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Two years ago, I told my parents,
"Mom, dad, I want to be a cartoonist."
To which they replied, "Wow, gee honey you're a programmer.
You really think you're that funny?"
(Laughter)
But I did, I wanted to be a cartoonist,
and I believe that my passion was enough to achieve all my dreams.
All we need is passion, right?
Well, as it turns out if you want to be a cartoonist,
you have to have a lot of funny ideas as well.
So, I was stuck on ideas and I went to my parents for some advice
and my dad said, "Look, you know how they tell writers 'write what you know',"
I said, "Yeah." He said, "Well, why don't you do the same thing,
draw what you know.
You're a programmer – Why don't you draw about programming?"
And at the time I thought that that was a brilliant idea,
so I started to draw about all the funny little things
that went on during my day job as a programmer.
But, after a couple of months,
I started to get bored.
You see, I no longer saw the computer problems
that I was facing with on a daily basis as being funny.
(Laughter)
So, I moved away from that genre
and I said, "Ok, what also I have a lot of funny ideas on,
what else could I draw about?"
And, that's when I looked in the mirror and I realized,
"Oh my god! I'm a girl."
Apparently, after all these years I just figured that out.
(Laughter)
There were so many things related to being a woman,
that I can make fun of.
Things like what?
Well, how about how our perception of weight has changed over the years?
(Laughter)
How about, how technology has affected our relationships?
(Laughter)
Or...
How about self-esteem and women?
Actually, the lack of self-esteem in women.
(Laughter)
(Applause)
You name it, I drew it.
And I continue to draw these types of comics
up until the February of 2011,
with the uprise of the Arab Spring.
(Laughter)
(Applause)
Now, during the week that I posted this comic,
I received over a 150,000 page views.
And, I guess it's safe to say that this is the first comic that went viral,
and this is also the very first comic that was considered controversial by some,
but it also addressed the huge event that was taking place in the Arab world.
Now, don't worry I'm not here to talk about
the political message behind the comic itself,
or whether or not was successful,
but I'm here to talk about is what this comic did to me.
This comic opened up my mind and it directed my thoughts
towards problems that were going on around the world
whether they were political, whether they were social,
that I haven't previously thought of.
I'm not saying that I turned into some sort of activist or anything like that,
I was just really voicing my opinion.
I'd never done that before.
It was as if my comic started to force me,
to reflect on all the things are going around the world,
and it gave me a wonderful medium through which I can express my opinions on.
And I thought, "Well, hang on a minute, hang on a minute,"
and I looked around me,
and I realized that being Lebanese — we had become so adapted
to all the problems that we were surrounded with
that we no longer even saw them as being problems anymore.
Things like — power cuts.
(Laughter)
Things like, our new generation of mothers.
My mom's watching — I promise I won't be like this,
don't worry, I won't turn it to her.
Things like — Sorry to make you sad,
but things like racism on our Lebanese beaches.
How about a lovely little maze for you Lebanese
to solve to help poor Sami find his way to work (Laughter)
avoiding the burning tires, and the strikes,
and the scary gunmen.
(Applause)
By the way, don't bother trying to solve it
'cause poor Sami will never make it to work.
He'll lose his job and his wife will go sleep with his best friend.
(Laughter) And don't, don't bother.
And the most controversial law
that was ever passed in the history of Lebanon:
The No Smoking Law.
(Laughter)
(Applause)
And — our lovely corrupt politicians.
(Applause) (Laughter)
But it was through these comics that I was able to pinpoint
how our daily lives as Lebanese were just absolutely ridiculous,
or dare I say comical, cartoonish.
But the more I drew these types of comics,
the more people were able to relate to them and see
that is OK to make fun of yourself.
And I think that's the most important thing that my comic has taught me, really
that — no matter what tough situation you're in,
no matter what problems you're facing — It's OK to make fun of yourself.
and it's OK to find a lighter side to life,
whether you're making fun of your job or your gender,
or the fact that you're a Lebanese — It's OK to make fun of yourself.
Now I know that my comic might not be saving the world
according to TEDx standards.
This is by the way our lovely curator Patricia
(Applause) (Laughter)
Think about ...(Applause) (Laughter)
But every Monday when I post my new comic
and I see people's reactions, I'd like to think
that I was able to ease their problems, even if it's for a little while.
Thank you.
(Applause) (Cheers)