Letter to Erin 20150601

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

Hi Erin!  Busy, busy?  Well, try to relax, and get enough rest.  There's always something to do around here.  This morning, I cleaned my mother's bedroom and bathroom.  It's hard getting started, because I always sleep late every night then get up early.  Sometimes I get up extra early to do extra worship. Then when I wake up, I have to warm up my feet then take care of my cats and plants first.  Now it's mango season, so I have a mango for breakfast, otherwise I just put off eating until lunch.  I'm so swamped nowadays.  But for what?  I'm already where I'm supposed to be.  I wanted to fill up more peat pots this evening, but it rained heavily.  All this weather distortion, the credit goes to Allah.  Me, I have to take the elevator to get to the same floor: I can't even get started!  Ya Allah, please be gracious to me in my case, and make my path easy.

I didn't get around to making sausage and chili last night because I was totally worn out, so that's what I did this evening instead of yard work.  My sausage wasn't red enough: I need to buy dried hot peppers.  The chili was good.  I had to have 3 bowls.  The cats didn't respond at all to the sound of a can of beans being opened.  They just had a bored look on their face.  What's the difference between beans and peas?  What a mystery.  I think I have an explanation, but it's nothing I would print here.  But now my freezer is full with quick meals, and tomorrow for dinner is steak and fries.  Come on over, Erin!  I'll split my dinner with you.  Mwah!  I love you, and I need you.

Letter to Erin 20150531

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

Hello, my beautiful Erin.  How are you feeling today, my beloved?  You must be experiencing the heights of being Mrs. Global.  It's all very formal, isn't it?  It could also be quite serious.  Well, marriage is a serious business.  You are MY girl, and I love you very much.  And I need you.

I know it's a bit to early to start cooking for Ramadan, but somehow I got the urge this morning to prepare quick meals and store them in the freezer.  So I had planned to make sausage and chili.  I went to the grocery store to buy the fixings, but when I got home I discovered I had bought peas instead of baked beans.  What the hell am I going to do with 2 cans of peas?  I read the list of ingredients: peas, salt, sugar, water, preservatives.  Hmm.  I had to go back for the beans, so I also bought a sack of potatoes.  Thus I made a mix of potatoes, garlic, onions, ground beef and peas, seasoned with salt, pepper, and coriander seeds.  The cats were going crazy.  When I opened the cans of peas, they went completely bonkers.  I told them, "I have never fed you cat food from a can, there's no reason to get excited!" and "It's only peas!"  Want some?  I got extra in my freezer.

Qur'an 20150530

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

13.  Those who lagged behind will say when you march and take booty, "Permit us to follow you."  They wish to change Allah's decree.  Say, "Not thus will you follow us.  Allah has declared beforehand."  Then they will say, "But you are jealous of us."  No, but little do they understand.

14.  Say to the Arabs who lagged behind, "You shall be summoned to fight a people given to vehement war: then shall you fight, or they shall submit.  Then if you show obedience, Allah will grant you a goodly reward, but if you turn back as you did before, God will punish you with a grievous penalty."

The Victory 48:13-14
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Not thus will you follow us.  Allah has declared beforehand.

You shall be summoned to fight a people given to vehement war: then shall you fight, or they shall submit.  Then if you show obedience, Allah will grant you a goodly reward, but if you turn back as you did before, God will punish you with a grievous penalty.

Letter to Erin 20150530

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

How are you doing today, Sweetie?  Nothing all that special going on here.  Today is Friday, so I had to attend the Friday prayer at noon- I always get there early.  Not for any noble reasons- I have my usual spot, so I sit there so no one takes it.  They didn't call the prayer until 1:17 pm today.  Then the imam gives the sermon, and after the sermon, the actual prayer commences.  A lot of the kids don't show up until after the sermon, and a lot of the grown ups too.

I woke up early today.  After the dawn prayer, I did some Internet work until 7, then I had to pay attention to my baby mangoes.  The seeds are splitting, so I had to separate the seedlings, which means filling up more peat pots.  Now I'm running out of soil, so I have to generate soil by burning.  Of course there's no hurry on the soil because I can just buy dirt, but it's still a lot of work, and it kept me busy until 10 with lots left over to do.  Lunch was chicken sandwiches.  I have a foolproof method of cooking super tender chicken breast, is to cook it at low flame in a closed sauce pot and turning off the heat at the right moment.  I used my home grown lettuce for the sandwiches.  I sprayed pesticide on the lettuce so it had to be washed off, but the bugs came back for the baby lettuce so I had to spray it again.

