Sr. Karima

A few of my readers know Sr. Karima of Denver and would want to know that she has suffered a stroke, I guess about a week ago.

I don't have a lot of details, but she is supposed to be at Swedish Medical Center, Critical Care Center in Denver. I don't think she is having non-family visitors, but her daughter is around. If you decide to send something, she is registered under her name Sally Zareie. Please keep her and her family in your prayers.

Comet McNaught

This morning on the way to work I made sure to look for Comet McNaught, and I was able to see it very clearly. So that was pretty exciting. This is an image of it taken in Germany posted as NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day – an RSS feed I have stored in bloglines and enjoy getting. If you don't see the comet, you may need to go to the archives for January 9, 2007. It's worth it if you don't get to see it with your own two eyes. I didn’t have time to pull over and try to take a picture of it myself, or I’d have been late for work. Comet McNaught is one of the brightest comets of the past several decades. Look for it just before sunrise or after sunset, and near to the sun. When I saw it, it looked like comet Hale-Bopp, but perhaps brighter. It was brighter than Hyatuke and Halley's for sure, by my estimation. It reminded me of a distant plane contrail caught in the pre-dawn light, but it was wider, shorter, and fuzzier.

Bald Eagle Sighting

I saw the coolest thing today - I was walking around the track across the street and I ended up watching an adult Bald Eagle soar for about half an hour. I saw a juvenile bald eagle as well, but not for quite as long. They are very large and beautiful.

I asked an El Paso County, Colorado park ranger about them via e-mail and he replied back quickly. He confirmed based on what I reported that they were a juvenile and an adult. He said they don't nest in the county but they do hunt in this area sometimes, especially in winter, particularly at the Big Johnson Reservoir/Blue Stem Open Prairie area or along Fountain Creek. The ones I saw seemed to come from the McRae reservoir (also known as Carp Lake) area, near the Big Johnson.

Best and Worst movies of 2006 Meme - short and sweet

Favorite movie released in 2006 that you saw: The Prestige

Runners up: Invincible, Casino Royale, Pirates of the Caribbean II, Akeelah and the Bee.

Honorable Mentions: The Devil Wears Prada and The Guardian. And I'd like to make a nod to a 2005 movie I loved but saw in 2006: Millions.

Least favorite movie(s) released in 2006 that you saw: Little Miss Sunshine

Everyone is invited to play, in comments or on their own blogs.

The Hajj - Random Stream of Consciousness Memories

I had two people from afar think of me in the past few days enough to tell me about it - Sis. Scorp and Koonj, and it made me feel a bit awestruck and wondering at the significance - thanks and thanks to Allah swt.

As hajj season is coming to a close, I found myself reflecting on my own experience.

I went for hajj in 1999 by the grace of Allah swt. I think that year it was late February to early March or so. I was totally surprised to be going because I didn't have the money to go. However, for some reason, some people I knew up in British Columbia said I should make intention to go for hajj and then if Allah swt willed it, it would happen. I had just graduated from university in December and was working as a substitute teacher and night shift at an assembly line. And I got a call that someone in Dubai had made an anonymous donation to send someone for hajj and the caravan decided I should go.

I had converted in 1994. It had been about 4 1/2 years since I converted and in many ways I still felt like a newbie and an outsider. It had taken me many months just to learn to pray because I didn't have much direct contact with other Muslims to show me and I was unsure about some of the directions I had found and about pronunciations, etc. So I had no idea what to expect in going for hajj - I hadn't read or prepared about what I would be doing and I had never even been anywhere that I needed a passport and vaccinations for.

My family was so worried - they thought something horrible would happen to me because it was the middle east, and I would never come back. I wasn't worried about people doing something to me, but I knew hajj was an obligation and an invitation and I hoped I could be successful at it.

So I went - I few to JFK where I met up with the American caravan and we then flew to Athens. There I made sure to buy something in the airport so I could get Greek coins to bring back to my dad. There I first saw some hajis putting on their ihram. From Athens it was on to Jeddah where I met with the West Canadian caravan that I would actually be rooming with because I had met some of the ladies before. Jeddah was at night and it had no walls but the tent ceilings were like those of Denver International Airport. And they served Pepsi. They took our bags and passports and you just hoped you saw them again. The security people acted happy to see American passports, wanting to see what an American Muslim was, some kind of paradox to their thinking. But the body-searching women in their black abayahs were lunching and waved us through much to my relief.

