The Spheres of Happiness

All members of the young aim for the overlap of the three Spheres: the Trifecta of Fulfillment (TOF). This is the threesome of ecstatic accomplishment, the tripod pedestal that you claw at, your very own three little pigs in a fortress made of gold.

It’s when you’ve got your shit together and you feel like nothing can touch you. It’s that feeling you had in the 2nd grade when you got a stuffed bunny from Elliot, the boy all the girls liked, you decided you were going to be President of the United States, AND you were invited to Markie’s pool party at her grandma’s mansion where they were going to serve sandwiches that looked better than the ones in Yogi Bear’s stolen picnic baskets.

Now, the Trifecta is more difficult to get to since your ambitions are set higher (hopefully) and the momentum of your life is like an acoustic Dido track laced with a horse tranquilizer. Some may never reach the Trifecta and others will fight to keep it once they have it. Meanwhile, the rest of you will be jumping through hoops to get to it.

There are three main Spheres of Happiness that relate to one’s level of satisfaction in a particular aspect of their life, be it personal, professional, or both. Although these spheres may seem like a diluted version of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs that ignores the basic sustenance required for survival, it is purely based on the simple forms of satisfaction that give way to serenity and joy.

Being in one Sphere alone is not ideal for any individual. The amount of satisfaction resulting from this one Sphere is never enough to curb the craving for more. Like in mathematics, a point does not move. It is a place with no dimensions. It goes nowhere. It just is. Two points, however, create a line that is unending but that means it’s going somewhere. The same goes for two Spheres: you may be going down that road forever but you’re still going somewhere.

The intersections of two circles create three different cases that one can fall into while undergoing the quest for the Trifecta. Duration is dependent on the circumstances of the individual. One may shift into the other intersections, continuously bouncing from one to the other as they attempt to get all their eggs into the MYLIFEISPUREPERFECTION basket.

  • Dynamic Crack-Monkey: This individual is romantically and socially satisfied. They are constantly surrounded by people they care for and have a great support system. This is probably a good thing considering their professional/academic Sphere is being neglected. They are in denial of the pressure they feel building within their head. Excuses used to soothe their woes are  “it’s the people in my life that are most important”, “my people skills will help me land an amazing job, look at me, I’m a fricking butterfly”, or “I’ll just pull a Kim Kardashian.” Whether that was referring to Kanye West or a home movie is entirely up to interpretation. They tend to be very involved with their smartphones because it connects them to social networks and texts from their babyboo. 
  • Devoted Hermit-Crab: This individual is romantically and professionally/academically satisfied. Dedicating all free time to their significant other and their work/studies, this individual rarely sees other humans unless they are asking them for saltine crackers for their clam chowder, ordering new supplies for their workspace, or required to attend a festive holiday party – in which case, significant other is attached at the hip wearing matching antlers. These individuals are perfectly content staying at home eating nachos with their S.O. watching the latest Nicolas Cage film. This becomes problematic when things shift in the two stable spheres or when they realize they’ve become too comfortable and have been wearing the same underpants for 3 days. 
  • Determined Bipolar-Bear: This individual is socially and professionally/academically satisfied. They are dependable, fun and climbing the corporate ladder. They function well in public and give off an aura of contentment and yet, it is never understood why they are alone romantically. It is usually due to the hidden bipolarity of their need for a someone. They are in a good place and don’t want to risk ruining it. They are in a good place and want to be able to share it with the someone. They are in a good place, in control of the sitch, back off or everything will fall apart and one Sphere will fall into the crapper. But they’re so fluffy and lovable. 
If you are lucky enough to reach the Trifecta, it may be a brief taste just to show you the beauty of being truly happy. Be sure to hang on to this moment of ecstasy or at least cherish it while it lasts. It too shall pass.

But that’s okay because the fight for happiness should never end.

I Haven’t Forgotten You Yet


Dear AUB,

How’ve you been? Do you remember me? Of course, you do. We go way back. Haven’t heard from you in a while…

Actually, I know I say it’s been a while but it hasn’t. I didn’t think you’d move on so quickly. And for someone younger, quicker, and untainted by harsh realities no less. I get it. I guess I didn’t stand a chance. I thought there was a special bond between us- after graduation, when you met my parents, you said I’d never forget that night. I thought it was because you wouldn’t either. You did though.

