Snow-on-the-Mountain

Place: The Spider (on Planet Mercury)
Mood: Cold
Song: The Mountain * PJ Harvey

Lebanon has been hit recently by a wave of incommensurable cold. Flowers turned into stalactites and stalagmites. Less than zero degrees on the seashore during the day is just supernatural.

In such weather, no wonder why the states of minds are affected. Living in Lebanon, with all that we're going through, from assassinations, protests, burning wheels, imposters and pros and cons, you might just think that even Nature's getting tired of our country.

Here's a setlist for songs that served as a connection between Nature, the Weather, my Land and how I am seeing things lately.

01. Botas De Oro (Terrestre) - from the album Secondary Inspection [2004]










02. The Mountain (PJ Harvey) - from the album White Chalk [2007]


By the mountain
I feel nothing
For in my own heart
Every tree is broken




03. Grace (Jeff Buckley) - from the album Grace [1994]



There's the moon asking to stay
Long enough for the clouds to fly me away
Well it's my time coming, I'm not afraid to die





04. San Jacinto (Peter Gabriel) - from the album Security [1984]


We will walk - on the land
We will breathe - of the air
We will drink - from the stream
We will live - hold the line




05. Virginia - live (Tori Amos) - from the digital album Legs and Boots San Diego, CA [2007]



do you remember
when the land held your hand
she will let you back in
oh virginia you can't remember your name



06. Sleep, Don't Weep (Damien Rice) - from the album 9 [2006]



Sleep, don't weep, my sweet love
My face is all wet 'cause my day was rough





Speaking of mountains, an uncommon feature has been recently unveiled on planet Mercury by the NASA through a series of photos, baptized Spider. It represents what is supposedly a gigantic volcano surrounded by a huge plateau and central plateau, with dozens of tiny ridges radiating out of it.



CNN reports that according to mission chief scientist Sean Solomon of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, The spidery shape captured in the photo is "unlike anything we've seen anywhere in the solar system."

Mercury appears to be much more colorful than just the grey shade it is usually portrayed with.

The Wonderful 2007 Creatures

Galaxy: The Cryptical Galaxy
Mood: Opaque

Song: God Bless the Child * Billie Holiday

Mama may have, papa may have

But God bless the child thats got his own

Thats got his own

He just worry bout nothin

Cause hes got his own

Happy New Year 2008!

Looking back at 2007, I wouldn't be lying if I said it was the toughest yet most challenging year ever. Every month has been a ride, every week had its own thrill (not necessarily being positive), and every day has been different.

It has been the richest in terms of travel experiences, the most exigent yet when dealing with my work, but definitely the harshest as a whole. The sudden accident that happened to my father has been enough to shake my small family since the month of April. That made me learn that I had to work much harder, to be my own god and deal with every crisis as it comes.
But that also made me value much more the true power of the father in such tough times. So at first, I thank my three-piece family for holding strong throughout the year.

As it was the case in 2006, I would like to take a moment to thank those who still made 2007 an enjoyable year (significance of attributed words at the end of this post):

My lifelong orbiting satellites:
- Bechir "Clishmaclaver" (The radar for every possible talk in town, and the stimulant of the most memorable laughs),
- Esse "Tricephalous" (One for Ozbatur, the second for Biyouna and the third for the Tunisian Cinema itself),
- Maya "Insatiable" (Petroushka – the closest you can get in molding moods and Nescafe), and
- Mira "Lambent" (or the true power of a vision).

My always shining stars:
- Aleksandra "Empress" (not only the Goddess of Polish chill, but also the Queen of Scandinavian Music and the Spirit of the Alaskan Snow),
- Maya "Mellifluous" (best known as Yamaha, the smile that supremely shines all over the world),
- Sylvain "Ethereal" (Writing Guru, Türkçe Guru, Champagne/GreenTea Guru which result in an MWG - MostWonderfulGuru), and
- Tania "Ubiquitous" ("Daybreak, and the moon's still floating high, what a wonderful surprise, I close my eyes - and dream of you").

