It’s almost midnight on Saturday, September 1. My daughter is asleep, I’m healthy and I have a lifetime to look forward to. There’s just one catch: it’s raining. If this were Tripoli, the streets would be flooded due to poor irrigation and clogged sewers.

I think it’s common knowledge that Gaddafi took power on September 1, 1969 but to a lot of people it isn’t. September reminds me of Green Day and Libya. Just for transparency, I thought it was time for Gaddafi to leave power. I supported his ouster although many people close to me didn’t.

I was in Doha when Gaddafi died on October 20, 2011. I worked for a Libyan TV channel that aired anti-Gaddafi propaganda to counter the pro-Gaddaffi messages on Libyan State TV. I lived in Doha for a total of five months (the channel was temporary) and learned a lot about Gulf culture.

Before that, I coordinated meetings for journalists in Tripoli, and then began speaking and writing for news outlets like CNN, BBC, AlJazeera and The Huffington Post. I remember a specific interview with BBC, where I talked about the importance of a no-fly zone.

That all seems like a dream now because so much has happened in my life–and in Libya–since Gaddafi’s death. For those wondering why I was asked to speak to the media, my answer is this: I’m well spoken, I was living in Tripoli, I was active on Twitter, and I’m a journalist. It’s not a question I need to answer but I understand why people are curious.

I don’t support Democracy in Libya. I believe the culture, different regions and tribal factions make traditional democracy too challenging. I support the UAE model of government: a federal presidential elected monarchy where power is divided amongst the different regions.

As a journalist, I feel it’s important to comment on significant Libya-related events since the U.S. media doesn’t. Some debates that the U.S. media has could very well be happening in Libya, i.e. GUN CONTROL.

I may write a fiction book loosely based on my life in the near future (which is part of the reason why I have these diary-like blog posts) so keep reading.

I’ll end this post with a quote from The Bible (I’m not Christian but I’ve been reading a lot lately).

‘Where there is no vision, the people perish.’ Proverbs 29:18