I want to believe that this is the way things have to be. I want to believe it when you say I can have life and have it more abundantly because of you. Sure, being with you gave me the strength to discover what I really wanted. Staying with you helped me build the courage to go get it. But leaving you made me realize I had to do it alone. I don’t think I’ll be able to erase the effect you’ve had on my life. You erased mine on yours though. To you, I’m just another number.

Even with all this, I also didn’t think I’d still miss you this long after it all ended. I didn’t think you’d still make me grin sheepishly to myself whenever I hear your name. It seems, you will always be a part of me and I will always feel at home within your arms.

Taking a page out of Neruda’s book, I must accept that our time together is over. I must carry on with my life even though I carry you in my heart.

You know, even if I’m with someone else now, I still think about you. You never leave my mind.
But then again, they always say, there’s nothing like your first love.

I haven’t forgotten you yet,
Alumnus

5 Similarities Between AUB & LAU Students

AUB & LAU are the two largest English universities in Lebanon.
1. School Sweater Fashion Faux Pas 
While most students abroad love to collect memorabilia pertaining to their alma mater, students in these two institutions will never wear anything stamped with bold letters or Phoenician triremes – at least, not outside the house. They will wear sweaters of other universities like Oxford, USC, NYU, AnyImpressiveSchoolWeKnowNothingAboutExceptForItsAcronym but AUB students will not wear AUB sweaters on campus and LAU students will not wear LAU sweaters on campus. There is one AUB student who was rumored to wear her AUB sweater around campus and then, upon graduation, wear it to LAU as well (burn). This student may, or may not, be me. Such a rebel.
Most students will flaunt a sticker on their new car, partly because they want to feel like it’s their car but also because they want everyone to know they go to the “best university in the country.” The sweater, on the other hand, is reserved for those foreign kids in the summer Arabic classes.
2. Spend All Day & Night in Hamra 
After spending most of their daylight hours in classrooms, you would think that these students would want to get away from their campuses when it’s time to unwind. Nope. In the past few years, Hamra has been the destination topping the list when it comes to nights out. Uruguay St. in Downtown & the Gemmayzeh quarter are great but they’re a different atmosphere. 
Hamra is comfortable. Hamra is eating Bliss House sandwiches outside your hazard-lights-a’blinking-diagonally-parked car. Hamra is having Dunkin coffee by Main Gate at 8pm. Hamra is going out in your sweatpants and tees without worrying about dress code or a bouncer with an allergy to Converse. Hamra is bumping into everyone you know and everyone you’re going to meet next semester. It’s like going to class but there’s beer and cigarettes. 
3.  Lunch Dilemma 
The neighborhood is so condensed with cafes, fast food joints, restaurants and mini markets that students have to go through a process of elimination everyday when deciding on where to eat. At some point in their academic life, they will realize that eating greasy saj wraps daily is bad for the arteries and the salty flavor is not because their salt shaker cap goes loose occasionally. Those dudes by the round saj are not polar bears. Juicy. Students will also come to find that the process of elimination will become limited to a choice of 4 places max similar to how you alternate between the same 2 pairs of jeans from a pile of 12. 
If at AUB, you will get sick of afternoons at Universal Snack as Laura Branigan’s Self Control plays and end up going to Kababji. Then you’ll be like “no, no tabbouli today” (how dare you) and go to Subway. And then you’ll go back to Universal. McDo/BK/Hardee’s are reserved for days when you feel like you need a hug in a hamburger or it’s raining. If at LAU, you would eat kaak everyday but switch it up sometimes by ditching a class and going to Roadster. 

“Ma3leh, ma byekhod attendance w ktir 3a beleh fries and cheddar wlo! Bas honey mustard bella sour cream, bi nasih” *fails class*
Translation: “It’s okay, he doesn’t take attendance and I’m so craving Fries & Cheddar! But honey mustard, no sour cream, it’s fattening.” 
4. Vote or Die
Because student elections is a condition for accreditation and because Lebanon is obsessed with spraying politics all over everything like it’s Baygon in the middle of mosquito season, these universities participate in yearly student elections where they are indirectly divided into two main camps and the I-swear-we’re-not-backed-by-anyone-we-just-lean-towards-a-side independents. Election week is all campaigning and phone calls from people you don’t even know followed by election day where you get harassed at the gates.
-“DID YOU VOTE?”
-“YES.”
-“FOR WHO?”
-“YOUR MOM.”
Elections proceed, some side wins and the outside world thinks it’s a big sign that the youth supports so-and-so and those elected do nothing productive all year due to “bureaucracy.” Yup, sounds like it’s a pretty accurate microcosm of the rest of the country. 
5. Loyalty
Regardless of which university you claim as yours, you will miss it when it’s over.  

