It seems to me that they hibernate right under your nose and at the first sign of warmth and heat, they go into feeding frenzy mode and they are all over you. No matter what you use from insecticides; they still find a way around it and get to your blood.

As mush as I hate these tiny pests; I am fascinated by their construction and persistence. As light and insignificant they are; they are more complicated than you think; just some of the strange facts about them; get this: mosquitoes are responsible for the most human deaths world-wide!

They prefer children to adults and blondes to brunettes; so the argument I used to get from my sisters was a valid one. You see, they have skin color that is way lighter than mine and you can say they tend to be blonde while I am a brunette, so it makes sense now.

Mosquitoes can detect a moving target that is 15 ft away! Can you imagine that? So if I was in a room and the mosquito was in the next room, it will detect my movement and come for my blood; talk about scary!

The average life span of the mosquito is 3 – 100 days and she is the blood sucker; on the other hand; her male peer has a life span of 10 – 20 days and does not suck blood; interesting, ha?

A mosquito can smell its live host (that is basically us humans or any live animals) from a distance of 20 – 35 m! Boy! We really don’t stand a chance with them.

Mosquitoes don't see very well, but they zoom in like a heat-seeking missile. In the spherical arrangement of their compound eyes, blind spots separate each eye from the next one. As a result, they can't see you until they are 30 feet (10 meters) away. Even then, they have trouble distinguishing you from any object of similar size and shape: tree stump, 55-gallon drum, etc. When they are 10 feet (3 meters) away they use extremely sensitive thermal receptors on the tip of their antennae to locate blood near the surface of the skin. The range of these receptors increases threefold when the humidity is high.

The most fascinating fact I learned about these creatures is that although they are into blood sucking; they do not transfer AIDS from someone infected to someone who is not. Studies with HIV clearly show that the virus responsible for the AIDS infection is regarded as food to the mosquito and is digested along with the blood meal.

Mosquitoes Do Not Ingest Enough HIV Particles to Transmit AIDS by Contamination.
An AIDS-free individual would have to be bitten by 10 million mosquitoes that had begun feeding on an AIDS carrier to receive a single unit of HIV from contaminated mosquito mouth parts. Most people have heard that mosquitoes regurgitate saliva before they feed, but are unaware that the food canal and salivary canal are separate passageways in the mosquito. The mosquito's feeding apparatus is an extremely complicated structure that is totally unlike the crude single-bore syringe. Unlike a syringe, the mosquito delivers salivary fluid through one passage and draws blood up another. As a result, the food canal is not flushed out like a used needle, and blood flow is always unidirectional. The mechanics involved in mosquito feeding are totally unlike the mechanisms employed by the drug user's needles. In short, mosquitoes are not flying hypodermic needles and a mosquito that disgorges saliva into your body is not flushing out the remnants of its last blood meal.

Ok! It is cool to learn more facts about these creatures that disrupt your sleep almost every night in the summer. They suck your blood and feed on it leaving you with a mark that can easily turn into a scar if you mess with it. To me; I would rather that the mosquito sucks my blood and leave me alone to go back to sleep than roam around my ear with this annoying wizzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz sound; what is it with mosquitoes and ears? Isn't it enough that they are feeding on us that they have to always rub it in? why do we have to be awake for them to get the job done? Damn! I really hate mosquitoes!!!

To read more about them; please click here and here

Inspired by Hareega’s post; Look Around, I remembered that a couple of years ago, I saw a flash movie that depicts earth as a small place of a population of 100 people, keeping the percentages and proportions exactly the same.

You want to know the shocking statistics and how lucky you are? Click here to watch the movie!

(You need flash to view the movie)

I cannot remember how many times I was driving in the streets of Amman to be stopped in my track by a long line of cars; jammed and everything stops. This started to become a syndrome that we all know and suffer from; an accident and people have gathered to help or watch; either way, you are stuck and forced to wait, cars do not fly after all!

So, this morning, I was suffering from this syndrome and waited till I got close to the center of attention to find this:

Just exactly how did this happen??

You might have gotten used by now to the routine of my favorite reviews to articles and/or researches featured in the elitist magazine in Jordan; VIVA. I never get bored of reading what these great researchers and writers have to say, especially that all the topics are highly relevant to our society and daily life.

