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SMK
April 22nd, 2010, 02:24 PM
Hi all - nice to be a part of this forum. I live in Dubai, U.A.E.

My interests are FPs (of course) as well as Calligraphy, Sketching, Squash and Motorcycles.

I currently own about 17 pens - several of these are ground for Arabic calligraphy, a couple are italic grind and others simply as they came and are used for general writing and sketching.

SProctor
April 22nd, 2010, 07:00 PM
Greetings SMK,

Welcome to FPGeeks! Its great to have you here with us! I look forward to reading your posts and seeing you around here!

I too am interested in Calligraphy and have several italics and cursive italics along with many stubs, too. In fact even for some of my regular writing (round hand mostly) I use them...

Very Best Wishes & Kindest Regards,

Stephen P.
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________
"You can watch things happen... You can make things happen... or you can wonder what the %$#& happened."
-- Phil Harris (1956 - 2010), Captain, Cornelia Marie, Kodiak, Alaska

SMK
April 23rd, 2010, 12:56 AM
Thanks Stephen - I'm sure I'll enjoy being a part of this forum.

penspouse
April 23rd, 2010, 08:55 AM
I envy those who can do calligraphy. I don't have the patience.

SMK
April 23rd, 2010, 10:43 AM
I hear you penspouse :-) I too go way too fast for my own good when practicing - but I figure even a little bit of progress is better than no progress.

Besides you can lose yourself in it when you get into the zone (at least I do). Sometimes I'm surprised to see how may 'm's and 'n's I've written over and over again without getting bored when practicing the italic hand. Arabic has its own challenges but its almost therapeutic at times.

dannzeman
April 23rd, 2010, 06:27 PM
SMK, Welcome! We're glad to have ya.
So, you're into motorcycles? Do you ride? If so, what kind of bike is it? I bought my first motorcycle in the spring of 2007 while I was in college. It's an ugly duck for sure but it runs great!
Did you see the MotoGP a couple of weeks ago? I didn't get to see it live but I was able to download qualifying and the race. I follow MotoGP and WSBK, and F1 too.

Just to help you get more familiar with the forum here, there are a couple of features I would like to point your attention to. Please read them and participate as they help make the forum a better community for everyone.
Rating Threads (http://fpgeeks.com/forum/faq.php?faq=vb3_board_usage#faq_vb3_rating_threads )
Reputation (http://fpgeeks.com/forum/faq.php?faq=vb3_user_profile#faq_vb3_reputation)

And if you have any questions check out the FAQ (http://fpgeeks.com/forum/faq.php). If that doesn't answer them feel free to contact one of the Admins.

SMK
April 24th, 2010, 06:40 AM
Thanks for the welcome Dannzeman.

Yes, I do ride. Currently I own a BMW G 650 X-Country. I like to ride off road and enduro mostly and around Dubai there are a lot of opportunities to do that in the wadis (dry river beds) and there are some mountains on the border of Oman and U.A.E. that are fun to ride. I also own a 1949 Matchless 350 that I restored myself (about 20 years ago and has since fallen into disrepair).

Here (http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=12111&id=803542645&l=753f5199ae) are some pictures of my off road trips in the UAE.

I used to follow WSB quite closely when I lived in the states but haven't been really keeping up since moving to Dubai. I am rather interested in how things turn out for Ben Spies though.

dannzeman
April 24th, 2010, 08:44 AM
Thanks for the welcome Dannzeman.

Yes, I do ride. Currently I own a BMW G 650 X-Country. I like to ride off road and enduro mostly and around Dubai there are a lot of opportunities to do that in the wadis (dry river beds) and there are some mountains on the border of Oman and U.A.E. that are fun to ride. I also own a 1949 Matchless 350 that I restored myself (about 20 years ago and has since fallen into disrepair).

Here (http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=12111&id=803542645&l=753f5199ae) are some pictures of my off road trips in the UAE.

I used to follow WSB quite closely when I lived in the states but haven't been really keeping up since moving to Dubai. I am rather interested in how things turn out for Ben Spies though.
I'm envious of both your bike and the type of riding you get to do! While I enjoy the pavement and trying to lean the bike over as far as I can I do love getting off the beaten path and experiencing mother nature.

Ben Spies came in 5th or 6th in the first MotoGP race. The next one is May 1st. I think once he and the team gets the bike sorted he is going to be a force to be reackoned with. There's no doubt he has the skills. Instead of it always being Rossi, Stoner, and Lorenzo it's going to be mixed up a lot this year with Spies and Divizioso in the mix. Nicky Hayden did exceptionally well in the first race too loosing out to Dovizioso for 3rd by half a bike length at the finish line. The Hondas have so much top end power this year compared to the Ducatis it's crazy! Nicky was infront of Dovizioso most of the race but once they came down the long straight across the finish line Dovizioso would always pass Nicky and then he'd have to fight to get back infront of him. I can't wait to see how this season turns out!

SMK
April 25th, 2010, 03:12 PM
I did get to watch some highlights of the race. You're right its refreshing to see someone other than the usual trio. I used to have high hopes for Nicky Hayden but he somehow hasn't lived up to what I thought he should be able to achieve - he's still young I guess.

The bike riding scene here is pretty cool - even for street riding people. There aren't many (read any) nice curvy roads around but there are lots of roundabouts. The closest you can get to some nice street riding is about an hour and a half out of Dubai, which is not too bad. Its getting warm now and its quite uncomfortable by the time we're riding back (we usually leave at or near the crack of dawn) - especially since we're tired by that time too.