Got it all on Tape

Yesterday we watched my little sister's wedding video with all our close friends and cousins at my place. It was nice to have everybody out and even nicer was being able to re-live that amazing time we all had during the wedding, moments that will truly last forever. Looking at the videos makes you appreciate all the people around you so much, they really make everything worth it. We laughed so much last night, mostly at each other pointing out awkward moments in the video, especially Numair's dancing (like mine is any better..). It ended up being a really good night (Btw the 'Got it all on Tape' Title is so not accurate since video is filmed on digital media now...but...nevermind dork mode: OFF).

My basketball team is 4-2 and in 2nd place and I'm finally starting to play pretty good. I'm glad because I used the excuse of saying I was out of shape for the first 5 games and told my captain it would take me until then to get back to form (it was totally just an excuse for my poor play) but I actually lived up to it and showed up game 5 (And 6) and hope to continue the upward trajectory.

Someone recently said to me, that a car is just a means of transportation. Disrespect. So wrong. A car is not just a means of transportation! A car to me is a personality trait, an extension of the person driving it. And this doesn't mean you need to drive a Porsche to be cool, but the condition you keep your car in says something as well. To me a car has a personality, it's almost living in the way it looks, the way it moves, the way it fires up to life, with the engine being the heart of the beast. Each time I step on the throttle I feel the engine rumble the car, with the sensation crawling up my spine. Driving is an enjoyable experience if you let it be. I love to just hop into the car and drive to nowhere, sometimes with music sometimes without. I use those moments as time to reflect on things, on life, it's my escape from the world. This is also why I hate winter, because my Baby gets put away for the winter. You're probably thinking relax on your car, your girlfriend/wife (whenever that happens) is probably going to be jealous, maybe even intimidated. And to that I say, she should be :)

Current song: 'Talk that talk' Jay-Z ft Rihanna

More of my photography:

Later!

I just hope that you miss me a little when I'm gone.

Why does it seem to matter to us that the people that used to be in our lives should miss us even a little? Old friends, ex girlfriends/boyfriends, why does it matter to us? It seems to matter to me. Maybe it's a pride thing? I'm not sure but I do wonder sometimes if those past people miss me, even a bit. I guess the feeling is that when you meant so much to somebody at some point that you would still have some meaning to them in some way today, even if you don't speak anymore.

I'm becoming a very aggressive person. I seem to be waiting for someone to say the wrong thing so I can start throwing elbows. Don't worry I wont do it (I don't think) its just how I feel. And its not that I'm in a bad/sad state of mind, I just feel like I'm done being the nice guy. Maybe its some kind of transition for me and I'll become a douchebag, let's wait and see. I'm just tired of being Mr. Nice Guy and getting nothing in return. You know certain people are still in my prayers despite them scarring me emotionally beyond measure, lying to me, abandoning me, and I still pray that they're happy. My friend said that just shows I'm a good guy. I said it shows I'm a punk and can be played. I'm not sure which one is right, but I keep praying for that person's happiness. Does anybody pray for mine?

I'm sounding a lot more negative that I am. Aside from the above mindset, I'm doing great. I'm still at the gym and seeing great results, work is alright these days, my family is beyond amazing and the biggest blessing I have (this includes my cousins and close friends, you know who you are). I'm also back into the photography thing. Got a bunch of new equipment and am really excited to keep it going:



Listen to J.Cole - Show me Something. Great Song!

Till Next Time!

The Fez Effect

Fez commented on one of my blogs asking why I haven't written in a while as he can relate to me. I have no idea who Fez is. Maybe he's actually a fan (that makes one!), maybe he's one of my friend's just playing around, but either way he motivated me to write some more. Funny how the slightest of nudges can have such an impact. This one's for you...Fez!

I have no excuse as to why I stop writing randomly. It's not that I run out of things to say I just get lazy. If you know me I never run out of things to say! We all have things to say, I'm sure you all could easily fill up a 'blog' as well if you wanted to, but I guess I'm the only one with the time (aka: no life) to do so.

