Fortunately, I got out of the whole group thing a long time ago. I do not participate in any. I don’t even advertise my blog anymore. I have not done so in years! I was in many Arab blog group sites in the past, and some contacted me later to join, but I just don’t want to deal with being part of any clan anymore. If I am part of one, I will get people saying, “You are only doing it to get people to come to your blog and your blog sucks!” If I don’t join, people will say, “Why are you not part of one, who do you think you are!”

Honestly, who cares about the above. Who needs groups to get noticed now a days.

Strangely enough, because I don’t advertise and I don’t go around marketing my self in any way or form, I get people saying that I write this way to just get more and more visitors. I ignite fires just to get noticed. So, explain this to me logically so I can make sense of it all, I do nothing at all but write in my private blog whatever the hell comes into my head, and I do not go around advertising just to get noticed, but my writing is the big NO NO!

Hmm. Yah, that makes sense. Hell, last time I checked this friggen site was a blog where I write run on sentences and have several syntax error. I do not use Microsoft Word to type my blog essays or an English editor to make sure everything is perfect before I click on that damn blue Publish button.

You know what I despise about certain people’s personality? I despise fake people. I despise people that are too anal about other people’s words and like to correct them to just prove how articulate they are. Finally, I despise people that think they can come here and freely insult me, and I know for a fact that they are scared shitless to do it to my face in real life.

I rather stay out of every circle, out of any association with certain people, and just be my SELF: a stubborn, egotistical, selfish blogger who only writes crap on her blog without thinking twice who reads it.

There, I got it out of my chest. I can sleep now.

My blog this year won so many awards, that I don’t have enough fingers and toes to count them! NOT!! (Didn’t I sound cheesy and dorky like the rest of the bloggers out there?) But yes, my blog won a lot of invisible mind boggling awards. I won people’s readerships. That’s the biggest award I can get as a blogger. I don’t care about best blog, or best writer, or best anything. Who cares? It’s like winning a virtual banner to advertise someone else’s bright idea that started the campaign.

Really, if the prize was money based, then people will be all over it! I would be so all over it!

So, I am gonna list the top blog posts this year by comments, my favorites, and ones that I should have never published, but found their way online cause of my insomnia or excessive amounts of coffee!

Top Blog Posts 2009 | Comments & Reactions

1. April 28, 2009 | It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a conspiracy theory!
2. June 7, 2009 | The Arab Blogorette
3. June 16, 2009 | I think it is time for change!
4. August 25, 2009 | Why are Muslims turning Atheists?
5. August 30, 2009 | Analysis: It is much harder to get rid of her
6. September 7, 2009 | Arabs marrying non-Arabs
7. September 18, 2009 | Window shopping for a bride
8. October 27, 2009 | Symbols of being different

Top Blog Posts 2009 | Monaism & Love

1. January 15, 2009 | Are good people always the victims of life?
2. March 31, 2009 | How accurate is this?
3. April 20, 2009 | Airports think I am a perv!
4. May 21, 2009 | A way to relieve stress
5. July 15, 2009 | Teaching a child the basics of the internet world
6. September 6, 2009 | No Comment
7. September 24, 2009 | I am sick and tired of looking for work!!! NO MORE!
8. December 4, 2009 | The typicals
9. December 26, 2009 | I am the master of my choices

Top Blog Pots 2009 | Those That Should Have Never Been

1. January 28, 2009 | The blogging world is run by monkeys
2. May 4, 2009 | I thought I held the title of taking things too seriously
3. June 20, 2009 | The media has been following me for over two decades
4. September 26, 2009 | I don’t like talking about sex in public

Sometimes life just runs by so fast, that we start forgetting our selves. We forget what we want, what we are able to do, and what we are supposed to do.

Therefore, this week, try to do something different. Pick up the phone and call an old friend. Clean behind your desk. Run around the block. Give money to a charity. Ask your friends if you would like to go out for dinner and a movie. Go out of your way and visit a friend or relative at their home without their knowledge just to say hi. Tell someone how you really feel about them instead of wondering why the sudden distance. Clean out your garage. Clean out your closet. Etc.

After you have done that odd thing you are not used to doing or never done before this week, ask your self this, “Shouldn’t I do this more often? Shouldn’t I try to do something different all the time and get out of this routine?

Tell me or tell others what you have done this week. Try to encourage them as well. You can comment about it here on my site, or blog about it on your own site.

Let’s all participate in this activity, and see what are the outcomes by next Sunday. I hope we can all learn from this, and try new things all the time.

Code for the banner:
<a href="http://www.rebelliousarabgirl.net/2009/11/01/lets-do-something-different/" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.rebelliousarabgirl.net/pictures/2009/11/something_different_day.jpg"/></a>

Code for the banner:
<a href="http://www.rebelliousarabgirl.net/2009/11/01/lets-do-something-different/" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.rebelliousarabgirl.net/pictures/2009/11/something_different_day2.jpg"/></a>

Code for the banner:
<a href="http://www.rebelliousarabgirl.net/2009/11/01/lets-do-something-different/" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.rebelliousarabgirl.net/pictures/2009/11/something_different_day_small.jpg"/></a>

Code for the banner:
<a href="http://www.rebelliousarabgirl.net/2009/11/01/lets-do-something-different/" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.rebelliousarabgirl.net/pictures/2009/11/something_different_day2_small.jpg"/></a>

If that happens, would they revoke the prize?

Anyways, so you can win a Nobel Peace Prize for only having a vision of a good future. Wow, well then. I need to get started on mine. Let me continue my campaign that I started a few months back.

Vote for the Rebellious Arab Girl today!