This month is featuring a spectacular article titled: “What’s in a Word?”

Ziad Abu-Rish thoroughly discusses the implications of some words and the way they affect those who say that and those to whom they are said. Needless to say; we are talking about negative words or ones that carry such a deep meaning.

Many people and regular writers will be hesitant to open such a topic for discussion and one can only predict that such controversial issue would stir some reactions from the whole community at large. Yet; the article professionally shows that people interviewed shared a common actor amongst them and that is their open mindedness and honesty.

Diving into the topic; Ziad points out that Amman and probably the region in general had gone through a remarkable transformation and the most apparent change is the increased use of English language in our daily slang. With this introduction of English in our spoken language; it is inevitable that some derogatory words would find their way in and creep in on us and before we know it, we are hearing it every where and maybe sometimes using them ourselves whether consciously or subconsciously.

Take a deep breath!

Words we are talking about are “bitch”, “retard”, “gay” and their parallel Arabic ones that I will leave to your imagination to come up with. The article shows how some of the interviewees interpret these words and in which contexts they heard or used them, the interviewees also mention how and where they picked them up. It seems that media plays a major role in spreading such words.

Ziad also points out that the origin of these words might not be of negative nature at all, however; the societal use of them to refer to people who are classified under a certain negative stature gave them their bad reputation and they became more commonly and widely used to refer to people while they might not apply to them literally. For example; the word “bitch” means the female of a dog or a lewd or immoral woman, but this is the literal meaning of the word. When someone uses this word to refer to a woman; not necessarily they mean it in its original meaning as the most common meaning of the word is to refer to a woman who is mean, non-cooperative and maybe evil or cruel. I guess we can all agree that the meanings are completely different.

But what happens if some stranger heard you refer to someone else as bitch or retard or gay, wouldn’t they assume the original negative meaning by default?

Some of the interviewees stated that they refrain from using these words or any other negative words of the same nature in front of others, maybe out of fear of being misunderstood or fear of offending someone in the room who might have a problem with these words. On this particular point; Ziad says: “if the use of these terms is truly nothing more than an insult to the person they are directed at, why not use them in front of a stranger who might be labeled such terms by other people?”

In other words; would you use the word “retard” referring to someone who does not agree with what you are saying or he is slow in getting what you are discussing, would you say the word in front of someone who is mentally or physically disabled that happens to be in the room at that time? If you will not say the word only because the disabled person might have been labeled by society as a “retard” and you don’t want to offend them, why would you not say the word when your objective of using the word was to insult someone else? i.e. you are using the word in its negative context anyway, so why use it at times and refrain at others?

The must-read long article discusses more significant ideas about this issue and concludes with an expert opinion provided by Dr. Monique Wong, a PhD linguist where she says: “What is offensive may change over time. The words “bitch”, “retard” and “gay” had perfectly innocent and respectable meanings long before they come to be used in derogatory ways.

“When people use these terms to insult others, they are referring to the negative connotations of these terms. The words are obviously insulting to the groups they refer to, namely women, mentally [and physically] challenged individuals and homosexuals. The use of the terms to insult others reflects the person’s negative views of these groups. To say that the insults are only directed at the persons being insulted is a fallacy. And regardless of whether Arabic or English is used, the effect is the same.”

So I will end up this post by asking the same question that the author does in his article; just as language can be a part of the problem, it also can be a part of the solution, so what will you think and do the next time you hear a person use ‘bitch’, ‘retard’ or ‘gay’ or one of their Arabic equivalents?

There are so many things in life one can get addicted to; smoking, alcohol, food, sex, drugs and many other things. Internet has earned its place in the addictive list and I think a lot of us can relate. However; JO Magazine states in its issue this month that the new addictions are far from what we have known so far!

The new addictions are PC games believe it or not, and they listed the top tem finalists. Going over the list; I recognized some of them but others were fairly new to me, and I am telling you: when I explored them online, boy oh boy! These things are really dangerous and that is exactly what the article was titled; Dangerous Toys!

