Finally finished my thesis. I am completely unhappy with what I handed in but it was not my fault. It was due to a late bust-up with my love and companion. It has shattered any dillusions of an academic career, but life moves on I guess.

In all this hiatus, an important event in the world has passed by unrecognized even by me. At the end of the the last month (April), this blog celebrated its first anniversary! ONE WHOLE YEAR! I've been blogging for one complete year. For an easily distracted and lazy bum who lacks energy drive like myself, this is a big achievement. Sure I have taken a couple of six weeks breaks, but hey, I'm not being paid for this and I'm not a computer engine either. Give me a break. Still, 170+ posts and more than a hundred thousand words in one year. This and I've struggled to produce thirty thousand words in my thesis. My priorities are screwed up.

Do you remember those cheesy Friends, Simpsons, or Seinfield episodes where producers run out of ideas and basically put in snippets of what happened over the past season of the show? Mainly for self-gratification purposes, I'm going to do one of those episodes for this blog over the last year:

- Cute and cheesy posts regarding life in Bahrain to start of with. There is flirting in Bahrain and England, and there is how foreigners view Bahrain.

-There is the inevitable interest in politics taken to the extreme. Ridiculous posts include a detailed analysis of the word الجنسin the 1973 and 2002 constitution, plus an analysis of the situation in Bahrain in terms of Glasnost and Perestroika.

-First controversy. A post about sex brings about indignation from conservatives and liberals alike. I get quoted in some NeoCon blog whose goal is helping in instigating some sort of change in the gulf. Their advice is "look West young man!" Ummm... no thanks. I look West in terms of many things, but sex is not one of them.

-Alter ego series started. The source of many problems to come. Some people don't seem to understand it's an alterego thing.

-Big debacle regarding a post about blogging and religion. I get accused of being anti-shia and sectarianism by a coalition of Islamist feminists and liberals. This despite the fact that I posted about earlier about sectarianism in Bahrain.

-Ironically enough, it is then proclaimed that I am shi3i, which is apparently why I linked to a post about Sheikh Zayed's death from the Controversial Arab Times.

-Next controversy surrounds me being too mushy mushy in talking about women and Arabic society in a series of posts. I am called a chauvinist, a yarn-spinner, a day dreamer, and plain out of my mind. Yes, I was in a watery-eyed mood that day. I take what I said back; women are no angels.

-Showing how high-browed and intellectual blogs are, a post about rumours in Bahrain's private schools scores my highest number of comments in a post. Mercdez benz in Ibn Khuldoon and smelly turds in Saint Christopher are discussed in a highly sophisticated manner. This record is subsequently beaten by a foul-mouthed comments exchange concerning Bahrain and Iran football (see below). The Coyotes still rule, however.

- Bahraini blog awards are inaugerated, giving prizes to the best bahraini blogs in different categories. Many parts of it are a catastrophic failure. The organization didn't go too well, and the presentation was just tacky. Maybe it'll be better next year, if there are any. Congratulations to everyone who won though!

- Biggest spat of them all. Following a series of posts about Iranian and Bahraini football, there is a flood of abusive posts from angry Iranian fans. Foul mouthed exchanges about football, monkies, sisters, mothers, and bodies of waters occur. There is still regular stream of comments that come on this issue. I'm proud that I haven't stooped to that low level and am yet to use a single F or C word.

-I contemplate being a chef or an accountant.

Some of the posts I am really proud of:

-6erarwa

-Muharraq

-بطيخة الفوضى

-Bahrain: 29th state of India?

-Social Immobility

-Identity

-Thuwar Al 7amraa2

-An Admission

--GCC and prisoner's Dillemma

-Liberal Fundamentalism

-Fall of the left, Rise of the right

-Political System in Bahrain:Cohabitation


Actually I am proud of them all! I know this is a pointless exercise in self-indulgence, but it is pretty cool going back and seeing what you've written. You just think, did I really write that? Is it me? Is it the same person? Takes me back to the post on personal identity.


In the end I just wanted to say thanks for all of you out there who bother to read and comment on the posts. I know I'm not a very likeable person and I can be quite annoying, but if you guys never gave any feedback I would've shut this thing down a long time ago. Thanks a lot guys, and with your help hopefully I can keep this blogging thing going for a bit longer!

¶ 1:09 PM