Seriously, these days I have no life but the gym. I'm there 5 days a week for about 2.5 hours at a time, plus I play basketball on Saturdays which leaves me with next to no time at all for a social life. But that's ok, I've been social enough, it's time to get big! I'm up to about 180 lbs, which is like a 10 lb gain of muscle (I hope). I feel great. Lately I'm back to that guy who's always happy, feeling good about everything, nothing really bothering me. It’s truly such a great feeling and everybody should be here. I’ll welcome you with open arms when you get here.

I was talking to a friend who was kind of where I was a few weeks ago, trying to find somebody to compensate for their lack of confidence/self-esteem. She was down on not being able to find someone and I told her to work on herself first, to be content with herself and that she shouldn’t be looking for someone to fix herself, that she should fix herself first and then find someone to augment her life, not to correct it (run on sentence, call the grammar police). It was nice to be back in a position where I could help people, because my mind is finally pretty clear these days! We all want to be with somebody, its human, its natural, its pathetic(kidding), but we need to make sure we’re doing it for the right reasons. Everybody prefers someone who’s in tune with themselves and who’s confident (not arrogant), so get yourself there, and be patient, and you’ll surely find that dream guy/girl/pet dog (if you plan on being single forever).

If you’re feeling down about yourself, I urge you to hit the Gym. It’s such an uplifting feeling to be working on yourself. It boosts your confidence, makes you stronger, and you start to look better (at least the man in the mirror agrees with me on that one, not sure about anybody else). And yes I totally flex in the mirror when I get home from the gym.

Here’s a random FB quote I made when I was having one of my moments (I feel like it’s legendary, and I’ll be quoted long after I’m gone….doubts but one can wish):

“I am a work in progress. I will always be. Never have I claimed to be perfect; never have I claimed to be satisfied with myself, and I won't ever be. I will never get to where I want to get to and be complete, because where I want to get to is constantly evolving and as I improve myself, I will set the bar that much higher, always a little out of reach, so I never rest, I never settle. Perhaps along the journey, maybe somewhere along the way, others will be satisfied with me, but I won't be, I'll keep pushing, that's what life is about, constantly bettering yourself. Never settle!” -Me

Thanks for the motivation Fez, whether you meant it or not :)

See ya!

Shiny and New...and I'm hungry.

So I was saying how I was going to start hitting the gym again come September once I finished fasting, well I got overexcited and started last Monday instead. First day back at the gym is always the worse, I did a relatively light workout, and am as sore as that time I got into a fight with Kung Fu Panda (true story). But really, it's been 4 days and I'm still sore. Last night I was back at the gym again and had a great workout then played basketball after. And by played I mean moved around lethargically on the court looking for an oxygen tank so I wouldn't pass out. Luckily (for all you) I survived. I'm going to blame my subpar performance on fasting but we all really know that it's because I'm so out of shape. But since I like blaming anything but myself, fasting it is. No food throughout the day really depletes your energy levels (like when Superman meets with kryptonite).

I read in the news that 0 people were charged in the Vancouver riots over here after the Stanley Cup loss, but hundreds have already been charged in the UK. UK win, Canada fail. Some people are saying the penalties are too harsh, I say good job on the UK for telling these 'rioters' they won't stand for the crap they just pulled.

Cool British word alert: When you're 'gutted' it means you're really upset. Not the same as gutting a fish as we say here, although the fish is probably feeling 'gutted' in both Canadian & British English I would imagine. British family member said she was gutted....I had some horrific images in my head until I figured out what she meant.

I want the new blackberry bold 9900. If you're going to ask me why my answer is because its shiny and new. And that's enough justification for me to scrap my old blackberry in favour of the new one. If you're a guy, you get it (unless you're an iQueer, yea I said it), if you're a girl, you probably have one(in reality about 200) too many purses so stop judging me.

Going to a charity barbeque tomorrow to benefit the victims in Somalia. It was organized by a good friend of mine so props to her. It should be a great event and will hopefully raise a lot of money for the cause. See I'm doing my part, I'll be there supporting it (while eating delicious bbq of course), yes I will donate, and I also donated some prizes for the raffle. This is not me 'gloating' about what I did because many have done SO MUCH more, but its just a gentle reminder to do whatever you can to help.

That's it for now.