500 Days of Expectations

Source
500 Days of Summer is another unconventional romcom that conveys the bittersweet taste of romance. One of the most memorable scenes is that where the screen splits to portray Tom’s expectations versus reality. No seriously, click on the link and watch it.
Tom, played by Joseph Gordon Levitt, experiences something that we have all experienced at some point: reality not living up to our expectations. Unfortunately, that doesn’t stop us from climbing up to the summit of the mountain of expectations hoping that, maybe this once, reality will be on our side.

Bambi’s Boxes, Part III

This Bambi Box that just barely made it into the month of September is a spotlight on the Aizone FW 2012 campaign done by Jessica Walsh under the art direction umbrella of Stefen Saigmester. Saigmester is a world-renowned designer who is most famous for using a Zoro technique on his own skin when designing an AIGA invitation card back in ’99. He works with many freelancers to come up with new ideas for clients and this time he teamed up with NY-based Jessica Walsh.

(Taken from her behance portfolio) 

The campaign was a series of images and experimental typography that were then adapted to the storefront windows. She used variations in paint, bubbles, and fabric to phrases. The forms of the typography match the style of the clothing that is displayed on the mannequins.

The displays in Aizone in ABC Ashrafieh, Beirut:

Close up (baubles on the t-shirt)

The team also did the previous FW 2011 Aizone campaign:

(Taken from her behance portfolio) 

The behind the scenes video of this campaign is great because you get to see that the visuals were actually created rather than digitally done on Photoshop. 

Walsh is a great designer – according to behance, “she has worked with studios such as Sagmeister Inc, Pentagram Design and Print Magazine, and freelances for a variety of clients such as the The New York Times, AIGA, Computer Arts & I.D. Magazine, and Technology Review.” Check out her full behance portfolio here or her personal website.

You (Still) Love Uncle Jessie

John Stamos, or Uncle Jessie from Full House, was totally cool when I was a single-digit. His leather jacket and amazing hair made him my first celebrity crush. This is very awkward seeing that he, like my father, is double my age.

Being that he was the cool uncle on my favorite after school TV show until I moved on to more mature shows (Fresh Prince, Buffy & Boy Meets World), I’m not sure if his age makes me feel young or old. No matter what, this hilarious video he did for College Humor has deemed him worthy of the awesomesauce stamp. And he’s still handsome.

LPS: Lost Puppy Syndrome

By Nicholas Jackson

Overview & Facts:

Typically affecting 67% of fresh college graduates, the LPS is a fairly new medical condition. In the past, epidemics of the sort were rare for all youth had purpose; males would kill wild boar and females would be baby ovens. But with the evolution of man, the industrial & technological revolutions and the invention of lucrative fatty food delivery services, today’s young adults suffer from LPS: they are essentially lost puppies in a fast-paced world. They are overeducated and thus overqualified yet under-experienced embryos just waiting to develop into full-blown professionals. In search of the vocation that will give their lives meaning, allow them to provide, and buy their own Picanto, LPS patients are in a simmering state of panic at all times. Fear of failure and inevitable permanent employment at McDonald’s do not even outweigh the fear of mediocrity. After all, failing at starting your own business is still more admirable than being an Ivy League alumnus who scrapes feces off the sides of the Atlantis Resort turtle tanks.

