Bob Hall's Lost Letter

Something interesting happened to me today. Yesterday was the last day of finals and today at school we teachers were busy doing cleaning and checkout. I was cleaning out my desk in my classroom and pulled out the bottom drawer as far as it would go and noticed some papers had fallen underneath it into a metal tray under the drawer. I stuck my hand in there and pulled out a stack of dusty papers.

There were English papers and Science papers from the mid 1990's. And there was something else. A letter, maybe something like a birthday card, sealed in its envelope addressed and stamped (with a 29 cent stamp, dating it to 1991-1994), but never mailed. The letter was from Bob Hall to another Hall relative in California. Bob Hall was at my school before I got there so I never knew him, but there is an image of him in the memorial garden next to our school. One graduation day in the mid-90's, I think around '94, he was diagnosed with cancer and died before school started the next fall. At that time I think he was an assistant principal. So here I was looking at a card from a man who died within a few years or months of writing it, but apparently lost it and never mailed it.

My friend gave me a stamp to make-up for the change in postage price since it was written, I put a little note on the back of the card explaining what had happened to it, and put it in the mail. I have no idea if the addresses are still valid or if the relatives are still alive, but I hope someone in Mr. Hall's family gets that letter. I know I would really like to get something like that if it were my relative.

Memorial Day

Mom and I visited relatives buried at Evergreen Cemetery today. Please see the photos here.

Kites!

We had a great day flying kites we made in geometry class. Check out the pictures!

Sunbonnet

So today I decided I wanted a sunbonnet like in the artist pictures for Little House on the Prairie. It would come in handy for mowing the lawn, yard work, or Western dress up day at school, etc.

I found some instructions at Mother Earth and sort of followed them. I was too lazy to make a pattern and just cut the fabric directly. I kept sewing the seams on the wrong side but I like the end result, it is good enough for me - what do you think? Instead of three layers of muslin in the brim, I used one layer of batting that I had on hand. And it took me more like 3 or 4 hours than the 2 suggested by the directions - it always takes me longer than instructions say it will because I mess up and or it takes longer to cut, etc.

Happy Mother's Day

I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day. A friend of mine sent me this Mr. T video about treating your mother right (and the rap was written by Ice T - not kidding!) - you have to see it!



I spent mine watching the new Star Trek movie (great!) and visiting mom. I have always loved Star Trek and I loved the movie - the characters were great and the story was hot! I want to see it again. :)

This weekend also marks one of the dates mentioned for the martyrdom of Lady Fatima (as), Mother of Believers.

Picketwire Canyon Bike Trip

This weekend, mom and I and several teachers - including a disproportionate amount of math teachers and former math teachers - went mountain biking down in Picketwire Canyon to see the dinosaur tracks and petroglyphs. It was a great experience! The La Junta locals were very friendly and the weather ended up being perfect for the trip despite forecast of possible rain which might've made the trails miserably muddy.

Some photos from the trip are here - enjoy and comment!

I'm so Excited!

I think Karl Urban makes a great Dr. McCoy - I can hardly wait to see more:



I and another Trek fan from work are planning to see it on IMAX opening weekend, insha'allah.

BTW, this past Friday I saw State of Play starring Russell Crowe and Ben Affleck and I think my mom and I would both agree that it is the best movie we've seen this year. So, consider it recommended - you can ask me for more details if you like.

A nice Stereogram

Crazy times at school/work right now - it's late April. ACT, students out for field trips, camp trips, sports, awards, concerts, road trips, contests, programs, suspensions, counselor appointments, elections, newspaper, yearbook.... Everything up in the air about hiring/firing, placements, schedules, room assignments, building assignments, expectations, disappointments, what you want to do with your life when you grow up....

I have an interview for a building transfer tomorrow. One day I really want it, the next I feel like I can't leave where I am. All in God's hands, but I may have to make a tough decision at some point, we'll see.

I hope you all are doing well!