Perfect

I wake up this morning, and the clock says 10:01, I close my eyes for a second, then it hits me, I start work at 10. Uh oh. I jump out frantically changing into my clothes and get out the door. Call my manager tell her I slept in and I’ll be late. I’m in a frustrated mood since being late is never a good thing but then I’m waiting at a light and a senior sitting in the passenger seat of his car while his wife drives rolls down the window and says to me (after I turn my music down),

Senior (with a minor accent not sure from where, he looked white…err…Caucasian): “Did you modify your car”

Me: “Yea I lowered it and put new wheels on it.”

Senior (With the ok hand gesture out the window): “It’s just perfect. Beautiful.”

Me (with a smile of course): “Thank you sir, appreciated.”

And then we both went our separate ways. This stood out to me for 2 reasons. One, the fact that the gentlemen was not ‘intimidated’ by my loud sorta gangsta rap playing is nice because it shows that not everybody out there stereotypes, and two because, well, it was a compliment. And complementing me on my car is like complementing me on having a beautiful wife. It also turned my frustration into a nice little smile. Thanks old man you made my day!

Onto some serious matters, let’s talk about the drought in Africa. What have you done? I’ve done nothing I’ll admit it. They say that the worst of the drought may not even be over yet. To all my paki (I’m Pakistani I can say ‘paki’ just like black people can say n….) friends out there, remember the flood in Pakistan and how we all went Captain Planet and tried to do everything we could to save the world, well our Paki world. Africa is our world too, let’s get on it, let’s ‘save the world.’ We are all one, we are all united. I see pictures online of children looking malnourished and I turn away. I’m sure you do the same. This is real, when that ad to help out comes on TV let’s look at those images for a minute no matter how hard it might be, because maybe then it will hit us, down to our very core, that we NEED to help these people. I’m fasting because of Ramadan and I’m extremely thirsty and I had some water 6 hours ago, I took a shower that probably lasted way too long, and I let the tap run while I was brushing my teeth (actually I didn’t do this last part but it makes it more dramatic), we need to understand that they don’t have all these luxuries that we take for granted over here. Those of us who are fasting should understand how hard it is without food and water. And those who aren’t fasting just understand that when you’re taking a sip of cold water only to empty the last half of the glass in the sink, there is someone out there that needs it, and it is a life or death situation for them. So do what you can, skip McDonalds, skip Affy’s (local people know), and give that money to an organization that’s trying to help those people. And stare at those pictures of those unfortunate children, let it hit you, let it bring you to tears, don’t try and be macho, try and be caring, and then do something about it.

We are all one. Peace.

Imminator

Oh Pushups how I missed you....

Pushups were always my achilles heel. My whole life I've sucked at them. I was lucky if I could muster 7 straight pushups even when I was a scrawny little kid weighing the equivalent of a bag of basmati rice. It makes no sense because I use to be such a light weight. I do have long Dalsim (Street Fighter reference) style arms and apparently its harder for people with long arms but heck my arms aren't that flipping long. Maybe I just was that weak. Anyways when I started going to the gym I made it a point to finish off every workout with as many pushups as I could do. At my peak I got to doing 50 straight pushups and for me that's impressive (am I easily impressed?). I felt so good about it too but since I've been out of the gym for a few months because of my ankle injury (partial excuse, also lazy) I have to start all over. I'm fasting so I can't go to the gym yet, but I did 20 pushups at home last night as a start and although it was way more difficult then it should have been, it felt good to be back at it and I WILL get back to 50.

I'm all gung ho (what does gung ho even mean?) to get back into the gym and I got a whole plan ready to go post Ramadan (look at the last post if you don't know what that is you ignorant fool). I have a workout plan and a diet plan and since I'm single its going to be my only focus. It's time to focus on me (stop whining its not selfish I won't forget all of you). I don't care to have a social life I just want to be in the gym. I will also be starting a diet plan at the same time which will have me eating the right amount of calories, proteins, carbs and fats for my body type. I have to eat 3,000 calories a day which is a lot of food even for a foodaholic like myself but I now eat for fuel not for pleasure (after this month where we eat nothing but deep friend goodness of course). I am a machine. I am Imminator. (yea the name doesn't have the desired effect I was hoping for, suggestions?)