So let’s go over the list together:

10- This one was new to me; but I really enjoyed it. It’s called The HeroMachine. You can use this nice software to create your own super hero character just like I did here:

Check it out at: http://www.ugo.com/channels/comics/heroMachine2/heroMachine2.asp

9- Who doesn’t know this one? Tetris has always been a favorite for many of us, right?

The location specified in the magazine does not have the game any more, so in order to get it go to: http://www.ebaumsworld.com/tetris.html

8- Another new; Exploding Dog is a site that displays drawings of this character with a bubble head, and you can lose track of time going over them,

You can get this here: http://www.explodingdog.com

7- Google EARTH and need I say more?

and of course you can get it here: http://earth.google.com/

6- I experienced addiction with this one first hand; Bejewelled can really grab you if you are not careful!

Here is the location: http://www.popcap.com/

5- GROW is another new and I can’t say I figured it out!

You can find it here: http://www.eyezmaze.com/ and please tell me if you know how this thing works!

4- Happy Tree Friends is apparently one of these venting channels where you get to watch all these cartoon characters get tortured; talk about weird stuff!

If interested, here is where you can find this twisted fun: http://mondo.happytreefriends.com/

3- Spider Solitaire; this one can really give you a headache; at least that’s what it does to me!

I don't need to tell you where you can find this one, right?

2- Snake and I really hate this one; not fun!

If you like this one, here is where you can get it: http://www.gginc.biz/games/snake/snake1.jsp

1- Virtual Bubble Wrap; just WOW!

Great waste of time here: http://www.urban75.com/Mag/bubble.html

You have been warned! Be careful with these toys or you will end up with another addiction to deal with!

1- Check the link

2- Answer the questions

3- Copy and paste the results J

Here are mine :

What is your Japanese Name?

Yumi Watanabe

What's your Blogging Personality?

How Open Minded Are You?

RESULT


You are 56% Open Minded
You are a very open minded person, but you're also well grounded.
Tolerant and flexible, you appreciate most lifestyles and viewpoints.
But you also know where you stand firm, and you can draw that line.
You're open to considering every possibility - but in the end, you stand true to yourself.

What Pattern is your Brain?

RESULT

Your Brain's Pattern:
Your mind is a creative hotbed of artistic talent.
You're always making pictures in your mind, especially when you're bored.
You are easily inspired to think colorful, interesting thoughts.
And although it may be hard to express these thoughts, it won't always be.

RESULT


Extroversion:

You have medium extroversion.
You're not the life of the party, but you do show up for the party.
Sometimes you are full of energy and open to new social experiences.
But you also need to hibernate and enjoy your "down time."

Conscientiousness:

You have medium conscientiousness.
You're generally good at balancing work and play.
When you need to buckle down, you can usually get tasks done.
But you've been known to goof off when you know you can get away with it.

Agreeableness:

You have medium agreeableness.
You're generally a friendly and trusting person.
But you also have a healthy dose of cynicism.
You get along well with others, as long as they play fair.

Neuroticism:

You have medium neuroticism.
You're generally cool and collected, but sometimes you do panic.
Little worries or problems can consume you, draining your energy.
Your life is pretty smooth, but there's a few emotional bumps you'd like to get rid of.

Openness to experience:

Your openness to new experiences is high.
In life, you tend to be an early adopter of all new things and ideas.
You'll try almost anything interesting, and you're constantly pushing your own limits.
A great connoisseir of art and beauty, you can find the positive side of almost anything.

RESULTS

The Movie of Your Life is a Black Comedy
In your life, things are so twisted that you just have to laugh.
You may end up insane, but you'll have fun on the way to the asylum.

Your best movie matches: Being John Malkovich, The Royal Tenenbaums, American Psycho

 What Age Do You Act?

RESULTS

You Are 27 Years Old

20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences.

 What Type of Weather Are You?

RESULTS

You are Lightening
Beautiful yet dangerous
People will stop and watch you when you appear
Even though you're capable of random violence

You are best known for: your power

Your dominant state: performing

My dear friend Ramroom tagged me one more time and I will get right to it!