The above is a video of an interview with Imam Siraj Wahhaj. He is a Sunni convert, one of the passing old guard of the strong African American Muslim leaders that came to Islam through the Nation of Islam movement during the Civil Rights era. Two things I admire in these men like Wahhaj and the late Warith Deen Muhammed is that they did incredible work in the arena of dawah and building legitimacy and standing for Muslims in America as part of the political and societal structures, and that they did hard and dangerous work for their congregations without adopting elitist standings for themselves - such as taking to the streets and driving out drug lords from their neighborhoods - very practical, necessary religious work that in other communities rarely gets done.

I love Logic Puzzles

I love Logic Puzzles, but they can be hard/frustrating at times!

Here is a simple (as in not complex, but as for easy or hard, I'll leave that up to you to decide)one to play - can you figure out how to always win this game?

Three Bags

How about this one?

Coin Weighing

Hilarious Conversion Story

Dua Tawassul

Recited by ladies from Stanmore, UK

Songbirds are coming back

One of my favorite things about this time of year is that more songbirds come back to Colorado from their winter homes and I start hearing pretty chirping at the crack of dawn and at dusk. It is such a pretty, peaceful sound. I love birds, I can't imagine this world without birds, they are such a blessing! What is one of your favorite things about April?

Alien Abduction Dream? :P

I've just been living lately - nothing really exciting happening nor too many profound thoughts. April is always the craziest month at school - sports, field trips, awards, scholarships, assemblies, standardized testing, meetings, trainings, scheduling, hiring, firing, etc. So every day something different is going on and there are lots of schedule changes. It requires adaptability and can be fun and stressful both.

We got a little snow yesterday and the day before it was north of us but we had really high winds. I actually enjoyed it but it keeps you in a bit much. We didn't have enough to do this, bummer!:




I signed on as an Independent Sales Representative for Avon, which means if you wish to buy Avon, I can help you - see the sidebar for a link or just e-mail me or leave a comment. I would appreciate your business. ;)

There's also CSEA stuff going on (teacher's association) - the committee I chair, the scholarship committee, meets this week. It is fun, because you get to give away money. But you always wish you had more money to give away. And CSEA elections are going on right now, too - I ended up running for a position due to requests of some friends, but I do have mixed feelings about it. I want to do a good job but don't want to be bogged down in politics or put in a position beyond my knowledge or interest (such as if a President resigns and I had to step in, which would involve leaving the classroom to work full time downtown.)

I went to the antique show downtown with my parents on Saturday. That is always interesting, and my parents usually buy me something which is very nice of them - they are very generous to me and sometimes I feel guilty about it but I try to be generous back when I can. I also try to avoid materialism, but going to look and stuff and more stuff is counterproductive. But this kind of thing can teach one to learn when to focus on quality vs. quantity or vice versa.

I am trying to decide if I want to continue to work in this building or move to another. Transfer interviews are ongoing beginning last month. This year was not my favorite - it really depends on what kids you have in a given year. Occasionally we get student surveys on how you're doing - for example, I just did a flash in the pan ACT prep course for one afternoon and got everything back from being the greatest ever to being a horrible teacher, but feedback is always too general to know exactly what they liked or didn't like and why, so it just leaves one with disappointment but no strategy - the surveys are not useful.

But also lots of friends moved on to other buildings, but there are always new friends coming, too. I am not naive enough to think the grass is really greener, there are pros and cons to every place, but I do really think some have a more positive environment than here. But it sounds like I might get a nicer schedule next year if I stay here, so who knows? If I did leave, the department would be losing a team leader and the only AP Stats teacher, which could leave them in kind of a difficult position. On the other hand, perhaps my growth is limited here and could be higher elsewhere - I don't know.

I am also thinking of going for national board certification next year - I have an informational meeting about that this month. If I ever do move to another state that could be useful, but in general it is a good thing to do, mainly it is an investment of time and money so I'll have to see the details.