OVOxo (Drake's concert here in Toronto) was really good. It wasn't as good as last year there were way more surprise guests last year but it was still a good time with good people. Although I'm not sure if I can still claim to have never been high in my life since there were so many people smoking weed there I must have gotten high off the fumes (children I kid, getting high is stupid and I obviously did not, it was rather annoying having to be in the vicinity of it). Also all of Toronto's hottest girls must have been there (I use 'hottest' strategically, because most all were 'hot' scantily clad skanks who I have no respect for and are nothing but eye candy, the beautiful respectable wifey material girls were far and few).

I've also recently achieved one of my life long goals. I must say it is one of my proudest achievements. I finally, after so long, so many years, so many sleepless nights, different approaches, different styles, different strategies, I have finally defeated the natural comb-over that my parents graced me with ever since I was a kid. Why they did this to me I have no idea. Maybe they didn't love me who knows. But it's gone now. Feel free to congratulate me on this.

Until Next time..

Cheat Code

Ramadan Mubarak to everyone. I see everybody's facebook status' and its such a beautiful thing to see so many people focused on this blessed month and focused on trying to get the most out of it iA. I don't have anything beyond what others have already said so I will say the same here, that let's take advantage of this blessed month as best we can and reap the true benefits of it.

For those who don't know or for my non muslim friends, this month is a cheat code for good deeds, every good deed gets multiplied and God's mercy is at its highest. The gates of hell are closed during this month and the gates of heaven open. Many many people will (iA) be forgiven this month for their sins, sins they've committed in the open, in secret, small sins and major sins. We as muslims are never to doubt God's infinite mercy, and this is part of his mercy to give us a month like this where we can really gain from, where we can 'catch up' (so to speak) on our good deeds, where we can refocus our efforts on our religion (this is a very quick and dirty explanation, go do some googling people).

We also fast during this month. From sunrise to sunset each day. We don't eat or drink during that time, and we try to stay away from temptations. Fasting is something God loves for us to do, maybe because it shows our commitment to him, or the sacrifices we're willing to make I'm not too sure. I was at the mosque and the Imam (akin to a priest I guess, religious leader of sorts) was saying how God multiplies all your good deeds for you during this month, but asks that you fast, and the fast is the one thing that is solely for him. So it is definitely something of great value and great importance.

Lastly since this is a month of forgiveness, I believe it is important that we forgive each other for all these little things we hate on each other for so that we can focus on seeking forgiveness from God. Lets try and mend all the broken relationships with friends and family. With that being said there are a lot of things that I'm sure I've done knowingly or unknowingly to people that I should be apologizing for and seeking forgiveness for and if I were to ask all of you separately I'd be 82 by the time I'd be done so I say it in this blog that anything I may have done to you, whether I meant to or not, whether it was a big deal or not, whether you did something to me first or not; if I hurt you or upset you in anyway, if I wronged you in any way, I am sorry and I ask that you please forgive me because I am not perfect, and chances are I'll screw up again, but I'd like to humble myself in front of you all and in front of God, and ask that you forgive me for my shortcommings. This goes out to all my friends past and present, my family from all over, my acquaintances, my coworkers and anybody else I've been fortunate enough to meet in my life. And don't ask me to forgive you for anything, its already been done.

May Allah allow all of us to truly reap the benefits of this month. Ameen

Recovery Room 101

You ever just want to punch something? Like out of sheer frustration or anger? Sometimes I get so mad my first reaction is to just hit something. I’m not sure if it’s very smart since you know, bones can break and stuff (referring to my own here). When I’m mad I don’t hit people(never) I just hit objects. I’ve punched doors, walls, a fridge, my garage door (yea its dented, makes me feel manly). It’s pretty stupid actually. I don’t do this if they ran out of Aero chocolate bars at the convenience store, only when I’m really, extremely pissed off (which takes a lot). Just wondering if this is some kind of anger management issues I have or if it’s normal. Actually I’m not wondering, it’s my normal, so whatever, don’t judge me.

