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La Verita
I am a half kuwaiti/half american girl living in Kuwait. I am perpetually suspended in the granite hollow that fills the space between two worlds... Not quite who I am, not quite who I want to be... Cat-lover, poet, music-nut. I currently hold a PHD in both BS and Smartass. In short, I pitch my tent in the median of life..


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"Laugh as much as you breathe and love as long as you live."



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Thursday, September 29, 2005
While I'm on the topic....


Can I just take this opportunity to say that KNCC sucks?!?! I have never seen a more poorly run cinema in my entire life... oh wait, I take that back. KNCC six years ago WAS worse!

I was an econ major in college and for four years all they kept drilling into our heads was privatization, privatization, privatization! I swear to God, I should get an honorary PHD in privatization for all the papers I've written on the topic...

So why in the hell don't they privatize the cinemas?? Say it with me people, Competition is good!! Monopoly (Ex. the board game) is BAD! They need to open this sector up to private companies.

First of all, the competition factor would force the companies to price the tickets at a level acceptable to consumers... 2.5 KD for a 2 hour movie that has been butchered down to an hour and a half is just plain theivery! Competition would give companies incentives like giving lower priced matinee tickets.. senior citizen discounts and the like...

Second, could we step up the concession stands a bit?? plain salty popcorn or caramel popcorn?? wut if I want buttered popcorn? or cheese popcorn?? A girl needs options people! and how about some sizing options?? med or large... wut if I want small?? or X-large?? you see where I'm going with this....

Also, when is the gov't gonna realize that we are a nation of grown ups (sort of...) who can handle seeing two people kiss on screen?? It's not like we haven't seen it all already... And what's with the selective censoring??

In that Perfect Catch movie, they cut the first few kisses between the couple and then about halfway through the movie, they gave up or something 'cos suddenly there was all this kissing going on! Also, did any of you see Mindhunters when it was at the cinema? Well, I did and they cut a scene in the beginning (understandably cos it was a shower scene with Christian Slater and Smokey Smokerson), but then they let this totally GAY kiss slip by unchecked!! @@ Since when are two guys kissing an acceptable thing to see at the movies?? You should have seen the audience... there was a very audable gasp....

Anyway, that's all I have to say about that....

Oh, one more thing...

KNCC Sucks! :P
__________________________________________________________________________

Drain the veins in my head...

Layla


22:23 (7) comments
GO RED SOX!!!


So, I went to see 'The Perfect Catch' yesterday. (It pains me how incredibly uncool and behind KNCC is...)but that is a cute with a capital Q movie!

Ok, first of all, Jimmy Fallon is frickin' adorable in this movie! kinda geeky at times, but very reminiscent of his characters on Saturday Night Live... Goofy, sweet and adorable-funny. Don't get me wrong, the guy is no Will Ferrel, but this role fits him well. In the words of my mom: "It doesn't stretch his acting abilities." Don't know if that's a compliment or an insult...

Secondly, any movie with Drew Barrymore is fine by me. The girl is beyond like-able. She's the girl you wish your best friend would be more like! And she's also the kind of girlfriend you wish you could be more like :P She has some funny scenes in this movie!

The storyline is only so-so. The film is adapted from the Nick Hornby (is that the right spelling?? ) novel Fever Pitch. And so, anybody not familiar with the story of the 'Curse of the Bambino' will not get some of the more Baseball-y jokes. There's this one Ted Williams reference and I swear to God my mom and I were the only ones laughing... Awkward.

All in all, it's a good movie. Definately Laugh Out Loud funny. Also, I personally think that the sign of a good movie is how many people leave the theater before the movie is over... only two people in a packed theater left this one... and I think it's b/c she had the runs... I saw some definate a** covering going on....

___________________________________________________________________________

I reckon it's again my turn...

Layla


22:11 (0) comments
You know what's weird...?


When people at concerts hold up pictures of the artist whose concert their attending.... what's up with that?? Do they think the artist doesn't know what he/she looks like?? I wonder how the artists feel, staring out into an ocean of their own faces and/or body parts...

Now, signs, lyrics twisted into funny and yet equally pathetic phrases, obscenities.. these are all fine, but why pictures??