Spiritually, I've been rather level the past little while. I'd like to grow and am looking for inspiration. Do you know that feeling you get when you're really into your prayers, dua'as, etc? I want that more often, I'm always trying to pursue that, but sometimes pursuing isn't the way to go, sometimes you have to be still for it to come. I have realized that spirituality is rather cyclical - it has ebbs and tides, according to hadith of Ahlulbayt (as). You have to take the highs and the lows together. In lulls, focus on avoiding sin and keeping up the required acts, and in highs, build your extra deeds. Always try to focus on good akhlaq - good demeanor, manners, behavior, etc.

I had some weird dream last night that woke me up. I was sitting out front in a lawn chair and noticed an old man apparently spying on me and people with me through binoculars. Then we realized he and the people with him were looking at the sky. So we looked at the sky and there was a very very red/pink star that had never been there before. So we started staring at it too. Then, two green blobs appeared and started rotating around the red star and my brother said they were Medusas. We went inside the house and I noticed someone in the back yard in a blue hot rod spinning out, ruining the lawn. I went to stop him from ruining my parents' lawn and he was repentant and stopped the car. The grass was very wet, muddy, tall, and I recognized the yard from previous dreams in which stuff was buried under the ground. He was about to get out of the car when a brown-amber colored beam of light appeared in the distance. I ran to hide behind a tree and as the beam moved, I moved to keep behind the tree relative to its position. The boy in the car ran toward me and the beam paused, seemed to notice his motion and came toward him quickly. I told him to freeze, and he laid down on the ground motionless. Then the light engulfed him and picked him up off the ground and he was screaming. I didn't say or do anything, just hid from it behind the tree and I felt guilty because I hadn't wanted him to run to my tree because his motion had caught attention and I didn't want to get caught with him. I was worried he would give my position away. I felt I should've done more to help him but my first thoughts had been for myself and I felt bad about that. Then I woke up feeling anxious and had to get up for a few minutes before I could go back to sleep. Did I tell you about the dream I had last month in which a hole opened in the sidewalk under my mom and she disappeared before my eyes? My brother and I tried to find her under the pavement but there was just a giant chasm, like a sinkhole under the pavement and no sign or sound of her. That one woke me up disturbed too. I had to call my mom the next evening to make sure she was fine but I didn't tell her about the dream.

11th Imam (as) Wiladat Mubarak!

Imam once wrote in his letter to Ali ibne Babweh Qummi:

"Praise be to Allah. As you are from our shias so I advise you:

• Be pious and virtuous
• Forgive and pardon the mistakes of people
• Suppress your anger
• Do sila-e-Rehmi (do good with your relatives)
• Help the needy
• Get acquaintance with Holy Quran
• Establish prayer (salat/namaz) and perform ibadat

follow my commandments and induce others to do so. "

Spring Break

Eid Nowrooz Mubarak for those who mark it.


So I made it to Spring Break. Whew. One things I like about teaching are the beginnings and endings and breaks now and then. With all the standardized testing, kids and teachers were really burnt out, so it is nice to have a week off. Here comes the snow for the break, at least a bit of it, although we'd had unseasonably warm weather this past month.

I cleaned house a bit, maybe I will do more of that this week. I still have work at Sylvan. Maybe I'll start/finish something sewing/quilting.

And, I got up this morning and found my computer dead. So I took it in to get a new power supply and a bigger hard drive and decided the computer coma/death meant it was time to upgrade (looking for an excuse, really). My parents' computer is
r e a l l y s l o w so I decided to give them the one I've been using. I hope they will like it. I got good speakers with this one which makes me very happy - very cool to get good bass when watching TV at hulu.com (The Pretender!) or something like that. Plus I wanted iWork - Keynote and Numbers are sooooo much better than Powerpoint and Excel - seriously. I used Keynote this afternoon when a few coworkers came over to make some fliers.

