Dubai Sunshine

Still here. My blog's been on my mind a lot lately, and I cringe every time I think about how I've neglected it! Poor little blog that I've invested so much time in!

But the reason I haven't shut it down is because I always knew that I'd have a need for a space where I can vent my frustrations, share my thoughts, and get people's opinions. So, this blog's staying, no matter how infrequently I'm going to be updating it.

What's been happening lately? Well, the tail end of 2009 saw quite a bit of traveling, which I tremendously enjoyed...And I got to visit 3 new countries, which is always a plus in my books.

Work-wise, things are pretty stable. 2009 was a pretty stable, almost boring year for me. Not much of a challenge professionally but then again, I didn't really push myself too hard. Need to shake things up a bit this year.

The new year has been much busier, with some interesting challenges coming up. I've also been dealing with some non-serious but definitely painful health issues...so the beginning of 2010 has not been a great one so far. We'll see what the rest of it has to offer.

I've been semi-active on Twitter (much more than on this blog!), but I think I'm the kind of person who needs much more than 140 characters to really get my thoughts across... But still, the Twitter phenomenon is fun, and I think I'll be sticking around for a while at least.

Those who do follow me on Twitter will know my frustration at the fact that the Greens bridge is still not opened. What on EARTH are they waiting for really? Traffic has reached nightmarish proportions, even on weekends and during non-rush hours! Ridiculous really.

That was a quick roundup of the past few months. Will be back soon though. Promise.

Fake Plastic Souk's Alex McNabb prepared a list of "Best Dubai Blogs" that he shared with Dubai 92's Catboy. And I did not make the list!

Well...I hadn't made the list until I tweeted my disappointed, and Catboy gracefully obliged by adding me...so now I'm on the elite list of Best Dubai Blogs :) Thank you Catboy!

Oh, and here's the list in its entirety should you wish to consult a few worthy blogs:

http://www.motherinferiordubai.wordpress.com
http://discoballbreaker.com/
http://uaecommunity.blogspot.com/
http://fadfada-online.blogspot.com/
http://maiandsara.blogspot.com/
http://rupertbumfrey.blogspot.com/
http://mideast.blogs.time.com/
http://dubaithoughts.blogspot.com/
http://some-like-it-not.blogspot.com/
http://grumpygoat.blogspot.com/
http://www.momentaryawe.com/blog/
http://blogs.sun.com/christophersaul/
http://onebigconstructionsite.blogspot.com/
http://sandman-files.blogspot.com/
http://dubaiphotostory.blogspot.com/
http://emirateseconomist.blogspot.com/
http://dubai-jazz.blogspot.com/
http://louisefareed.blogspot.com/
http://carolynn-dubailife.blogspot.com/
http://auhgal.blogspot.com/
http://dubaiconsumermirror.blogspot.com/
http://blog.grapeshisha.com/
http://www.the-media-junkie.com/
http://thefatexpat.blogspot.com
http://fakeplasticsouks.blogspot.com

I do not know the Dasmals, and I do not know Negin, but a friend of mine forwarded this blog to me, with a warning: "it's sad...don't read if you don't want to cry".

But I read it, and yes it's sad, but it's also an inspiration. Negin, a young businesswoman who is the driving force behind successful ventures such as N-Bar and 1847 Men's Spa in Emirates Towers was recently diagnosed with cancer, while pregnant with her fourth child.

Her husband writes weekly updates, informing us about Negin's treatment and progress, and how the family has adjusted to the situation.

The way Negin has been dealing with her illness, and the way her husband has been supporting her throughout her ordeal is truly touching, moving, inspiring and it definitely makes you put things in perspective.

Suddenly, that annoying colleague, or the daily traffic, or that unresponsive telecom provider are no longer a priority... Rather, your focus shifts to the important things in life: family, friends, health...

Here's hoping that Negin stays strong in her fight against cancer, and that the members of this lovely, loving family always stay there for each other.

I haven't been able to access Blogger or any blogspot websites for the past few days. I live in the Greens and I heard that Blogger's been blocked in all free zone areas.

I am now in Abu Dhabi which is why I've been able to access it from here.

Does anyone know why that is?

I know that back in September I had declared this blog defunct, but every once in a while, I experience something or do something that makes me think "hmm...this would have been a great story to blog about"...

And so, being the indecisive Sagittarian that I am, I've decided to get back to blogging. For several reasons:

1) I actually miss it
2) Writing about certain things is actually cathartic
3) I've realised that I do not necessarily need to post every day of the week....and that people who are interested in this blog will still come back and read it whether I write 4 times a day or 4 times a month.
4) I still get e-mails from people who have come across my older posts, asking me questions about anything from living in Dubai to how they can meet Sheikh Mo (this is not a lie...I promise!)
5) It's my blog, and I can do whatever I want with it :)

So, let's just call the past 5 months a blog sabbatical... I'm now ready to resume my blogging career once again. I am back!

I have thought long and hard about this. It was not a spur of the moment decision. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I am the most indecisive person on earth, and that I tend to over-analyze things.

Which is why I am very confident about the decision I've taken to officially declare this as my last post on this blog.