Just one of those random things people do, I guess... but let me tell you this, if I catch anyone standing in front of me with a big-A** picture of the artist in their hands.. someone is gonna get bitch slapped!!
_________________________________________________________________


Dreams that hardly touch our complexions...

Layla


22:05 (1) comments
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
The Gallery


It took exactly a week, a week of forgotten appetites and disregarded pleasantries, for Dalia to realize she was in love. They spent every single day together that week. It was Dalia's first trip to New York and so Ahmed, who had adopted New York fifteen years prior, spent the better part of the days showing her around. Mornings at Washington Square Park, lunch in China Town, moments of silence at ground zero followed by a couple of Gray's Papayas. It was during that week that they both found out that the other was a Kuwaiti. Ahmed took the information in stride, the way he seemed to take everything with such ease. Dalia was a bit more shook by the revelation. She had her reputation to think about after all, but it only took a couple of days for her to realize that Ahmed was not your typical Kuwaiti.

Ahmed had never felt more alive. Dalia seemed to make the city sparkle. The snow was just that much whiter. The air, that much more crisp. The people, that much friendlier. He couldn't remember New York before her. It seemed like she had always been there. She fit into his life as perfectly as she fit into the nook of his body at night. She was only in town for a few months and he planned to make the most of it. She wanted New York Glamour, the kind found on Sex and The City and he didn't disappoint. He took her to every Broadway show he could get tickets to, every museum opening and cocktail party he got invited to. She was unlike any Kuwaiti girl he had ever met, but then again he had not spent an extended period of time in Kuwait in the last fifteen years, so he really wasn't one to judge Kuwaiti girls.

"I have this medical convention in D.C. that I have to attend this weekend, but I was thinking...."
"Medical convention?" She asked in surprise, reaching for another piece of sushi. They were having dinner at one of the many sushi bars that peppered Downtown Manhattan. "Why would you go to a...." She stopped with her loaded chopsticks halfway to her mouth. "Are you a doctor?"
"Pediatrician." He replied reaching for another soybean.
She sat there, staring at him in awe. It suddenly occurred to her that in the week they had spent together, she had not found out a thing about his day to day life. Where he worked, what he did, where he had gone to school. She knew the story behind every scar on his body, she knew every sports team that he rooted for. She knew that he brushed his teeth in the shower, that he put on his deodorant at night before bed rather than in the morning. She even knew that sometimes he didn't flush the toilet if it was just pee. And yet, at that moment, she realized she knew nothing.
"What's wrong?" He asked, breaking her train of thought and causing her to drop her piece of sushi.
"Nothing. I didn't know you were a doctor. Why didn't you tell me?" She replied, in a somewhat accusatory manner.
"You didn't ask." He answered, flashing her one of his more charming smiles.
"Well, you got me there." She said, scooping up the disheveled sushi and plopping it in her mouth.
"Anyway, like I was saying. I'm gonna be out of town this weekend, but I was thinking we'd go to this gallery opening on monday."
"Gallery opening?"
"Yeah, my friend is opening an art gallery in Chelsea. Modern art, crystal sculptures, lasers and stuff like that. I thought maybe you'd be interested."
"Yeah, that sounds like fun." She replied, cocking her head as she watched him eat.

"So, I'm leaving pretty early in the morning, but I'll call you when I get back into town, ok?" It was Friday afternoon and he was sending her off in a cab back to her apartment.
"Ok." She said, wrapping her scarf tighter around her neck.
"And don't forget about the gallery on monday."
"I won't." She said, moving past him to get into the cab. She stopped with one leg in and turned back to him. "How fancy is this thing gonna be?"
"Pretty fancy, I would think." He replied with a smile, lighting the cigarette in his hand. "I'll be in a suit, but wear whatever you want."
"Ok." She said, nodding. She leaned over the cab door towards him and he bent down to give her a kiss. "Bye." She turned and got into the cab.
"Bye." He said, shutting the door and watching the cab pull away.
"You can't smoke here, sir." An officer appeared at his side. He started pulling out his ticket book.
"Relax. I'm going back up to my apartment." Ahmed said, backing up into the buildings lobby.
The officer flipped his ticket book back shut and continued down the street. Ahmed poked his head back out the door once the officer had passed and turned his head just in time to catch Dalia's cab turning the corner.


