00086itslust

00086itslust @ 2008-06-01T20:14:00

2008-06-02T00:15:52Z

Yves Saint Laurent was the designer that hooked me to fashion.
I remember reading a book about his life in eleventh grade.
I should have been paying attention to chemistry. instead i was mesmerized by the story of a man who dedicated his life to making beautiful clothing. timeless pieces. despite politics. tragedy. moving. the entire whirlwind.
so yeah i'm crying.
but i've lost something that i can't describe.

00086itslust @ 2008-05-25T14:53:00

2008-05-25T18:54:13Z

and maybe someday we'll grow old and no one will understand what we want anymore

00086itslust @ 2008-01-01T22:22:00

2008-01-02T03:23:05Z

i don't want to waste another moment

00086itslust @ 2007-12-25T00:33:00

2007-12-25T05:33:53Z

i want to go back

00086itslust @ 2007-11-16T01:35:00

2007-11-16T01:45:40Z

Who are we but halves
Sealed jars of white heat
Shuttling through the heavens
Our angels waltzing with sinister devils
While we are shriveled prunes
Wishing on an empty sky

Pitted doves roaming the globe
Streaks of ivory stained with scarlet and black
Cursed to the deafness of solitude
Who are we but miserable disfigurations
Wandering parts, living on our knees
Our eyes stained with our foretold miscalculations

Betrothed to messages in the stars
Cursed are those
Who have come across their halves in the glint of the sun
Princes dancing with harlots and thieves
A mirage, a spell, something we swore that we could see
Perhaps no more than a smile of recognition at the barrel of a gun

Who are we but halves
Incomplete
Seduced by old myths and an endless road
A field picked over
We swore that we saw
A smile of recognition from another life
To only find our only angels making love to demons with a thousand lives
Cursed to the deafness of solitude
Betrothed to an empty sky

00086itslust @ 2007-09-08T21:29:00

2007-09-09T01:29:33Z

3 days, 17 hours, 30 mins, 51 secs

00086itslust @ 2007-06-19T07:19:00

2007-06-19T11:25:23Z

my summer playlist:

1. Mika, "Stuck in the Middle"
2. Maroon 5, "Makes Me Wonder"
3. Gang of Four, "Natural's Not in It"
4. Imogen Heap, "Headlock"
5. Amy Winehouse, "Rehab"
6. Rihanna ft. Jay-Z, "Umbrella"
7. Enrique Iglesias, "Do you know" (the ping pong song)
8. Keane, "Everybody's Changing"
9. Death Cab for Cutie, "I Will Follow You into the Dark"
10. Marilyn Manson, "What Goes Around" (cover of Justin Timberlake's song!!)
11. Justin Timberlake, "Summer Love"
12. Stars, "Look Up"
13. The Ukelele Orchestra of Great Britain, "Miss Dy-na-mi-tee"
14. Islands, "Rough Gem"
15. Joan Jett, "Bad Reputation
16. Pan's Labyrinth Soundtrack
17. Marie Antoinette Soundtrack
18. Rihanna, "Don't Stop the Music"

00086itslust @ 2007-06-08T00:48:00

2007-06-08T04:48:22Z

your girl, she's a renegade

00086itslust @ 2007-06-04T00:04:00

2007-06-04T04:26:50Z

Eleven TV Guys that I have been/Am Basically In Love With.

1. Brandon Walsh

I started watching Beverly Hills 90210 when I was five. I thought I would marry Brandon Walsh, even as a five year old. I used to collect the backs of cheerio boxes and cut out the cards. I would forget about him, because of cartoons. When I was ten though, I would fall in love with him again. I had to dream about him killing me so I could stop liking him. But I still know that he prefers listerine over scope.

2. Randy Taylor

Okay, I received a lot of mockery for this one. I remember telling someone I had a crush on JTT and they told the entire masjid (including all of the boys). Meaning when I made up a riddle for english class, someone guessed that it was JTT in a mask. I had a half crush on simba because of JTT's voice. I also put up with Tim Allen's grunting for a one particularly dreamy Randy Taylor. Now? He looks like a serial killer. Sad. What is really creepy is that I had a SATELLITE camper that looked just like him.

3. Shawn Hunter

Shawn Hunter. How could you not love him? He was a funny and romantic slacker that was obviously disturbed. The fact that he dated Angela made me think that he would want to be with a minority such as myself. However, sometimes his mouth got to me. Basically, I was in love with his hair. I just saw him on IMDB. I would still hit it.

