Letter to Julia 20130129

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

Hi there, Julia my beloved.  How are you feeling right now?  You must be working hard as usual.  Please try to slow down, and take good care of yourself, because I love you with all my heart.  I've been watching an old episode of the Jerry Springer show.  You do know that all I do is spend my time alone, waiting for when Allah grants me the means to give you a good married life, insyaAllah.  Today I cleaned my parents' bathroom.  I broke off some of the dead limbs of the cashew tree.  It's almost cashew and mango season.  There are so many flowers!  I picked a ripe papaya.  I think papayas smell kind of funny.  This afternoon I slept for an hour in my mother's massage chair.  I have a headache right now, even though my shoulders feel loose.  After I write this letter, I will practise the guitar a little.  Bat Cat wants me to play the guitar today.  Oh, it's a full moon outside, Julia!  Oh, pretty moon!

Letter to Julia 20130127

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

Hi Julia!  How are you feeling today?  Have you been a good girl?  Please maintain your prayers, because in the future, we'll be praying together, insyaAllah.  My brother just got his small son a full size Wilson basketball.  I suppose we could put a hoop out on the concrete in front of my office/bedroom window, where I hope to put a carport, insyaAllah.  The problem is that it's right by the elementary school road, so the whole world will watch you shoot hoops.  I suppose it would be OK if you dress appropriately, but I'm sure you need a basketball partner, and I would be a pushover.  You wouldn't even have to take a single step.

Letter to Julia 20130125

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

Hey there, my beloved.  How are you feeling today?  Please take good care of yourself, because I love you so much.  It has been rather edgy for me both on and off the Internet, but hey, that's the music for you.  The music is from Allah, so I use it to serve Allah.  No I'm no hero, just some lonely and destitute old man who longs to be married to the girl he loves.  Meanwhile, I've finally figured out how to pan fry beef brisket perfectly.  The secret is: no liquid seasonings!  My favorite cut of beef has to be ribeye.  Also the ribs themselves, I love BBQ beef ribs!  Perhaps if we become wealthy enough insyaAllah, we can buy our own steer, take the cuts we want, and donate the rest to the masjid.  We'll need a freezer!

Letter to Julia 20130123

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

Oh, hi Julia.  How are you feeling?  Please learn how to slow down, and try to make others conform to your schedule.  You are my beautiful princess, and I love you with all my heart.  I've been doing some studying.  Jimi Hendrix, the Doors, Pink Floyd.  Comparing myself with them, I'm an utter disgrace to the rock star concept.  I'm old, I'm destitute, I don't drink, smoke, or do drugs, I don't have any tattoos, I don't slut around, I don't tour, I've never been signed, I don't have any hit records, I despise the mass media, I don't party, I don't want to be worshiped, and I don't worship the devil.  I'm a complete disgrace to the stuffy old conformist and conventional rock and roll hierarchy.  They are the establishment, and I am the rebel.  Phooey!

And you are my wife, so please maintain your prayers, and guard your chastity as I guard mine for you, until the time when Allah grants me the means to give you a good married life.  InsyaAllah.  Please keep the promises you make, fulfill to your obligations, and be true to your testimonies.

Letter to Julia 20130122

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

Hi Julia!  Are you busy?  You must be, because I see everyone else around me running around like chickens with their heads cut off.  If your schedule is crammed to the hilt, then please take the time to rest and eat adequately.  I guess I should have blogged yesterday, but I was too lazy.  I just couldn't make the supreme effort to shave, take a shower, put on some decent clothes, and make my way downtown like everyone else.  I'm soooo lazy!  I stayed in bed pretty much all morning until after the noon prayer, taking breaks to feed the cats and have lunch.  Being lazy is time-consuming work!  I think I loafed around so much, it made me feel slightly sick.  Hey, you slow down too, Julia!  I want to snuggle with you!

Letter to Julia 20130120

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

Hi there Julia, my beloved.  Would you like to dance?  My feet are clumsy because I once had a foot injury, and I wasn't much of a dancer to begin with.  I once was able to dance alone, and throw my hair around (it was long back then), but that just created a wide berth around me.  I don't know any dance steps.  I'm afraid we're going to have to create our own dance, and hopefully we won't die laughing at me.  You lead!

Oh well, if I hadn't injured my foot, I would still be in the food business right now, and would probably never seen my parents again.  Even so, it wasn't easy, and I had to still confront the same challenges and rivals as when I was in the USA.  Wherever you go, there you are!  And you, you are so beautiful and so intense, you are so made for me, and I want to marry you.  This is your destiny, is to be loved by me.  Your work is elevated too, by the Power of Allah.  If not for this path you have taken, you would have been a trend follower instead of a trend setter.  Fashion and music!  Asia, and Islam.  This is our life, and our path.  But God is there wherever we may be.  You don't have to be in the Holy Land to attain enlightenment.  This is for anybody: surrender yourself to Allah, and Allah will make all your choices right.  InsyaAllah.  Glory to Allah.