We started in Medina. What I remember now is spending a lot of time with a few women close to my age who had been on hajj before and had decided to take me under their wings, much to my gratitude because I would've been totally lost without it. We hardly slept. We were within walking distance of Masjid ul Nabiy and walked there many times throughout the day for the prayers and to nearby places for ziarat. I had so much information to take in because I was at that time ignorant about most of the holy places. We would get up in the middle of the night to go there for the night prayer and it was truly beautiful. The room would get so packed that you didn't think anyone else could possibly fit. But it was incredibly peaceful in Medina. It was very beautiful somehow especially in and around the Prophet's (saw) Mosque; something in the air that permeated the soul was beautiful there. At a certain time of day they opened part of the masjid normally closed to women and it would become a crushing horde as they tried to get closer to the Prophet (saw), locked behind a cage, and then it would close again.

Iranian ladies would sometimes see us and recognize us by our turbahs and stand around us while we prayed so no one took them, and the Iranians also put together a massive crowd reciting Dua Kumayl on the Thursday night in the plaza by the Mosque. It stopped all traffic. The Saudi police were there in riot gear but everyone just participated or watched and then we disbursed.

Behind the Masjid were complex alleys of shops that went on for a seemingly endless distance, and at times I accompanied those seeking the obligatory souvenirs to take back home like dates, prayer beads, prayer rugs, key chains, perfumes, abayas, and so on. I hadn't saved money to buy stuff, I hadn't even thought about it because I didn't have any Muslims to bring back souvenirs to, but someone in our caravan stuffed 400 riyals in my hand so I could buy things too. In any store there or in Mecca, they wanted to know where you were from and when they found out they expected you to have lots and lots of money. The gold sellers always haggled prices by typing in numbers in a calculator - then the buyer would hit clear and type in a new number, and so on back and forth until they reached a deal - thus bypassing language barriers. Money exchanges were on many corners and if you needed to exchange money you got better deals with large bills.

Janatul Baqi was a giant caged square where pigeons roamed amongst broken, unmarked stubs of pillars that had once been gravemarkers. Those of Imam Sadiq (as) and others were pointed out to me, but nothing distinguished them aside from a square of stones around them to separate them from some of the rest.

I ate my first and only halal Burger King there. Honestly, it wasn't very impressive.

Then at some point we moved on to performing hajj - we entered ihram and traveled overnight to Mecca. I remember the bus stopping and Saudis coming on and handing out food packages to every passenger - I tasted Bobeye milk (Popeye) - it wasn't refrigerated but I laughed to myself at seeing Popeye without the P.

Labbaik Allahumma Labbaik. Labbaik, La Shareek Laka, Labbaik. Innal Hamdah, Wan Nematah, Laka wal Mulk, La Shareek Laka Labbaik.

Here I am at Thy service O Lord, here I am. Here I am at Thy service and Thou hast no partners. Thine alone is All Praise and All Bounty, and Thine alone is The Sovereignty. Thou hast no partners, here I am.

We chanted it as we approached. In Mecca we were much farther from the Haram than we had been from the Masjid un Nabiy. We were in Azizia and while we could take a very long walk to Mina it had to be cab ride to the Haram. The order of events isn't clear in my mind anymore, but I remember going to the Haram and seeing to Ka'aba for the first time. It was in a sense something ordinary, but to see it with my own eyes was something astounding - I was overwhelmed that I had ended up here from the other side of the world and none of it my own doing, and it made me cry at the sight. Performing Tawaf was actually very difficult - it was extremely crowded and hard to stay with anyone and hard to keep track of where you were and keep count of the number of circumambulations because you were being crushed and pushed and trying to keep in mind what was happening and what it all meant.

I remember being really quite surprised to discover that Safa and Marwa were not mountains but smoothed small hills and under a roof at that. Saiy, walking back and forth between the mountains was physically much easier although still a good distance walk. And it was easy to think of Hagar walking back and forth in the search for water as we too walked back and forth.

The Haram was large and beautiful and inside of it people at times would form small circles and perform recitation of Qur'an as if in competition and we would listen. We prayed sometimes on the roof because there was room nowhere else, and it was oh so beautiful at night. You would find your place to pray and then more and more people would show up and more and more and more and more would come, and then you'd have to move because you were surrounded by men and they would be upset that you were there as a woman in the area they had taken over.

When we went to Muzadalifa we picked up pebbles and put them in little bags - these were little bags that we carried our slippers in everywhere because you had to remove them when entering the mosques, of course, and we also carried little prayer books in them, and a small thin prayer rug with a grass square sewn in for prostration if our mohr was taken or lost, and a few people snuck disposable cameras in them and usually they weren't confiscated when they were searched. I learned about the birds who had stoned the Elephants in the time of Abdullah, the year of the Elephant. These were their stones.

