Satin Rouge happens to be one of my favorite Middle Eastern dance movies. Made in 2002, this midlife coming of age movie takes place in Tunisia. Lilia is a widow and spends her life taking care of her teenage daughter, who is- well, a teenager. Lilia is a proper woman in the eyes of society. [...]

Although the state of the economy (and my personal thriftiness) doesn’t allow for much back to school shopping, I began inventorying what I need or would like to have for the school year. My budget isn’t as tight as many grad students across the country (I receive an external scholarship, which pays for pretty much [...]

I have begun the belt, but as with any creative process (or any process, like my research), there are unforeseen setbacks. My setback with finishing off the set is figuring how I want the belt. After playing with the fabric, I decided that sort of a poufy, ruched look to it is good and using [...]

I began thinking about what I want mine to say. Generally speaking, I like to write things ahead of time and not look at them for a while. Then I open the file when I’ve completely forgotten what’s in it, so I essentially look at it through fresh eyes.I figure if it doesn’t make sense [...]

My shower clogged badly this weekend. My usual fix of baking soda, vinegar, and boiling water didn’t work (environmentally and kitty friendly). I had to call maintenance who was only available today. Me being me, I tried to fix it myself using harsh chemicals. That did not work, so I’ve been spending the last 24 [...]

I updated the Q&A section, if you are interested. Feel free to ask questions. Bookmark on DeliciousDigg this postRecommend on FacebookShare on FriendFeedshare via RedditShare with StumblersTumblr itTweet about itSubscribe to the comments on this postBookmark in BrowserTell a friend

Snake Hips is a book I recommend to almost anyone. It is indeed a book about belly dancing (sort of), but beyond that, it’s a fun read about a woman trying to find herself. Anne Soffee, after being dumped by a boyfriend and moving back home, takes up belly dancing. The book is about her [...]

Because I have a little under 3 weeks of nothing to do (work has ended), I figure that I’d check in with my summer goals and see how I stand. Perhaps it’ll motivate me to finish something Thesis: My thesis made, in some ways, very little progress. There were problems beyond my control with the [...]

Today marks the end of summer school and my one year anniversary of moving to Chicago. One year ago today, I was at Logan airport or maybe in the sky with my cat. Things have definitely changed for me in many ways. Grad School- Starting grad school was difficult for me. There’s the sheer idea [...]

We have only one more lab left for the summer. I don’t remember what I have mentioned in the past, but I am a teaching assistant (TA). That means that some others and I team teach labs. It has been an interesting experience for me period, because this has been my first year ever of [...]