So obviously after the Asr prayer, I got back to stuffing peat pots and burning.  I was too lazy to cook dinner, so I went out for fried noodles.  I got an extra large helping... you want some?  Oh no, I ate it all!  Damned man-sized appetite.  Or is it plain gluttony?  I don't think I'm obese, and I try to stay physically active...  Next I'll practice bass a little.  Without the subwoofer.  I pray you're doing great, Erin.  I love you, and I need you.

Letter to Erin 20150529

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

Hello there, my beautiful Erin.  How are you feeling today?  Are you having fun, seeing the world?  you are my Queen, Erin.  So please regard yourself as such.  I love you, and I need you.

It's just another normal day for me here.  I spend my mornings lately babying my baby mangoes.  I had some steak left over from last night, so I sliced that up and had it with my noodles for lunch.  I love noodles.  I could eat it every day.  Very Asian of me, huh?  I still have a ton of mangoes left that are not harumanis.  Well, not a ton. but a LOT.  I'm going to have to give away as much as I can, then compost the rest.  How about chocolate covered mangoes?  If it's not harumanis, then I don't really care much for other mangoes.  I guess I've been spoiled.  Plus I'm still working on my chocolate skills.  Chocolate isn't that hard: just buy the expensive type.  What's hard is making quality out of cooking chocolate.

I spent the evening cutting the grass over at your house inshaAllah.  The place is looking quite civilized, other than the decrepit old abandoned house.  I'm still working on designing your house.  I'm trying to get the dimensions as accurate as possible considering my limited drawing skills.  I'm not shooting for anything intricate, rather I'm trying for as normal as possible.  My theme is "easy to clean".  My color scheme is white and blonde.  It's going to take me some time to get this done, Sweetie.  I hope to have something ready for presentation to you for a certain special occasion.

Letter to Erin 20150528

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

Roscoe Arbuckle's case could very well be the very first mass media setup in history.  It would have been a perfect setup other than he was found innocent in a court of law.  Later on, they would be a little more thorough than that.  But nowadays, God cut us a break with the advent of the digital recorder, that anyone can produce a movie.  Or a record.  Or a TV show.  Or a TV station.  Or a newspaper.

But Fatty was no angel.  He liked to party, and that made it easy to frame him.  I'm not an angel, either.  When I was young, I didn't know what the hell was going on and what the hell I was doing, but God saved me for some reason.  Now I hate partying.  I like to stay at home with my wife and snuggle and be lazy.  Or I just like to stay at home and work.  That's how Allah has guided me to set up my life, is that I stay in one place and do my work as thus.  I get to be with my wife and family at all times.  Erin, I love you and I need you.  Ya Allah, please make our path easy. 

Qur'an 20150528

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

11.  The Arabs who lagged behind will say to you, "We were engaged in our flocks and herds and our families: ask forgiveness for us."  They say with their tongues what is not in their hearts.  Say, "Who then has any power at all on your behalf with Allah, if God's Will is to give you some loss, or to give you some profit?"  But Allah is Well-Acquainted with all that you do.

The Victory 48:11
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Who then has any power at all on your behalf with Allah, if God's Will is to give you some loss, or to give you some profit?

Letter to Erin 20150527

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

Hi Sweetie!  I saw your appearance in that Kia commercial.  You are so beautiful!  What is that language?  Is that Turkish?  There were so many people there, huh?  And so many cameras, too.  You know what fascinates them?  Not only your beauty, but that blonde hair and smooth white skin.  I like that, too.  Don't ever change that.

Well, you already know I'm a sucker for a pretty blonde.  But I'm a sucker, period.  I think we share that trait: we're both suckers.  It's no secret, so I might as well drag it out in the open and deal with it, and try to protect us as best as I can.  So I posted a video here of Mysteries and Scandals: Fatty Arbuckle for you to watch, and pray that we don't wind up in the same situation.  Do you think he was set up?  I think he was set up.  So what to do?  This is the age of the cell phone, Erin.  Don't approach or touch the patient.  Call for an ambulance or the cops.

I don't want to turn into a hard ass, so no wonder I prefer to isolate myself.  Wish you were here with me.  Wish we were together.  I love you, and I need you.