Stoning the Jamarats was perhaps the greatest danger - there were three to stone, symbolizing the temptations of Hagar, Ibrahim, Ishmael. But as you are throwing stones so are countless others, and sometimes someone would be hit and bleed in their Ihram. And the ground was littered with this tiny sharp stones from missed throws and people would step on your feet and your slippers might come off and then you were stepping on these sharp stones. One time that happened to me and I fell forward. As I did so I instinctively reached out in front of me. That was a big mistake I guess, because in front of me was a white-robed man in a long long beard who turned around and yelled at me furiously with pure hatred in his face because I had touched him. It was probably good I had no idea what he said, I was just totally stunned by his behavior. It didn't belong in the world of ihram, the world of dying and death and entering the real life. In Mina we stayed in large tents with spring bunk beds and fans and desert sand floors. We wore pink ribbons pinned to the tops of our hijabs to try to identify us in our caravan so we could find one another. The paths in Mina were tiny because every spot of Earth along the way overflowed with people who had no tents and just slept on the sand and stone wherever they found a spot - they slept on the garbage dumpsters, everywhere, and there was no spot of earth in sight where a human being was not on it.

I remember noting how skinny the Saudi policemen I saw were. One time, a lady and I had to ask one to hail us a Taxi because none wanted to stop for us because they didn't want to go to Azizia. I remember seeing dark-skinned ladies with scarred faces where they had cuts stripes down their faces. I remember tiny children being sat in the streets to beg and when their little pockets would get full, an adult would appear to empty it and then sit them out again. But a banana offered would be scornfully refused. I remember when we would go somewhere for ziarat as soon as we got any distance away from the Haram or the Masjid un Nabiy, the landscape changed. You would see crumbling buildings and medium brown desert instead of marble and white. We went to a Shia masjid and it was but a mud brick building without any AC or anything to identify it and people went about quietly not wanting to be identified as a Saudi Shia by someone who might care in a bad way. We were turned away and told it would not be opening that day for prayer.

I remember date palms - shorter than I expected, as my mindview of palms had been giant palms of uncharted tropical isles - fields of them that we walked through. And a tiny decaying brick buildling with an uneven sandy floor of 4th Imam (as).

I remember falling asleep after days of sleeping almost not at all; someone woke me to say Qurbani had been done. I hadn't hardly realized it was time for it. We didn't eat much either and I came home at least 10 pounds lighter; for one, everything served was spicy hot, even breakfast, and it could be hard to stomach, but you were just too busy with other things. We took a bus to Arafat and traffic was crazy as ever. In Azizia, someone was hit by a cab in front of our rooms and the cab didn't stop and the man died instantly. The smell of the gas was awful as the gas was different, like it was all unfiltered diesel, but we couldn't cover our noses from it in Ihram. At some point in each day we had speeches of our caravan leaders explaining what was coming, how to do it and what it meant. There were no street lights that were obeyed and buses hit each other and scraped by each other amongst throngs of walking people.

Arafat was hot and open. People covered the mount and the plain in camps. We recited through the night. By certain particular of our recitations, which were amplified by microphone, other Shia including Saudis wandered our way. Staying in Ihram was hard because the bathrooms were difficult - no running water, just whatever bottled water you came with, and the floor was covered in najis water just behind a door and there is no seat, you just squat. In the hotel it was fine because you had running water from a hose and you could lock a door and take your time as you tried to figure out squatting without falling and without getting your clothes wet. But out in the fields of the hajj, it was harder.

We went to some other masjids - Masjid Quba was one name I remember, the masjid where the direction of Qiblah changed, one where it was said all the prophets (sa) had prayed, and what was left of Fatima's (as) masjid (just an open corner in a plaza, really). Each was different from the others.

While there, one hardly thought of the world. A thought of back home didn't enter the mind, not even of family; - that was another universe, a fake one that one had been dreaming in, and here was the real life, where all focus, despite the pressing chaotic life all around you, was on nothing but God. I walked around in awe most of the time of the presence of God and that here I am, Labbayk. There were no expectations, you were just there where God had called and whatever happened was as it was meant to be and not in your control. There was no such thing as human control, that was only an illusion for the other fake universe. Some stranger might see you and say your face was glowing with piety when really it was just lost to the physical world and thunderstruck by all that was, by Allah swt. Patience was called on because things never went as planned, so you just went and received what came and tried to fulfill what was incumbent of you humbly, knowing that success or failure depended on He Whom upon all things depend.

Then it was time to leave, and a plane that was supposed to leave at noon might really leave at midnight. You just showed up and sat in throngs of people and waited. The Greeks always applauded when the plane landed. The people boarding the plane did not pay attention to assigned seats and would fight if someone tried to sit in their assigned seat that was already taken. Poor Indian women carried large jugs of zam zam water on their heads to take home but looked fearful of security letting them through with it. Saudia airlines was another world of airline - it didn't look like the others - we took it for a short flight somewhere and it had those drop down screens which were new to me then and the Saudi flight attendants shocked me for I did not see them in the black abayahs and three-layered burqahs that they lifted up in the stores to see what they were buying as I had seen on the streets; these were wearing makeup so heavy it might be for a stage show and wore electric blue tight-fitting shalwar khameez.