4. Jack Hunter

Two Boy Meets World crushes? Hell yes. Right when I realized that Angela turned Shawn into a wet blanket, and that Jack was much much cuter, I placed my love somewhere else. Okay, this was where it got bad. I had his address in my pocket (I got it off of one of those celeb websites). And I practiced writing him letters. I never wrote him one. When I went to visit family friends in LA, I wanted to visit him. I also watched All I wanna Do because of him. It is a fabulous film. Jack Hunter was basically the cutest ditz ever.

5. Miguel Lopez Fitzgerald

When you speak of him, you use his entire name. I became obsessed with passions for him. Yes, he has feminine eyebrows. Anyways, I loved him because he was so naive. And pretty. And he took his shirt off. Basically, he is eye candy. And that is it. Also, basically enough to watch the trashiest soap opera alive. Promise.

6. Angel

Dark, brooding, and basically the hottest vampire ever. I think this was the part of my life where I was trying to purge my obession with Justin Timberlake. Or something. (It didn't work)

7. Pacey Witter

I am still in love with Pacey. I mean seriously. He was funny. This is all that matters really. And the episode where they get stuck in k-mart is amazing. I still expect him to rescue katie holmes from tom cruise. Please Pacey? In a boat?

8. Jeff Murdock

"You know, when I was a kid, I used to write the word 'naked' hundreds of times on a piece of paper, and then rub my face in it."

And that is why I love him. You watch Coupling JUST for him.

9. Harrison John/ Henry Grubstick

Okay, seriously. Dear Chris, please keep playing these adorable roles. When he was Harrison in Popular, he was funny and nerdy. And as Henry in Ugly Betty, um he is adorable and nerdy. I heart nerdy. YAY.

10. Jim Halpert

He is adorable and hilarious. I love basically everything he does to torture Dwight. Also, him and Pam are disgustingly cute in the best way possible. Basically, he is amazing.

11. Seth Cohen

Epitome of what I basically want to spend the rest of my life with. He is hilarious and you just want to squish his cheeks. And. Well, even though he couldn't save the OC, I love him because Adam Brody IS Seth Cohen, so it makes me happy that in real life he is a little music snob who is sarcastic and runs his sentences together.

00086itslust @ 2007-05-27T18:04:00

2007-05-27T22:04:54Z

from this point forward, friends only.

00086itslust @ 2007-04-29T15:17:00

2007-04-29T19:19:14Z

i would die without the following people:
1. Whitney Kirkman
2. Sara Haddad
3. Sabina Ferhatovic
4. Anna Patton
5. Christine DiPietro
6. Ashley Tugman
7. Mor Aframian
8. Una Stone
9. Cynthia Rouf
10. Laura White
11. Saja Hindi
12. Caitlin Cauley

and I mean it.

00086itslust @ 2007-04-28T12:49:00

2007-04-28T16:58:02Z

SUPPOSEDLY if you've seen over 85 films, you have no life. Mark the ones you've seen. There are 239 films on this list. Copy this list, go to your own facebook account, paste this as a note. Then, put x's next to the films you've seen, add them up, change the header adding your number, and click post at the bottom. Have fun.

(x) Rocky Horror Picture Show
() Grease
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest
( ) Boondock Saints
( ) Fight Club
( x) Starsky and Hutch
( ) Neverending Story
( ) Blazing Saddles
( ) Airplane

Total: 4

(x) The Princess Bride
(x) AnchorMan
(x) Napoleon Dynamite
(x ) Labyrinth
( ) Saw
( ) Saw II
( ) Saw III
( ) White Noise
( ) White Oleander
( ) Anger Management
(x) 50 First Dates
(x) The Princess Diaries
(x) The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement

Total so far: 11

( ) Scream
( ) Scream 2
( ) Scream 3
( ) Scary Movie
( ) Scary Movie 2
( ) Scary Movie 3
( ) Scary Movie 4
(x) American Pie
() American Pie 2
() American Wedding
( ) American Pie Band Camp

Total so far: 12

(x) Harry Potter 1
(x) Harry Potter 2
(x) Harry Potter 3
(x) Harry Potter 4
( ) Resident Evil 1
( ) Resident Evil 2
(x) The Wedding Singer
( ) Little Black Book
( ) The Village
() Lilo & Stitch

Total so far: 17

(x) Finding Nemo
() Finding Neverland
( ) Signs
(x) The Grinch
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
( x) White Chicks
( ) Butterfly Effect
(x) 13 Going on 30
( ) I, Robot
( ) Robots

