Book update (1): Hard at work

These past couple of days (or, more precisely, nights) I have been diligently typing away at my masterpiece debut novel like a little monkey on crack.

It’s going well, but the best gems seem to be in the chapter titles. So far I've got fourteen super amazing mind-blowingly great ones.

Back in journalism school, they taught us: ‘A great title is half the work. People will read the most trite nonsense, as long as you reel them in with a great headline.’ 

I wonder if that rule works for books too... 

Stephen King doesn't like adverbs

The adverb is not your friend. 

Free milk, no cookies

If anyone can use a few dozen tea bags and a couple of pints of milk, give me a call. Nobody in this house will be consuming them anymore.

As I told my friend a few weeks ago: ‘there must be something seriously wrong with this guy, nobody can be this nice’.

I hate it when I’m right.

Karma, you’re up. Yalla.

Picture post (6): Pope Shenouda memorial

Pope Shenouda memorial, a set on Flickr.

Teaching in Egypt (1): ‘Women are superficial and stupid’

For the past few weeks I have been teaching English conversation classes. It’s a lot of fun, especially when you get to teach the higher levels, with students that can actually partake in a discussion.

Of course, the more controversial the topic, the more interesting it gets. This week I discussed women’s rights.

(for those of you not in the know, sexual harassment of women is rampant in Egypt, as you can read here, here, here and here).

A male student made the opening statement:

‘Women’s rights in Egypt are a myth. Women are superficial and stupid, they shouldn’t have any rights.’

When I asked him what he based this opinion on, he got up out of his chair and pointed at one of the girls in class. ‘Her!’

‘Women only care about shopping and make-up, she is the perfect example of that.’

Well, that certainly got the class going.

What I learned today (2): Cookies vs biscuits

The term ‘cookies’ only applies to the round variety. If it is square, it should most definitely be referred to as a ‘biscuit’. When containing nuts and some kind of honey- or sugar-like substance, it must be called a ‘bar’. 

Incorrect use of the above mentioned terms will highly likely result in confused Brits and Americans regarding the snack you are referring to.

What I saw today (1): Antique car in City of the Dead

Check out the super old 'automobile' we found in the City of the Dead!

That bathtub plus chair set up looks mighty comfortable too.