1. She promises you peace in the middle east!

2. She promises you democracy in each Arab country with 4 – 6 year election time frames with citizens voting new leaderships!

3. She promises you a separation between religion and the state!

4. She promises you no more visa requirements for Arabs to visit other Arab countries!

5. She promises you Palestine to return to its rightful owners!

6. She promises you government funding for each Arab University to allow and contribute their scientific research to the world!

7. She promises you equality in the work force between the sexes!

Well, after I wrote all these promises out, I slapped my self silly and told my self, “Mona, are you on crack?”

I know advertisements are annoying, and they make pennies a day. However, I am going to leave them for two reasons:

1) I have a significant number of lovely daily readers.

2) I am going to use the money for something more than my self and to help others.

Therefore, I have decided that the money I make from my site will be sent to an online Palestinian Children’s Charity. It has absolutely no political affiliation. It is just money to buy medicine, etc. I could care less about politics or any stupid organization, and I support no one.

The rest of the money will be used for hosting my websites and domain renewals, and any other miscellaneous online purchase I need for my sites.

Random Thoughts

Well, I have been on a shopping frenzy lately. I had to go buy new clothes for work. And this is no ordinary work. I can’t dress like I just got out of bed and put on the first thing I saw in the closet that is still not ironed. Oh no. No more! I have to look like I am actually going to work! Not only that, all my clothes are too big on me. I lost so much weight from sitting at home eating my self up from anger and depression, that I was in desperate need of a new wardrobe! So, I am slowly picking up new clothes and will get a lot more later and throw out the old. I only go for sales. I don’t like spending money on clothes. I find it a waste!

Also, it is so much fun walking in downtown and looking like I a little career girl! Hehehe! I look so sophisticated for a programmer. But hey! I get treated well! I get a kick ass view (click to view), free hot drinks, and free lunch every Thursdays. Now that’s the life!

Ramadan Mubarak wa kul 3am wa into bekheer! Yay I am so excited that Ramadan is here! I hope everyone is doing great wa sawman makboolan inshallah. (Allah accepts your fasting.)

[source]

I decided this month in the holy month of Ramadan, there will be a contest that everyone can participate in!

The contest will test your creativity in making wallpapers. I want you guys to try out Photoshop or whatever image editor you use, and show case for us. I want a wallpaper of your favorite item that you cannot live without, with cool decorations around it or anything fancy. Impress me and everyone else especially. The banner has to be tasteful, and nothing bad at all!

At the end of the month, I will post all the banners with your name next to it, and my readers will decide which one they like the most. The winner will receive $50.00 to their Paypal. Also, if you have a website, then I will advertise for a week a banner to your site that I will make for free on the sidebar sponsor’s area of my site!

E-Mail wallpapers to: rebelliousarabgirl@gmail.com

Rule: I have the right to not post your banner if I find that not enough work was put into it. I also have the right to cancel the contest if I don’t get enough entries. I am looking for minimum 10 entries. There are so many tutorials out there, and we all need a challenge in life, right? The reason I decided to start the contest with a graphic design because I am a graphic designer and I like pretty things. Also, I want people to go beyond their limits and do something with their free time.

Please Tweet, tell others, or post this contest on your site and spread the word. Let’s make this exciting and fun for everyone! Sharing is great!

Hey Mona =)
I know you are like one of the most popular Muslim bloggers on the web right now, so I’d really like to share the opening of a new site with you — http://muslimgirl.net. It’s a place where girls can interact with each other, learn about Islam, and apply it to today’s society. Please let me know what you think! I’d love to hear your opinion. …

I love the site! What do you think? I like it when Arab/Muslim girls create their own blogs and start something big.

You guys make me proud!

To earn the 800 EC credits, just post the link to the review or your blog’s URL in the comments area, and that’s it! You got 800 EC credits! Isn’t that a simple way to also do link exchange?

By the way, if you want me to add your URL to my blogroll, just email me your link!

Bonus!

If you write a really good review that is honest and well written, I will post your entire review on my site, and give you 2000 EC credits!

Deadline?
The last day to submit your review is Tuesday, August 4, 2009.

I am also looking for online marketing gurus who want to help me advertise the site.

The catch?

You will obviously get a share of the profits once the site picks up. I am reading a lot about making tutorials or tips websites, but I need lots of committed writers who can commit an hour of their day to write.

If you are interested, then please email me rebelliousarabgirl@gmail.com

I am working on a website now, and I need some articles and commitment!

How to play?

All you got to do is comment on this post. You can say things like, “Hey Mona! I want some credits!” Stuff like that, or comment on anything else you like. However, here is the catch! Tomorrow evening, I will ask my mother to pick a number between 1 and the maximum number of comments on this post. The number she picks will be the winner. So, the more times you comment on this post in the next 24 hours, the more likely chance you will win.

Easy eh?

Start commenting and spread the word while you are at it to win 6000 EC points tomorrow evening!

Update!!

I decided that the contest will end tomorrow at 8:00 pm EST! That gives people around the world time to enter. I know there are many FAQs in the comments, and I will just address them here.

1. Mom will pick a number, and she really doesn’t have a favorite. I will not video tape it, and just tell you guys honestly what she said. I have no reason to pick anyone in particular.

2. This contest is just for fun so I can meet other Entrecard users, and stay in touch with the community.

3. There will be another contest soon (July 1 or July 2nd), but it will be more of value (money) and a bit more challenging but fun. (Not restricted to Entrecard.)

Last Update!!

If you DO NOT have a website link posted in the comments AND you DO NOT have an Entrecard on your site, then I will delete your comment. It’s not fair to the rest.