Living in a little haven in the middle of the world’s most tremulous region could frustrate your chances at getting global recognition as a blogger. The world seems to be always looking for trouble to report on, and there is a lot of it for daily currency- just not here.

You report on the frequent price or tax increases, common governmental alterations, or cultural observations and you have almost consumed your share of the web. You may choose to have your say on the politics of a neighboring country, the situation in Iraq or the upheavals in Egypt but you are “out of the picture” if you’re not a native and this would not grant you the attention you may be seeking.

Back in November, the world was interested in the Amman bombings. Most Jordanian bloggers provided excellent and timely coverage of that dark time and this earned them good stats and media coverage. But, short-spanned as it is, the world’s attention shifted to a bigger, newer, juicier bit of news and most Jordanian bloggers saw a change in their stats trends.

And not to go back that far in your archives, the Danish cartoon controversy put great emphasis on what Muslim people thought of the matter and, Jordanians being mostly Muslim, they got their share.

That said, it is certainly not to prefer trouble striking home over tranquility for the sake of exposure. Would you agree a pattern exists as I see it?

Look who dropped by the office yesterday!

Somehow I seem to think Tsuki-San won’t mind Batta’s joining the family. I entertained a maternal daydream that they would fall in love and establish a new line of “7arati” blondie kittens that would later conquer the world. I took Batta in, washed her (she was filthy) and now she is as playful as ever minus the dirt and the smell. I would like to put her up for adoption though before I end up out of house and home.

Our trip home was very easy. I tucked Batta in my bag and she was no trouble at all. The taxi driver did not even notice I was transporting a kitten. Batta is such a doll!

Play with words ; they’re your way to the world’s heart and conscience. What you communicate through speech or written media is what you are.

You don’t have to be a poet to appreciate the essence of linguistic beauty, and necessity for that matter. Language is the medium through which your messages and everyone else’s are carried. Choosing a correct, clean, and creative medium is crucial to get your message across the way you intend it to arrive to its destination.

Think of your target audience. Is this, what you write or say, meant to get to the hearts of mothers or to the solid wills of decision-makers? Structure your diction accordingly. Moms would better appreciate soft imagery while a corporate responsible would rather you cut to the numeral chase, generally speaking.

You may be able to break a rule or two – you could get away with using semi-romantic diction in, say, an ad campaign that “defies” the norm. Again, it’s the language that is in sync with the concept. Composing a quarterly report with mushy words and no numbers will not do, no matter how revolutionary open-minded your boss may be.

I started out jotting my random ideas down on this topic out of sheer curiosity. I was in bed trying to rest my overloaded head and there were a dozen bulldozers working just outside my room, my laptop was in its case, and I afforded to be lazy enough to match my pajama pants with my formal top. Suddenly this little screwy thought caused a surge of electrical signals in my brain cells – I had to de-stimulate the genie.

Nothing gives me more joy than playing with words. I like putting two shocking words together and watching the concept of each change dramatically due to the association. I enjoy the looks on people’s faces when I do it, too. Once I answered the phone and it was an old friend of mine complaining that I do not get in touch as much as I should. I hung up and someone asked me who it was.

“Oh, an angry citizen”.

The quality of your language defines you to people in most situations. I like seeing a form of the word used in various techniques. Be smart about your language, you’ll be surprised what that reflects onto you and onto others. It says a lot.

Once upon a place there was a little girl who looked like a catfish. She surfed the web constantly, looking for a facial mask recipe to help her grow eyelids so she can close her eyes when she goes to bed. She never found any, but she landed a deal as a model at a circus and at age thirty, her show sold more tickets than the Cirque Du Soleil.

Love your speech and make it an individual output of your creation, as unique as you are. Why not design your own clichés? I have my angry citizens, what do you have? Leave your touch in language, make it public that you intend to be special in the way you speak and write and work on progressing and inventing new ways to say the same thing.

Don’t be the burdensome cliché-parrot. Be the person everyone wants to approach, even if there’s nothing to talk about, but to listen to what miracles you deliver with ease.

A long weekend in the horizon - time to go a bit offline. I will be leaving my cyber realm behind and exploring culture at its purest.

Off to Karak I go, my city in the proud south. I will miss the fireworks and the promised parade on May 25th, Jordan’s Independence Day, but my southern sky has a zillion stars - more fascinating, more familiar and closer to earth.

Should you care to join me in admiring Samara - Karak you only need to visit these pages and enjoy the visuals. I am hopeful this visit would grant me an opportunity to learn something new, and you may trust I will share.