Somehow I ended up back in Denver, and the transport I had reserved home didn't come, the reservation had been lost. So I was going to stay in the airport all night. But then I met a Muslim cab driver from Afghanistan and when he found I was coming back from hajj he was so excited he drove me all the way home from Denver to Colorado Springs for only $45. I gave him some prayer beads and I still remember his name. I owe a lot of gratitude to those who helped bring about my journey and helped me navigate it every step of the way. They are forever special in one's heart.

Then I was back in my parents' house where I was then living and experiencing the most painful withdrawal I ever felt in my life. I felt as if I had been living and now I was in the aluminum foil world, the fake one, the glaring one where nothing made sense and I didn't know how I could stand it. It was physically painful, an asphyxiation. A fish on dry land or a man held under water. And my parents were glad to have me back and I struggled to relate to the pleasure of being back home when it really felt like I had left home, but I had so little to tell them of my experience, especially what had happened inside me, because there was nothing they could relate to or understand, it was beyond anything I could tie it to for them. I had been to another universe that could not be grasped unless one had been there - like a two dimensional being entering a three dimensional vista and then coming back again to the flat world.

And then gradually the flat world felt real again, with a sense of loss of the real 3D reality of what lies beyond. But there is another home, the real one, and you had glimpsed it. And now you are not a convert, you are a Muslim. There is a difference, and now you are different, forever. Why you were blessed to go, and so early, when others were not you may never know and cannot guess, but can only accept and hope for acceptance of your absolutely inadequate answer to the call. All the answer was, and all it could be, was to be open to receive from God and to set aside any notion of self, for there is nothing to give Him and nothing but Him.

God calls, and we turn to Him. Then we turn away and back and away and back, and but for the guidance and mercy of Allah swt we sell our souls to the flat world. The flat aluminum world would shine before our eyes and fill our vision if we would forget that it is flat and fake. We are not made for this world. We are not made for this world. We are not made for this world. But we can destroy ourselves in it, nonetheless. This dreamworld we can die in, or we can wake up.

"Paradise is gained by practice, not by aspiration." - Imam 'Ali (as)

Eid Mubarak to all observing the Eid of Hajj.

Labbaik Allahumma Labbaik. Labbaik, La Shareek Laka, Labbaik. Innal Hamdah, Wan Nematah, Laka wal Mulk, La Shareek Laka Labbaik.

Here I am at Thy service O Lord, here I am. Here I am at Thy service and Thou hast no partners. Thine alone is All Praise and All Bounty, and Thine alone is The Sovereignty. Thou hast no partners, here I am.

Imam Sadiq (as) said about the hajj:

"If you intend to go on pilgrimage, before resolving on it devote your heart to Allah, stripping it of every preoccupation and every barrier between you and Allah. Entrust all your affairs to your Creator; rely on Him in all your actions and moments of stillness. Surrender to His decree, decision and judgement. Abandon this world, repose, and all creation. Perform those duties which you are bound to fulfill for other people. Do not rely on your provisions, the animal you ride, your companions, your food, your youth nor your wealth, for fear that they will become your enemies and be harmful to you; in this way you will realize that there is no power, no strength, nor might except by the guardianship of Allah and His granting of success.

Prepare for the pilgrimage as someone who does not hope to return. Keep good company, and be diligent in observing all your obligations to Allah and the prophetic practices. Take care to show courtesy, endurance, patience, thankfulness, compassion, and generosity, always putting others before yourself at all times, even those who reject you. Then perform an ablution with the water of sincere repentance for wrong actions; put on the robe of truthfulness, purity, humility and fear. By donning the garments of pilgrimage, withhold yourself from everything which hinders you from remembering Allah, or that will impede you from showing obedience to Him.

Fulfill His call with an answer whose meaning is clear, pure and sincere when you call on Him, holding on firmly to your belief in Him. Circumambulate with your heart along with the angels who circumambulate the Throne, just as you circumambulate with the Muslims who go around the Ka’aba. Hasten as you run in flight from your passion, freeing yourself of all your personal assumptions of strength and power. Leave your heedlessness and errors behind when you go out to Mina; do not desire what is unlawful for you and what you do not deserve. Confess your errors at Arafat: set out your contract with Allah by His Oneness, draw near to Him and fear Him at Muzdalifah. Climb with your soul to the highest assembly when you climb the mountain of Arafat. Slit the throat of passion and greed in the sacrifice. Stone your appetites, baseness, vileness, and blameworthy actions when you stone the Pillar of Aqabah. Shave off your outward and inward faults when you shave your hair. Enter into the security of Allah, His protection, His veil, His shelter and His watchfulness and abandon the pursuit of your desires by entering the Sacred Precinct. Visit the House, and walk around it to glorify its Master, His wisdom, His majesty and His power. Embrace the Stone, being content with His decree and humble before His might. Leave everything that is other than Him in the valedictory circumambulation. Purify your soul and your innermost being for the meeting with Allah, on the day when you will meet Him when standing on Safa'.