"Have I mentioned how painfully beautiful you look tonight?" He whispered as he came up behind her, wrapping his arm around her waist. She was looking at a crystal sculpture in the shape of a burning bush. The name plate at the bottom of the sculpture simply read 'Moses'. She smiled at his words, lowering her head to one side so he could have access to the right side of her neck. He bent down and planted elegant kisses on the exposed nape.

She knew she looked good. She had spent the entire weekend scouring uptown stores for the perfect 'gallery opening' dress. She had finally settled on a beautiful black and white, knee length cocktail dress. It hugged her curves perfectly. She wore her hair up in a bun to maximize Ahmed's exposure to her neck and collarbone. It was those areas that sent shivers up her spine whenever he kissed them.

It had been an infinitely long weekend. She had done nothing but long for him. She needed him in a way that was almost perverse. Like an addict itching for his next fix, he had shown up at her apartment at dawn that morning, looking cold, tired and deliriously happy. She met him at the door in her underwear and a cheap gold satin rode she had bought at Chinatown. He took one look at her, stepped into the apartment, scooped her up and carried her back to her bed. They had spent the entire morning re-acquainting themselves with the other's form. It was amazing how much you could forget in a weekend and how much you could remember with a touch.

"Champagne?" The waiter's voice pulled her out of her reverie. She began shaking her head no when she saw Ahmed reach for two glasses of the bubbly liquid.
'Oh, for the love of God and all that is holy.' She thought to herself as he turned to offer her a glass.
"Inta tishrab?" She deliberately asked him in Arabic if he drank alcohol.
"You don't?" He replied in English. His hands frozen in mid-air.
"Of course not." She said incredulously. "It's 7aram."
He cocked his head as if to say that it was a little late to start talking about 'forbiddens'. She shook her head and looked at her feet.
"Don't you think that's a little backwards, Dalia? Besides everyone here drinks. What's the big deal?" He asked shrugging his shoulders.
"The big deal is that it is expressly forbidden."
"And premarital sex isn't?" He challenged her.
"I didn't say that and I'm sorry if it sounds contradictory, but there are some things I am flexible on... in that I'll do it even though I know it's forbidden."
"Well, isn't that convenient." He said, amused.
"When I had sex with you, it was because I felt something strong for you." She said, taking a step closer to him. "What I felt was stronger than my conviction that it was forbidden. I bent that time because I felt that it was worth it. That you were worth it. But alcohol... there's no reason to bend on it because I know that it isn't worth it."
"Well, is it ok with you if I don't share your convictions?" He asked sarcastically.
"Look." She said, touching her fingers to her brow in resignation. "It's not my business what you do with your life and it's certainly not my business what kind of muslim you are, but let me tell you this..." She leaned forward and pulled him in closer by his lapel. "You will not get any kisses from me so long as there's alcohol in your system which by my 'backwards' muslim math would be about forty days. It's your choice."
'God, that's ballsy' He thought, staring into her chocolate brown eyes. He nodded and took a step away from her. He turned to the side and placed the glasses down on the tray of a passing waiter. He turned back to her and lowered his face back to hers.
"I choose forty days of kisses." He said, his eyes dancing. Her face broke into a smile as she moved her hands up his torso and wrapped her fingers back around his lapel..
"Good choice." She said, nodding her head and pulling him in for a kiss.


18:55 (11) comments
Sunday, September 25, 2005
It's all about the strobes, robes and the afterglow...


