I just read a book, entitled The Unknown Dimensions: The Memoirs of a Kuwaiti Adolescent, for Kuwaiti writer Abdulwahab Al Sayed. I was at Virgin and saw the book and was attracted by its cover and title. I read it and liked it a lot. I finished reading it in two days. I immediately went and bought its sequel, which was just as good. The book is about a Kuwaiti teenager, who talks about his life between the ages of 16 to 22 and the strange things he faces in life. The topic is good and the talks about reality in Kuwait and places where youth hang out in. The writer's style has a flow and isn't complicated. I advice you all to read it.

I haven't congratulated Bu Abdulla!! Do you remember him? I have a small confession.. since I got married, I have cut off all my relations with friends. I miss them a lot but there are things I needed to take care of and I still have things I have to do. I try to keep in touch with them through messages or any other means. In a small ceremony on the occasion of Bu Abdulla's wedding, we went to Gaucho Grill at the Palm Resort. We didn't find anything to talk about other than work. This is the first time we ever sit in a restaurant for three hours. We didn't want the time to fly so fast but it did. Congratulations Bu Abdulla.

According to news reports, an Arab-German Dialogue conference was held in Amman, Jordan, to discuss the relationship between traditional media and blogging. What drew my attention in the article is what was mentioned about Saudi journalist Habib Al Shemari, who works at the King Abdulaziz Centre for National Dialogue in Riyadh, who said that the lack of experience and credibility among Saudi bloggers causes grave disasters to society at times. He cited an example of how some bloggers in Saudi Arabia resulted in huge losses for people trading in stocks after publishing incorrect economic analysis about companies on their sites!!! At any rate, as a blogger, I announce my innocence and I call upon any Saudi blogger who has published misleading articles which have caused trouble to Saudi society to owe up and apologise. What I think is the respectable journalist cannot differentiate between blogs and online forums. Can someone volunteer his time to teach him please?

A whole year has gone as if it were a night. What God has destined had happened but your memory has never left me. I remember your laughter. Or should I recall your sorrow about the state of our community today? I remember when you used to get angry with me and how you used to guide me. Or should I remember how my naive outbursts used to make you feel? I see him a lot with his smile on his face. It is the smile of the father I miss and cannot replace. My wedding is in a few days. How much happy would that have made you? But I thank God for everything. May He forgive you and may you rest in Heaven.

Until now, I have never found myself siding with one Palestinian faction against another. I was content standing on the sidelines and following as a journalist, who finds in objectivity an opportunity to rid himself from embarrassment politically and morally. I was happy in the name of objectivity to stand with the people, in all their political hues, against a policy in the region which had no respect for freedom of opinion. I was fine with hurling accusations at a handful of trouble makers sometimes or at the reactions they received from the Gazans at others. I was OK with accusing Israel for its doings and for inciting the situation…
What's new now? It is a pressing question my daughter Duha repeated to me several times: Do we have a stance on what is happening? Which side is right? An objective answer was not sufficient and it wasn't enough to tell her that we are siding with the Palestinian people – because both factions are Palestinian. Why are children's very simple and cunning at the same time? Why do we have to be truthful with them even when we are lying to ourselves? Today and only today I can say that I have found for myself a place where I can overcome the greyness of objectivity.