Take on valour and courtesy from Allah by annihilating your attributes at Marwah. Be consistent in the conditions of your pilgrimage and fulfill the contract you have made with your Lord, by which you will have obliged yourself to Him on the Day of Judgement. Know that Allah made the pilgrimage obligatory, and singled it out from all the acts of worship in respect of Himself when He said,

وَلِلّهِ عَلَى النَّاسِ حِجُّ الْبَيْتِ مَنِ اسْتَطَاعَ إِلَيْهِ سَبِيلا

Pilgrimage to the House is incumbent upon men for the sake of Allah, and [upon] everyone who is able to undertake the journey to it. (3:97)

The Holy Prophet established the organization of the rituals of pilgrimage as preparation for, and an indication of, death, the grave, the resurrection and the Day of Judgement. In this lesson for mankind he discriminates between those who will enter the Garden and those who will enter the Fire, through his demonstrating the pilgrimage rites from beginning to end to those with intelligence and prudence."



May Allah swt forgive and guide us all.

Merry Christmas!

A digital copy of the Beatty Family Recipes is available for download. At least, these are the ones not existing in recipe books somewhere at my mom's house. Let me know what you think. Ignore the instructions about dividers and sheet protectors - that is, unless you decide to make a recipe binder! If the download doesn't work for you, I can e-mail you a copy if you like.

And for Eid, there's some "Shia" Adhan mp3 files in there as well - but these are too big for e-mail, fyi.

Update on Sr. Marzieh

I know several people stopping by this blog had added Sr. Marzieh to their prayers - she is the sister with three kids whose condo was burned in a fire.

I know that many times I heard appeals for help for someone and then never heard about what happened. So I thought you might like this update from her:

Assalam Alaikum
     Sister Masooma thanks for expressing concern about my situation. Alahamdulillah my family and I are fine. We were living in a hotel for 2 weeks then I was able to get a rented unit where we will be living until my townhouse is rebuilt insha'allah. It will take about 5 or 6 months before we can move back into our home. We are very fortunate and Allah's mercy has been with us every step of the way. When I returned to my home after a couple of days and saw the severity of what had taken place, I just was even more grateful than ever that everyone inside the home had escaped without any injuries.
     Alhamdulillah the community has helped and I appreciate all those who have been there for me. I don't necessarily mean financially, but for those even giving me a call just to make sure everything is going okay. i do appreciate it. This whole ordeal has been another learning experience for me and reconfirms certain "givens" for me. One of course is the Greatnest of Allah and two the very temporary state of this world.and all of us in it.
     We should always show our obedience to Him and put our total trust and faith in Him and live each and every day as if it is our last one in this world, because it may be. We must be so attentive to our actions, deeds and words and insha'allah try to pattern our lives after the Ahle-Bait. The tests in this world are many and varied. We just pray that we do well on them and that Allah will be satisfied with our actions.
Thanks Sisters for Caring
Wa Salaam
Marzieh

Big Waves! - and silly/fun stuff updates

XXL Billabong Wow! Check out the pictures and video on this site of some surfing in waves as much as five stories high - impressive!

2006: Year of the Big Waves
Discovery.com reports that 2006 has been a year of unusually large waves, and that there may be a connection to shifting global climate.

Also, on a side note - check out the side bar - if you've never played with the silly/fun stuff, come on, you know you want to - it's fun! I added a few - a different Elvish name generator, and the addicting baby name wizard. If you have some favorites to go there let me know - I suppose santasez is a contender, but I don't know if it is up year-round.

Good Salaat Website

Praytime

This has to be one of the best sites I've seen for prayer stuff - the main page will give prayer times and qibla direction customizable to your location and time zone. It will play the adhan at the proper times if the computer is on and the page is loaded. The education page has a very good prayer instruction guide that can be played and prayed along with or that someone can sit down and study carefully. The services page gives monthly prayer time tables and the qibla on map feature there can be zoomed in so much that you can zoom in right on your house and see the qibla for your house specifically.

Native American group invites visitors to step off the edge of the Grand Canyon

Hualapai's glass walkway to open in March

I'd be interested to see that.

'I'm Not Weird, I'm Eclectic' Meme

I've been tagged by Baraka.

The Code: State six weird things about yourself. Then tag 6 people and leave them a comment to let them know that they've been tagged. I had to think about this one for a little bit.