Total so far: 21

() Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
( ) Universal Soldier
( ) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
() Along Came Polly
( ) Deep Impact
( ) KingPin
() Never Been Kissed
(x) Meet The Parents
() Meet the Fockers
( ) Eight Crazy Nights
( ) Joe Dirt
( ) KING KONG - only the original

Total so far: 22

(X ) A Cinderella Story
( ) The Terminal
() The Lizzie McGuire Movie
( ) Passport to Paris
(x) Dumb & Dumber
( ) Dumber & Dumberer
( ) Final Destination
( ) Final Destination 2
( ) Final Destination 3
( ) Halloween
() The Ring
() The Ring 2
( ) Surviving X-MAS
() Flubber

Total so far: 24

( ) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
( ) Practical Magic
(x) Chicago
( ) Ghost Ship
( ) From Hell
( ) Hellboy
(x) I Am Sam
( ) The Whole Nine Yards
( ) The Whole Ten Yards

Total so far: 26

( ) The Day After Tomorrow
( ) Child's Play
( ) Seed of Chucky
( ) Bride of Chucky
(x) Ten Things I Hate About You
(X ) Just Married
( ) Gothika
() Nightmare on Elm Street
() Sixteen Candles
(x) Remember the Titans
( ) Coach Carter
( ) The Grudge
( ) The Grudge 2
(X ) The Mask
( ) Son Of The Mask

Total so far: 30

( ) Bad Boys
( ) Bad Boys 2
( ) Joy Ride
( ) Lucky Number Slevin
( ) Ocean's Eleven
( ) Ocean's Twelve
( ) Bourne Identity
( ) Bourne Supremecy
( ) Lone Star
( ) Bedazzled
( ) Predator I
( ) Predator II
( ) The Fog
( ) Ice Age
( ) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
( ) Curious George

Total so far: 30

() Independence Day
( ) Cujo
( ) A Bronx Tale
( ) Darkness Falls
( ) Christine
(x) ET
( ) Children of the Corn
( ) My Bosses Daughter
( X) Maid in Manhattan
() War of the Worlds
() Rush Hour
() Rush Hour 2

Total so far: 32

( ) Best Bet
(x) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
(X ) She's All That
() Calendar Girls
() Sideways
( ) Mars Attacks
( ) Event Horizon
(x) Ever After
(x) Wizard of Oz
(x) Forrest Gump
( ) Big Trouble in Little China
( X) The Terminator
( ) The Terminator 2
( ) The Terminator 3

Total so far: 38

( ) X-Men
( ) X-2
( ) X-3
() Spider-Man
() Spider-Man 2
( ) Sky High
( ) Jeepers Creepers
( ) Jeepers Creepers 2
(x) Catch Me If You Can
(x) The Little Mermaid
(x) Freaky Friday
( ) Reign of Fire
() The Skulls
(x) Cruel Intentions
( ) Cruel Intentions 2
( x) The Hot Chick
(x) Shrek
(x) Shrek 2

Total so far: 45

( ) Swimfan
() Miracle on 34th street - only the original
( ) Old School
(x) The Notebook
( ) K-Pax
( ) Krippendorf's Tribe
(x) A Walk to Remember
( ) Ice Castles
( ) Boogeyman
(x) The 40-year-old Virgin

Total so far: 48

(x) Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring
( x) Lord of the Rings The Two Towers
( ) Lord of the Rings Return Of the King
( ) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
( ) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
( ) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Total so far: 50

( ) Baseketball
( ) Hostel
( ) Waiting for Guffman
( ) House of 1000 Corpses
( ) Devils Rejects
() Elf
( ) Highlander
( ) Mothman Prophecies
( ) American History X
( ) Thr3e

Total so Far: 50

( ) The Jacket
( ) Kung Fu Hustle
( ) Shaolin Soccer
( ) Night Watch
(x) Monsters Inc.
(x) Titanic
(x) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
( ) Shaun Of the Dead
( ) Willard

Total so far: 53

( ) High Tension
( ) Club Dread
( ) Hulk
( ) Dawn Of the Dead
( ) Hook
( x) Chronicles Of Narnia The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
( ) 28 days later
( ) Orgazmo
( ) Phantasm
( ) Waterworld

Total so far: 54

( ) Kill Bill vol 1
( ) Kill Bill vol 2
( ) Mortal Kombat
( ) Wolf Creek
( ) Kingdom of Heaven
( ) the Hills Have Eyes
( ) I Spit on Your Grave aka the Day of the Woman
( ) The Last House on the Left
( ) Re-Animator
( ) Army of Darkness