Prophet Muhammad (saw)

Felicitations of Milad un Nabi (saw)

Imam Sadiq (as) - Lantern of the Path

The roots of conduct have four aspects: conduct with Allah, conduct with the self, conduct with creation (i.e. people), and conduct with this world. Each of these aspects is based upon seven principles, just as there are seven principles of conduct with Allah: giving Him His due, keeping His limits, being thankful for His gift, being content with His decree, being patient with His trials, glorifying His sanctity, and yearning for Him.



The seven principles of conduct with the self are fear, striving, enduring harm, spiritual discipline, seeking truthfulness and sincerity, withdrawing the self from what it loves, and binding it in poverty (faqr).



The seven principles of conduct with creation are forbearance, forgiveness, humility, generosity, compassion, good counsel, justice and fairness.



The seven principles of conduct with this world are being content with what is at hand, preferring what is available to what is not, abandoning the quest for the elusive, hating overabundance, choosing abstinence (zuhd), knowing the evils of this world and abandoning any desire for it, and negating its dominance.



When all these qualities are found in one person, he is then one of Allah's elite, one of His close bondsman and friends (awliya')






Bondage is an essence, the inner nature of which is lordship (rububiyah). Whatever is missing in bondage is found in lordship, and whatever is veiled from lordship is found in bondage. As Allah said,



سَنُرِيهِمْ آيَاتِنَا فِي الْآفَاقِ وَفِي أَنفُسِهِمْ حَتَّى يَتَبَيَّنَ لَهُمْ أَنَّهُ الْحَقُّ أَوَلَمْ يَكْفِ بِرَبِّكَ أَنَّهُ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ شَهِيدٌ



We will soon show them Our signs in the universe and in their own souls, until it will become quite clear to them that it is the truth. Is it not sufficient as regards your Lord that He is a witness over all things? (41:53)



This means He exists both in your absence and in your presence. Bondage means ridding oneself of everything, and the way to obtain this is to deny the self what it desires and to make it bear what it dislikes. The key to this is abandoning rest, loving seclusion and following the path of recognition of the need for Allah.



The Holy Prophet [s] said, 'Worship Allah as if you see Him. Even if you do not see Him, He sees you.'



The letters of the Arabic word for 'bondsman' ('abd) are three; 'ayn, ba' and dal. The 'ayn is one's knowledge ('ilm) of Allah. The ba' is one's distance (bawn) from other than Him, and the dal is one's nearness (dunuw) to Allah with the restriction of neither contingent qualities nor veil.



The principles of conduct have four aspects, as we mentioned at the beginning of the first chapter.







Greetings on the Birth Anniversary of Imam Sadiq (as)

Very Cool - Scan America

When I was a kid, at one point I was given a black and white TV set for my room. One of my fondest memories of that TV was finding strange things on the UHF dial. Sometimes in the 80-something channels or between two channels (no remotes, remember?) I would pick up one side of conversations. I eventually figured out that I was probably hearing half of phone conversations on cordless phones - something very new that my family didn't have or really know about.

Later, I got a shortwave radio and used to spend hours listening to strange programs fade in and out from all over the world. I still have it and still play with it sometimes - or listen to TV or long wave, etc. Then for awhile I had a CB radio handheld and thought about getting a Ham license but it was just way too expensive and more serious than I ever was about it - and an old boy's club.

Anyway, at ScanAmerica you can listen on your computer to local police, fire and state patrol scanners. Maybe someone else out there will think that is cool, like me.

ziarat rasool (pbuh&hf)

O Allah! Send blessings on Muhammad and on the children of Muhammad. In th name of Allah, the Beneficent the Merciful. I testify that there is no god save Allah; He is One; there is no associate (partner)with Him. I testify that you are His Messenger, and you are Muhammad son of Abdullah; and I testify that you had delivered the Message of your Lord, advised and warned your followers (Ummah) like a sincere friend, and strived, leaving no stone unturned, against heavy odds, in the cause of Allah, with wisdom and good advice. Strong and powerful support from the Truthful (Allah), was put at your disposal; (and) you had been kind and compassionate to the believers, (but) was harsh with the disbelievers, and had sincerely served Allah, till the inevitable (what was certain) came unto you. So Allah made you reach the highest stage of glory and honour. (All) praise is for Allah (only) who saved us through you from the polytheism and going astray.