Symptoms & Types:

  • Plummeting hope of ever being recruited although you attended a top ranked school, hold a degree with honors, and/or have a string of internships at reputable MNCs
  • Yesmanoritis, side-effect of LPS; you say “yes” to all available workshops, activities, volunteer work, and training sessions that can further differentiate you from the crowd only to find that they make you even more overqualified…and there’s no room left on your 1-page-only CV to include them; therefore, they go unnoticed
  • Early LPS is said to develop pre-university, around the age of 18 – this is a myth and is usually misdiagnosed. What is called early LPS is just the first stage to more unfriendly acronyms: LSD, THC, and STD. “Going to find yourself” is not a cure for anything, it is an excuse to go on a Eurotrip, experiment, and return with herpes. In reality, early LPS is just a teenager who listens to too much alternative rock.
  • Periodic eruptions of verbal vomit: whereamigoingwithmylifemaybeishouldjustapplyforanotherdegreeinsomething/ idontwanttogrowupsomeonebuymeajetski/ canibeagolddiggerilovekanyewest/ whydoihavetoalwaysfilloutapplicationsinterviewclothesaresorestricting. These are a result of the simmering state of panic described above. Recovery from these fits occur in seedy bars, overdosing on Chunky Monkey or spending the night spooning with a giant red bear named Optimus – and no, I don’t mean a ginger guy of Irish decent. Picture the Valentine version of the Gossamer from the Looney Tunes.
  • Settling for much less than deserved be it in position, compensation or respect out of pure desperation to be employed and never eat Ramen noodles again. This denial is accepted by repeating phrases like “everyone has to start at the bottom” or “everyone likes to staple.”

Diagnosis & Tests:

Testing positive for LPS is concluded by conducting quantitative and qualitative examinations.

Quantitative
– Increased level of dreams where you fail to learn a skill, complete a task or win a game. For example, Sean Connery tried teaching you how to wrestle a cobra a few nights back. The cobra ate you.
– Unnatural generic automated responses to all questions pertaining to the topic of job searches, future plans or prospects in anything relating to serious matters of your personal life.

Qualitative
– Increased level of copy/pasted inquiries on “availability in your department” as well as increased level of received rejections from online applications.
– Increased play count of alternative rock songs

Treatment & Care:

  • Accepting that this is completely normal, you are not alone. As stated above, 67% of others in the same age group with Bachelors, Masters and overrated MBAs are living with this condition too. They avoid the topic by cutting conversations short or trying to focus the limelight on someone’s success while simultaneously increasing the likelihood of depression. This is wrong. It’s okay to talk about it. Just not with possible prospective employers.
  • Remember why you worked so hard in the first place and what your goals are. The world will not end if things are not panning out the way you saw them in your head. “I used to want to be a ballerina/hairdresser with a donut shop on the side, but hey, shit happens.” But then, other shit happens, and sometimes it’s THE shit. Have a little faith.
  • Do not allow yourself to wallow in self pity…for too long. You are not going to get a job lying on the couch in your stained sweatpants smelling like fried cauliflower. Mary Catherine Gallagher said it best.
  • Have Mickey Mouse pancakes with lots of maple syrup and a small slice of butter. They make everything better and you forget you’re an adult without a future.

Living & Managing:

Sadly, not all people can relocate to a vacation island to sell coconuts hard-carved like celebrities, living off of rice cakes with a perpetual golden tan (that’s mine, copywritten so don’t copy me). Comparison will be the death of you. Stop thinking about others who are getting everything they want and a bag o’chips. Shakira is a successful Colombian-Lebanese singer and she’s going to have a toddler with nice Pique hair that has better dance moves than those creepy Evian babies. Should you care? No.

Exhaust all your resources. It is who you know combined with what you know, not just one or the other. Networking is important and not just behind a screen. Don’t be ashamed to ask for help.

Further Information:

As of recent studies, there has yet to be a cure discovered for LPS. Some physicians believe that it eventually passes, like a stint of acne that accompanies your adjusting hormones. Others believe that people learn to live with it by passing through the emerging stage of the syndrome, called growing up.

10 Reasons You Secretly Love the End of Summer



1. Expenses to Keep Up with the Expats

You no longer have to spend your salary on boozing festivities at rooftop bars, eating too much fried food or forking over ridiculous entrance fees at beaches – most of which takes half your gas tank’s contents to get to only to find that it still smells like a sewer and the pool water is unnaturally warm. Thanks a lot, kid. 