Q: WHOS THE 4TH PERSON ON YOUR RECEIVED CALL LIST?
A: Roba Al 3asi

Q: WHATS YOUR MAIN RINGTONE ON YOUR PHONE?
A: La Tortura, Shakira

Q: WHAT WERE YOU D0ING AT MIDNIGHT LAST NIGHT?
A: Reading

Q: WHAT DID THE LAST TEXT MESSAGE ON YOUR CELL PHONE SAY
A: Hi Khalidah, sorry I was …

Q: WHOSE BED DID YOU SLEEP IN LAST NIGHT?
A: Mine 

Q: WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING?
A: Maroon

Q: MOST RECENT MOVIE THAT YOU WATCHED?
A: Memoirs of a Geisha

Q: NAME 3 THINGS THAT YOU HAVE ON YOU AT ALL TIMES?
A: Mobile, Petty Cash, Higeen

Q: WHAT'S THE COLOR OF YOUR BEDSHEETS?
A: Blue and yellow

Q: HOW MUCH CASH DO YOU HAVE ON YOU RIGHT NOW?
A: JD 65

Q: What is your favorite part of the chicken?
A: leg 

Q: What's your favorite town/city?
A: Amman, Amman and Amman

Q:I can't wait to (til)...?
A: Have my own business

Q: When was the last time you saw your mom?
A: 10 minutes ago

Q: When was the last time you saw your dad?
A: 10 minutes ago

Q: When was the last time you talked to them?
A: 10 minutes ago

Q: What did you have for dinner LAST NIGHT?
A: Magloobeh

Q: How long have you been at your current job?
A: 5 months

Q: Look to your left. What's there?
A: My pillow

Q: Who is the last person you spent over $50 on?
A: My sister

Q: What's the last piece of clothing you borrowed from someone?
A: I don't borrow clothes

Q: What website(s) do you visit the most during the day?
A: Jeeran, Jordan Planet & toot

Q: Do you have an air freshener in your car?
A: Yes, but I need a new one

Q: Do you have plants in your room?
A: No

Q: Does anything hurt on your body right now?
A: Yes, my lip

Q: What city was your last taxi cab ride in?
A: Amman

Q: Do you own a camera phone?
A: yes

Q: What's your favorite Starbucks drink?
A: I don’t go to Starbucks

Q: Recent time you were really upset?
A: Last week

Q: Have you been in love with anyone?
A: You bet

To all participants in the JP Book Club; we have been contacted by Ms. Laura Haddad; the editor of the prestigious magazine VIVA; please see her comments on my blog and on Ohoud's.

She is kindly extending an invitation to all of us to be part of the VIVA Book Club; isn't that great?

Should you be interested to be a part of this club, please contact Ms. Haddad on her email address; vivaeditor[at]alfaridah[dot]com[dot]jo

Ms. Haddad, thank you for your invitation and kind initiative.

My dear friend and fellow blogger Ohoud came up with a great idea; starting a book club on Jordan Planet.

The debate has been going on for a couple of weeks now and we have finally settled down on a book for the next couple of weeks. The book is called Crescent by Diana Abu Jaber.

After reading the book, a discussion will be held on Ohoud's blog, and Issam has promised us a dedicated section on JP for this purpose; thank you Issam.

Should anyone be interested to participate, please visit Ohoud's blog here and get the details .. the more; the merrier.

Happy Reading!!

I have been tagged, not for something I said, but for something I will say!

My dear friend Fadi tagged me and started a nice game that aims at bloggers getting to know each other better, read it here on Fadi's post.

Rules of the game:

1-       Declare 5 facts about yourself

2-       State 3 things you like in others

3-       State 3 things you don’t like in others

4-       Tag 4 bloggers and comment on their blogs that they have been tagged and direct them to your post

Easy, ha?

Let me start by the 5 facts:

1-       I am so disorganized, but I have a good memory that saves me from ugly situation caused by my commotion and my chaos.

2-       I am moody; sometimes I switch from good mood to bad mood so quickly that no one notices.

3-       Love reading and I mean really love reading.

4-       I have a very lazy thyroid.

5-       I have a nice voice and love to sing.

3 things I like in others:

1-       Humbleness and humility.

2-       Honesty and straight forwardness.

3-       Simplicity.

3 things I don’t like in others:

1-       Lying.

2-       Arrogance.

3-       Sarcasm.

I tag:

OneDevotion, Tololy, Dar , Ramroom