Hey Man, What is This Thing in My Bathroom?

I miss about thirty percent of life. Although Melissa and I have traveled a lot and seen a lot of interesting things, I miss the little things. Only recently have I realized that this could be a bad thing. I spent a solid ten minutes on the toilet today and didn't have any reading material, so I looked around the bathroom and the things that give it its character. I noticed the wet towels on the floor and connected them to something Melissa has been complaining about. I guess we have water trouble, but I never really paid attention. I saw some other things: the Q-tip I threw out last week but somehow escaped the maid's cleaning, a thrice-used toothpick hiding in my special spot, and some other odds and ends. However, what stood out the most in the bathroom was a procelain monstrosity neighboring the toilet. Melissa refers to it as a 'bidet', but I'm not sure of its place or purpose in the bathroom. It doesn't have a large hole for stuff to leave it, but it would offer a convenient target to any man seeking to relieve himself. Melissa assures me that it is a female hygiene something or other, but I am still not certain what I should believe. I would like to get responses on this post from both guys and girls on bidet culture. Who hear knows what a bidet is? Who has used one? What did the experience feel like? Did any of you guys try to urinate in one?

Findings of a Research Assignment

Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would agree to do research for a journalist on suicide bombings in Iraq. In all actuality, I didn't really agree to it, rather my boss kind of signed me up. But I probably would have anyway. Just for the experience.

Anyway, even as a Middle Eastern Studies major, I really never took an interest in America's current war in Iraq. To be perfectly honest, the situation is just confusing - from a historical, political, and moral standpoint - and I find it easier to ignore the topic instead of annoy people with empty postulations. It may sound a bit overly apathetic, but I realize that I have nothing groundbreaking to add to the situation.

And doing this research is having the effect I knew it would - it is depressing me beyond belief (and making me slightly paranoid). My research is pretty straightforward, and the process is ridiculously simple - I look through computer-based archives under the keywork "Iraq", and any article documenting a suicide bomb/mission I paste onto a word document and save them all in one folder. Really simple, eh?

Well, I'm not sure if the money - combined with the assignment's simplicity - is really worth it. Yea I'm making a few bucks, but all I do is stare at headlines of suicide bombing, car bombings, air strikes and shootings. I have gone through four years already - 2008 to early 2004 - and I cannot believe how many suicide bombings there have been. On top of all the other atrocities in Iraq.

The news is just one horrible story after another. Even better, imagine me blocking everything out because my imagination is running rampant with visuals of the news I am reading, and then some stupid young driver revving his engine incredibly loud. Yea, it did make me jump - I was scared out of my mind. It took a good ten seconds to bring myself back into my work office.

This is why I choose not to think about it. Or Palestine, anymore. I wish I could do something about it. Maybe one day I will. Right now I have a voice, and the power of the written word and the media, but even I am not so optimistic to think I will change the world by simply exercising my freedom of speech.

I finished the project today, thankfully. When I finished there were 565 documents I saved in my folder. Although some of them were carbombs, which I included because sometimes they did not specify whether it was suicidal or not. And did I get something out of it? I like to think that I know a bit more of the realities on the ground in Iraq, although I can only imagine since I have not witnessed it firsthand.

What bothered me the most is the number of people who have volunteered to carry out the suicide missions. The suicide bombings seemed to really take off eight months after the US invaded in May 2003. But these groups and their ideologies behind the suicide bombings had to be in place long before American invaded. I am interested in doing more research into that aspect of the equation.

Also there were some trends that I noticed - for some the reasons were apparent, and others not so much. There was definitely a lull in suicide bombings during the winters, and a surge during the summer months. During the Muslim celebration of Ramadan a couple of years there was a decrease, but in other years there was no change. And like I mentioned before, during the first year of the American invasion there were hardly any reports. During a few months the number of reported suicide attacks were incredible - almost one every other day. And the corresponding fatalities were outrageous. Just this past week two women carried out twin suicide bombings in seperate pet markets, killing 99 total.

Obviously this war tactic, and this ideology, is a dangerous one. It is certainly succeeding in spreading terror, and I can't imagine how Iraqis still living in their country go about daily life.

Malaak: Angel of Peace

RecentlyI interviewed a woman who just launched her first comic book in Lebanon, and I submitted it to a popular Middle Eastern women's/fashion magazine. Then I realized that my American audience is missing out on all the fun! Just a fun little interview with a talented young writer/artist (And you are getting the better, more fun version!).