It was a white New York City winter. The snow was everywhere. On the streets. In your hair. Coloring your every breath. They had met dancing all night at a club. He had moved up behind her during a Ciara slow-jam. She whipped around, fully prepared to shove him off her. The strobe lights flashed over him briefly. Her eyes ran the length of him. She took in his messy black hair, his five o'clock shadow, his tall, wiry frame. It took her all of five seconds to re-think her predetermined reaction. Her smile was enough to inform him that he had gotten her approval. He moved in on her again, wrapping his strong arms around her waist and pressing his hard lines against her curves.
They slept together that night. It was as spontaneous as she had ever been. Dalia... everybody's good girl. The one who always looked before she leapt, who always ducked when nothing was coming her way. But when, after they had been dancing for more hours than she could care to count, he pulled her to his chest and whispered in her ear that he wanted to be alone with her, there was no way in hell she could say no. They made out the whole cab ride to his apartment. As his hands gripped her thigh, she thought about reconsidering. Dalia may have been a good girl, but she wasn't naive. She knew what would happen if she ended up in his apartment, but as his tongue probed her mouth she honestly couldn't say that she cared.
She started pulling off his clothes the minute the door to his apartment closed. That's the thing about a white winter. There's so many damn layers to take off! He buried his face in her neck as she pushed his jacket off his shoulders. She pushed him away and pulled his long-sleeved shirt up and over his head. His broad shoulders glistened with sweat in the moonlight coming in through the windows. He stopped for a beat. Taking a look at her, disheveled. Suddenly pure, not the man-handler she had been at the club. It suddenly occurred to him that he didn't even know her name. Almost instantaneously, he also realized that he didn't care. It was so unlike him, to be so nonchalant. Her eyes were saying yes, so he scooped her up into his arms and made his way to his room.
She wanted him in a way that was almost unnatural. Dalia was a virgin and yet, when he dumped her on his bed, she was the one to pull him down beside her. He slowly proceeded to undress her... carefully... deliberately... She was intoxicating. She closed her eyes as his mouth met hers and his body settled into hers... It was beyond perfection.
Everything looks a little different in the morning. Dalia opened her eyes and took in her strange surroundings. It took her half a second to realize what she had done. She flipped over in bed, relieved to find the other side vacant. She planted her feet on the floor, shocked by the cold engulfing her naked body. She scrambled to the floor by the foot of the bed in search of her clothes. She had her jeans up one leg when he appeared at the door, cradling a tray of fruit, pancakes and coffee. He looked at her and cocked his head.
"Going somewhere?" He asked, still blocking the doorway and still obviously unfazed. 'Shit. I forgot how good he sounds.' She thought as she looked down at her jeans which somehow refused to come up her leg. She realized she had the pants backwards and was flipping them around when...
"Well? Where are you going?" He asked again, moving into the room and setting the tray on the end of the bed.
"I don't know exactly how these things work so I was just gonna leave." She replied, planting one foot into a leg of her jeans.
"These 'things' don't work a certain way, but I would like you to stay for breakfast." He said matter-of-factly, as he nibbled on a strawberry.
"Breakfast?" She asked, credulously. "You don't even know my name."
He smiled, she couldn't tell if it was to her or himself, as he dipped the rest of his strawberry in whipped cream and bit it to the leaf.
"I'm Ahmed." He said in his perfect American accent. "And you are...?" He let the question taper off and raised his eyes to find her zipping up her jeans.
"Dalia." She replied, matching his accent perfectly.
"Beautiful name, beautiful girl. Now, will you please sit and have breakfast with me?"
She looked at him in awe, standing there in her jeans and black bra. He smiled at her and began to pat the spot next to him on the bed. She couldn't help but smile back. He may not have known her name, but he knew that smile. It was her smile of acceptance.


21:00 (10) comments
Coffeehouse Encounter of the Empowering Kind


'She is hella-banging fine.' He thought to himself as he got in line behind her at Starbucks. He had never believed in love at first sight, lust yes, but not love. And yet, here he was feeling an unanticipated tightening in his chest, rather than his loins. She was a Greek goddess if ever there were one. Tall, graceful and finely tanned. Her jet black hair hung in a soft fall down to the center of her back. She looked like everything he had never been nor could ever hope to be. Sophisticated, worldly, experienced to his scruffy, yokel-esque existence.

She could feel his eyes on her as she ordered her latte'. She was accustomed to this sort of attention from men. And yet, it never ceased to amaze her how painfully predictable they were. She glanced over her shoulder at him as the barista called out her drink. He was cute, in a Johnny Knoxville-I-kick-a**-and-you-don't-even-know-it sort of way, but she had no illusions what-so-ever that he would be any different than all the other guys who ogled her everywhere she went.

