Going Gingham

Re-examinations, re-examinations... My hate for this word is growing with every exam I finish. You would think it'd be the other way around, but unfortunately it isn't. Waking up early and being tired when eating lunch. That was pretty much this week's recipe for one very tired and unproductive blogger (I'm feeling so sorry for that).

Even though traveling by train, which is why I had to wake up (very!) early, has made me lose lots of time, I did spend my time well. Besides trying not to fall asleep when reviewing my notes in the morning, I've spent most of my rides back home with trying to draw something. And this is what you'll find pretty weird, but I wished those rides took some more time. Apparently - and I'm not kidding- my drawing skills are better when using public transportation.

Unfortunately I didn't get to finish any of those drawings because I only get to focus like half an hour on my drawing. Well, I do get to sit on the train for an hour and fifteen minutes, but when 45 minutes have passed I realize I brought my sketch book with me. And that's one of the reasons why I never finish a drawing. Another reason is my fear of screwing it up and I'm sure I'm not the only one. Sometimes (read: every single time) when I draw something that looks good I think: Let's just keep it that way before, you know, making a mess out of it. This pretty much reminds me of Charlie Brown and Lisa Simpson... Perhaps I'm just like them but I just might not know it yet. 

I don't know if there are more people who do this, but before I start drawing I usually draw some lines. This is some kind of "warming-up" for my pencil. It's a way to make sure my lines won't be harsh or sharp when I start with the real deal - a cool kid'd say: "Really-o-deally-o." But I'm not cool so I'll just keep it with "real deal". Most of the time I tend to draw a gingham-like pattern and that's pretty much when I realized that this minimalist pattern is pretty interesting.

According to me this pattern is a pure classic which is why I just can't dislike it. Although it might be a classic, there are people who arent quite fond of it. My brother for example, I'm guessing he might, even though he's a fan of black gingham, associate it with a picnic cloth but he might not be the only one (I'm not a fan of red gingham; reminds me of the countryside).

And I've gotta be honest, pink gingham is to die for. If I'd find myself a bodysuit like the one underneath, I'm gonna buy it immediately! No kidding! This is yet again me giving in to the temptations of wearing girly stuff. Let's just hope this thing I've got with pink is just an affair and not some long term relationship. I know there might be some people thinking the same, and I'm guessing there are also some of you hoping for the opposite to happen (more pink?). Even though I might be firing with pink for a moment, but my heart will always belong to black.

Thank you, and take care.

June All Over Again

It's has been August for 10 days already and I've spent half of them studying for my reexaminations (it pretty much sucks). Even though I don't really like the act of studying, but I do like learning (yes, there's a difference between learning and studying) something new. And of course I like to do it in a fun way. This basically means using lots of colors - mainly pink because it's the only marker that works properly - in my summary, using Japanese words when I actually shouldn't and adding some doodles. Well, I actually use those doodles when I don't feel like writing anymore and they usually end up in the trash when I've rewritten - keeping it neat - my summary on my laptop. And rewriting it on my laptop makes it easier to share with others, remember: "Sharing is caring" (I use this when my baby sister won't share her Barbies with me).

Another "study-habit" I've got is listening to music while studying. I know lots of you think it's the worst idea in the world, but it keeps me focused. Besides when you listen to music you won't have to deal with the noise around you (why do my neighbors have a dog?). To the ones who don't have to deal with barking dogs and lawn-mowing seniors: You, my friend, are one lucky potato. 

Something I'd like to share - sharing is caring - with you, my potato-friend, is a little playlist containing my most played songs of the moment. Even though it says "of the moment", it doesn't mean "music of now". I don't quite know how to put this right, but let's just say that there might be lots of songs people of our age - about 18 - won't know. But if you're about 18 and you do know these songs, then maybe you and I should become best friends or something (I'm just saying). So, I called this playlist "M A D o n n a" and I don't know why as I tweeted earlier. Maybe I'll know why I named it like that in the morning... Sometimes it just takes me a while why I give stuff their names.

Making this playlist on @YouTube and idk why I called it M A D o n n a 💿 #DontAsk

— Nesrine Naïmane (@NSFrenchFries) August 10, 2014

So yeah, here's the playlist that keeps me focused while I doodle, write in pastels (you know, the BIC 4 Colours Fashion), mark with the only marker I own - don't wanna buy a new one because it's unnecessary - and rewrite to share it with the ones who also think that sharing is caring.

Thank you, and take care.

Fiji Flu

Today has proven that I'm not good at planning at all. I already knew I was awful at planning ahead, but today is the only proof I've got of it. So yeah, as I did every day this week, it started to turn into a habit, I got up today and went to work. I entered the shop said hi to my co-workers, but then I saw two weird-looking faces staring at me. They asked me: "Do you have to work today?" The question pretty much confused me, because I was convinced that I had to work until the end of the week. And then one of them showed me the weekplanning. Apparently I wasn't planned for Sunday. At first I thought somebody might've forgotten to put my name up there, but I soon enough realized that my calendar didn't say: "Work today." Well, actually it says "バイト" (baito) which means student job, but that doesn't matter.

After the whole "I don't have to work today-thing", I left with a confused smile on my face. Before leaving I took some stuff with me I'd put in the fridge. One of those things was a bottle of Fiji Water. I must tell you that Fiji Water is the most wonderful water in the world (I might be exaggerating a little bit). And yes, it is water from the Fiji Islands and we all know - well, I guess we all know - that those islands are actually made from hardened lava. So, as the back of the bottle already told me, water from Fiji is filtered by hardened lava (isn't that cool?) which gives it extra nutrients. The extra nutrients plus the great taste and the great design of the bottle makes me wanna drink this water every day for the rest of my life (no kidding!).

Writing about Fiji Water makes think of Rocket Power. Does anybody remember that episode where they all start talking with funny voices because The Squid, Sam for those who can't remember they used to call him Squid, got this contagious disease called the Fiji flu? Well, for those who can't remember here's the video. Even though I'm a fan of the Dutch dub, I'll share the English original. And for the few who are aching to see the second half of this episode, you can just click here.

Thank you, and take care.

Note: Sorry, for the different size of pictures on the blog. It's because I take pictures with an iPhone 5 and I often forget to switch to "Square". That's way the pictures on last post looked pretty "long". iPhone-users will probably understand.