Saturday, December 11, 2010

A Stormy Saturday

I’m still trying to adjust to Saturday evenings without Toastmasters. It still feels a little empty, that slot of time between 5pm and 7pm. I also keep getting bombarded with their weekly invites, which I’m thinking of unsubscribing to as well (with all due respect). I need to find something else to do, and with this weather, there isn't much happening…

I remembered when I was a kid back in Ottawa, Mum used to take my brother and I to the public library on a weekly basis, where we’d spend hours picking out books, reading, and checking books out to read at home. Even till this day, throw me in any library or bookshop and I could spend the entire day there going through books, a little book worm I was!

Then, it suddenly hit me that thanks to the Safadi Cultural Center, we've actually got a public library here in Tripoli, the Al Mouna Library. And without a second thought, I grabbed my umbrella and I drove right over! Registration is simple; all you need to bring is a copy of your ID, a passport size picture of yourself, and LBP 45,000 (which is valid for 12 months), and you’re good to go! And mind you, for a public library in Tripoli, it’s pretty amazing with a good selection of books, magazines, computers, comfy couches, and reading areas…

I headed over straight to the section on Photography and Digital Imaging, and I was quite impressed with the selection of books that they had. If I could, I would have checked them all out, but I decided to take it two at a time and went for a beginner’s book called “Digital Photography” and another called “The Complete Guide to Digital Imaging” to refresh and up my skills in Photoshop and the like. Actually, I have a confession to make; I don’t know how to use Photoshop. In fact I don’t even know the first thing about Photoshop! :-$ So how do I play with pictures? I use Paint, MS Office Picture Manager, and other simple websites:-P HOWEVER! I’m adding “Photoshop” to my list of New Year’s resolutions for 2011. But that’s a different post for a different day… ;-)

Till then, I’m going to leave you with the picture of the storm, which began to escalate on the drive home from the Library:

2 comments:

  1. The Safadi Center is right across my house and I've been to the Library before. It's really a decent, well kept library. I'm happy my son will grow up next to such a center where he can do sports and culture with high standards..

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  2. very true! it's one of the few pluses we've got here in Tripoli, and I hope we see even more improvements in the city soon! :-)

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