I love swings. I think we’ve pretty much established this by now. And if I had to choose one single reason why I love my mother, it would be because when I said the other day, “Ummy, I want to go to the park and play on the swings. Do you want to come […]

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This past weekend, my father and I stopped by a car dealership in an effort to alleviate my pain and suffering at not having had a car for the past…oh, thirty-six days. [Which pain, by the way, is finally over, as of three days ago. Good lookin’ out, God.]
As we were getting out of […]

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Evidence #49247 on the list of Reasons Why Yasmine is an Incompetent Fool involves me accidentally formatting the memory card on my digital camera and thereby deleting the 200-300 or so photos I took yesterday evening during a wedding mehndi ceremony my sister and I attended. Within two minutes of leaving the bride’s home, no […]

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In my family, the word we use for the massive gatherings in which we lend a helping hand is hashr. I’m not sure if it’s a Hindku or Urdu or Arabic or Pukhtu word. “Hashr karna” [to do a hashr] is one of those phrases we use naturally without analyzing the etymological background, just as […]

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This one goes out to blogger extraordinaire Yaser and to my cousin Somayya [aka SuperDuperWoman aka PrincessPrettyPants (PPP)] and to the at least half-a-dozen other friends of mine who will be taking the MCAT tomorrow. You’re almost done, peoples! Rock it up tomorrow, and then you won’t have to review physics ever again. Because physics […]

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hamsafar.
After picking my mother up from our relatives’ in Sacramento last week, she and I settled into my car for the hour-long drive home. After the usual impatient verbal tussles (“Why is the seatbelt always messed up in your passenger seat?” “It’s because you always twist it the wrong way whenever you use it, Ummy.” […]

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vindication.
On the phone with my father, two weeks ago:
Me: So, guess what, Daddy khana! It turns out I got an A- on my NPB midterm!Daddy-o: Really! Wow!Me: Yup. I can’t remember the last time I even passed any sort of bio exam. But now I have to keep studying so I don’t get all arrogant […]

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We have guests over at our place today, some relatives. They have three daughters, one of whom is an 8 year old named Somiyya. Somiyya is driving me crazy, and that’s a fact. The Human Development major within me can’t help but wonder if she has ADHD.
“So why does Somiyya dislike climbing up the steps […]

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so you think you can hold the world up by a string.
You’re a tough crowd, Blogistan. I recently update this joint after a three weeks’ hiatus, and I get complaints that the post isn’t sufficiently about me. Not to mention the fact that every time I write about male friends/acquaintances/nice guys at Borders/old men at […]

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Dinner took almost an hour this evening. We sat at the table, passing around brochures of all the houses that are selling or have recently been sold in our neighborhood and general area. The pile of thick, glossy real estate cards and advertisements thrown across our dining room table grows by the day. Not only […]

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orange you glad you tower over everyone?
HAPPY 22nd BIRTHDAY to my big little brother, he of the spiky orange mohawk fame, also known as the radio station intern, artist, writer, fellow leftie, and future actor, filmmaker, and dramatic voice-over dude extraordinaire for movie trailers. Forgive me for forcing you to sit next to me in […]

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happy birthday!
HAPPY 21st BIRTHDAY to my beautiful, brilliant Bean: student of knowledge, unrepentant chocoholic, and cookie monster extraordinaire. May every day bring you moments of grace and beauty, always. (p.s. Thanks for baking all those endless chocolate chip cookies, and for chauffering me everywhere without complaining. Someday, I will be as cool, organized, on […]

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and who is he, mr. rand mcnally?
About a week after we returned from our Thanksgiving break roadtrip to Santa Barbara, my father remarked, “You know, I think we should go on a trip again soon.”
“Oh?” I said. “Are the nomadic tendencies kicking in again?”
“Not really,” he admitted sheepishly, “It’s just that I kinda liked your […]

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the open road for the travelers’ souls
I fell asleep last Wednesday night to the sound of my father asking, “Who wants to go to Santa Barbara tomorrow?” When we woke up the next morning, it was Thanksgiving Day and Santa Barbara was almost four hundred miles to the south. We showered, dressed, and packed in […]

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miseducation
1.
I got home from school late last night, walking into the house with my new messenger bag slung diagonally from shoulder to hip. This bag rocks das Haus – it’s khaki-colored canvas, with five or six pockets just on the outside, Velcro straps and random buttons everywhere. And I love messenger bags, in case you […]

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