I don't know when or how it happened, but I've simply lost all interest in blogging...A bit like falling out of love I guess. The frequency (or lack thereof) of my posts recently must have been indication that I was just not that into it anymore.

Over the past 2 years, 338 posts, and almost 50,000 visitors, I've met a lot of interesting people...some virtually, others in person... I've been able to vent my frustrations, share my surprises...and almost anything else I found to be interesting.

I'm still an avid reader of many blogs and I'll keep reading them...I may decide to come back to share a few tidbits here and there, but my posts definitely won't be regular.

So, this is it...

Thank your for reading me...thank you for commenting...thank you for bearing with my ranting and raving...I'll still be reading any comments that may come through on my previous posts, and I will keep checking my blog e-mail once in a while: dubaisunshine@hotmail.com



"When you part from your friend, you grieve not;
For that which you love most in him may be clearer in his absence, as the mountain to the climber is clearer from the plain."

The Prophet - Khalil Gibran

I finally figured out how to add links to my posts again....It was simply a question of changing browsers...I was using Safari, and I've now switched to Firefox, and that seems to have solved the problem. Woohoo!

I know I've been kind of MIA lately...but I'm still here. I realise that lately, the only updates I've had on my blog are about my hole in the wall...NOT the most exciting thing on the face of this earth, I admit...

I've just been preoccupied lately... Nothing serious... Just the usual stuff. Preoccupied with work (why is summer always such a busy period for us? In every other job I've had, summer was a more relaxing time...here, it seems, summer is the worst time!). Preoccupied with my friend A., who's been going through a bit of a rough time lately.... Preoccupied with planning vacations, which is not an easy thing to do it seems (but I desperately need time off!)

But it's not all been bad.... And I did want to post about things, but never seemed to find the time to do so...so here goes:

There was the Chicago the musical for example, which took place a couple of weeks ago at the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi. I enjoyed that tremedously. The actors were really amazing, and I loved the songs. I think it's really cool that Abu Dhabi is getting into this culture thing really seriously.

There's also a book I recently read, which was pure pleasure... I haven't read a whole book in 2 days in a while...and this book was so good, I couldn't put it down, and yet at the same time, I didn't want it to end. It's called The Namesake, and it takes us through 3 decades of the life of the Ganguli family, and Indian family that immigrated to the US . The hero of the novel, Gogol Ganguli, is born in the US, and we go through his teenage and adult life as he struggles to find his true identity.

The book was recently made into a movie, which I also managed to watch (after I finished the book). It's directed by Mira Nair, who also directed Monsoon Wedding, which I also loved.

I highly recommend either the book or the movie.

There's a couple of other things too, but I'll leave those for another post. I'll be back soon...promise!

Sometime in the last few days (or weeks), I hit the 30,000 hit mark on my blog. I had been waiting for that to happen for some time now, and when it did, I didn't even notice!

I hit the 20,000 mark back in September, and the 10,000 mark back in May....I see a pattern here, 10,000 hits every 4 months!

Thanks again to those of you who drop by once in a while, and to my faithful commenters. Keep coming back! I promise I'll try to be more diligent with updating my blog.

I am so absent-minded these days! I completely forgot about the 1-year anniversary of my blog, despite the fact that NZM reminded me about it a few days before!

November 12th marked the 1-year anniversary of my very first post. I can't believe it's already been a year! How time flies!

I know I haven't been posting much lately. I've just been uninspired for some reason...It'll come back soon though, I'm sure.

I'll be away all of next week on a business trip, but hopefully I'll have some stories and pictures to share when I am back. Promise :)

It's been a week since my last post...I am relatively frequent blogger and a whole week without posting is a long time in my opinion...

I have been trying to get inspired to write a new post, but nothing comes to mind. I usually think of stuff to write about based on things I see, read, or things I think of and decide "oh, I should blog about that!".

But now, nothing...nada....zilch....

I have been rather busy, which may explain the lack of posts. The weekend was quite hectic (dinner/boat trip (amazing weather)/shopping/family lunch/coffee/another dinner), and so has the beginning of my week (watched a movie last night...The Departed....liked it a lot...great acting by a great cast).

But I also can't seem to come up with stuff to blog about....

So....given my recent lack of inspiration, I turn to you guys, my few, faithful readers....ask me questions, give me ideas for posts, help me out :) Anything....

My main blog page is not loading completely for some reason. There should be about 6-8 posts showing on the first page, but right now, there are only 2 of them showing, and the 2nd one is not even loading completely....

Also, some of my links are sometimes missing....why is that?

Are you experiencing the same thing on my blog? Could it be my new template that's wreaking havoc with my posts? Or is it a blogger issue?

...hello new, light, airy template...

I decided it was high time I updated my template. My blog is almost a year old now, which is a great excuse for a makeover.

The old template was classy, but a bit too dark and serious for my taste. This one is not amazing, but it's lighter, more cheerful, and definitely more me. Plus, I love apple green :)

I wish I could be more HTML savvy, so I could add all sorts of bells and whistles to my blog, but this will have to do for now.

So what do you guys think?

I need your help please :)

How do I know to which post someone posted a comment, if it's a comment that doesn't refer to the subject of the post? When I get the comments on my e-mail, it doesn't tell me which post came on?

And what's the difference between regular blogger and beta blogger?