Hoodlum in Hijab

just looking back at old posts.  my best semester was the one i overloaded on (gpa wise, and happiness wise) because i took some awesome classes then and i was dreaming of my future business plan (still am, and its an awesome idea now too).  i also decided i really need to re-post this quote from twain.  for real for real?  for real.   

“All religions issue bibles against him, and say the most injurious things about him, but we never hear his side. We have none but the evidence for the prosecution, and yet we have rendered the verdict. To my mind, this is irregular. It is un-English; it is un-American; it is French. Without this precedent Dreyfus could not have been condemned.

Of course Satan has some kind of a case, it goes without saying. It may be a poor one, but that is nothing; that can be said about any of us. As soon as I can get at the facts I will undertake his rehabilitation myself, if I can find an unpolitic publisher. It is a thing which we ought to be willing to do for any one who is under a cloud. We may not pay him reverence, for that would be indiscrete, but we can at least respect his talents.”

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live, the less i feel i can post. for fear of offending, exposing, being perceived as: immature, overly critical, and just generally distasteful. there’s a lot i itch to post about (oh the things i hear/see…), but just couldn’t because of where i am/was/will be/want to be. note: that SUCKS. how does one hold meaningful conversation via blog (hahah, shut up) (no seriously, well at least half seriously) when one isn’t supposed to talk about it? and it’s not the classified/confidential stuff that i’m talking about, either. it’s the everyday stuff. and so i’m reduced to telling you about the mediocre, the “yawn” stuff. like:

the most precious photographer came to my masjid today. i talked to his reporter-colleague over the phone (who couldnt multitask worth beans; it took me a full 2 minutes just for me to yank from her the knowledge that this was to be photo-only, no story, “wild art”), who rushed the poor guy over (he was sweating; kinda gross) for our 2nd congregation. [oh btw according to the latest, my masjid is now a “mega mosque” haha- love it or leave it] anyway, my dearest imam, who is always (rightfully) wary of reporters (granted, he wasnt one, but same ilk), asked me to bring him up to the office for a mini introduction: don’t photograph the women from behind, don’t stand in front of congregants during prayer, don’t photograph individuals w/o permission, etc. it was a very short intro, but the poor photographer left looking even more dazed than when he walked in the door (he REALLY must have rushed). and a little scared, too. come to think of it, i shouldve guided him back down the stairs, because i think he forgot which way i had brought him up to the imam’s office. (oops). so, keep an eye on tomorrow’s (today’s?) washington times for a picture (maybe, unless a butt editor gets to it). just a picture. and if it’s at all shady or spinny, holler and i will hunt down the reporter/photog personally. :)\

i had downright thoughtful things to post earlier this week, but they got lost somewhere in the rush. sorry kids. here’s to hoping my weekend will help matters.

edité: oh and the whole DNC RNC business is a total load. (almost) never in my life have i heard such pandering, worthless, rehearsed, mind numbing tripe…ever. and yes this goes to the dnc as well, even if i do lean that way. you’d think we were talking about SNL skits, the way these things are run! i have an innate dislike of politics, but i’d honestly be happy if we just stopped spending so much freaking money and time on it all. go freaking build a levee or something.

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i do, really.  Lord knows i could use it.  it just happens to be a *round* trip at my masjid.  there and back.  one my left hand side was tanta (aunt) leopard print abaya (impressive!) and fake designer bag.  yes, she was large (masha Allah).  on my right hand side was ocd nail-biter who kept trying to get me to stand shoulder to shoulder (a logistical problem considering how little space i had).  oh this was great- at one point tanta leopard’s two kids came and joined (honestly, i love when kids are around during prayer, but there was just very little space to move), and she started talking to her young son.  like straight up talking (i should say that she started by pointing, then shh’ing, then whispering, THEN talking- so hey, she was trying).

ultimately, i think i’m just more cranky than usual.  meh; i’ll get over it. 

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note: title not my creation. 

how do people manage to be so naive?  how can one *afford* to be that way?  i mean i know it’s damaging to be overly cynical, but i just can’t imagine life as someone who trusts too much.  life would be just one big let down.  ….i think. 

i’ll finish up my thoughts on isna- it was mild.  smallish city, normal convention center, typical atmosphere, toned down program (ramadan).  next year will be somewhat interesting with the change in date (4th of july weekend) and venue (dc).  we’ve had it in dc before (nightmarish, mostly because of location/hotel combination), but this is gonna take the cake.  book your hotels now, kiddos- this country’s birthday celebration in the capital aint cheap.  not to mention the repercussions this has for isna in general…..(i wonder).  one might think i was kinda in the loop, but i’ve spent a good deal of my life learning how to carefully stay just shy of it. 

tangent again (i meant for this to be about isna).  i am not a very intuitive person.  i just happen to know jerks when i see them.  i mean, ultimately, obviously, i can’t really say they’re jerks for sure.  maybe i just caught them at a bad time?  unfortunately that’s not usually the case.  usually, they really are just jerks.  i’m sure they have good qualities too, but their jerkiness inevitably wins out and causes people around them to suffer- people who aren’t jerks.  they especially have the tendency of preying on naive people (see above).  geez.  maybe the world can get rid of jerks by educating naivete.  then they won’t have anything to feed off of and might be forced into becoming decent people?  i like my theory. 