1. I hate talking on the phone.

I can tolerate it with closest friends and family, but especially with anyone else I abhor it. It makes me uncomfortable. If someone calls and I don't recognize who the caller is, I will just ask to take a message. The one exception to that is a person taking a survey who immediately identifies that - I might participate in the survey to satisfy my own curiosity - I teach AP Statistics and will want to find out if they are following appropriate survey design techniques. :) Lots of men in particular just can't believe that a woman doesn't want to talk on the phone and think it is someone playing games with them or something, but I would much prefer e-mail any day, even with those closest to me. Get me off the phone.

2. I am a fidgeter.

I am that person whose leg is shaking all the time. I hate when someone sitting next to me grabs my leg to get me to stop - it is actually physically painful to try to stop. I also type all the time with my fingers - when I was a little kid before I learned to type it was sign language alphabet letters, and once I learned to type it switched to typing - it is just something that my hands do automatically and only occasionally am I aware of it. This doesn't mean I have ADD or something - I am very good at concentrating and focusing, I just often have a body that moves on its own because it needs to.

3. I don't like quiet.

I work in a school, so I am used to a noisy work environment. When I go and visit my mom at her work, it is so quiet in that office that I think I'd go crazy. I don't mind quiet sometimes, but I need some noise. At home, at all hours of the waking day there is some kind of background noise in my house - singing birds, TV on just for noise, etc. Without it, I'd go crazy. Noise doesn't affect my concentration unless I get too interested in whatever the noise is.

4. I am not in tune with negative feelings.

When I feel good, I usually know why, and I feel good most of the time. However, if I am feeling blue or angry, sometimes I really have to think it out to have any idea why. Yes, I am one of those girls who rarely will find herself crying for no apparent reason. There really is a reason, but it is usually complicated/suppressed. And no, I don't do it publicly. If I am feeling bad, it usually doesn't show, but if it does, I hate being asked what's wrong, especially because I might not know the answer.

5. I don't like crunchy food

Carrots are supposed to crunch. But for the most part, I dislike crunchy food. No hard shell tacos for me, no hard candy or crunchy cookies. Toast. Yuck.

6. I have a very active fantasy life.

I guess some people are never that way, and a lot of people grow out of it when they become adults, but not me. A good portion of my private free time is spent in other worlds inside my head, but no one can tell. It is probably my favorite pastime.

Tag: Wayfarer if she'd like to play. I think Hajar and Sis. Scorp. were already tagged. I won't tag Derek because he hates memes. I've never seen Abu Sinan do one. If Abdul-Rahim Borges is around maybe he'd like to play.

Liquid Water on Mars in the Past 7 Years?

Mars Global Surveyor Found Evidence of Recent Water Flows

Fire - Help Requested

A friend of mine in Denver named Marziyeh just lost her home in a fire. She is a widow with three children, the youngest 12 years old. She is a wonderful, independent, smart, very pious lady who has done more for her community wherever she's been than almost anyone else I could think of. They are staying in a hotel right now. If anyone has means to assist her and her kids or knows anyone who would help, I have address/phone/bank information for her.

I would like to humbly ask any readers here to send her a card, I am sure it would mean a lot to her.

They could be sent to Sr. Marziyeh at:

Melanie Franklin
13173 East Bethany Place
Aurora, Colorado 80014

Thank you!

Turkeys try for fast train out of Jersey

I love wild turkeys!

The Associated Press



RAMSEY, N.J. - Some wild turkeys, it appears, were trying to get out of New Jersey before Thanksgiving Day. A spokesman for the NJ Transit said train officials reported a dozen or so wild turkeys waiting on a station platform in Ramsey, about 20 miles northwest of New York City, on Wednesday afternoon. The line travels to Suffern, N.Y.

"For a moment, it looked like the turkeys were waiting for the next outbound train," said Dan Stessel, a spokesman for NJ Transit. "Clearly, they're trying to catch a train and escape their fate."

Transit workers followed the bird's movements on surveillance cameras. "I have no idea how they got there," Stessel said.

A Ramsey police dispatcher said the department had received three calls about the traveling turkeys who also were blamed for causing morning rush hour traffic problems on a roadway.

"From time to time, I've heard calls that there are turkeys on the loose," said Erik Endress, president of the Ramsey Rescue Squad, a volunteer group. "Maybe they're trying to make a break."

Memes: Mysteries, Things you want to see, superpowers

This Meme is to list the top 5 mysteries you would like to know the answers to. The rest of the world wouldn't necessarily have to know; that'd be your choice. So what are your top 5?

1. I'd like to know all about Bigfoot/Sasquatch/Skunk Ape Yeti sightings - are the animals real, how many are there, etc. Out of all the "mystery" creatures, etc., I think this is one there actually could be something to....

