore dignity, self-esteem and pride to ALL Egyptians, and that includes the gay men and women of Egypt.

This song is for you, my fellow gay Egyptians, and for anyone who has been marginalized for not fitting society's mold.

Don't hide yourself in regret. Just love yourself and you're set. You are on the right track, Egyptians, you are born this way. 

[VIDEO] Strife is The Human Condition

With everything happening in the Middle East, Wisconsin and the entire world it seems, I was reminded of this video I put together back in 2008 after the passage of Prop 8. I was reminded that the human condition is that of strife, struggle and dreams. I wish everyone working for a just cause triumph and joy. 

To Egypt, With Love ... And a Sincere Apology

Like hundreds of millions around the world, I was glued to CNN, Twitter and Facebook over the past two weeks as I watched in awe hope, promise and pride unfurl in Egypt--my motherland. I went from using Twitter twice a week a month ago to tweeting every two minutes about some new development in the Egyptian Revolution.

I was out of control! Partly due to my excitement to see people take control of their own destiny, but mostly because this was happening to the land that gave birth to me and my entire paternal lineage.

The land that I resented my entire life.

When the revolution first started, I wrote about my concerns regarding how the Egyptians were going to handle it. My words were mostly driven by doubt and uncertainty. The same doubt and uncertainty with which I had always viewed Egypt and the Egyptian people (and the entire Middle East for that matter.) The very doubt and uncertainty that were spawned from my resentment.

Although I didn't grow up in Egypt, I do come from a large, proud Egyptian family (my dad headed the telecommunications unit during the Yom Kippur War of 1973.) Egypt's culture, history and infectious Arabic dialect were part of my upbringing as we used to visit every year to spend time with family and friends.

I've loved everything about the culture, the music, the films, and the literature as much as I resented everything about the Egyptian social norms that were rife with venality, sycophancy, credulity and bravado. I used to think it was Cairo's loud, filthy and chaotic atmosphere that turned society into such a pariah. The whole thing was the antithesis of everything I respected and admired, and the fact that I was essentially part of this undesired fabric infuriated me even more.

My sister, bless her heart, was the only one in my family (besides my dad) who has always been a proponent of Egypt whenever the subject was raised. She stood by her and embraced all her faults and stereotypes. I used to think she was naïve to believe in a lost cause. Today, I'm eating crow and deservingly so.

Over the past two weeks, thirty years worth of resentment peeled away as I witnessed millions of people so incredibly determined to regain their respect, dignity and pride, take to the streets demanding a shot at freedom. I saw my brethren engage in a mortal fight for self-esteem and the chance to live out their full potential in life. It broke my heart and often made me cry to see young and old men, women, Muslims, Christians, nonbelievers, gay, straight, rich, poor, and everything in between willing to die for a chance to live a life I've often taken for granted.

I felt so small, so inconsequential, so judgmental and so pathetic. I was overwhelmed (and still am) to see in Tahrir (Liberation Square) the society that's incessantly lauded in Egyptian films, music and literature for years becoming a reality. A society that is the antithesis of the social norm of yesterday that I resented so much, and now came to realize was the byproduct of repression, oppression and indoctrination, all courtesy of Mr. Mubarak.

I owe Egypt, people and country, a very deep and sincere apology. I failed to believe in you the way your courageous youth (including my sister) had for all these years. I am very reassured about your future. I know that in no time you will rid yourself of the remnants of venality, sycophancy, credulity and bravado. You gave us all a valuable lesson on the triumph of the human spirit, will and endurance. On a personal level, you have taught me about humility, pride, and love.

As much as I have always been proud to be an American, I'm now as proud to be an Egyptian. Moreover, I have a renewed faith in all my fellow Middle Easterners!

Let's welcome genuine freedom and real democracy with open arms :-)

VIDEO: Egyptian Revolution on YouTube - صوت بلادي بينادي بينادي

This patriotic song from the 80's captures what's really beautiful about Egypt. I especially love the second song (6:30s) which says:

صوت بلادي بينادي بينادي
بيدوي عبر الأجيال
صوت حضارة

من يومها جبارة

ياما صنعت أبطال و رجال

 صوت شعب ماشي آلاف السنين 
كل خطوة منه بكفاح ملايين 
أمجاده كتبها بحياته و مصر حياتها خطى المخلصين

My country's voice chants chants
Echoing across generations
Voice of a civilization
That's born great
That produced many heroes and men
Voice of a people trudging for thousands of years
Every step by the struggle of millions
A people that wrote their glory with their lives and Egypt's life is the steps of those faithful

عيش حياتك  بس ابحث عن ذاتك 
يا مصري و شوف عمرها كام 
شوف جدودك من لحظة وجودك 
شعلة عزم و خير و سلام

صوت شعب مصري و أعظم ما فيه

أي أخ عربي يعوزه يلاقيه 
أمجاده كتبها بحياته و مصر حياتها خطى المخلصين

Live life to search for your own truth
O Egyptian look how old your country is!
Look at your ancestors from the moment of your inception
A beacon of determination, goodness and peace
Voice of the people of Egypt that are greatly known for being
Available to any Arab brother seeking them
A people that wrote their glory with their lives and Egypt's life is the steps of those faithful

x2

It's Vote Day Today

Woke up at 5:00 am this morning to feed the cats, respond to emails, read my Twitter feed, listen to NPR and blog. In an hour or so, I'll cast my vote.

Today, I'm voting for sanity and logic. I'm voting for the people's interests. For my interests. I love my state and I love my country so much and I hate to see both lose their souls to corporate interests.