Total so far: 54

(x) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
() Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
() Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
() Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
(x) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
() Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
( ) Ewoks Caravan Of Courage
( ) Ewoks The Battle For Endor

Total so far: 56

() The Matrix
() The Matrix Reloaded
() The Matrix Revolutions
( ) Animatrix
( ) Evil Dead
( ) Evil Dead 2
() Team America: World Police
( ) Red Dragon
( ) Silence of the Lambs
( ) Hannibal

i am not a loser. YAY

00086itslust @ 2007-04-21T20:50:00

2007-04-22T00:51:17Z

http://www.brightcove.com/title.jsp?title=770030985

confessions

2007-03-12T02:44:45Z

i am on here for ONTD. duh.

00086itslust @ 2006-12-15T20:31:00

2006-12-16T00:31:53Z

hi journal, i haven't talked to you in a long time.

00086itslust @ 2006-08-20T20:11:00

2006-08-21T00:12:14Z

if you show me real love baby i'll show you mine
hahahhaha
hoh p.hilton

eww school starts soon!
sigh. i think, i am going to marry a greek man. (not frat)

00086itslust @ 2006-05-24T21:03:00

2006-05-25T04:04:12Z

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah
frustrating me for a whole semester.

00086itslust @ 2006-05-13T04:35:00

2006-05-13T11:35:55Z

when i was sixteen, i fell in love with the sky. i don't know why it took me so long to fall for it, it had been above me the entire time. I guess sometimes, it just takes us so long to look up and realize that there's another world above us.

00086itslust @ 2006-05-11T16:13:00

2006-05-11T20:14:15Z

in regards to grades, etc. all i have to say is:

00086itslust @ 2006-05-05T17:55:00

2006-05-05T21:56:01Z

i wrote a paper about vibrators
my parents told me i am 5 years away from over the hill

00086itslust @ 2006-04-26T00:03:00

2006-04-26T07:04:11Z

obstacle one: get over it.

00086itslust @ 2006-04-06T10:47:00

2006-04-06T14:47:29Z

i won i won!!!

00086itslust @ 2006-04-02T04:18:00

2006-04-02T11:20:46Z

dead sea scrolls exhibit = amazing.

discovery place? glorified playspace. i think i was in love with it in elementary school bc i could only go there once? it was pretty scary to see something so glorified not meet my like. nine year old standards. oh wait i was twelve or something when i went there the first time. i went with naddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddle and we talked about pokemon. that is most likely the reason why i adored it. they need to fix some of that stuff. the mirrors were cool. but the dead sea scrolls were aweeeesome.

i don't like the way taco bells smell.
at all

:D

2006-03-30T10:31:01Z

highlights of this week
1. adventures to third place
2. adventures to sushi blues
3. people helping me not think about stress.