O Allah! Send blessings on Muhammad and on his children.

Thy blessings and invocations of thy Angels, (of) Thy Prophets and Messengers, (of) Thy pious servants, (of) the people of the heavens and the earths, and (of) those who glorify Thee, (O the Lord of the worlds), from among the ancient and the present, be on Muhammad, Thy servant and Messenger, Thy Prophet, Thy confidant, Thy volunteer, Thy intimate friend, sincerely attached to Thee, purified by Thee, Thy favourite, the best essence from Thee, chosen in preference by Thee from Thy creation, and gave him surpassing superiority and eminence in wisdom and character, subtle ways and means, highest stations, and put him on the pedestal of (praiseworthy) fame and fortune; found his position enviable the men of old and the men of later time. O Allah, Thou said: “And if, when they had wronged themselves, they had but come unto you and asked forgiveness of Allah, and asked forgiveness of the Messenger, they would have found Allah forgiving, Merciful.” O my Allah, therefore I turn repentant to Thy Prophet (S.A.), asking pardon for my sins, (so send blessing on Muhammad and on his children), and be kind to me. O our chief, direct yourself, and your “Ahluh Bayt” towards the Most praised Allah, Thy Lord and my Lord, in the matter of my request

Recite 3 times:

for verily we are Allah’s and verily unto Him shall we return.

Then recite:

With love and longing for you, we move, O dearest friend, in your direction, because the misery has increased, since revelation (Wahi) has been cut off, and we lost you. Verify we are Allah’s; and verily unto Him shall we return.

O our Chief! O our Messenger of Allah! Blessings of Allah be on you and on the pure and pious people of your house.

Today is Saturday, your day, and I in its hours, take refuge with you ; seek your nearness, (so) receive me with open arms, let me be near you, because you are very kind, love to be hospitable, chosen and assigned to give asylum and refuge, (therefore) make me feel at home, a most generous friendly welcome, take us under your shelter, a most reliable protection; in the name and for the sake of your belief in Allah, and your Ahlul Bayt’s belief in Him, and the status He has assigned to them, whereby you (all) took into your keeping His Wisdom, Verily He is the most kind of all who show kindness.

O Allah! Send blessings on Muhammad and on the children of Muhammad.

Error Analysis: Hypothesis that Heaven and Hell exist

Ho: Heaven and Hell do not exist.
Ha: Heaven and Hell do exist and have certain criteria for entrance.

Type I error: False positive, i.e. reject Ho when Ho is actually true.

In context: Reject the idea that Heaven and Hell do not exist and conclude that Heaven and Hell do exist. In reality, however, Heaven and Hell do not exist.

Consequences of error: A person making this error lives life as if Heaven and Hell existed, thus may choose to deprive himself of certain opportunities, etc., in this life in an effort to live according to what he believes is more likely to keep himself out of Hell and get him into Heaven. However, he does not actually get to enter Heaven and did not really need to worry about going to Hell.

Type II error: False negative, i.e. fail to reject Ho when Ho is actually false.

In context: Operate as if Heaven and Hell did not exist when in reality they do exist.

Consequences of error: A person making this error lives life as if Heaven and Hell did not exist, and thus may choose to engage in certain behaviors that he would have avoided, and vice versa, if he believed they existed. However, it turns out that Heaven and Hell do exist and he most likely goes to Hell because he did not meet the criteria for entrance to Heaven.

Conclusion: Type II error has the worse consequences, therefore a prudent person operates to limit the probability, Beta, of a Type II error.