Reading and Listening Now..

Reading..

Listening to.

Teardrops On My Guitar.

Threatened...

Today I was watching a program on Animal Planet about lions and fell in love with them. But that also got me thinking about other animals. Endangered in particular.

The top 10 most endangered species in the world are the tiger, the polar bear, the pacific walrus, Magellanic penguins, the leatherback turtle, the mountain gorilla,the bluefin tuna, the monarch butterfly, the javan rhinoceros, and the giant panda.

Animals become endangered  because firstly: Humans destroy precious habitat when they dam rivers and cut down trees to make homes, roads and other developments. Secondly: Pollution.Oil spills, acid rains and water pollution have been known to be the cause of the death for many birds and animals. And finally, because many animals are over hunted for their meat, fur and other valuable body parts.

According to Barry Commoner, a staunch environmentalist and author of  The Closing Circle , the first law of ecology states that ''Everything is connected to everything else''.  It's so simple.The endangered species need to be protected because if that specific endangered specie is extinct, the animal that eats it will also get extinct. Apart from the fact that they hold the medicinal, agricultural, ecological, commercial and aesthetic/recreational value, it's just a right thing to do.

Look at the tigers and the polar bears, they are so cute. Large, but cute. They are pretty gentle too, who wants to get rid of a gentle giant ?

The Little Man in my Life.

As you know, Zeus is the name of my baby brother. It is also the name of the Greek King of the Gods. The story behind choosing his name goes like this:

My dad and me were working on a school project about ancient Greece. I decided to do it on Greek Gods. While we were working, my dad suddenly said: "Hey, Rosh, wouldn't it be cool to name the baby Zeus?" I  thought he was just joking, but I loved the name instantly. I went and told mummy and in a joking tone she said "Yea, sure." Our name finalists were Kyle and Zeus. We finally agreed on Zeus and I'm glad we did:)! The night before Zeus was born, we went shopping. For some reason my mom insisted on stopping by the hospital as she was very uncomfortable. The doctor said something about the baby which I didn't understand. But there was one bit I understood perfectly: ''You will give birth either today or tomorrow." I was so excited. After we checked in the hospital, my dad told me I would have to stay home while my Dad stayed with my mom. In the morning, when my dad came to pick me up to go to the hospital, there was a lot of thunder. I remembered that one of Zeus' symbols were a thunderbolt and me telling my dad "Daddy, look thunder, that means Zeus is on to the new world".

Sure enough, he was born at 11:30 am on 18 December, 2009. I remember, when he was born, he wouldn't do much. He barely opened his eyes! He's changed so much since (19 months). Now my mornings begin with his kisses, his slaps and him picking my nose and ears! I love how he wants to follow me around everywhere shouting ''DD'', ''DD'' . (Although, that can get a bit annoying when I have sleepovers) He loves books so I am glad when he starts reading, we'll have more quiet time in the house. I love him like crazy. Even though he can't say it, I know he loves me too !!

Reminds me of Terri Guillemet's quote " There's no love like the love for a brother.There's no love like the love from a brother."

Naughty Chair

There she goes, sitting on the naughty chair,
Hugging her dear, little teddy bear,
Innocent in the face but naughty in the eye,
Sitting in that chair she wanted to cry,
She never did because she'd fear,
The other children would watch and sneer,
When will you learn, naughty little Blair,
It's not nice to pull other children's hair,
Poor little Kimmy's hurt,
"It wasn't me, it was Kurt"
Darling little Julie's hurt as well,
"I'm telling you, it wasn't me, it was Maxwell",
As you can see, dear little Jimmy's crying,
We have proof so no use denying

-Roshni Nayar

Girly Girl

What Makes A Girly Girl

Puppies and ponies,

And marshmallows too, 

Pink and purple,

Mixed with some lovely shoes,

All make a girly girl,

Chocolate ice-cream with caramel swirl.

Along with some raspberry lipgloss,

Add some bubble gum and candy-floss,

And you got a girly girl,

Earrings and purses,

Mixed with some fabulous dresses,

Nail polish and perfume, 

With daisies full in bloom,

All make a girly girl,

Bling and bracelets,

With beautiful anklets,

Diamonds and other jewels,

Along with sarongs and swimming pools,

All make a girly girl

-Roshni Nayar (a.k.a me)

Hope you like it .

Teachers without Google: Impossible

No doctor qualifies without owning a stethoscope. Similarly I don't think a teacher can survive without their laptop.

I can't imagine any of my teachers manually writing down their lesson plan. Come to think about it, I haven't seen any of my teachers without their lappy in a while. Seems to have become an extended part of their body. There are so many times when a question is asked you get the response "Have you googled it?' There was a time when my form teacher asked if we knew what loco parenthesis was . breaking down the word she asked if we knew what "loco" was.. I said Crazy.. she wasn't sure if I was right, so she had to google out the word and I was right .. Yay for google !

In L.O the teacher uses google to make the questions and check the answers.

In music , the teacher makes us watch you.tube and plays the song we need to learn.

