I get asked about my name quite often by people who read my blog. I have always been asked about my name online, but increasingly so ever since Tololy’s Box was born. Tololy is not the name that is written down in my birth certificate and other official documents, you see.

I also remember that when Tololy’s Box was born, many people asked me why I chose to blog under this name and not under my official one. At that time, the heated debate on anonymous bloggers was popular in the Jordanian blogosphere, and I remember posting some comments on people’s posts which considered blogging anonymously as a form of “cowardice.”

Generally speaking, I am never in favor of extremes in judgment. In ways, anonymous blogging is beneficial to the people who choose it. In other ways, it is not so. The same goes for blogging under one’s real name, it has its pros and cons. To judge someone as cowardly simply because this person did not reveal their overestimated “real name” is simply ridiculous - in fact, anonymous blogging may be a necessity.

This brings us to the core of this post, I really am not anonymous. The guise people imagine that I wear by blogging under the name Tololy (family name: Tutunai) is extremely relative. I have met several of my readers, a number of fellow bloggers, and a group of employers through this blog. I even have a profile picture and another full-figure picture in The Visuals. Let’s say I reveal my real identity when I deem it fit.

But before bothering to criticize anonymous blogging, answer me this: what does a “real name” mean, really? Is it the name that your parents call you when you are born, or is it a name that you call yourself and have people call you and that, after time, becomes more real that the one scribbled in your passport? The flexibility of naming one’s self is simply too powerful to be ignored. Very few people call me anything but Tololy. Even my two-year old nephew calls me Toly (his version of the name).

Recently, I have been having an urge to unveil my “real name.” I am still thinking of the matter, but I must say I think it is a temporary whim and no more. I guess I need some changes around The Box and that then the temptation will be gone, as if they ever do.

So Faisal tagged me the other day and the game is about sharing five things that you previously did not know about me. Alrighty:

1- I am experimental/open-minded to a disturbing degree.
2- I was an introvert as a child. Never spoke unless spoken to, thought people shallow and generally kept to myself.
3- I wrote my will four years ago.
4- Every time I get in the car, alone or with someone, I have a haunting feeling that I will get killed during that drive. One time the feeling was so strong that I saved an SMS on my phone so that when people find my cell phone with my dead body they would know that I already “knew” I was going to die.
5- I was a dancer in another life.

Now I pass the torch to Liza of Something Something, Pete of 21st Century Shea, Umar Lee of Jihad of Umar, Alb Sayed, Dusty of Dusty’s Thinking, Vincent of Pale Fire, Amino of Chronicles of a Utopian Writer, Saleh Ismaeili of Dot1ne, Noam Chomsky (a girl can dream…), Howard Zinn (and dream she does…), Abu Sinan, Sunni Sisters, Kevin Howarth of Narcissistic Graffitti and Hamzeh Nassif of The Scatter Load.

Egypt blogger jailed for ‘insult’

An Egyptian court has sentenced an internet blogger to four years’ prison for insulting Islam and the president.
Abdel Kareem Nabil’s trial was the first time that a blogger had been prosecuted in Egypt.

He had used his weblog to criticise the country’s top Islamic institution, the al-Azhar university and President Hosni Mubarak, whom he called a dictator.

A human rights group called the verdict “very tough” and a “strong message” to Egypt’s many thousands of bloggers.

Most disturbing news, but they are to be expected. I believe news of the sort, “crackdowns on bloggers,” will grow in number during the next two years. I joke sometimes to Yoda, before posting something even remotely daring, that he should pray I do not go to prison for it.

Judging by the look of things, I just might. One day.

As I was lost in thought today in the office, for my headache was somewhat severe, I realized that I am the youngest person around. Do not mistake my colleagues for being old, they are mostly young people. I just happen to be the youngest.

To divert my attention from my throbbing head, I gave the matter more thought. It was then that I realized that I have always been the youngest person in every work environment that employed me. I also remembered always being mistaken for being older than I really am, it must be another common spelling mistake.

Fascinating, isn’t it? At least I think it is. Truly fascinating – but fascinating things are short-lived. In the near future there will be younger people around, with their inexplicable jargon and fresh perspectives on life and ethics – oh how the same they all are!

Hah!

The following are pictures I snapped during my somewhat revealing visit to Hussein Park yesterday. I say revealing because you have doubtlessly watched many a show on survival and “survival skills,” and yesterday I got to test just how much attention I was paying to these shows.

To make a long story short, I left family to take pictures. I did not take my cell phone with me and, an hour later, I found out that family had deserted their previous location and were nowhere to be seen. Family, on the other hand, had assumed that I had my cell phone with me and that I was a ring away ( in that light, family never knew I was lost ). I, however, imagined that family must be looking for me and that we are going in circles with both ends on the move.

Remembering what my father had told me some days ago ( for no obvious reason he said: “When you’re lost, do not move about”), I returned to family’s ex-location and waited. Of course, family were not even looking for me ( I think this will scar me forever). I waited, and waited, and waited.

I got bored eventually, and walked to the highest point in the park so that I can get a general view of the park and its visitors. Twenty minutes later, I spotted family and I hurried down to reassure them that I am OK. Family were surprised to know ( right at that moment ) that my phone was with them the whole time. So much for my version of Survivor.

That off my chest, onward to the pictures:

This is a video I captured in Theeban, a small Jordanian town, en route to Karak in the South. This (now rather infamous) video is unedited, uncut, and very raw - just the way I like them.

(Toothpaste For Dinner is the comic of Drew, husband of Natalie Dee, whose comics I love)

This day just cannot possibly be more, umm, challenging. Between WordPress and YouTube, I had myself completely confounded. Around three weeks ago I was going through the options and whatnot in WordPress and out of curiosity enabled the Visual Rich Text Editor. That is the reason why some of my posts since that moment of doom featured weird-looking and utterly undesirable fonts.

Ever since then, I have been trying to disable the Visual Rich Text Editor — obviously to no avail. I normally assumed all along that the option exists under Options >> Writing, because it has everything to do with writing. Makes sense, doesn’t it? This evening, equally frustrated once again, I went through the Options under the Writing tab (for the 100th time) and read:

Formatting: Users should use the visual rich editor by default

The option was unchecked, which drove me even closer to pazzia than ever. But fear not, this story has an ending for all who wander are not lost. I looked under Users >> Your Profile and voila! there was my holy grail right under About Yourself! This is how the culprit looks like:

Personal Options: Use the visual rich editor when writing

Now, being your average (such a demeaning word, I resent it) user, I have been looking for this one sentence for three weeks. I have suffered, my blog has suffered, and my readers have suffered as well (cue: three revealing posts in one day). Could ye who speaketh in ones and zeroes explain why this option is located under Users >> Your Profile and not under Options >> Writing ?

Now I am very upset and it’s not because of YouTube. Something to do with Havana Brown. I really should have bought a punch bag.

Double bleh.