00086itslust @ 2006-03-26T19:04:00

2006-03-27T03:09:37Z

James Van Der Beek, and his curly blonde locks tumbling across his
frustrated, furrowed brow did not greet me as I walked through the double
doors of Athens Drive High School, a fateful August morning in 2000.
Instead, I was greeted by the obnoxious chattering of way too many people
who knew each other all too well already.
I might have watched one too many episodes of teenage, high school drama.
I had been preparing for this day for a long time.
I went to Al-Iman School, a local Islamic school that could boast a little
over two hundred students. My graduating eighth grade class had a whopping
twelve - sixteen students. We never really interacted with the boys
because we were busy lowering our gazes and being modest and such.
All I heard about high school from the tiny walls of my Islamic studies
courses, was the uncertainty, and the heightened risk of temptation and
debauchery.
Instead of being greeted by sex, drugs, and rock and roll, as I had
expected, I was greeted by the buzz of a world that already existed
without me. It was my first time exposed to a world that had only existed
in myth and through fire and brimstone. I was tossed into the pit of
hedonism. I would see the world of Dawson's Creek, Popular, and all those
other realisitic WB television shows, playing out before me.
I prepared carefully the night before my first day at public school. I
chose the outfit- white jeans with blue flowers all over them, a blue and
white striped shirt, and a white button down shirt on top. I decided to
endure the pain of wearing white heels, and I made sure that my newly cut
hair was gelled and brushed.
Everything was planned out. Everything would be perfect.
I was neat, and exotic. Arab, Muslim, different, I was daring and
exciting, I thought I would climb to great social heights.
I walked in through the chipped double doors as my friend chatted my ear
off, giving me last minute coaching.
When aliens land on earth, naturally, they don on disguises to conceal the
nature of their origin, so that they may observe the creatures that are
human. But we usually figure them out because they try too hard to blend
in. Therefore, making themselves stick out like sore thumbs, and then they
have to alter memories and deal with pitchforks and burning at the stake,
stuff like that.
I was horrified for two reasons. First off, my first impression on the
convoluted heirarchy of high school had been destroyed with a simple,
over-matching, over-dressed outfit. While my peers looked as though they
rolled out of bed and brushed their teeth if they were lucky, I was
suddenly the forty year old mother that was trying so violently and
desperately to fit in with her daughter and her friends, using hip lingo,
and finally resigning after she is constantly bludgeoned with fierce cries
of MOM and hisses of YOU'RE EMBARASSING ME.
Looking like a walking mid-life crisis was one thing, but something
bothered me more than that.
I looked like everyone else.
I walked in, a skinny, pale girl of fourteen, with stringy black hair,
round hazel eyes, and about as exotic as american toast.
Now I must say, I felt swindled. All of my life, I was under the
impression that I was exotic, and foreign, and fantastically different. I
spent eight years in a homogenous Islamic school environment, and I longed
for the freedom of being an exotic being amongst the plain and frumpy. I
wanted to be the phoenix rising amongst the ashes, the aristocracy of one.
Having been disappointed with high school in the first five minutes of my
experience, I proceeded to homeroom. I made my way towards the gym, where
I would feel the first pangs of the persecution of being at the end of the
alphabet. In a small school like I was in before, it didn't matter where
you stood in the alphabet, and the beginning pretty much skipped to the
end, because everyone had "Abdul-" in front of their last name or
something. Suddenly, I was the refugee of the alphabet, learning to deal
with the inhumanity of being the students that are so forgotten that they
shoved us in the gym where we could not even hear our homeroom teacher.
I sat in between my classmates, clumsy and feeling like an imposter. When
I meet new people, my voice reaches an all time high, piercing the ears of
the victim, forcing my atrocious social mutilation on them.
My first victim in my high school career, would be a girl who I am still
friends with today. I tend to start getting on a verbal hill, where I
continue to snowball downwards, and I can not control the things that come
out of my mouth, clobbering my victim, and not even allowing them to
breathe, speak, share, or defend themselves.
They don't just have the right to remain silent, I kind of turned the
Miranda rights into the rules of a dictatorship.
I meandered through my first day of high school, absorbing every bit of
this new culture that was completely foreign to me.
I was convinced that I would fit in
The thing about looking like everyone else, but being different than
everyone else, it is the ugly stepsister of all problems. You really don't
want to deal with it, but it's going to keep nagging until you atleast try
to fit the huge foot into the tiny, delicate glass slipper.
I was torn in between two cultures, and two worlds, and either way I
tried, the slipper didn't fit.
The realization and my naive enthusiasm to devour the world around me
faltered.
I tried to buy the right jeans, do my hair the right way, talk the right
way, listen to the right music.
I was still who I am, I prayed five times a day, and I yelled at my mother
in Arabic. I went to a private school, and I still believed in fairy
tales.
At one point, I even tried to be more ethnic, which included speaking more
arab-like, and braiding my hair. People just thought that either a) I was
special, or b) I was trying to be black.
Most thought b because that was just the cool thing to do.
I think the most difficult thing for an overdramatic, overimaginative
fourteen year old girl is to find out that she is trumped by a mold of
mediocrity that she created herself.
Eventually, I would find the middle ground between all the things that I
was, but standing in my white heels, with five minutes to get to my
classes that seemed miles apart, I could not foresee that point.
I remembered clomping through the hallways, desperately searching for my
classroom, hoping maybe, just maybe, Dawson would come smoothly out of his
English class, grab my schedule, smirk at me, and take my arm to my next
class. He'd ask me what lunch I had, and we'd sit together, and we'd fall
madly in love, and he'd convert, and everyone would know and understand.
Instead, I walked into my English class late, awkward and miserable,
silently cursing myself for mixing reality with fantasy.
I'm still kind of mad that Dawson never showed up, because I had make
conversation with real people. By this point, it was third period, and we
were playing more get to know you games. The thing I hate about those
games is that sometimes, it points out how completely uninteresting you
are. In that moment, you stand before the class, and when your partner
would present you, if your introduction didn't warrant a chuckle or a
gasp, you were socially dead.
The class knew I was Muslim and Palestinian within five minutes of my
partner introducing me. Suddenly, an avalanche of questions were triggered
throughout the year. This was not the type of attention I was so
desperately seeking. I wanted admiration, not the same kind of attention
that a panda in a zoo recieved.
My friend and I hashed the first day of high school on the way home. This
was another day to her, she was exposed to wake county public school
systems for a long time- she was a veteran. I, on the other hand,
preserved what I could of my not-so-special first day in my memory.
I hadn't made many friends, I was naive, stupid, idealistic, and I could
practically forget my freshman year.
All I could tell you, is that I am very disappointed in James Van Der Beek.

