"The Syrian regime promised the UN/AL envoy Kofi Annan to execute his plan and ceasefire starting April 12th at 6 AM.

"I woke up to see if the regime will do what they promised, and I must say that I didn't hear a single gunshot all morning. I know this regime too well, and I know they might break their promise at any point, but I took an oath to write what I witness and not lie about it, and in this case, the regime did what they promised. The soldiers, security forces members, and vehicles are still everywhere, but there's no shelling or shooting anywhere."

Annan quit this week as the special peace envoy, casting serious doubt that a diplomacy could quell Syria's bloodshed. Annan cast wide blame for why his effort failed, including a "clear lack of unity" within the U.N. Security Council, the failure of the al-Assad regime to cooperate and Syrian rebels' continued fighting. But he did offer parting advice that there still could be reason to hope.

Al recalls on his blog how his own optimism faded quickly after the first try at a cease-fire, an initiative that seemed to end as soon as it began.

"April 14th, the quiet mornings are over, and the horrible shelling sounds and smoke clouds are back at the same rate like Annan and his ceasefire plan didn't even exist."

"The same view I saw back in April 3rd and 4th. Buildings being hit by missiles and getting destroyed in two different areas.

"I knew this was coming, yet I couldn't help but to feel overwhelmed."

May was more of the same.

"May 28th, another unbelievable night of excessive shelling. I didn't count the explosions as they were too many. 3-4 explosions could be heard in a row at times, and that kept going all night and into the morning."

On June 16, Al sees a helicopter flying over Homs. "A little after that the UN observers announced the suspension of their mission due to the increase of violence in Syria."

More tanks have shown up in his neighborhood in the past few weeks. "My area has become a playfield for tanks and security forces are always around with their vehicles," he blogged. "And pickup trucks, and of course their guns."

"I'm having such a bad day and have the worst feeling in my gut," Al recently wrote in an e-mail.

His messages all seem like that now, resigned to whatever is coming.