Site Changes

Hey everyone!  You'll notice a few changes around here at Daily Thoughts.  I'm changing up the blog a bit, updating a few things.  So please bare with me for the next day or two while these changes take place!  Its been almost a year since I started, so I thought it could use a bit of a "spring cleaning" so to speak.  I will keep posting but, in the meantime don't mind the mess! Read on my friends, read on.

My Route Through Lebanon

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This is the route I mapped out for the places I want to visit. You can see how far apart some of the places are. I haven't even covered all of them, I still have a few more to add! I put in the photo and wiki options so you can check out the areas if you want. I hope I can make it to all!

Heading back "home" soon

I don't know if many of you know this but I'm originally Lebanese. So Lebanon is considered home, although I only visit once a year during the summer. I'll be honest. I don't know my own country very well, and as a child you don't really consider the value of something like that. I'm twenty-two now, and I feel like its more important than ever to understand for myself where I come from, what history my beautiful, albeit small, country holds.

As a result, I'm planning a trip around Lebanon in the 3 weeks I'll be there from mid September to mid October. I KNOW Lebanon has a million and one things to offer, from great nightlife, to beautiful beaches, huge mountains, high waterfalls, amazing cuisine and of course the people. I was once told it was the only place you could go to the beach and ski in the same day. I wonder if you really can. Anyone done it before?

Well anyways, here is what I plan on doing and seeing. Hopefully.

Jeita Grotto Caves:

I think this should be one of the seven wonders of the world. What a beautiful place. Famous for its stalagmites and stalactites, this cave is approximately 7000 meters deep. Of course I visited as a child, but its definitely got to be a different experience as an adult. More info on them here.

Awesome Mini Kitchen

So if there is one thing I love its food. Food and cooking. I grew up in a house where my mother had 6 mouths to feed, and she never ever skipped out on flavour, presentation or quality. Whether it was 1 person or 100, she always created the best food I have ever eaten, hands down. I'm not just saying this because she is my mom, that would be demeaning her talent as a chef. So as a result, I grew to love food, cooking, hosting parties, attention to detail etc. So this mini kitchen caught my eye right away. I LOVE it. It would probably never work for me as I need alot of space to move and cut and cook, but I love the idea of it. It could be adjusted to work in a larger space.

As an architecture student, the idea of sustainability was largely focused upon during our education, and boy is this thing sustainable.

The video pretty much shows how it works as a system.

Flow2 from Flow 2 on Vimeo.

Flow is a living kitchen where nature and technology are integrated in a symbiotic relationship, processes flow into one another in a natural cycle, efficiently utilizing energy, waste, water and other natural resources. It provides a space not only for preparing food but an environment that gives a better understanding of how natural processes work. A kitchen where food is grown, stored, cooked and composted to grow more food.

I think its such a great idea, so simple, yet so effective. More pics after the jump!

Vid of the Day

Ocean of Light: Surface at Kinetica 2010 from squidsoup on Vimeo.

I took a Digital Tools course in my last year of university. We explored immersive, interactive 3D installations. We had to create interactive installations as a final project for the course, it was really one of the best courses I had taken in the Architecture program. This just reminded me of it. An awesome project by a large collaboration of people and universities. For more info/pictures and background check out the Ocean of Light website.

I'm baaack!

Hello Helloooo,

I'm back from a long hiatus from the blogging world. I must say my fingers missed typing out long, random, pointless posts everyday! My fingers and I are back, and we have MUCH to discuss. Firstly, I have to say that I'm currently in a country that really sucks at the moment. In addition to a serious lack in the social life, the humidity here is like death...you can't breathe when you walk out the door. Take a sauna, and multiply it by 1000. I can't wait to get back to Toronto! I hear its nice and chilly there!

The second thing is I have finally graduated from university with a degree in Architecture! Four years since the whole roller coaster ride started and I have to say I miss every single miserable day I experienced in the past four years. When they say your university years are the best in your life, they really mean it. Sadly no one ever listens and before you know it, the years fly by and BAM! The real world hits you. It's not a pleasant wake up call, I have to say. It's a rude awakening. Thus the search for your life long "ball and chain" (i.e. job/career) begin.

Enough of that boring stuff though. I was looking through old pictures of New York, since I want to visit in the near future, and cam across some amazing shots of old NY. Eugene de Salignac was pretty well known for his famous shots of the city. This is one of my favourites

Brooklyn Bridge, showing painters on suspenders, October 7, 1914
From New York Rises: Photographs by Eugene de Salignac
Its truly amazing.

In complete contrast, there is another blog I would like to share with you. It always gives me a good laugh anytime, any day. Fake Science is a site whose tag line is "For when the facts are too confusing." I must say, its more interesting than the real thing. If you're ever down or ever need a bit of a giggle, or just want some simple FAKE SCIENCE, check out the site. Here is today's gem! (Why did the T-Rex have such short arms)

Also, check out their quiz to discover what kind of scientist you would be! My inner geek shows itself...

Happy Friday!

It's Been A While!

Hello helloooo!! It's been quite some time since I've blogged. I should actually be working on my thesis right now, but of course anything to procrastinate!! Soooo I wanted to blog about this new site called ChatRoulette!

I'M ADDICTED!!

Basically is this chat based website where you can choose to set up your cam and microphone if you want and randomly connect with a stranger across the world and begin a chat with them. A few downsides are: (1) you can't control who you connect to, and WHAT you see, i.e. 1 of 100000000000 guys jerking off (REALLY disturbing) or a guy sliding a snake down his pants (YES a real live snake, I SAW it, it was WEIRD, and I'm scarred for life) and also it crashes ALOT, so if you're in the middle of a great convo and haven't exchanged any details with the person (like email/facebook) they're lost forever!

BUT, the great things are, once you get past the dicks/tits and other random shit, you meet some GREAT people. I've met a really cool guy from Switzerland, who btw has offered me a place to stay should I ever visit. He had the most amazing apartment I've EVER seen, like right out of a catalogue. It was so...WHITE and minimalistic. Leave it to Europeans to have a magazine spread like apartment! haha. I also met a great young guy from Mexico who had a slammin' pair of Gaga glasses!AND he could sing!! He was totally fierce. I've also had the chance to practice my French w/some people from Paris, Lyons, Lille and Nantes. I just spoke with someone in Madrid who was super drunk and couldn't really think (that was fun!). A few other people I've met were from the Netherlands, a lot from the States (New York/Jersey are big ones), Turkey, Portugal, Chile, Mexico, Egypt, England (that guy was SO much fun, he danced for me, gave me a tour of his apartment and we had good laughs), Argentina, Belgium and many many more.

If you haven't already come across it I highly recommend it, but BEWARE there are a lot of penises and weird things in general. I have a collage of most of the people I've met, "nexted" (when you click next to get to the next random person) and had great convos with.

Enjoy it people! Pics to come soooon!! Heres a small peek of the awesomeness that is ChatRoulette!

Back to thesising!!