My 2007 exoplanets:
- Mo "Glisten" (An Ocean of chocolates, chocolates, and just much more chocolates…) and
- Robert "Zephyr" (The Wind that moves on to spread unconditional wellbeing in and outside of his vicinity).

The circle of fantastic out-there creatures:
- Maral "Apollonian" (The creature that you can never get tired of and whose knowledge in life exceeds yours by miles),
- Martin "Zeitgeist" (Your choice editor for carving the utmost startling stories and emails and drives through Berlin) and
- Rami "Panacea" (of TMI's, Torisms, and everyday charm-diffusing moments).

My superfunky satellites:
- Dana "Andromeda" (the true Spirit of Cheerleaders) and
- Manuel "Facetious" (Manuch, a delicious potion of laughter, good mood and outstanding spirit).

A special thanks to my wonderful constellation peers: my charming boss Hania (who's constantly challenging me and always pushing me forward), my colleague Zeina S. (and her incommensurable laughter that turns each day into a carnival) as well as our equally wonderful partners Menem and Aude (for making work an enjoyable experience) and everyone at Beirut DC.

I would also wish to thank the following astronomical 'friends' who are still making me purge and dig further to link my stories to the realm of the universe on this blog. I hope I have shred some light on some of these, and you enjoyed getting to meet them and hopefully know them better.

For the year 2007:

The Planets:
Earth
Uranus

The Spot:
Mare Orientale (Eastern Sea) on the Moon

The Satellites:
Triton (Saturn)
The Moon (Earth)
Europa (Jupiter)

The Asters:
Planet 581 c (Earth-like Exoplanet)
Ceres (Previously an Asteroid, now a Dwarf-Planet)

The Constellations:
Crater (The Cup)
Crux (The Cross)
Argo Navis (The Great Ship)
Draco (The Dragon)
Horologium (the Pendulum Clock)
Cepheus
The Summer Constellations (Libra, Scorpius, Sagittarius)
Cetus (The Whale)

The Stars:
Maia (Pleiades Open Cluster)
Naos (Puppis Constellation)
Mira (Cetus Constellation)
Proxima Centauri (Centaure Constellation)
Vindemiatrix (Virgo Constellation)
Sirius (Canis Majoris Constellation)

The Celestial Beings:
The Comets
The Black Holes
The Shooting Stars
Whirlpool Galaxy
NGC 1999
Nebula

The Objects:
Space Ships

Significance of the descriptive words:

- "Andromeda" / for Dana: A princess in the Greek mythology and a Winter constellation
All forthcoming words taken from the website: http://www.vocabula.com/VRbestwords.asp

- "Apollonian" / for Maral: characterized by clarity, harmony, and restraint; serene, calm
- "Clishmaclaver" / for Bechir: casual chat or gossip
- "Empress" / for Aleksandra: 1. the woman ruler of an empire. 2. the wife or widow of an emperor
- "Ethereal" / for Sylvain: 1. characterized by lightness and insubstantiality; intangible. 2. highly refined; delicate. 3. of the celestial spheres; heavenly; not of this world; spiritual. 4. of or relating to ether
- "Facetious" / for Manuel: playfully jocular; humorous
- "Glisten" / for Mo: to shine by reflection with a sparkling luster
- "Insatiable" / for Maya: impossible to satiate or satisfy
- "Lambent" / for Mira: flickering lightly over or on a surface
- "Mellifluous" for Maya: sweetly flowing; smooth and sweet
- "Panacea" / for Rami: a remedy for all diseases, evils, or difficulties; a cure-all
- "Tricephalous" / (Actually Dicephalous) / for Esse: having two heads
- "Ubiquitous" / for Tania: being or seeming to be everywhere at the same time; omnipresent
- "Zeitgeist" / for Martin: the spirit of the time; the taste and outlook characteristic of a period or generation
- "Zephyr" / for Robert: the west wind; a gentle breeze; something that is airy or insubstantial