I know my vote counts. Yes it does, especially when so many people aren't voting. I refuse to be one of those people who have been slowly consumed by apathy, complacency or downright stupidity. There is always an excuse for not voting. We can either keep making excuses until one day we wake up and we can't even vote if we wanted to, or go to the polls today and VOTE. 

Did you vote yet?

So Many Book, Too Little Time

 I need 6 months of uninterrupted reading time to go through the books I already have. Between my book, The New Yorker magazine and random Facebook posts, I have no time for anything else. Ugh.

Look What Santa Left Us Under The Chirstmas Tree!

Lili under the Christmas Tree. That's my hand petting her. Isn't she adorable?!

Santa came a bit early this year to deliver the most beautiful kitten to our household. Since Mark and I have been really good this year, Santa brought us an adorable Maine Coon, two-month-old little baby girl. She is a little shy right now, but she's so affectionate and loves her treats and the Christmas Tree (I know, we're trying to keep her out of it.)

Please help us welcome our new family member. Many more photos will be posted soon :-)

Lili after her shower, all fresh and clean! She is starting to explore the place, although she's a bit overwhelmed with the space and all the nooks and crannies she can get in and out of.

The 15th Anniversary of D'EUX

One of my all-time favorite albums, and evidently, "the best-selling French-language album of all time", is getting re-released on December 1st with remastered tracks and video content.

Originally released in 1995, this album, and particularly the song "Pour Que Tu M'Aimes Encore," were the reason I asked my dad to send me to France to study French. I simply had to learn that seductive language expressed ever so beatuifully in this song. A few months later, I was living in Chambéry, France, studying the language of love. To this day, every time I hear the song (once a month or so) I reminisce about the time I spent in the South of France and all the people I met and the friends I made. More importantly, the song always reminds me of the power of music and its cultural relevance and influence, transcending borders, conflicts and even language.

It's worth mentioning that every single song on this album is amazing. I never really liked Céline's English efforts; She feels cold and unauthentic, maybe because English isn't her native tongue. In French, though, she's brilliant and real. I have all her French albums and none of her English ones. "D'EUX" and "1 Fille & 4 Types" are my favorite, but they're all really great. I headlined my review of "1 Fille & 4 Types" with "A Testament to the Transcendence of Music." This is true of all her French music!

You can pre-order the album on Amazon right now. The Product Description goes as follows:

It's been a decade and a half since the album D'EUX (released March 1995) was written and produced by JEAN -JACQUE'S GOLDMAN for CÉLINE DION! D'eux is the best-selling French-language album of all time, selling 6.5 million copies worldwide and over 700,000 copies in Canada. To commemorate the 15th anniversary, Legacy has created a remastered version with three new demo songs from Jean-Jacques Goldman's personal archives (Pour que tu m'aimes encore, J'irai ou tu iras and Le ballet) plus two PBO versions of Pour que tu m'aimes encore and Vole, new liner notes, a 40-page booklet featuring never-before-released photos and a reproduction of Jean-Jacques Goldman's handwritten lyrics of Pour que tu m'aimes encore. The DVD contains three legendary videos: Pour que tu m'aimes encore, Je sais pas and an alternative version of J'Attendais along with behind-the-scene footage with Jean-Jacques Goldman on Les derniers seront les premiers'Live A Paris.' All this, and a special live-recording of the famous 1995 Spécial Dimanche program (which aired exclusively in Quebec), presented by Sonia Benezra bringing Céline Dion and Jean-Jacques Goldman together for the very first time. On the show Céline delivers live performances of 5 songs (2 of which are duets with Goldman) along with interviews from that era. Sony. 2009.

Here is the lyrics to the song that made me fall in love with the French language:

J'ai compris tous les mots, j'ai bien compris, merci 
Raisonnable et nouveau, c'est ainsi par ici 
Que les choses ont changé, que les fleurs ont fané 
Que le temps d'avant, c'était le temps d'avant 
Que si tout zappe et lasse, les amours aussi passent 

Il faut que tu saches 

J'irai chercher ton cœur si tu l'emportes ailleurs 
Même si dans tes danses d'autres dansent des heures 
J'irai chercher ton âme dans les froids dans les flammes 
Je te jetterai des sorts Pour que tu m'aimes encore 
Pour que tu m'aimes encore 

Fallait pas commencer m'attirer me toucher 
Fallait pas tant donner moi je sais pas jouer 
On me dit qu'aujourd'hui, on me dit que les autres font ainsi 
Je ne suis pas les autres non non non 
Avant que l'on s'attache, avant que l'on se gâche 

je veux que tu saches 

J'irai chercher ton cœur si tu l'emporte ailleurs 
Même si dans tes danses d'autres dansent des heures 
J'irai chercher ton âme dans les froids dans les flammes 
Je te jetterai des sorts Pour que tu m'aimes encore 

Je trouverais des langages pour chanter tes louanges 
Je ferais nos bagages pour d'infinies vendanges 
Les formules les magiques des marabouts d'Afrique 
Je dirais sans remords Pour que tu m'aimes encore

Je m'inventerai reine pour que tu me retiennes
Je me ferai nouvelle pour que le feu reprenne
Je deviendrais ces autres qui te donnent du plaisir
Vos jeux seront les nôtres, si tel est ton desir
Plus brillante et plus belle pour une autre étincelle
Je me changerai en or Pour que tu m'aimes encore.

Happy 40th Birthday, Sesame Street!

It's hard to believe that one of our favorite shows as children is now 40-years old! Keep it up, guys. We love you! I wonder how old Electric Company is?! Is it still around?

Check out how Google is celebrating Sesame Street's big birthday. All the images have a hi-res version available. Enjoy!