"Muslim Girls"
Narrarator: Lunchtime, Any high school USA- my parents moved over here
because they heard that there was a strong muslim population. I'd gotten
through the first portion of my day without encountering much of the
"diversity" that they had longed so much for. Lunchtime, for any teenager,
is the peak of social hours, where you meet, greet, mix, and stir the
types of drama that come pre-packaged for those under eighteen. I was to
go through the anxiety of finding somewhere to sit.
[enter a group of muslim girls coming in through, wearing matching pink
scarves, outfits that are v. preppy, almost completely matching, very well
dressed, they are a group of three girls, one girl in the center Reem with
Kawthar to her left and Jamilah to her right. they move with confidence,
people move aside. they sit at a table that seems to have been marked off
for them. Reem sits in the center, and Kawthar and Jamilah sit to the
sides of her. ]
Reem: [starting to pull out her lunch] Oh my GOD so did you see how short
Samira's shirt was in gym class today?
Kawthar: Totally. Her skin was showing the WHOLE TIME we were doing
jumping jacks!
Reem: [Rolling her eyes] Seriously, it's so tan, you can tell that she has
been exposing it a whole bunch. She's kind of fat anyways, so I don't even
see why she is proud of it showing.
Jamilah: ugh. AND her hijab is always sliding off of her head.
Kawthar: [noticing the narrarator, LAYLA, pointing at a girl with a blue
scarf on] OMG that is such a pretty hijab. Who is that?
Jamilah: [biting her sandwich nonchalantly] Oh, that's the new girl.
Reem: [eyes widening] Jamilah! What is WRONG with you?
Jamilah: [Looking down at her sandwich] What? It's zabiha.
Reem: [rolls eyes] No, why didn't you tell us there is a new girl? It is
crucial that you tell us these kinds of things.
Kawthar: What's her story?
Jamilah: I don't know I haven't really talked to her, she was just a new
girl in one of my classes.
Reem: Girls, Do you know what this means?
Kawthar: OMG! Look! [a girl with a purple scarf on is moving towards
LAYLA] Samira is totally going to pull her in!

[other side of the room]
Samira: Salaams, my name is Samira, you new here?
Layla: Yeah, I just moved here. My name is Layla
Samira: You'll totally have *SO* much fun here. Would you like to sit with
us? [motions to table with more 2 other Muslim girls, all wearing hijabs.]
Layla: Sure.
[Jamilah rushes over before Layla actually sits down, grabs her arm]
Jamilah: OMG you forgot you were going to sit with us today!
Layla: [confused] I'm pretty sure I have-
Jamilah: [smiling] Oh you are in my Honors English class, come on, I have
people for you to meet! [pulls her away] [Samira and other girls, look
upset.]