2. I'd like to be able to tell families of missing persons where to find their loved ones.

3. I'd like to know who the Neanderthals were as people and what really ultimately happened to them.

4. What happened to D.B. Cooper and the stolen money? Heck, let's just find all lost treasures while we're at it....

5. I'd like to know what electronic voice phenomena really are....



This Meme is to list 5 things that are impossible for you to see but you would like to see....

1. I'd like to see everything that ever happened where I live - I'd like to see how it changed geologically over time, etc., in fast motion. I'd like to see living Columbia Mammoths and Saber Tooth Tigers roaming around, etc.

2. I'd like to see my ancestors all the way back, and see them for who they really were. I'd like to see how I'm interconnected to other people.

3. I'd like to see Middle Earth.

4. I'd like to see other stars, other planets, and other parts of the Universe up close. I'd like to touch the sand on Mars.

5. I would like see Abraham (as) sitting in the fire but not burning, and I'd like see Yusuf (as) rise from the well to power.


This Meme is to list 5 superpowers you would like to have....

1. I would like to be able to speak, understand, read and write in all languages.

2. I would like to be able to witness anything in the past or present that I wanted to.

3. I would like to be able to transport instantly to and from any place.

4. I would like to be able to find missing people or missing things, etc.

5. I would like to be able to give the whole world, free unlimited clean energy and water.

Just a Few Things to be Thankful for.... (in no particular order)

1. seeing
2. hearing
3. smelling
4. tasting
5. touching
6. family
7. friends
8. enough $ to pay the bills
9. Rahman and Raheem
10. Ahlulbayt (as)
11. windchimes
12. beautiful days
13. mountains
14. hiking
15. geocaching
16. pets
17. birds chirping
18. color
19. online banking and bank cards
20. reading
21. Internet
22. imagination
23. home
24. heat
25. water
26. good mentors/teachers
27. mom
28. a car that runs
29. beautiful plants
30. halal turkey
31. DVR
32. sleep
33. weekends (thanks to unions,btw)
34. honesty
35. compassion
36. those who sacrificed and died for what we take for granted
37. fresh air
38. empowerment
39. some security and some freedom
40. mystery, adventure and science fiction novels
41. PBS, the Discovery Channel, etc.
42. being needed
43. good work environment
44. volunteers - and especially firefighters
45. health insurance
46. open space
47. stars
48. moon
49. sun
50. the U.S. highway system
51. more interesting currency since the state quarter program started
52. photography
53. polar bears are still here, for now
54. feeding the giraffes at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo
55. playing board games with close family/friends
56. electricity and Nikola Tesla
57. rock cutting and polishing
58. craftsmen and artisans
59. cures
60. special occasions and holidays
61. fireworks
62. memories
63. logic
64. environmentalism
65. nice surprises
66. appreciation
67. repair men/women
68. the milkman/woman
69. Crocs
70. hair on our heads
71. snowshoes
72. Calvin and Hobbes and The Far Side
73. laughing
74. flannel sheets
75. pj's
76. chocolate
77. cheese
78. vegetarian food in restaurants
79. EmergenC, raspberry flavor
80. blogs
81. a higher minimum wage in Colorado
82. owning instead of renting
83. the swamp cooler
84. antelope, deer and wild turkeys
85. learning, and not just for application
86. free samples of good stuff
87. U.S. Postal Service and UPS, FedEX
88. online shopping
89. e-mail
90. yoga
91. water aerobics
92. walking
93. gps
94. adhan
95. Qur'an
96. the front office secretary (Queen of the school), and our department chair
97. Colorado
98. things that last longer than they're supposed to without wearing out or requiring maintenance
99. highly effective, beautiful, short dua'a
100. TI graphing calculators

Harry Potter

Well, in the past few weeks I read all 6 of the Harry Potter books; I've never read them before so it was a lot of fun and I can't wait for the seventh. I wonder who else will die and how it will end up.... Before that, I read Lord of the Rings all the way through. I'm thinking I might re-read all of the Sherlock Holmes next; I really enjoyed those when I was a kid.....

AWOL Soldiers Reconsider Return to U.S.

By BRETT BARROUQUERE
Associated Press Writer



Kyle Snyder, AP Photo/BRIAN BOHANNON

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- Since going to Canada to avoid another deployment to Iraq, Corey Glass has considered returning to the United States. But after hearing that a fellow former soldier who surrendered to the military and was ordered to return to his unit instead of being discharged, Glass may not return at all.

"They're not going to win the hearts and minds like that," said Glass, 24, who signed on with the Indiana National Guard in 2002.

Kyle Snyder, a one-time combat engineer who joined the military in 2003, disappeared Wednesday, a day after surrendering at Fort Knox and 18 months after fleeing to Vancouver instead of redeploying to Iraq.

Snyder, 23, of Colorado Springs, Colo., said a deal had been reached for a discharge, but he found out he would be returned to his unit at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.

