Monday, March 7, 2016

Letter to Erin 20160308

In the name of Allah, most Gracious, most Merciful.

Hi there, Boss Model!  You are MY girl, so you are the most beautiful girl in the world.  I hope you are having a great time, and not overworking.  My sleeping schedule has gone back to normal since last week.  A few days ago, I slept almost 7 hours straight!  Oh, don't worry about me.  I always sleep in chunks, which usually add up to 7 hours a day.  I'm a noisy sleeper, just to warn you.  I get all my dreams and rest regardless, so I don't consider myself as having a sleep disorder.  I don't know if you would be able to tolerate it, though.  But you're an angel, right?  I'll handle the night shift with the baby, so you can go ahead and sleep through the night.

There's nothing out of the ordinary going on here.  I cleaned my bedroom.  I used the engine blower to blow all the dust out.  It's so handy and so much more convenient than sweeping or vacuuming, and my bedroom has never been cleaner because of it.  The 8th of March is my Dad's birthday: he's 79.  Happy Birthday, Dad!  It's also the day that plane disappeared, do you remember that?  My guess is that the plane carcass can be found at the bottom of the sea between Thailand and Langkawi.  Yes, the Qur'an does provide much information for those who sincerely seek to know.  We believe in the Book: the whole of it is from our Lord.

This morning, I visited the taxman to pick up some forms.  I also visited the pharmacy to get some anti fungal pills for Bat Cat.  That cat loves to sleep in the mud for some strange reason.  I told him to clean himself because I'm not doing it, and he does a fair job of it.  I hear that mud cleans skin, but it gives Bat Cat fungus.  I had lunch today at Omar's.  Dinner today was a block of fresh tofu swimming in marinara sauce with chopped scad meat and basil leaves.  Kind of an Italian Oriental meal, but very tasty.  It's only a single serving so I don't have any left for you.  I do love you though, and I need you.

Sunday, March 6, 2016

Letter to Erin 20160307

In the name of Allah, most Gracious, most Merciful.

Hi there, my beautiful Sweetheart!  Have you been super busy?  Work doesn't do much for the heart, though.  Please don't be blue, because I love you.  I will marry you, inshaAllah.  Please make sure you don't overwork, and rest your precious heart.  Treat yourself as gold, for you are so precious to me.  You are my wife inshaAllah, and I need you.

Whenever I ask you to make a donation together with me, you don't have to give 10 grand and your first born child.  Just a dollar (or Euro).  It's not to show, though you may have noticed how some people make a big stink about a lousy dollar (or Euro), not necessarily because they have to give it, but because they didn't receive it.  It's not that.  It's because you are me, and we make the donation together.

My pizza dough has become unusable.  My pizza tonight was not crispy, but hard.  When did I make that batch of dough, anyway?  It must have been Wednesday morning, after I checked my Dad into the ward.  No, it was the day before.  It seems that my dough has a life of 5 days in the cooler without freezing it.  That was a perfect batch.  But I'm pizza-ed out.  No more pizza for a while.

Saturday, March 5, 2016

Letter to Erin 20160306

In the name of Allah, most Gracious, most Merciful.

Greetings, my dearest love.  How are you feeling?  How about you?  You know that I feel the same way.  We're all waiting for something, and I've been waiting longer than you.  So please stay positive, and pray.  After all, you are at the top of your profession.  Heaven is for the next life.  So enjoy where you are, and know that I love you and need you.

I have to admit that I enjoy the way I feel nowadays.  It would be awesome if I could slow down even more, but hey life isn't perfect.  The cats pee faster than I can prepare mop water.  But at least I don't need to attribute how I feel to a substance or lack thereof.  Besides not have my girl, that is.

There's a lot of debris around your house inshaAllah due to all the chainsawing I did lately, plus the scrub that the neighbor helped clear (thank you) that needs to be broken down for systematic burning, so I worked on that in the evening.  Besides being an amateur fire marshal, I need to generate earth so I have to burn in a place where I can collect the ash.  The monsoon still hasn't arrived, so the mango trees have no flowers thus no fruit yet.  This means the price of harumanis is going to skyrocket.  InshaAllah.

As I write this letter, I'm frying up some anchovies for my snack mix.  Unlike you girls, I prefer savory over sweet.  I do like sweet, but not everyday.  Dinner was a sausage and tofu pizza.  Awesome!  Alhamdulillah.  The key is fresh tofu.  There's an excellent tofu maker at the market downtown, nice and soft and milky white.  Really, I'm not the type that eats pizza everyday.  It's that a batch of dough yields 5 pizza doughs, and become unusable quickly if the quality is high.  Oh, I guess I could always freeze them.  But it's so tasty!  Want some pizza?