I played basketball after a very long time; still recovering from an ankle injury from about 4 months ago. For the first couple of games I felt like I was going to go into cardiac arrest, but luckily I survived and the next few games after that I think my body (especially my lungs) started to remember that a long time ago I use to do stuff like this on the regular (physical activity). Even if my body remembered I was capable of this once, I still sucked. A good reason for that might be because my only physical activity recently has been limited to searching for the tv remote buried somewhere in our unnecessarily large couches. Sometimes it takes so long it makes me want to punch something, just kidding I’m not that crazy. Relax.

How do you know when you’re over someone? It’s kind of hard to tell. Most people try and forget about everything that happened in the relationship but I think that’s wrong. I think if you do that the moment you see something that reminds you of them or are at a place where you two use to hang out, it all comes crashing back down and its back to recovery room 101. I think you’re over someone when you can see all those things, be at those places, and just appreciate the good times you had together. And if you hate somebody you definitely aren’t over them, because hate is an emotion that consumes you, and then you’re just stuck thinking about them. The reason I bring this up is recently I happened to run into a few spots where me and an ex of mine had hung out, ate at, I actually saw her drive by on a random street, I drove by a spa I sent her to once and it started to bring back all these memories of us when I was doing such a good job of moving forward. The good part is that although it did bring back those memories and I did momentarily miss having her around, it also put a smile on my face knowing those were good times in my life, knowing that I was able to make somebody so happy for a period of time and that they did the same for me. So maybe I’m not completely over that ex like I thought I was, since the missing part did come into play momentarily, but thankfully I’m getting there. And yea I do sometimes wonder if she ever thinks about me at all, but I think that’s because I just generally wonder if someone is capable of completely forgetting somebody, because I’m not. I pray she’s beyond happy.

Lately a few of my cousins and a few friends have been going through some tough times and I’ve been trying my best to help them through it. They all thank me and say I’m extremely helpful and I always know what to say, I hope they aren’t just stroking my ego because I genuinely want to help, and my ego is getting too big anyway (a friend of mine said she constantly ‘deflates’ my ego as a favor to me so my head can fit through doorways). These people I help thank me but I’d like to thank them back for being able to trust me with their most personal problems. It actually means a lot to me. I enjoy helping and it’s in my nature to do so. And all the credit there goes to my selfless family. My whole family is built on helping others even before you help yourself and that is one thing I am so prideful about. Without my family (grandparents, cousins et all) I’d definitely be an arrogant selfish b*stard of a man I’m sure.

Ramadan starting soon plus OVO fest (drake’s concert) this Sunday, should be fun.

Later.

Proper (Proppa) Good Time, In It?

Back to work, vacation done. I can’t begin to tell you how amazing this last week was what with my sister getting married, family being down, meeting my brother in law’s family, going to Niagara & Buffalo, late night chilling. It was a smashing good time. I’m still absolutely knackered and still trying to recover.

I met my brother in law’s family from England and I learned some new ‘British’ words. Knackered means tired, tired (but pronounced tee-red) means incredibly tired, pif means a girl is fit, back off is a girl’s derriere, tea and crumpets is well, tea and crumpets (bonus points: what’s a crumpet?). I was often imitating the accent (they have the accent not us and I’m sticking to that) and I found myself starting to speak with the accent even when I wasn’t trying to, it’s just so cool. I can say the most horrid despicable things and it still sounds ‘proper’ (pronounced proppa). Anyways I think I sounded pretty good but they probably think I sounded like a pirate (which is cooler anyway).

For my bro in law’s bachelor party we went to a club in Niagara called Dragonfly. The club was alright, the people I was with were awesome. We had a smashingly good time (ok I’ll stop with the British stuff). I hadn’t been to a club in about 5 years or so, it’s not my thing but it’s something the bro in law wanted to do and I wasn’t going to decline. I actually danced which is real odd for me since I have the equivalent of wooden pegs for legs when it comes to dancing. My dancing probably looked like an epileptic man having a seizure (don’t be so sensitive, it’s funny, laugh, it’s a joke, I’ll donate some money to an epilepsy charity, happy?).

