Today I received an unexpected phone call. I was driving back to my house and shouting whole-heartedly at the lebanese drivers / traffic / policemen when I felt something vibrating near my foot. I looked down and saw a light coming out of my handbag (yes I put it on the floor beneath the seat, near my foot, so if anyone tries to steal something from the car, he doesn't find it). It was my phone. Took it out and looked at the screen, didn't recognize the number, answered. It was a woman, speaking in french. She told me she was part of the Rami Azzam Prize community.
Now why did that name sound familiar?!?! Oh yes, it was a writing contest I participated in a few months ago... in may, yes, in may of this year. Oh yes, it was one crazy month, may. Had my usual pharmacy courses, was taking my masters courses too at the same time, was organizing by myself the student board's orientation and recruitment forum, was keeping Dotsisx alive and was writing the novel for the Rami Azzam Prize. The prize theme was "L'homme, ce damné de l'espérance" or for all of you non-frenchies: "Man, this damned of hope" or something like it. I remember when I first read the topic a lamp lit in my head: I had been wanting to write a story about the Alzheimer disease, from a human point of view, and the theme was just perfect. I had to do it. Crazy May! Ah I remember I was waking up at 6am each day, going for my usual 1 hour walk - the only free time I could find to exercise and I wanted to participate in that contest so badly I wrote 90% of the story on my mobile phone. Yes the 3250! Since my schedule was so hectic, I could only write the novel while doing my morning walks, I used to take the 3250 with me and I did the writing with QuickOffice. Then after a couple of days, I would send the file to my pc, re-read it, correct what had to be corrected, add some sentences, change some or delete some.
So the woman says they are handing out the prizes on Thursday the 6th of december, that's the day after tomorrow. She says they'll be having a small round table and then distribute the 1st and 2nd prizes. Now whether I wasn't one of the winners but they were inviting everyone to participate, or whether they still haven't announced the winners, I don't think she told me. Because I was in the middle of a crazy traffic with horns going out at the frequency of light, I almost missed half of the conversation. Back at home, thinking it over, I believe she didn't specifically tell me who won. But I will never know or will I, well at least not before thursday night. Now I just wish I had a call recorder installed on my mobile to replay that conversation and try to hear what she said. In any case, I will be attending the event on thursday for one main reason: Rami Azzam was a young active lebanese journalist, passionate about poetry and writing, who died in 2003 at the age of 24 from a sudden heart attack. His first and last wish was to help lebanese youth open up and try to build this country on a healthier basis.
Although I am almost sure my mobile-written story won't win a thing, I am quite overwhelmed that I wrote it, especially for this contest. It was the first time I tackle a topic as sensitive as this one and I was surprised by the result. If any french-speaking person reads this blog, you can download it from MOSH: Demain, ca ira mieux. It's 12-13 pages long so don't worry about it taking years to be read.
Now why did that name sound familiar?!?! Oh yes, it was a writing contest I participated in a few months ago... in may, yes, in may of this year. Oh yes, it was one crazy month, may. Had my usual pharmacy courses, was taking my masters courses too at the same time, was organizing by myself the student board's orientation and recruitment forum, was keeping Dotsisx alive and was writing the novel for the Rami Azzam Prize. The prize theme was "L'homme, ce damné de l'espérance" or for all of you non-frenchies: "Man, this damned of hope" or something like it. I remember when I first read the topic a lamp lit in my head: I had been wanting to write a story about the Alzheimer disease, from a human point of view, and the theme was just perfect. I had to do it. Crazy May! Ah I remember I was waking up at 6am each day, going for my usual 1 hour walk - the only free time I could find to exercise and I wanted to participate in that contest so badly I wrote 90% of the story on my mobile phone. Yes the 3250! Since my schedule was so hectic, I could only write the novel while doing my morning walks, I used to take the 3250 with me and I did the writing with QuickOffice. Then after a couple of days, I would send the file to my pc, re-read it, correct what had to be corrected, add some sentences, change some or delete some.
So the woman says they are handing out the prizes on Thursday the 6th of december, that's the day after tomorrow. She says they'll be having a small round table and then distribute the 1st and 2nd prizes. Now whether I wasn't one of the winners but they were inviting everyone to participate, or whether they still haven't announced the winners, I don't think she told me. Because I was in the middle of a crazy traffic with horns going out at the frequency of light, I almost missed half of the conversation. Back at home, thinking it over, I believe she didn't specifically tell me who won. But I will never know or will I, well at least not before thursday night. Now I just wish I had a call recorder installed on my mobile to replay that conversation and try to hear what she said. In any case, I will be attending the event on thursday for one main reason: Rami Azzam was a young active lebanese journalist, passionate about poetry and writing, who died in 2003 at the age of 24 from a sudden heart attack. His first and last wish was to help lebanese youth open up and try to build this country on a healthier basis.
Although I am almost sure my mobile-written story won't win a thing, I am quite overwhelmed that I wrote it, especially for this contest. It was the first time I tackle a topic as sensitive as this one and I was surprised by the result. If any french-speaking person reads this blog, you can download it from MOSH: Demain, ca ira mieux. It's 12-13 pages long so don't worry about it taking years to be read.
