Hell on Earth

I've recently come across several news reports concerning Dubai--firstly an article my good friend Judith sent me and secondly an article published in the Guardian's G2 yesterday. (It was the first time I had bought a Guardian in aeons, what are the odds of having 2 similar articles thrust at me in a period of 3 days?)

I am sickened.

Sure, people may have little sympathy for the plight of the Karen Andrews of this world...people who've chosen the high life, taken advantage of an exploitative system and overspent. Getting caught an imprisoned would seem a perfectly fitting punishment for these types.
Where is your love? Given the chance, very few people would not be tempted and swept away in such a lifestyle. Most people even dream of such a life.
Yes, I sympathise with Karen Andrews.

It's definitely easier to relate or get outraged by the treatment of Dubai's foreign workforce--being conned into slavery. Not only do they have to deal with hideous work hours, they have no hope of ever leaving. Because they are getting paid, no-one really cares about them nor classes them as "proper slaves".
No-one really cares or bothers to think about them. Did John Newton's efforts really mean nothing?
Painful also must be the shame those workers feel in having been conned into such atrocious situations. It's embarrassing enough when you walk away from a bar with a couple of drinks and realise you've been short-changed....being duped out of your freedom must be a billion times more harrowing.

The ones I don't feel pity for are Emiratis, again a perfect example of turning a blind eye at what amounts to human rights abuse in order to live a comfy life. I'd hazard to say that they are complicit in the atrocity by allowing it to continue.

The whole thing makes me think of Hell. You're lured there with promises of good times and wealth, an easy life... it seems like heaven for a while before it swallows you up and it suddenly dawns on you that you're in Hell.

Dubai--unholy, corrupt, deceitful, arrogant, wasteful, greedy abomination.

Hmmm what to write about....what to write about...

This is a tough one.

This must be the fourth blog I have started, and I still haven't got the hang of a first post. I guess I will just have to go with the flow.

Hello! It's good to be back, good to be able to catch up with some bloggers and friends that I've neglected for a number of months. There's no way in Swindon that I will be able to read through the mountainous pile of posts I have missed in my hiatus so for the most part I will assume that God has been lavishing you all with magnificent blessings and you've been having too fantastic a time to notice my absence.

Good!

I'd hate to think you shed tears over me. Life is tough enough as it is.

I've noticed a decline in the amount of posting from blogs that I have remembered to check, though. I'm fully prepared to blame twitter. It's essentially mini-blogging. It's simple, brainless and fast. Who wants to spend half an hour to an hour on an interesting, complex post? And who is prepared to invest 5 minutes reading it? It's so passé.

One of my main reasons for wanting to start blogging again is to keep my brain in a writing and typing mode. At the moment the most typing I do is on facebook ( I sense a collective eye roll!) and on my favourite forum, the TBF (if you can't decypher what TBF stands for, you probably wouldn't enjoy the place).

When I attempted NaNoWriMo, the National Novel Writing Month, I realised how difficult it was for me to actually sit in front of a computer and write. 500 words could be a challenge, let alone 1600 a day! Getting into the habit of just writing will definitely help me discipline myself into longer, productive writing sessions.

As a person with depression, I have real trouble getting myself to work on projects like essays, writing or reading. This ultimately led me to drop out of not one but two different universities. It's a large personal hurdle I want to conquer, and hitting my target of ten thousand words in under a week proved to me that I still have the capability to be push myself creatively when I set my mind to it.

It was painful, and I lost several hours' sleep doing all night writing sessions (as well as money spent on a stupid amazon purchase when I conked out near the end of the writing binge--all my shopping passwords have been changed to things I can only type after I have had coffee) but I managed it.

So here's to Imitation of Life, my attempt to regain a normal life.