[Jamilah pulling Layla over to other side of the lunch room, sitting her
down]
Reem: Like, Salaams. I'm Reem
Kawthar: I'm Kawthar
Jamilah: I'm Jamilah
Layla: [still confused] I am Layla.
Reem: Are you going to thank us?
Layla: What?
Jamilah: [chuckling] I don't think she understands
Kawthar: You totally need the 411
Layla: [confused stare]
Reem: [spreading her arms out as though she is going to tell a long winded
story] Social suicide. Samira and those other girls are totally social
suicide. They are just so lame.
Jamilah: OMG did you see Samira's scarf today? I mean please. It looks she
like she made it out of Barney.
[all laugh, Layla looks uncomfortable]
Reem: We don't like Samira, and anyone who associates with her.
Layla: Why not?
Kawthar: She flirts with ALL of the Muslim guys.
Jamilah: Just last week she was putting a move on Ahmad in the library.
Reem: She kept on saying that they were studying for Chemistry
Kawthar: But we SO know they weren't talking about acids and bases.
Reem: She was totally twirling her hijab around her finger.
Jamilah: She also beat Reem out for MSA president.
Reem: She did NOT deserve it. She only got it because she is such a flirt.
Besides she wears ugly hijabs.
Kawthar: She isn't even cute. or cool. or nice. She is SO FAKE.
Reem: I HATE FAKE PEOPLE. [sighs]
Jamilah: She is so lame. She talks to all of these people, and she is a
big loser.
Kawthar: If you ever want to survive, socially, you don't talk to Samira
Reem: Ever.
Jamilah: Ever.
Layla:...okay. I think she's nice.
Jamilah: You think she is, but she isn't.
Reem: But we are going to win the election this year.
Kawthar: [piping in] INSHA'ALLAH
[Boy walks by.. says "Asalamu Alaikum"]
[girls giggle "Wa Alaikum Assalam" back at him, he shrugs and looks at
them oddly]
Reem: that is Ahmad.
Layla: and...
Kawthar: He is *SO HOT*
[Reem hits her]
Kawthar: But he is totally, Reem's. They are SO going to get married
INSHA'ALLAH!
[collectively: Insha'Allah!]
Jamilah: [points to Samira's table] LOOK AHMAD IS GOING OVER TO HER TABLE.
Reem: OH HELL NO.
Kawthar: They always say they're talking about Chemistry or MSA.
Layla: well, what if they really are?
Reem: OMG no they're not. She always wants what is mine. Girls, we have to
make her pay.
Kawthar: Wait. We have to make Layla one of us.
Layla: Actually--
Reem: OMG FOUR GIRLS THIS WILL BE SO AWESOME. So pink scarves Monday, and
we can only wear red scarves on fridays. Tomorrow, I think we are going to
wear green scarves. [mischevious look]
Kawthar: OMG! That means.
Jamilah: Revenge.
Layla: I don't know if I have a green scarf.
Kawthar: You could like, tie-dye one.
Reem: I have an extra one.
Layla: Great.
Jamilah: It is key, to coordinate the rest of your outfit with your green
scarf.
Reem: Can't make us look bad, horrible fashion statements are totally haraam.
Layla: I think that is fatwa.
Reem: Don't make up words.
[lunch bell rings, the two groups of Muslim girls run into each other]
Samira: [studying Layla] Salaam, Layla!
[Reem, Kawthar and Jamilah look at Layla]
Layla: [mutters] Wasalaam [rolls eyes]
[girls giggle, Samira looks confused]

[next day]
Narrarator: I had walked into the middle of some sort of social Islamic
Intifada rivalry, completely blind, and without even saying hardly a word,
I had picked sides.
[setting: lunch table]
[REEM, LAYLA,KAWTHAR, JAMILAH huddled together, plotting and giggling]
Reem: This will work out so well
Layla: Is this really a good idea?
Kawthar: ugh, DUH. it's genius, we'll totally win.
Reem: Are you questioning me?
Layla: um. no. maybe.
Reem: That's what I thought
Jamilah: This is going to be perfect. Ahmad will never marry her now!
[Samira walks by and says Salaams, and the girls look at her and reply
while fighting to keep down giggles]
Narrarator: I don't know if I really liked them as much as they
entertained me. I just rolled with it.
[setting MSA meeting]
Samira: Alright everyone, the meeting will now come to order. Salams, and
welcome to today's MSA meeting. We will be having MSA elections shortly.
[enter, reem, layla, kawthar, and jamilah, bouncing in loudly, giggling,
all wearing matching shirts that say VOTE 4 REEM, with jackets]
[everyone flashes them dirty looks]
Samira: um, well alright. Ahmad has written up the names of all of the
candidates on the board, and after the speeches, we will pass out the
ballots. Remember, you are choosing who you think is good for the MSA,
this isn't about personal motives or grudges [flashes reem a look, reem
rolls her eyes] Alright. Let the speeches begin, first we'll start with
the people trying to run for president.

AHMAD: I would like to run for MSA president because I am kind of a big
deal, and I always bring the pizza. Plus, I'm pretty funny and I tell some
good halal jokes. So yeah, vote for me.
[a friend: TAKBEER! mixed with clapping, and a few snickers]

Abdullah: Salaam, my name is Abdullah, which means slave of ALLAH SUBHANA
wa TA'ALA. and I would like to RUN FOR PRESIDENT because I feel in this
HARAAM and ANTI-ISLAMIC WORLD I am a BEACON of ADVICE and HELP and I THINK
I can BRING LIGHT into this WORLD and BRING HOPE to the UMMAH [someone
begins singing cumbaya, everyone snickers] I am GOING to IGNORE that, for
you ARE beneath ME. Therefore, vote for me, for I am the future of
Islam.Thank you [silence, then awkward takbeer, and clapping]