Please make a donation of a minimum of one US dollar or one Euro to a worthwhile charity.

Friday, March 4, 2016

Letter to Erin 20160305

In the name of Allah, most Gracious, most Merciful.

Hello Sweetheart.  Hello Luscious.  I'm sitting at home again writing this letter, for hospital duty has ceased for now.  I'm writing late today: it's almost 10 pm, and I'll be going to sleep soon.  I've been awfully busy, and I didn't get much sleep in the ward.  I just came back from the mosque.  I watched a young couple get married.

I spent the evening in the kitchen, processing a fish, making marinara sauce, making sausage, making a pizza.  This time it's sausage and oyster mushroom.  I've been really enjoying pizza lately.  I'm grateful to Allah for giving me some knowledge of cooking.  Tomorrow, I'll be grilling a fish!  I wish you were with me to enjoy it.  My parents gave me a fish Tuesday, but it's been in the freezer because I've been so busy.  I'll be stuffing it with tofu and tom yam paste, maybe some cilantro or basil.  I will wait for you, because I love you and I need you.  I'll need to get another fish, though.

Please make a donation of a minimum of one US dollar or one Euro to a worthwhile charity.

Thursday, March 3, 2016

Letter to Erin 20160304

In the name of Allah, most Gracious, most Merciful.

Hi there, o beautiful one!  O gorgeous one!  I'm sitting here today in a hospital ward, keeping my Dad company as he recovers from eye surgery.  It's just after the sunset prayer, and I have to be here all night.  So, thank Allah for portable computers.

I wanted to say something about interest, or rather the consumption of.  The consumption of interest is forbidden by the Qur'an.  But the Prophet (peace be on him) did not define what was interest before he passed away.  He knew that everyone would have their fingers tainted to a certain extent with usury after his time.  This is not to OK interest just because it is a condition of modern times.  The Qur'an encompasses all of time.

Let's just regard interest that is compounded on itself.  The problem with interest on interest is that the world is finite, but the interest is infinite.  That is how the richest got richer, and control the earth, because there will never be enough value in the world to pay for interest that accumulates on itself.  The poor will default on their loans, and human law will punish them.  What about a country with massive debts?  How would you punish a country that defaults on massive debts?  If you were the lender, how would you get your money back?  Enslave the entire country?  Wage war?  Probably a leader who is wealthy would know how to save a debt-ridden country.  Unless of course, he is in business partnership with the lenders.

And of course, some will argue that what's worth doing is worth doing for money, and that the poor are also able to consume interest, and they wouldn't want to give it up either.  Isn't it all too late or too futile?  What is the solution?  Only the individual can provide a solution, by being an individual who forsakes the consumption of interest.  Give the profit made from interest to the poor- don't give to the wealthy! 

Oh dearest, I've written another rambling letter.  I hope you had lots of fun on your birthday, and that you are taking proper care of yourself.  I want you to know that I love you with all my heart, and I need you.




Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Letter to Erin 20160303

In the name of Allah, most Gracious, most Merciful.

Happy Birthday, Erin!  My beloved Golden Heart, I love you with all my heart.  You are my wife inshaAllah, and I need you.  I pray you have the most confidence you've ever had in your life, I pray that people will treat you as preciously as I regard you, I pray that no harm or unhappiness ever befall you.  Ya Allah, please protect my Erin.  I want you to know Erin, that I would wait for you no matter how old we get, because I will marry you inshaAllah.  Please have faith in Allah, and in our love.  Meanwhile, please enjoy your success, have fun, and look after your precious self.

Your birthday pizza is eggplant and tofu.  Delicious!

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Letter to Erin 20160302

In the name of Allah, most Gracious, most Merciful.

Hey there!  How's it going?  How are you?  I just finished my dinner.  It was a huge bowl of vermicelli soup, Tom Yam flavored.  Tom Yam, as you know, is a hot sour Thai seasoning which is very common around these here parts.  Everywhere you look here, you will see restaurants serving Tom Yam.  I don't know about you, but I don't like to experiment with restaurants that serve stuff I already know.  Yeah, I know there are different recipes out there.  When we go out to eat together inshaAllah, if we're not going to one of my regular joints, I would try to experiment with atmosphere and hope for the best about the cooking.  It must not be the same way in New York, but it must be hell to be halal.  It's always best to cook my own food, because I'm not likely to poison myself.  Plus I get huge, man-sized servings, I eat what I feel like eating, and I save money.

I love you, I need you, and I wish you were with me.  But we must be patient, right?  I want you to take good care of yourself, like treasure, for you are so valuable to me.  Please don't overwork, please pray, and try not to drink those funny tasting beverages.