His troubles are complicating efforts for those among the 220 American soldiers who fled to Canada and want to return to the United States, according to lawyers, soldiers and anti-war activists.

"Nobody's going to come back from Canada anymore," said James Fennerty, a Chicago-based attorney who represents Snyder and other AWOL soldiers.

Several soldiers who went to Canada have said they don't want to return to Iraq. Sgt. Patrick Hart, who deserted the Fort Campbell, Ky.-based 101st Airborne Division in August 2005, a month before his second deployment, said he felt misled about the reasons for the war.

"How can I go over there if I don't believe in the cause? I still consider myself a soldier, but I can't do that," said Hart, a Buffalo, N.Y., native who served more than nine years in the military.

"The whole story behind it, it all feels like a big lie," Glass said. "I ain't fighting for no lie."

Fennerty said he reached a deal with the Army allowing Snyder, a private with the 94th Engineer Battalion, to receive an other-than-honorable discharge.

It's a deal similar to one Darrell Anderson, a 24-year-old Iraq war veteran, received in October. After three days at Fort Knox, Anderson, who has denounced the war as "illegal" and "immoral," was released to his family in Lexington, then discharged.

But Snyder ended up at a bus station in Louisville, with orders to go to St. Louis, then Fort Leonard Wood. Snyder, who said the brutality of what he saw happening to civilians in Iraq prompted him to desert, left with an anti-war activist instead of going back to the post.

Gini Sinclair, a Fort Knox spokeswoman, declined to address Snyder's case. But she said deserters who turn themselves in are automatically returned to their units if the unit is in the United States at the time of surrender. Once reunited with the unit, the commander there decides what becomes of the soldier, Sinclair said.

When a soldier surrenders at Fort Knox and is sent to his unit, he is either put on a plane or a bus, sometimes alone, she said.

"In some cases, they will be escorted," Sinclair said. "I don't know what decides if that happens."

That policy, and the question of whether an AWOL soldier can reach a deal that trumps it, is causing consternation among soldiers.

"After what they did to him, I don't see anybody going back," said Glass, a Fairmount, Ind., native who is currently in Toronto.

Some are seeking refugee status in Canada. Hart, who was joined in Toronto by his wife and their 3-year-old son, served time in Bosnia in the early 1990s, became a reserve, then went to Iraq after returning to active duty. The idea of returning to the United States is appealing to Hart, because he would like to see family and friends.

"I could see going back under some kind of amnesty program or something like that," Hart said. "But I don't trust them. My enemy isn't foreign now. It's domestic."

© 2006 The Associated Press.

Pardon the Pun

1. A vulture boards an airplane, carrying two dead
raccoons. The stewardess looks at him and says, "I'm
sorry,sir, only one carrion allowed per passenger."


2. Two fish swim into a concrete wall. The one turns
to the other and says, "Dam!"


3. Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly, so they lit a fire
in the craft. Unsurprisingly it sank, proving once
again that you can't have your kayak and heat it too.


4. Two hydrogen atoms meet. One says "I've lost my
electron." The other says "Are you sure?" The first replies "Yes,
I'm positive."


5. Did you hear about the Buddhist who refused
Novocain during a root canal?
His goal: transcend dental medication.


6. A group of chess enthusiasts checked into a hotel
and were standing in the lobby discussing their recent tournament
victories. After about an hour, the manager came out of the office
and asked them to disperse. "But why?" they asked, as they moved off.
"Because," he said," I can't stand chess-nuts boasting in an open
foyer."


7. A woman has twins and gives them up for adoption.
One of them goes to a family in Egypt and is named "Ahmal." The other
goes to a family in Spain; they name him "Juan." Years later, Juan
sends a picture of himself to his birth mother. Upon receiving the
picture, she tells her husband that she wishes she also had a picture of
Ahmal. Her husbandresponds, "They're twins! If you've seen Juan,
you've seen Ahmal."


8. A group of friars were behind on their belfry
payments, so they opened up a small florist shop to raise funds. Since
everyone liked to buy flowers from the men of God, a rival florist
across town thought the competition was unfair. He asked the
good fathers to close down, but they would not. He went back and
begged the friars to close. They ignored him. So, the rival florist
hired Hugh MacTaggart, the roughest and most vicious thug in
town to "persuade" them to close. Hugh beat up the friars and trashed
their store, saying he'd be back if they didn't close up shop.
Terrified, they did so, thereby proving that only Hugh can prevent
florist friars.


9. Mahatma Gandhi, as you know, walked barefoot most
of the time, which produced an impressive set of calluses on his feet.
He also ate very little, which made him rather frail and, with his
odd diet, he suffered from bad breath. This made him a super
calloused fragile mystic hexed by halitosis.


10. And finally, there was the person who sent ten
different puns to friends, with the hope that at least one of the puns
would make them laugh. No pun in ten did.