Letter to Julia 20130118

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

Aaaaaaa!  I hate ironing!  Oh, hi Julia.  I may hate ironing, but I love you.  I'll never make a fashion biz mogul if I can't stand to even iron my own clothes, so it's a good thing you have the aptitude for fashion in the family.  What was for your dinner tonight, my love?  Are you eating properly, and taking good care of your precious body?  I had steak and bamboo shoots for dinner.  Yeah, my Dad gave me some brisket, and there's and endless supply of bamboo shoots in the yard.  I shouldn't have boiled the bamboo shoots: it sogged up my steak, and I have never been able to pan fry brisket perfectly.  The bamboo shoots should have been greasier or drier.  Or maybe I should have just stewed the whole thing.

Please forgive for not blogging my love for you since Wednesday.  I took my brother's cat to the vet on Thursday.  Remember my telling you about that cat?  She had some sort of mouth infection, which the vet said gave her mouth ulcers.  Well, I've feeding her drugs and antibiotics, but she's only better when she is on medication.  The vet said that there's no saving her, and that cats in her condition usually die of starvation.  This cat can still eat as long as she is medicated, so I guess I have a cat with a drug dependency.  InsyaAllah, I will find a way to nurse her to health.

Letter to Julia 20130115

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

Hey Julia.  How are you feeling?  I pray you are feeling healthy and confident.  Of course I think of you constantly, and I long for our lives together to start as soon as possible.  But Allah commands that we be patient.  After all, I want to give you a good married life.

Have you ever noticed that everything is so tangled up with everything else , that it's a monumental effort just to get started?  For example, I wanted to brew some tea, but my counter top had a big fat bamboo shoot and a bag of fruit on it.  So I had to peel the bamboo shoot, and portion out the tender parts, marinade it in the salt brine which was under 3 other containers in the cooler, finish the bag of fruit, bleach down and wipe the counter top (and the stove top since I had the momentum), measure out some tea leaves in the strainer, and put 4 teaspoons of sugar in the teapot.  Good thing I boiled the water in the rice cooker while I did all that.  Imagine the hurdles I had to jump just to vacuum clean my room.  No wonder I'm so damn lazy.

Letter to Julia 20130113

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

Hi Julia.  Something tells me you are very busy nowadays, so please get sufficient food and rest, and please maintain your prayers.  I have been feeling feverish again, particularly during the day today.  I took a couple of aspirin, so I should be OK, insyaAllah.  I went to my brother's place for dinner.  I had steamboat, I suppose it's a sort of shabu-shabu, y'know where you get served a hot broth on a personal fire, and you cook stuff in it.  Except that this is a combination of a Mongolian/Korean type BBQ, so you can grill stuff as well as boil it in the broth.  It's fun for a social dinner.  I'll take you there someday InsyaAllah, after all, it is my brother's place.

Letter to Julia 20130111

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

It's not that history might repeat itself.  History does repeat itself, history can only repeat itself.  I tried to make my community prosper in USA, and I'm trying to make my community prosper now.  I was poor then, and I am still poor today.  Will economies crash?  After all, people refuse to give up the consumption of interest.  The Grace of God is also the same, because I am still alive and able to make music.  Will God have mercy on me, and kick me out of this loop?  Please pray for us Julia, because I love you, and I want to give you a good married life.

Do you know who we are, Julia?  Allow me to remind you.  I am a servant of Allah, and a follower of prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).  I am not a prophet, I am not an angel, I am not a spiritual leader, I am not an imam.  I am merely a rock star.  You are supermodel.  You are my girl, you are my wife.  We are a couple.  Together, we are one.

Letter to Julia 20130109

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

Oh Julia Julia Julia... there's always something to clean.  It never ends!  This is what it's like to have a house, is housework.  Never ending housework.  Even though I'm still somewhat of a lazy slob, I'm the cleanest I've ever been in my life.  How shocking.  Better late than never?  It seems to me like never.  I'm still poor, and you're not here with me.  I love you, and I want to give you a good married life.  When I was younger, I tried to help make the community prosper, but I was made homeless.  Today I still try to help the community prosper, and I could be made homeless all over again, if it weren't for the grace of God.  I want to go to heaven, ya Allah.  Where I could be pretty, there will be no more cleaning to do, no more disappointment, treachery and suffering.  While I'm still here, I will try to be righteous for You.  Please grant Julia and I success in this life and the hereafter, good health, and a happy married life.