- The Grand House
- Southern Encounters I
- Southern Encounters II
- Southern Edges I
- Southern Edges II

This is superb news for anyone in Amman on the hunt for Italian novels,poetry or drama. Librarie de Paris in Jabal Al Lweibdeh (right by the French Cultural Centre) has a nice little collection of Italian literature titles, dictionaries, and educational books.

Prof.Ubaldo Lugli informed me he had had a chat with the man in charge over at the Librarie and asked him to bring in some Italian books because, sad but true, those who wish to read Italian literature in Jordan have to import their material from abroad. Prof.Lugli evidently got the man to promise, and the latter kept his part of the deal.

When I asked her about the popularity of those Italiano books (brought in about a month ago), Rawan, the Librarie superviser, told me they’ve been getting a decent number of people referred to them from Società Dante Alighieri to purchase books. After my short visit to the Librarie, I walked the nearby area to look for the HQ of the Societa’ but I couldn’t locate it. Quite natural for the sort of sense of direction I have, I follow nice facades rather than street signs. If you happen to know where the Società Dante Alighieri is, could you please drop me the instructions on how to get there?

Oh, and a word for the wise: The books are very affordable, so go grab some before I beat you to the remaining titles!

Che bella sorpresa! Librarie de Paris in Giabal Al Loebde ad Amman adesso vende libri italiani! Questa è una cosa molto importante per tutti che vogliono gustare la letteratura italiana perché, un mese fa, non c’era nessun posto che vende tali libri. Noi in Giordania dovevamo comprare i nostri libri su internet o fare qualcuno portarcili dall’estero. O peggio, fotocopiare quelli libri presi dalla biblioteca italiana all’università di Giordania. Che miracolo! I libri sono venduti a poco prezzo anche!

In your opinion, what are the advantages/disadvantages of cyber friendships? What do you think of this new “trend” in human relationships? Is it real? Good? Bad? Why?

Something to make you smile, perhaps.

Queen Rania of Jordan made an appearance at the Oprah Winfrey show this past week, I got word from an American cyber pal (it’s true).

This was delightful; I particularly liked the title “Women changing the world”. The show focused on Queen Rania’s life and her efforts to better the situation of Jordanian women. It also drew parallels between modern Jordanian women, those Amman-bound in specific, and others in the states.

I say “excellent!”. Jordanian women have time and again proven themselves to be strong, determined, and achieving individuals. It is thrilling to see them getting closer and closer to global recognition. Climb up the ladder, ladies, climb up and claim the world!

Link to the page.

I was planning to witness the students’ council elections at the U of J yesterday but I somehow managed not to attend. I did visit this week though, on Tuesday to be exact, and I had a great time as usual.

Some fellow bloggers have treated the subject already but there is always a need to stress that students are not being held responsible for their campaigns, their words, and their banners. Just when elections are at the doors the campus gets horribly adorned with thousands of flyers and poorly printed pictures of candidates, multiple-meaning slogans and numbers of self-appointed support staff roaming the streets looking for kin or friend that would vote.

It is hideous. I daresay those are the annual golden days of ugliness for the U of J. It seems as though there are no limits for trespassing over public property, and all in the name of freedom, at such times. You see names on street signs in and around campus, on doors and windows (which, of course, lose any sense of transparency thus do not function), on desks, on trees, on street ads, and on proud bosoms marketing this or that.

Is it outrageous to ask the administration of the university to impose certain rules on those running for “office”? Granted they want to promote their ideas and get in those seats (which are not precisely the most appealing), but they should take responsibility for their actions and the actions of those that support them. Why don’t they remove their promotional material after the elections? Everything remains put, as horrid as it is, until the stickers start chipping off because of the elements and some university-hired people come and remove what they can (only it is too late because some things do not go off as easy).

Should those students violate this suggested rule of removing their papers, they should be penalized. This is a serious matter, such random campaigns harm the image of the university. You will know what I mean if you walk in the pedestrian tunnel right across the main gate, try it, they even wrote on the walls in red and black - terrible calligraphy and no sense of art.

This year there was something slightly different, however. Something positive for a change. Some were on a crusade to boycott elections because, get this, the administration of the university decided to appoint 50% of the total number of the council’s members- as far as I could comprehend. How do you claim to instill democracy in the minds of the youth, and you go so far as to arrange seminars and lectures on the topic, then you take this right away from them at the same time? Does this make any sense?

Which brings me to my next point. How democratic are these elections? I for one have received several offers as a student to vote for this because “ You are from the South like me”, or that because “ I am from Karak too!”, or better yet for a girl who does not have a concept behind her because “ We girls should stick together”. It pains me to admit that most students that make it to the council are elected this way and on such criteria. What are they selling, exactly?