'Should I say something?' he thought, fiddling with his keys as he watched her reach into her purse for her wallet. Suddenly, she looked over her shoulder at him, as if she could somehow hear what he was thinking. She locked eyes with him and his fingers released. It was the purest reflex he had ever had. She gave him a half-moon smile and turned to pay for her drink. By the time he had picked his keys up off the ground and straightened up, she was moving over to the pick-up area. 'Smooth, Nassir. Real Smooth.' He thought stepping up to the register.

She stood watching the barista make her drink. Her eyes drifted over to him. He accepted his drink and paid for it simultaneously. 'He's a regular.' She thought, inadvertently raising an eyebrow. He didn't even look at her as he turned around and walked to the condiments bar. She accepted her drink and followed suit. She slid up to his left, she felt him flinch a little and she knew she had him. It was almost too easy. She reached across his body for the brown sugar, giving him another one of her pearly crescent smiles. He cracked a smile this time, backing up to give her some room. "Excuse me." She said sweetly, turning over the sugar packets and stirring her drink. "You smell heavenly." He replied. She stopped stirring and turned to look at him. He just stared at her, wide-eyed. His face was changing colors rapidly, like a fast-forward sunset. She smiled deviously and licked the foam off her swizzle stick. Without saying a word, she replaced the cap on her drink, picked up her purse and walked out of the coffeehouse.
___________________________________________________________________________


Second Encounter coming soon....

Layla


19:48 (6) comments
Thought for the Day


Do some people act different just for the sake of being different? and if so, what do you do when you're sick and tired of calling people on their bullsh*t?

Sometimes normal can be different...


Let's live in the moment just this once,

Layla


19:45 (5) comments
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Random Thought for the day...


If the people who live in the states lining the Gulf of Mexico know that their area is prone to hurricanes and the like, why don't they invest in sturdier houses made of brick and cement??

You would think that it would cost more to rebuild your house from scratch than it would to invest in a sturdy structure from the beginning...


I have a limited amount of sympathy for stupid people.

-Layla


19:02 (2) comments
Sunday, September 18, 2005
Pet Peeve


People at Starbucks piss me off... not everyone, mind you, but most people just make me wanna strangle them.
So, I was picking up my coffee this morning and this guy orders a cappucino... so far, so good, right? only once his coffee was made, suddenly Mr. Picky doesn't want any foam??!! No foam on his Cappucino!! Now, for all of you out there who aren't as coffee-savvy as I am, a cappu is basically ALL foam... Yeah, the milk and coffee only go about a third of the way up.. the rest is all foam... this seemed to be the guys regular drink, albeit, perhaps not at this particular starbucks, but you would think that somebody had informed him of the foam thing at some point... So, he threw a hissy-fit and told the guy to make him another. I wonder how many cups of coffee are thrown out b/c of hissy-fits??
And then, there are the people who linger at the condiments bar... Wut the hell?? Get your shit together and move on, people. Some of us have things to do and people to see without you holding us up while you decide whether to use sweet and low or brown sugar... Common courtesy would suggest that you at least move to one side, but nooooo these people stand straight smack in the middle of the bar. Honest to God, it is infuriating!! Especially when its people I see in there every morning, ordering the EXACT same thing. You would think they would know exactly what they want in their drink by now... I always order a tall soymilk latte' with caramel on top and I know that I like it with two brown sugars... so, when I get my coffee, I walk to the condiments bar, dump in my two brown sugars, give it a few swirls, replace the cap and I'm off. This takes all of thirty seconds.... And yet some people seem to spend half an eternity standing there stirring their coffee... then sipping it... then stirring it some more... and another sip.... ARRRRRRRRRRGHHHGHGHGHGHGH!!!


-Respect your fellow starbucker

Layla


22:18 (1) comments
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
I'm baaaaaaaaaaaack!! :P


I haven't been around in a while... been a bit busy with work and shit like that... I'm here now tho, so let me fill u in..... first of all...