Clubs are quite nasty overall. Most all girls there are huge skanks grinding up on random guys they don’t know. Guys are trying to grope anything that even looks female (I saw a guy feeling up the women’s washroom sign). Everybody is drunk and smells like sweat and beer (I don’t drink, and I smell like rainbows, but the non gay kind).

We got into a fight and got kicked out of the club. Yes the sober brown guys got kicked out of the club. Some dude was staring down my cousin rolling up his sleeves getting ready to fight, then my other cousin laid his a** out while I held back a bouncer (inadvertently, I thought it was one of the dude’s ‘boys’). Bro in law came running through and pushed the bouncer out the way and charged towards our ‘victim’ who was (seriously) laying on the ground in what could only be described as the fetal position. Anyways we got kicked out and waited outside for the guy only to find him getting arrested about 45 minutes later (mob mentality: I was yelling at him to come outside, and I'm very mild mannered). He started it, karmas a ________ (it’s a pg rated blog, you fill in the blanks, interactive fun!). Kids, real men (and women) don’t start fights, but if you happen to be in one, make sure you’re the one ending it.

Sister’s wedding was off the hook! The whole week and a bit was probably one of the best week’s of my life! My friend’s and I prepared a dance on one of the days which was a surprise to my sister as she didn’t think I was going to. She loved it. The wedding reception was pretty hectic since I was MC’ing but when I was finally able to sit down and take it all in, with my friends and family all around me having a great time, my sister and her husband smiling, it was all so worth it, and so amazing. It would take me too long to sit here and describe everything that happened but I love my sister, I love my family & friends and thank them for an amazing time. Everybody telling me “You’re next” didn’t even bother me. If our weddings are this much fun, I am next.

Peace.
(Read the blog while imitating a 'British' accent, trust me its fun you'll see).

Look who's back....

Look who's back to blogging? I know all 3 people who read my blog missed me (3 includes my mother, but she can't use a computer, so I'm lying about 3 people). Anyways I'm not sure why I stopped blogging, probably has something to do with a disease I've been fighting since birth knows as 'lazyritis.' I was even born late because I fell asleep in my mother's womb.

I am going to try and put something up here once a week for anybody that stumbles across this.

I've been through quite a bit over the past little while, sister got married, other sister is getting married. Cousin had a baby (Swears it was planned). Was in a relationship but now single again. Bought a car (or 3 actually). I am now being tormented by any desi (brown) person that knows me in any way as to when I'm getting married since I'm next in line (had no idea there was a line for these things, am I at least in the express lane?). Anytime I tell a desi that my sister is getting married even before they say congratulations the first response is 'When's your turn beta? (means son). How's about you let me worry about that, I didn't know you all cared so much. Heck even some white people (I love white people) ask me when I'm getting married. You know you have a problem when white people are talking about marriage.

I come out of my room and all I hear is my mom conversing with other aunties about how they need to find me a wife. Almost like my opinion doesn't even matter and they'll handle it by committee. I'm completely opposed to that unless she's a supermodel, then I accept, and yes its completely ok that she doesn't speak a lick of English and is missing a high school diploma, I have those things already and aren't you and your significant other suppose to complement each other anyway? So it works out perfectly. Where she lacks in I make up in. Where I lack in she makes up in (damn I just called myself ugly).

I bought my dream car, a 91 Acura NSX. I'm in love, and I never have to worry about her leaving me. They let gay people get married, I should be allowed to marry my car, society just isn't fair I guess. I'm gonna start a petition. But I also have a winter car so would that be considered my mistress? Little details I'll worry about later..

So my sister's wedding starts Thursday (3 day affair, yea we go hard) and then hopefully my cousin is getting engaged the week after. Big things going on all around me. Yes yes you're all asking when is it my turn...and I politely ask that you shut the.........

The relationship I briefly mentioned earlier...I don't really feel like talking about. Let's just say I was heavily awestruck, and it took me a VERY long time to get over her. But I finally did. And I genuinely hope she's happy because she still is a great person I have a lot of respect for her, but as the great jay-z (why'd he have to be illuminati?) once said, 'on to the next one.'

Look for more updates soon! (and comment, if I write this much for you you owe me a comment)

Later!