In Math, the Internet is used to pull out old test papers and mark them. We are even give homework on a math based site! Last year during Math week (when all we have to do is Math online) we had to carry our laptops everyday to school. The best part was when during the week the school server was under maintenance, the class was taken to a nearby coffee shop (obviously with access to wireless facility) to do Math . It was sad 'coz we got no treats !!! booooo

Not only that we get to follow the lessons we miss and we get home assignments on wikispaces...so much for my mom screaming at me for spending so much time on the net !!!

I just hope none of my teachers stalk me on Fb ...now that would be a disaster.

Arguably, teachers are having the best times of their lives with the aid of computers and Internet.

Save Something

Today when we went to the supermarket we had 13 items packed in 9 plastic bags !!! Haven't they ever heard of the ecosystem / global warming/ recycling/ reuse? At this rate, how on earth is UAE going to keep it's promise of being free of plastic bags by 2013 ?

I absolutely hate it when people go to a grocery store, and when they get the bill, 95% don't even glance at it.  Imagine the number of trees that will get saved if the bills are not printed ! Trees are our main life support. If we continue to cut down trees like this, the human race will come to and end. Think of all the wooden furniture in your home. Think about how many trees needed to be cut to make them.

In my house, there are  9 air-conditioning systems and 4 of them are on 24/7. Think about the air-conditioning systems in your homes. I admit I cannot live without the air-con but then can't we have solar-energy??? Why don't the middle-east governments get together and do something about it? As it is we get enough sun to fry an egg on our window-sills !!

It also annoys me when people don't segregate their rubbish and put all in just one bag ! It does not even take an extra minute to put garbage in different bags . 

I just wish people could take recycling seriously and do their bit for the environment . Maybe if we do take things a wee bit seriously, we'll have fewer earthquakes, volcanoes erupting, floods, tsunamis, out of season rainfalls and perhaps enjoy nature more !

20 Reasons to Love Summer.

Summer turns me upside down
Summer, Summer, Summer
It's like a merry-go-round

-The Cars, Magic

I love having nowhere to be, no schedules to stick to.

I love traveling with family and living in shorts.

I love the smell of sunscreen mixed with Popsicle juice.

I love that swimming pool chlorine works as good or better than a shower.

I love playing family Monopoly until ten o’clock at night.

I love sleeping in until eleven.

I love going out for Mint chocolate chip ice-cream at ten.

I love cold watermelon on a hot day. 

I love the sound of the ice cream truck as it jingles through the neighborhood.

I love finding sand in my pockets and in the cuffs of my jeans.

I love flip flops and sundresses. 

I love ponytails and big, floppy hats. 

I love hoop earrings the size of dessert plates.

I love Slip ‘n Slides and water balloon fights. 

I love the smell of barbecues on Friday afternoons.

I love the sound that air-conditioners make.

I love blasting the radio with the car windows down. 

I love playlists called Summer ’11. 

I love mocktails and smoothies (home made of course).

I love summer blockbusters.

A Bit of Summer Fun..

Is there anything better than sitting in the grass eating a perfectly ripe watermelon? Ummm ... probably not, but these yummy watermelon-inspired beauty treatments come close. They sure know how to make a girl smile. Especially on a 109.4 degree day.

But first, we just have to visit a watermelon-inspired beauty idea from Mom's salon  - The adorable adorable watermelon-based pedicure !

Horror of Horrors

Oh, God! Could things get any worse! This morning, I woke up up with the painful experience of Zeus picking my nose at 6:00! When I went to look for some entertainment, my first choice was my laptop. Unfortunately, my computer decided to die on me ! The repair man will get it back after 2 days ...sigh. My guitar seemed like my savior. While tuning, my guitar string broke :( In addition to that, the shop which fixes and sells instruments is closed for the week. I can't even go swimming since the pool is under maintenance.  I thought maybe I should go read a book, so I had a peaceful 2 hours. And can you believe that we're out of  ice-cream! This is probably the worst time to run out of ice-cream.. right in the middle of summer!  GRRRRRR. To top it off , my best friend from the compound is away in UK and I have only a 5 year old as a neighbor! *cringe* :(

P.S : I have 5 hrs before it's a decent time to get into bed on a holiday ! HELP !!!

Reading now..

'Small Steps' by Louis Sachar. It's a sequel to 'Holes' ( Have yet to see the movie.) . Armpit is such an interesting character. The other book I remember of his is 'There is a Boy in the Girl's Bathroom'. My next buy is going to be his 'The Cardturner'. Hope one day I can publish a book. I do write poetry and my parents and teachers do tell me that I write well, maybe this blogging will take me a step closer to one of my many dreams...

What I am listening to...

Boy, don't I just love this song today...

Getting Started

Hi! I'm Roshni and I'm 11. I'm the eldest born in my family. I have a 1 year old brother who's name is Zeus. My favorite color is purple and my favorite ice-cream flavor is a Baskin Robbins flavor 'Mint and Chocolate Chip'. My school has ended recently for the summer break, which gives me time needed to write my blog.

I did start blogging 3 years ago. God knows what happened, I lost interest. However this time I am more motivated and focused on keeping this going. The idea is to be able to express my views, thoughts and feelings. Hoping to get some feedback and to making friends with varied interests.

Happy Reading !