In-House Arabic-English Translators Needed
Mother’s Day Ad in Beirut: The Strongest Wireless Connection
“My mother said to me, “If you become a soldier you’ll be a general; if you become a monk you’ll end up as the pope.” Instead, I became a painter and wound up as Picasso.” – Pablo Picasso
I See A Black Wall And I Want It Painted Red
Red, the color of passion, activity, and energy. Red raises blood pressure and speeds up heart rate. A great choice to stir up excitement and to stimulate conversation and collaboration at your workplace. And it’s definitely all I need to have now at DITTO to enjoy another productive day.
I wish you all a happy, fruitful day!:)
And for even a happier kick-off, you might as well enjoy Africa by Toto.
He Lived Under A Deadline; He’s Francis Ford Coppola
“It’s ironic that at age 32, at probably the greatest moment of my career, with The Godfather having such an enormous success, I wasn’t even aware of it, because I was somewhere else under the deadline again.” Francis Ford Coppola
And here’s a great short inspiring interview that I’d love to share with you.
I can’t agree more with what he says at two minutes and thirty-eight seconds. Enjoy:)
Francis Ford Coppola \’Lost Interview\’ Age 36
I wash my hands of those who imagine chattering to be knowledge – Gibran
I wash my hands of those who imagine chattering to be knowledge, silence to be ignorance, and affection to be art.
3 Guaranteed Steps to Recover from the Fatal Nostalgia Disease
We’ve all been there before. We’ve tasted its sweetness, endured its bitterness, lived it, quitted it and eventually got here. And just when we’ve finally made it to today, we start reminiscing. All of us have been there. You and I. And yes, that person is no exception too.
Falling into the trap of the past is a phenomenon that I’ve come to witness on many occasions around me. An awkward, disturbing phenomenon that projects negative vibes into my space and itches me so bad that all I want to do is to shake it out of its complacency.
So the good old days were good – and I can’t agree more. So we were young and free – of course, and also too young to see clear, mes amis. So everything used to seem easier – welcome aboard real life my friends!
And conversations would go for a long time – consuming my present time – yearning for the past, about how good or bad it has been, about how rewarding or destructive events had been in the past, replaying and reanalyzing bygone scenes and situations that belong to nowhere but to the dispersed past.
If this phenomenon has spared you its revelation, here’s a nice movie that explores the sentiments of nostalgia. Midnight in Paris is a 2011 romantic comedy fantasy film written and directed by Woody Allen and starring Owen Wilson. Owen Wilson‘s Gil is a Hollywood screenwriter who yearns for old years and is presented with the chance to go back to 1920 in Paris (an era he idolizes) and to socialize with F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Picasso, and Dali. He even falls for a Parisian woman, Adriana – played by Marion Cotillard – who is also trapped into thinking that the present is just not good enough and that yesterday (Renaissance) was better than today (Belle Epoque). Then somehow, somewhere towards the end - and you can thank me later for ruining the film for you:) – Gil realizes that despite the allure of nostalgia, it is better to accept the present for what it is. Olden days (Belle Époque) might have seemed better to Gile than 2010, but then again, for Adriana, olden days (Renaissance) seemed better to her than today (Belle Époque).
Bottom line, as much as we would all like to go back in time and dwell on the happy and bittersweet memories of a time, we need to make peace with the fact that we belong to today and that we need to be here, now, today.
So here my 3 simple dummy steps to overcome the past:
1- Be here
2- Be now
3- And start enjoying your life.:)
And because music is much more inspiring than a pep talk, here’s Break My Strides song by Mathew Wilder. Enjoy and get going.:)
We Don’t Have the Same Language, the Same Culture, and We All Have the Same Sun – English Translation of Soleil Song by Grégoire
I don’t think there’s a more beautiful song that speaks out against discrimination and advocates for equality regardless of race, language, and country than “Soleil” song written and performed by the French singer Grégoire.
And for you my dear English speakers, here’s an accurate translation of Soleil that I found online.
Enjoy, sigh, and be moved!:)
| Soleil
On n’a pas le même drapeau, On n’a pas les mêmes racines, Et on n’a tous le même soleil, On n’a pas les mêmes coutumes, On n’a pas les mêmes parents, Et on n’a tous le même soleil, Car on n’a tous la même planète, Une main avec nos différences, Car on n’a tous le même soleil, Car on n’a tous la même planète, Car on n’a tous le même soleil, Car on n’a tous le même soleil, |
Sun
We don’t have the same flag, We don’t have the same roots, And we all have the same Sun, We don’t have the same lifestyle, We don’t have the same parents, And we all have the same Sun, Because we all have the same planet A hand with our differences Because we all have the same Sun Because we all have the same planet Because we all have the same Sun, Because we all have the same Sun |
Wintertime, and the Cold is Not So Bad
So winter mean cold has finally struck Beirut, and with it came the most depressing landscape of people trying really hard since the very wee hours of the morning as they snooze their alarms every five minutes for a whole hour, force themselves out of bed to drag their lazy bodies into torturing showers, and finally expose themselves to the outside world bundled up with scarves, hats and gloves, and all cold shields you can think of, walking around the streets with frowning faces and downcast postures to approach you for business with tense politeness interrupted with melodic sneezes, coughing, and dreaded nose-blowing – and I am no exception, and this is too scary.
But amidst all this gloomy scenery, a billboard caught my eye as I was driving back from Faraya Mountain.
And there it was, the warmest inspirational and positive statement to see and all I wanted to do is to share it with you with a hope to warm your hearts as it did to mine.
One Day You Will
And all you have to do is to fill in the blank with the next line – your own line, the very dear thing you want it to happen to you. It made me warm. And I’m sure you all would have wanted to put your own personal stamps on that statement too, in your way. And I’m sure it would have warmed you, too.
So wintertime is not all that bad after all. And remember, One Day You Will…Experience Summer Again:)
Until then, this is Somewhere Over the Rainbow by the greatest Eric Clapton. Enjoy and keep warm please!:)