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Cool cover, eh? ------------>>>

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Joumana Medlej just released her new comic, Malaak: Angel of Peace. The main character is a young woman, living in Lebanon, whose mission is to find out who she is and her purpose in life. "Basically it's a young girl that is found and no one knows where she comes from and she doesn't know until she comes of age," Joumana said of her young character, Malaak.
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Malaak comes to live in a war-torn Lebanon, and soon realizes her powers are to be used to end the bloody conflict. Although Lebanon was entrenched in a civil war only two decades ago, Medlej says her comic expresses no political opinions or statements on the war that still looms in the minds of older generations. "Coincidentally, or maybe not...the idea came to me after I came back from Germany where I was exiled during the war. I was so sick of war, its so senseless and I think we all realize at one point there was one superhero who could end it. But I don't deal with politics, I deal with bigger things."

One of those things is exporting Lebanese culture. Medlej hoped the comic would capture audiences around the world because "there are not a lot of cultural exports from Lebanon in this field and I really would love for comic lovers worldwide to like a comic from Lebanon." Throughout the comic you will find drawings of building which actually exist in the country, historical references littered throughout the text, and a bit of the tri-language dialogue the Lebanese are famous for - that is, their affinity to speak Arabic, French and English all in the same sentence. In fact Medlej took the liberty to include a dictionary of terms at the end of each issue, to accommodate those who don't speak all three languages and aren't familar with Lebanese-speak.

Although religion doesn't play an integral role in her comic, there is a discreet acknowlegment of it. She explained, "I'm not really going to bring religion into it except small touches. There is a hajibe character. There are mosques and churches in the background." Hijabe refers to the Muslim tradition for women to wear a scarf over their head. And of course she does not fail to highlight Lebanon's love for fashion and beauty. "The main character has to be a woman...It's because Lebanon is so famous for their beautiful women, and any superhero woman in Lebanon would have to be a super babe." She added, "The female characters in the comic have their own fashions. There is, of course, the very well dressed and then the conservative.

We all know Superman, Batman, and Spiderman, and to the average comic book reader men dominate the heroic scene. The only woman superhero that comes to my mind is Wonderwoman. Portraying a young, independent woman as the main character in her new comic, Medlej may find her comic being educational as well as entertaining, especially for Western readers.

"[My Character] is definitely an independent woman." And the author may be even more of a statement than her character. "I think my existence makes a statement...I set an example as a liberated and active woman. I don't set an example, I just do it", she said. And apparantly the ladies are taking a liking to her liberated character. "Women are loving the powerful woman, because she is not just liberated but taking things in hand. She is not a super confident woman - she's growing, she's nice, she's cute. I think the women are really reacting well to her", she explained.

Medlej became interested in comic books when she was 12, saying it was what started her drawing. But it was her imagination that spurred her first attempts at comic book illustrations. "I'm very much a storyteller at heart. I love to tell stories, but not just in writing. I like to show them," she said. Like so many others, her dreams to publish a comic were put on hold due to life's plans. "It took so much time and I had to work and study and so I left it aside for ten years. In the meantime I worked on illustrations and drawings. So by the time the idea came for [Malaak] I was ripe conceptually and technically."

The idea of Malaak came to her during her exile to Germany, where she stayed during the civil war in Lebanon. "In 2000 I had the idea for something that came from Lebanon," she said, explaining her choice of location. She added, "I don't know exactly where the idea came from, it was just sudden inspiration bit it takes on so much influence from my life. My expose to things caused a sort of alchemy that ends up influencing the comic...certain world views." However, she stressed that the war portrayed in her comic was not supposed to represent Lebanon's infamous civil war, although she did "[grow] up ten years in war and this was daily life during those days."

Her passion for illustrating and narrating were not the only things that got her to the publishing stage. She gives credit to the support of her friends, family and her audience. "I ended up publishing because the response for the first few pages was really great, from everyone." Surprisingly she added, "I actually didn't tell my family [that I was publishing] until I was ready to print because the theme was so personal, and we all went through the [civil] war together."

Medlej, however, doesn't intend to cater to just a Lebanese audience. Currently she publishes her comic in English, to accomodate a large international audience. She plans to possibly translate her comic into Arabic and French, to cater to a wider Lebanese and Middle Eastern audience as well as a broader international audience. Also Medlej promises entertainment for all ages. "I have fans who are 12 and 50. I know Lebanese who like it because it's Lebanese. It's fresh, it's new and it has a root in reality", she said.

The first issue of Malaak, in print, is out and circulating. I personally bought and read it, but I promised not to reveal any of the juicy details. I asked Medlej if she had the whole plot thought out, she surprisingly answered that the ending is what is keeping her going. "I want to know how it ends. I'm serious. I have to continue because I only see the story as I go, so I want to see how it develops."

As her comic develops, Medlej is looking forward to her Malaak taking off and becoming an international icon. She expressed one last ambition as an author, and for Malaak - and that is to one day see her character worn by adoring fans. That is, she says, "The day I see someone at Halloween dressed like her, then I will be happy!"

To read an online version of Malaak visit Medlej's webpage: http://www.malaakonline.com/