Kareem: [strutting] SALAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM. watup ya'll my muslim BROTHAS AND
SISTAS. there is only one way for me to show the passion that I got for
this. Sunglasses and a beat nabil, SUNGLASSES AND A BEAT [other kid tosses
him a pair of sunglasses and begins to beat on a desk] [KAREEM begins to
rap to the beat] MY NAME IS KA-REEM, but not pronounced CREAM, I am proud
of being of the MUSLIMEEN, by being on shura I'll represent our DEEN,
Islam is like my second SPLEEN, I'll be so awesome it'll be LIKE A DREAM.
so VOTE KAREEM or I'll be MEAN.
[boys whistle, girls giggle]

Reem: Like Salaams everyone! My name is REEM, and this is why I'm running
for PRESIDENT! I'm totally awesome, and really cute, and I make hijab look
cute, so I make Muslims look cute. Plus, like, we never have fun we always
talk about boring things and like, I promise to make every meeting totally
NOT a snooze, and I plan to like do cool things. Plus I'm better than
OTHER people that are PRESIDENT. I am totally way awesome and I know a lot
of people!!!. *Anyways* VOTE 4 REEM if you want next year to be a dream!
[her girls stand up and holler at her]

Samira: Salaam, my name is Samira. [soft booing] and I want to run for
reelection for the position of president because I think I have done a
pretty good job of being president [YEAH RIGHT comes from Kawthar, who
tries to conceal but fails] ahem...anyways, I have made a lot of changes
and I have acted in order to increase our awareness and visibility on
campus, and I have also doubled the membership. So, please vote for me, I
will not let you down. [People begin clapping, and LAYLA REEM SAMIRA AND
JAMILAH TAKE OFF THEIR JACKETS AND TURN AROUND TO REVEAL THE BACK OF THEIR
SHIRTS WHICH SAY SAMIRA INTERMINGLES]
[everyone is silent as the girls roar with laughter, Samira looks at them
with rage]
ABDULLAH: WHAT? SAMIRA INTERMINGLES? ISTAGHFIR ALLAH SHE IS NOT MY MSA PRESIDENT!
Samira: [composed] Thank you, for that bit of slander. I'd have to say
though, going as far to as to do something like that is pretty low
considering I havent done anything like that. But, since we're on the
topic, Reem, you shouldn't leave this around. [HOLDS UP BOOK THAT SAYS
HARAAM BOOK ON THE FRONT] Let's see what Reem and friends write about
everyone since she is so keen on sharing. [Reem is in shock]
[begins reading] Kareem needs to stop trying to rap, because he thinks he
is black, and he totally puts aluminum foil on his teeth, which I think is
a poor excuse for lacking hygeine. [Kareem looks angry] Amira doesn't
think Brad Pitt is hot so she is probably a lesbian which is really
haraam. [looks up] Ahmad--
Reem [exclaims in frustration] THAT IS NOT FAIR STOP
[samira smirks, Reem goes for the book in rage, and tries to grab it from
her.]
Kareem: GIRL FIGHT!!!!!!
[Fighting over book, and it rips apart and falls through the air just as a
voice yells out STOP]
MSA counselor: What in the world are you doing? I get stuck in traffic,
and you turn into animals? You are supposed to be adults, not a bunch of
savage pigs. I need an explanation.
[Samira and Reem look down shamefully]
[In unision: SHE DID IT]
MSA counselor: Until this is all sorted out, I am going to use my
authority to call this meeting cancelled until you get your act together.
That means elections are postponed. Everyone leave. Except the
troublemakers.
[everyone groans, and starts leaving KAREEM and NABIL grumble and grab the
snacks before anyone notices]
MSA counselor: Go on.
Reem: Fine. I'm s-sor.
Samira: WHAT
Reem: Sorry.
Samira: Why?
Reem: ugh! You were mean too.
Samira: *shrug* only defending myself.
Reem: Well...I guess.
Samira: I'm sorry too
[begin discussing, and eventually hug and shake hands]
[All stand facing audience]
Layla: [voiceover] Talking about Samira didn't make Reem or any of the
rest of us better Muslims, or better people, or even let us win the
election. It made us look like complete idiots. We learned to be our own
persons, and I found truth in the community that my parents had so
idealistically suggested. I found new friends, and I found impacting
experiences within my first week here. Kareem ended up winning MSA
president, and our "girl rules" fell apart. We united against Kareem. Just
kidding. We all learned that it was okay to have our differences, but in
the end, we needed to love and support one another, because like it or
not, we understood each other better than anyone else, and we couldn't let
petty problems get in the way.