Your friends and relatives who flew in for the season are now flying back to their respective destinations on other continents. You can now go back to your series of world clocks and Skype dates. You will no longer be guilted into outings you can’t afford through the cleverly worded plea “come on, it’s my last week!” or “but I won’t see you until next summer [insert sad face here].” How on earth did you ever get anything done when everyone you knew still lived within a 20 minute drive? Oh right, you didn’t get anything done; you were a freeloading college student with dreams

2. Back to School Sections 

It was the best part about having to go back to school. Roaming through aisles of school supplies and wanting to be the one with the coolest pens, pencils, and the most original set of folders. And then you go to school and that girl with the light-up sneakers has the same ones. The smell of freshly sharpened pencils calms you down. NBD. I have the special edition sharpies, HA! 

Even when you’re not going back to school, these sections remind you of simpler times. Have no shame in buying a set of multicolored paperclips and impractical clover-shaped post-its “for the office.” Wink, wink. 

3. Tabkhas

Tabkhas, or home-cooked hot meals, were hiding during those sticky months when all you would hear is “no, it’s too hot for that, let’s just have cold cuts” or “salads are so fresh and light.” Given, it makes sense that you do not want to be sitting around a stove cooking in the non-ACed kitchen only to eat hot food because you need to get some meat on them bones to keep you warm. You are not Ivan Denisovitch; you don’t take your hat off and eat with a spoon to feel human. The last thing you want in July is something to keep you warm because you’re not in freezing gulag, you’re in Satan’s sauna. 

BUT, now that it’s gotten just a bit breezy and you can go back to sleeping with only your toes poking out of the covers, you want some lentil soup. You want rice, kale and all those dishes your Teta (grandma) makes in order to get you to visit her more often. 

4. 
Sweaters, Scarves and Hats – Oh my!

The wardrobe of Autumn/Winter allows for us all to become the Michelin army of cushiony squishiness. Not only do we wear layers of soft fabric and accessorize with scraps of more soft fabric but the fact that everything is hidden allows for some of us to become a wee bit cushiony ourselves. You don’t notice it as much since you’re covered up most of the time and there’s no pressure to look fit (there’s always pressure to be fit) because no one has to be half naked on the shore for another 5 to 9 months. 

Ah, the joys of inner beauty. I blame Teta’s cooking too. 

5. The Return of TV

All the series (well almost all, sorry GOT people) that left you hanging are to return so your life can be complete again. What were they thinking leaving you for so long? If they think that you’re just going to let them back into your life without a second thought, then they’ve got anoth– 

I’m Chuck Bass. 

Okay, you can come back. 

6. Sweets

Candycanes, candy corn, pumpkin pie, apple crumble, Halloween packs of fun size everythings and finally, the Bûche de Noël. I’ll trade in my ice popsicles for this stuff any day. 

7. Bubble Baths

You know what I mean. It’s been a long day and all you want to do is soak, play with bubbles, light some coconut candles and put on some Sade. Yes men, it’s not just you; ladies like to do this too. However, it’s difficult to enjoy the experience when the air is as hot as the water. 

Would you look at that? It’s 20 degrees outside. TIME FOR BATH SALTS.

8. Rain

So not everyone enjoys rain. It creates traffic, mud, and it messes up your hair. But everyone gets so ecstatic over the first real rainstorm. Facebook erupts with weather report statuses just in case you live in a Batcave and didn’t notice the leaking noise was not from your dark river of black to match the sinister echo of your secret abode.

That, and everyone loves reenacting this.

9. Toes 

The glorious time has come when you don’t have to look at people’s toes anymore. Goodnight sandals, goodnight flipflops, goodnight peep-toe shoes. Goodnight, cow jumping over the moon.

10. Countdown to December Begins

Holiday season countdowns only get real when the last one is truly over. The cold condensed cinnamon packed version of Summer is now 3 months away and everyone will be home again and everyone will love each other and deck the halls with boughs of holly and presents and happiness and New Years and marshmallows with hot cocoa and Christmas songs and…You’re broke again. Refer to reason #1. 

Empire State of Mind

Source
Some of the funniest moments in life are when you realize you’ve been singing the wrong lyrics to a favorite song. And even after you find out what they’re supposed to be, you continue to sing them wrong anyway because “Dat’s my jam” and that’s how you sing it, okay? Don’t get me started on foreign language lyrics. 
This is a clip of 30 Rock’s Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) “quoting” from Alicia Keys & Jay’s
Empire State of Mind.