24: a year in review

Has it been one year already since I last blogged about turning 23? Well I guess it has. Funny how when we look back in time, life seems to have gone by in a flash. But when we look ahead in the future, we think it’s still gonna be long time to come.

Well today marks my 24th birthday. Unlike last year, turning 24 hasn’t come in much of a surprise to me. That’s because beginning 2006, I had set out bunch of some specific goals I wanted to do by the time I’m 24. I was very aware of the time that has passed. I can’t claim to have achieved all my goals, but overall I can say I was lot more productive than any time in the past. This was definitely one of the best years of my life!

For this year’s blog, I’m going to start something new. I’m going to highlight the major events of the year. I’m also going to list things in various categories that have I’ve favored or discovered throughout the year. Finally, I’m going to nominate one song to be the Song of the Year!

So starting with the highlights, here they are in chronological order:

• I’ve started the year (Feb 18) by ditching my stupid old company that I worked for since 2004 and switching to a much bigger one. This was difinitely a wise choice and a move I won’t regret.
• Passed the TOEFL exam (March). Important step in preparation for my Masters degree.
• Having a renewed energy and desire to prove myself, I proceeded to obtain the Microsoft Certified Application Developer and Microsoft Certified Solution Developer certifications in a 2 months period!
• To show my gratitude to God for helping me achieve the above certifications, I promised myself that I would never neglect or miss a prayer time again. Usually promises are broken, but I can’t believe how I made myself stick to this one and, you know what, I have, and will, never miss one again. It became a habit. Thanks God!
• Finished my car payments. I now fully own my own, self-financed car!
• Finished my university paper work. (Thanks MoE!)
• Opened my own bank account here. This was so much of a relief as I’ve started doing my banking and bill payment online and on the phone.
• For the first time in my life, I’ve managed to stay on top of all my income and expenses and I’ve tracked all that down to the smallest details using a lovely software package called AceMoney.
• Maintained a healthy relationship with my family and friends. I don’t recall any major problems all throughout the year. This is by itself an achievement for me. I have grown to be more tolerant and friendly.
  ..well to some extent.. don’t you dare sticking a pointy piece of paper in my ear I’ll smack you down! :)

Now, I’m not perfect. There are still some things I wish I would have achieved. Of course, those are going to be my objectives or resolutions for the new year:

• Get used to waking up for Fajr prayer on time.
• Pay monthly charity.
• Read Qur’an on a regular basis.
• Stick to a gym plan.
• Start my Masters study.

(Tip: I found this great online goal tracker, called Joe’s Goals, which I’m going to use to track down my progress in achieving the above objectives)

Alright, now to the part where I tell you whole bunch of different things that I’ve favored throughout the year (and things that I disliked as well):

Category: Friends

The stars of this year are my colleagues at my new company, namely: Ahmed, Saleh, Ubaadah, and let’s not forget Hamdein (aka degre’ mama). Together, we have turned the dull atmosphere of this workplace into an energetic and fun one. Those guys are the kings of jokes and sarcasm. Sometimes, we laugh so hard we have to run to the meeting room to blow off all the laughs. I believe we are all going to end up kicked out of this place someday, and I’ll be the first to go. Hey, I like setting examples!

Category: Music
Till recently, I have heard about a type of music called Ambient Music but wasn’t too interested in exploring this field of music. That was till I recently wanted something so relaxing I could put on and still continue to focus on what I’m doing or relax to. I went ahead and downloaded an ambient mix CD called The Chill Surrounding the Promise of Snow and, needless to say, I was fascinated by the level of sophistication yet simplicity this genre of music has got to offer. I became an instant fan and ended up downloading all the CDs at ambient-nights.org.

Also, I thought’s it’s also important to honor Fadl Shaker’s new album (Allah A3lam) which instantly became an all-time favorite with it’s lovely tunes and emotional content.

Category: Food
Nothing major here. I’m into food for enjoyment as much as for survival :p But if I had to a pick a favorite restaurant for this year, I would say it’s gotta be the italian Paninos restaurant. Lately, I’ve been having my breakfast there every day. They rock!

Category: Places
Since all the buzz was out about how StarBucks is all for supporting the Jewish army and stuff, I was determined not to go there ever again. Thanks to my friends, I found this great little new coffee shop called Oasis. It has the most comfortable couches ever (much better than StarBucks) and I just love its relatively quite atmosphere.

Category: Tech Gadgets
Well, I guess we have a clear winner in this category: my new lovely NEC VT767 multimedia projector.

This medium-sized wonderful projector has been a blessing for me and the whole family. I can now read my favorite e-books in a much easier way and watch my favorite sitcoms in a theater-like experience (coupled with my new Creative Inspire 5.1 5200 speaker system)

Category: Internet
This year, the boom of the Web 2.0 era took us all by surprise. It became one of my major interests on the web. Everyday, there is a new startup that promises to offer a new service or an improvement to an existing online service.
But the best Web 2.0 website (service) that has made a difference in my life in this year has got to be Google Reader. Keeping up with the latest news and stuff will never be hard again thanks to this wonderful app that lets me very easily check out the latest headlines (through RSS) in all interesting websites so that I don’t have to visit them one by one. Thanks to Google for making such a wonderful time-saving app. Google to continues to make a difference in the world!

So there you have it folks, a year in review: 24. To end this year, and this blog, I set out to pick one song that represents the past year and the future to come. My pick was on an all-time favorite song by The Goo Goo Dolls called: Better Days (download)

Here goes the lyrics. Have a good listen everybody :) See you next year!

And you ask me what I want this year
And I try to make this kind and clear
Just the chance that maybe we�ll find better days

Cuz I don�t need boxes wrapped in strings
And designer love and empty things
Just the chance that maybe we�ll find better days

So take these words
And sing out loud
Cuz everyone is forgiven now
Cuz tonight�s the night the world begins again

I need someplace simple where we could live
And something only you can give
And that�s faith and trust and peace while we�re alive

And the one poor child who saved this world
And there�s ten million more who probably could
If we all just stopped and said a prayer for them
So take these words
And sing out loud
Cuz everyone is forgiven now
Cuz tonight�s the night the world begins again

I wish everyone was loved tonight
And somehow stop this endless fight
Just the chance that maybe we�ll find better days

So take these words
And sing out loud
Cuz everyone is forgiven now
Cuz tonight�s the night the world begins again
Cuz tonight�s the night the world begins again

p.s., much thanks to my cousin Afnan for her wonderful birthday postcard she sent me on my birthday. She is truly the star of this one!