I think my bikini waxer is stalking me..... She keeps calling me and asking me when I'm gonna be by for another waxing... the thing is she doesn't say anything when I pick up, she hangs up instead. I think she doesn't have any ra9eed in her phone and so she wants me to call her... Yeah, like that's gonna happen!! Wut? Does she think I'm made of money?!?! Anyway, she finally got a hold of me (The b*tch tricked me by calling from another phone) and we made a date for today. So, I went by, but I got jumped by these two indian chicks as soon as I walked into the salon and they ended up... taking care of me.... So, now my waxer keeps calling me...I think she's pissed. I'm not gonna pick up the phone so she can keep calling till her phone runs out of ra9eed for all I care! All part of the drama of being a girl, I guess...


I'm a reader. I read all the time... it's a habit. I'm the person who reads the leaflets that come with medicine... I've memorized the ingredients list on my tube of toothpaste b/c I read it every night when I'm brushing my teeth... Anyway, so the other night I was enjoying a bowl of soup ( LePain's sweet corn soup. Saturdays only. Sinful.) along with a box of crackers. I got bored so I started reading the side of the box... and along with learning a sweet little story about Mr. Jonathon Carr, creator of Carr's Tablewater crackers, I took a look at the ingredients. There it was... at the bottom of the list... the most stupid thing I had read all day...
'May Contain Sesame Seeds'.... @@ May?!?!? You would think the manufacturers of the crackers would know something like that.... or maybe the sesame seed guy isn't that reliable... in that some days he tosses in sesame seeds and other days he doesn't... maybe some days someone's asleep at the assembly line... hmmm... I don't know... Strange world...


See ya around, dumplings!

-Layla


19:05 (1) comments
Friday, September 02, 2005
Random thought for the day...


(Let us not look back in anger, nor forward in fear, but around in awareness...)

A quote by James Thurber

-Layla


15:33 (0) comments
Hollywood romances


I wish someone would show me a movie that starts a year after the couple has been together, when they have seen and dealt with all of the skeletons in the others closet!! I realize that the revelation/fight in Act II is what ultimately leads to happily-ever-after in Act III, but why not show us a romantic comedy that takes place after all of that has happened b/c when I watch a movie and I've been rooting for them the whole way, goddamnit I wanna see what happens after all of the fighting and making up, I wanna see them have kids and go through the 'terrible twos' so at least I feel vindicated that all of my rooting paid off... ok, yes, maybe I watch too many movies, but for someone like me who ultimately lives vicariously through other peoples' lives, it makes sense that I would wanna know what happens... I mean, hell, even the movie that I lifted that top line out of (Boys & Girls) didn't even show what happened to them after they got together... so, I don't know. Maybe Hollywood moguls can't deliver a movie like that b/c so little relationships in Hollywood make it out of the their first year... Maybe it's a case of life immitating art or vice versa.... All I know is that I don't think I can take this romantic comedy, everything is rosy, I-love-the-way-he-picks-his-nose-crap for much longer.

Abstracts are real, time is a lie.

-Layla


15:24 (0) comments
Thursday, September 01, 2005
Mad Bride Disease


Mad Bride Disease or MBD is a serious illness which strikes nearly every woman between the ages of 18 - 30. This illness strikes unexpectedly within two weeks to one month of becoming engaged. It is especially fatal to friendships and is characterized by the following symptoms:-

- Irritability and increased nervousness.
- Inability to remember life before engagement and/or speak of anything, but
obscenely white dresses, shoes and other wedding paraphernalia.
- Refusal to speak one sentence without mentioning fiancé.
- Complete and total abhorrence of food coupled with an undying devotion
to diet pills and Ex-lax.
- Increased sensitivity and/or awareness of colors. (Teal? Buttercup?
Eggplant??!! Uh, hello?? It's green, yellow and purple!!)

This is war. I am at war with an unseen enemy. It's called Mad Bride Disease and it is slowly, but surely, capturing every single one of my girlfriends. Two of my good friends will be married before the years' end and the disease is already ravaging their brains.
Marriage is a happy occasion and finding that one person that you are willing to spend the rest of your life with is a glorious thing. Hell, it's practically a miracle nowadays. So, while I'm exceedingly happy for my friends and the fact that they have found their 'special someone', I can't help but feel like I'm losing them. Don't underestimate the power of (MBD). It creeps up slowly and quietly, like a deadly viper or a stealth bomber….? (Fine, so I'm not that good at analogies, but you get my point. It's quiet and deadly and it creeps up on you.) Anyway, it starts with the occasional canceled lunch date. Then, it progresses to the apparent loss of your phone number as the Mad Brides' phone becomes incapable of dialing more than one phone number (That of her fiancé or as I like to call him… 'Mr. Mad Bride') and eventually it gets to the point where you only talk sporadically (love that word.) and when you do it's about what song she should walk down the aisle to or whether the wedding invitations should be dusty rose or peach.