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(about columbus being safe) or, at least, the area we were in. i mean not that i was directly unsafe. but it was shady with a capital S after dark out there. cops all over the place, and no sense of security for it. my sister of course had to be cheap and stay on the edge of town, which was probably genuinely unsafe. shady shady. ah well, i’m out and alive. and will blog more later. i forgot how ramadan has the tendency of taking all my time and shoving it. :)

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(isna convention)

i think columbus’ “eclectic” logo is cute- it’s colorful, it’s friendly, it’s family oriented font…someone put a lot of thought into it.  and there’s a farmer’s market tomorrow morning that i’m totally trying to stop by…maybe they have cheap food?  not likely, but whatever. 

whoever said columbus was a bad place to have isna- wrong; it’s pretty much ideal, logistics wise.  it’s a safe, open, accessible, kinda place.  think soccer mom’s night out.  er, maybe not, depending on the soccer mom.  but kosher- it’s kosher.  oh yeah and it’s right next to OSU. 

this year, i’m all about free.  and the hotel i’m in has free breakfast- and not just a continental (cold) one.  woohoo.  and free internet, which thank goodness, is common around here (a perk of not being in a “big city”). 

right- the conference.  well um, i’m not registered yet…. :D   oops.  i did donate blood though (score one for finding a venue where they weren’t checking badges, ha).  my arm hurts and it’s bruising, though, so that sucks (and i’m a wimp).  so, my idea while donating blood was to get the conference organizer to sign up some volunteers (who would otherwise be…oh i dunno, ushers) to donate blood.  in exchange for a free session with X, Y, or Z big name speaker.  hahahaha- you know it’d work. 

…

if anything interesting happens, i’ll post it. 

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I HATE YOUR GUTS. all your guts, with all those tech support (ha!) people and useless automatons who manage to waste hours upon ours of my life for NOTHING. REALLY? DID I NEED SOMEONE ACROSS THE COUNTRY/GLOBE TO TELL ME THAT I INDEED, DO NOT HAVE A BROWSER ICON IN MY PHONE?! do they not trust me? is it me? of COURSE IT’S NOT ME, IT’S OUR GOD-FORSAKEN (YES, GOD FOR-SAK-EN) CORPORATE MEGA-LIFE-KILLING-….thing. only in america can i sit on hold for an hour with nothing to show for it. freedom to rot. (hey, BOTS- look! i used ‘america’ and ‘freedom’ in close proximity- ya gonna send up a yellow flag on this one?!) is nothing holy? fine, forget holy- just…respectable? i mean, time! it’s important! and it’s really not that i mind spending 2.5 hours doing one thing- i mind that it has to be SO INCREDIBLY MIND NUMBINGLY USELESS AND, just a total drain on humanity’s resources. the poor guy who had to deal with my voice 2 octaves above its normal tone and on the verge of tears (not a pretty sound)- what did he do to deserve that? nothing! except be caught up in humanity’s beloved machine of a system for “civilization.” currently, though no luddite by a long shot, i fail to see the beauty of our innovations BECAUSE I’M STILL SEEING RAGE RED.

and what do i get to come home to? the freaking DOS in the form of idiotic red tape paperwork that says that IN ORDER FOR US TO PROCESS YOUR (NOT MY) APPLICATION, LINE 20 MUST BE FILLED OUT. line 20 can go to hell because this is the FIFTH TIME THEY HAVE SENT BACK THE SAME FREAKING APPLICATION FOR PETTY REASONS aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh- how many trees, man-hours, energy, etc was WASTED on that? too much to count- i’m baffled. i’m about ready to fly to bangladesh with a really big suitcase, stick my pregnant aunt’s husband in it, check it and let them throw it in the cargo hull, and SMUGGLE him in. THAT’S RIGHT I SAID SMUGGLE- i bet you my readership went up by one (why flatter myself? let’s say a half) more tax-paid worker/computer.

is it worth my sanity? can’t i just become a drifter or something? no? fine, but you’re going to have to put up with a heck of a lot more posts like this.

edit: and i’m sick. :(

edit2: and my mommy’s sick.

edit3: and my imam wasn’t feeling well today either!  and he was in the office from 9-5 on sunday, not counting fajr or maghrib or isha!!!

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disclaimer: weddings are good things. i’ve just been to an awful lot of them.

(just got back from one)- DJs! aagh, DJs- it’s a rare occasion when i see a *good* dj at a wedding. tonight’s was pretty awful. i mean i’m sure some of the awfulness comes from family requests, but still. entrance music was allll jacked up, and somewhere in the mix of predominantly pop desi songs he threw in something from 80s americana. …right. *i* could’ve done a better job, and i don’t even like desi music.

and the aunties, who come in varying levels of subtlety…or bluntness. you know, i’m sure aunties are good people too. i just don’t understand them. it’s like they’re another species, built to scope out singles. maybe it’s like a game? and they just can’t get enough of it? i’m not sure, but it’s highly amusing. honestly, watching an aunty in matchmaking mode is like watching a sport. weddings must be like the olympics for them! gold fever- sometimes literally.

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