Letter to Julia 20130108

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

Oh Julia!  It's been so busy lately.  I'm sure you are keeping busy, too.  Please get proper food and rest, and please try to slow down.  I took Tuesday morning off to grill fish, and it seemed like the whole town was cooking the same fish.  Hey waddaya know, a male and a female fish: one for you and one for me.  Prepping the fish took forever, making the stuffing, and lighting the coals.  Cooking and eating the food ate into my nap time, but I managed to squeeze in 10 minutes before the mid-day prayer.  You weren't here for lunch, so I ate your fish.  I was stuffed.  I'm going to get bloated if I have to keep on eating your portion.  But I keep waiting for you, because I am faithful.  InsyaAllah.

Humans think that all religion is the same, but that is not so.  There is only One God, clearly Superior over all.

Qur'an 20130108

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

21.  Or who is there that can provide you with sustenance if God were to withhold God's provision?  No, they obstinately persist in insolent impiety and flight.

22.  Is then one who walks headlong, with his face groveling, better guided; or one who walks evenly on a straight way?

23.  Say, "It is God who has created you, and made for you the faculties of hearing, seeing, feeling, and understanding.  Little thanks it is you give."

24.  Say, "It is God who has multiplied you through the earth, and to God shall you be gathered together."

25.  They ask, "When will this promise be, if you are telling the truth?"

26.  Say, "As to the knowledge of the time, it is with Allah alone.  I am sent only to warn in public."

27.  At length, when they see it close at hand, grieved will be the faces of the unbelievers, and it will be said, "This is which you were calling for!"

28.  Say, "See you?  If Allah were to destroy me and those with me, or if God bestows God's mercy on us, yet who can deliver the unbelievers from a grave penalty?"

29.  Say, "God is most Gracious.  We have believed in God, and on God have we put our trust.  So, soon will you know which it is that is in manifest error!"

30.  Say, "See you?  If your stream be some morning lost, who then can supply you with clear-flowing water?"

The Dominion 67:21-30
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It is God who has created you, and made for you the faculties of hearing, seeing, feeling, and understanding.  Little thanks it is you give.

It is God who has multiplied you through the earth, and to God shall you be gathered together.

As to the knowledge of the time, it is with Allah alone.  I am sent only to warn in public.

See you?  If Allah were to destroy me and those with me, or if God bestows God's mercy on us, yet who can deliver the unbelievers from a grave penalty?

See you?  If your stream be some morning lost, who then can supply you with clear-flowing water?

Letter to Julia 20130106

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

Hi Julia!  How are you feeling today, sweetie?  I love you!  Oodles and oodles!  Mwah!  Today is Sunday, and I'm feeling rather tired.  Sundays are always busy for me, full of physical activity.  But I ate well today, none of my own cooking either.  Yesterday, too.  I suppose we really must make a routine out of eating out when we're together.  It's part of our work responsibility, you know.  Yeah, you know!  I don't like to veer away from establishments that I trust, after all, I only have one stomach.  But if you ever want to try someplace new, we'll try it.  Save a prayer!

Letter to Julia 20130104

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

Hello, my beloved Julia.  How are you feeling?  I'm sure you, with all the friends you have, and with how beautiful you are, are not feeling lonely.  I've been alone most of my life, so I am quite used to being lonely.  I suppose I could have gotten married at many given moments throughout my life, but I didn't.  I suppose it's because I'm actually a loner, therefore I have never been lonely.  Maybe.  I don't want them, I want you.  I'm here waiting for you.

If Allah grants me any sort of power and influence, then you are my extension, when others see you they are seeing me, and that is a great responsibility upon responsibility.  Not that I care so much about what others say, because many of them are unbelievers and hypocrites.  Just be firm against them.  You are my wife, and Islam is our position, so please be sincere in that respect, and please do not vacillate.  MashaAllah (by the will of Allah) you have stepped through the door of surrealism, and you will have to deal directly with God for your actions that involve us.  Just as God is the One who made me love you and dedicate myself to you.

Letter to Julia 20130102

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

Hi there, Julia my love.  How are you feeling today?  How is the new year treating you?  I'm sorry I haven't written since Monday.  I suddenly had a lot of official things to do.  No, I didn't plan it.  It was a go-with-the-flow, spur of the moment thing, just the kind of person I am, I'm afraid.  I also have a lot of homework to do, all of a sudden.  Asia is the happening place to be!  Yes, I can sense that you want to build your fashion capital in Paris or something, with your buddies.  But Asia is it, insyaAllah.  Anywhere else is simply out of style.  Please don't dispute with the Power of God.  Please slow down, my beloved.  It's nice and tranquil here in the kampung, great for raising children.  I'm too lazy to travel anymore.  Let them come to you.

Our Lord!  Perfect our light for us, and grant us forgiveness.  For You have power over all things.