Getting married is a huge deal to a girl. It's something we fantasize about from a very early age and I think you would be hard-pressed to find any girl/woman who does not have at least some idea of what her fantasy wedding would be like. I mean, I remember staying up late at night on the phone with this one girlfriend and talking endlessly about what her perfect wedding would be like. And what's sad is that I was always included in some way or another in that fantasy, either I was there to help pick out a wedding dress or veil or I was there on a spontaneous pre-wedding trip to the spa. But life doesn't always work out the way you think it will and when the actual event comes rolling around, the role that you played in it inevitably goes to a cousin, sister or member of Mr. Mad Brides family. I can understand that. I mean, weddings are traditionally a family affair and so those roles probably should go to someone whom you know will be around fifty years from now. And when this happens to you, you can't go to your friend and start complaining about how left out you feel because .. It's like come on! She's getting "married"!! She has more things to worry about than inadvertently distancing her friends. And so, you remain quiet and offer whatever assistance she needs and when the day comes around, you cry and hug her and tell her how beautiful she looks. Because, it's all true and when she walks down that aisle looking exactly as you and she had imagined she would, you realize that the only thing that stays the same is that everything changes. Friendship is one of those things, it changes and evolves and sometimes fades. And even though sometimes it feels like all you have left are the memories, you have to realize that one day it'll be you calling your friends only to update them on wedding details. It'll be you spending an entire dinner date gushing about your Mr. Mad Bride and yes, eventually you too will fall victim to Mad Bride Disease.
But I also can't help but wonder... Why is it that it seems like we (as an Arab nation) seem to be the only ones who fall victim to this disease. Being half american, I am well aware of the vital role that the brides' friends play in the wedding, in the form of bridesmaids and maids of honor. Plus, there's the bachelorette parties, then house warming parties and baby showers... I know Kuwaiti women have baby showers, but it seems like, in the states, the brides close friends are so much more involved in her life than they are here. My Kuwaiti girl-friends who have gotten married tell me that I don't understand what a hard transition it is and that I'll get it all when I get married. Well, that is freaking me out! Does my getting married automatically mean the end of 'Girls Night'? Will my future husband be such a greek god that I won't have the time to pick up the phone and check in on my girls? Will he expect me to sit around the house all day staring at him? Picking up after him? Wiping his a**?? 'cos I understand that a woman has to take care of her husband, but the only children I want to raise are the ones coming out of me!!

I guess my friends are right and I will understand all of this more later on when my turn comes around, but I refuse to believe that I will be that cavalier with my friendships, that I will find it that easy to just write off all my girlfriends and everything we've been through together just b/c I've found a man. Allah Kareem and I guess the moral of this is that life has a funny way of working itself out in the end. Learning when to fight and when to let things slide are just part of growing up. But holding on to what matters to you is also important, which is why I refuse to let my friends drift off into Mad Bride Land. I hold onto them, calling them even though I know that they're probably too busy to talk to me, constantly inviting them to parties even though I know that they're not going to come. My mom says I'm being unrealistic and that I should just surrender to the fact that eventually all of my friends' lives and mine will revolve around our respective partners. And maybe I am being unrealistic and maybe I do have a long way to go before I grow up and accept the harsher facts of life. For now, however, all I have to say is this. Mad Bride Disease, I ain't going down without a fight.
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If you live in Kuwait and feel like you've read this before maybe it's 'cos you have... I haven't been plagerizing any articles tho! I write in Bazaar magazine and sometimes I post some of my articles here so other people can read them! This one was published a few months ago, but I did a little bit of editing and added the paragraph before the last one. Oh, and by the way, MBD is still going strong!!

Keep it Krispy.

-Layla