Letter to Erin 20150526

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

Of course, you don't have to use Sims 3 to design your house.  It's what I am using, only because I can relate to it, and you don't have to play along with me.  If you are already using some other design software, just go ahead and use that.  You don't have to rebuild everything in Sims 3 just because I use it.  I'm sure there are many other, and more professional, architecture programs out there.  All I ask is that you have a plan ready when the time comes inshaAllah, and I will show you what I have soon inshaAllah.

I just loafed around last night and this morning, so I got lots of sleep.  So I felt great when I had to sing this afternoon, and I totally enjoyed my singing practice.  I think I put out a great set.  I didn't have to do any Janis, though.  She always shreds my voice, even though I think I understand her approach, I will never acquire her range.  Which got my thinking, beauty sleep applies for girly voices too.  I guess I need to loaf around more.  Sounds great to me!

Nothing special on the menu today.  I had some leftover bean sprouts, so for lunch I made ramen noodles.  I also have all that sausage and dough left to finish, so for dinner was a couple of sausage calzones.  Want one?  Erin I love you, and I need you.

Letter to Erin 20150525

In the name of Allah, most Gracious, most Merciful.  Ya Allah, please forgive the men and women who believe.

I'm sure you and many others are wondering how I relate to my immediate family.  Well, let me tell you.  My father is 78 years old and is a retired lawyer.  My mother is 77 years old.  She is a retired teacher, and was born here in this village I live in now.  I have an older brother who is 4 years my senior, he is a lecturer at a local college.  He has 2 sons and 4 daughters.  I have an older sister who is 2 years my senior, she is a lawyer at the nation's capital.  She has 1 son and 3 daughters.  I have a younger brother 13 years my junior, I don't know what he does.  He shares the same house with my parents who live next door to me, and he has one son.  I am a musician.  I have been a musician for 36 years already.  I have no heirs.

I have scaled down my little house in Sims 3 to make a more realistic representation of my current situation.  Well, not completely realistic.  In Sims 3, I am a multi millionaire and somewhat pretty.  But I do prefer small houses.  Like I mentioned before, inshaAllah this small house will be my office/studio located right next to your house (less than 2 meters away, actually), where you are my wife and we raise our family.  I'm not good at drawing and designing, so I am practicing home design on my small house first before I work on yours.  I pray you are playing Sims 3 along with me.  At first I was confused by the scale of things in the game: it seemed to me that a Sim would be 3 meters tall in real life.  Then I realized my problem is that a double bed doesn't fit into my bedroom in real life, so I put the double bed in the living room in Sims 3.  In real life, there will be a drum set instead of a bed inshaAllah.  Preferably a Ludwig Classic Maple set in Bonham sizes, or a Yamaha Phoenix set in Bonham sizes.

I've embedded a build cheat tutorial here for you to watch.  I've been watching speed build videos today, when I find one I like I will paste that in here, too.  Ya Allah, please grant me Erin's house with ease.  Please be strong, keep your faith in Allah, and maintain your resolve.  You will know who your enemies are by the tone of their voice.  Erin I love you, and I need you.

Letter to Erin 20150524

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

Well it can't be helped, I suppose.  If I were 30
years old, I would have urges enough to complain,
but seeing that I'm an old man and have used up
most of my libido, I'm actually quite capable of
being patient and just waiting until Judgement
Day, and just doing whatever it is I do and have
been doing by my lonesome all this while, in the
meantime.  I look towards perhaps God would be
happy with me and allow me into heaven, then I
will ask to be pretty like Megan Fox (before the
plastic surgery) with a nice set of boobs and a
big dick, with a sexual appetite to match.  Hey
Erin, let's play.  But we've got to get to heaven first.

I went back to work on the yard.  That big mango
tree in my front yard needed trimming, so in the
morning I got up a ladder and chopped down the
low branches with my sickle machete.  It was
quite a workout because the limbs were thick and
heavy, and I was at a strange angle most of the
time.  Some of the limbs were too tall or tangled
up with the power lines, so I had to leave those
alone.  The weather was surreal.  It was as if
God was saying, "Maybe it'll rain, maybe it
won't."  But at least it was cool and pleasant. 
It rained heavily last night, but there were few
mosquitoes.  I figure that it is by doing
physical labor all day long is what wore me out. 
People may not think so, but singing is also a
form of physical labor.  Especially if one has to
jump around and do synchronized aerobic exercise
at the same time.  I don't know how others do it,
but I refuse to do it.  It affects my singing.

I may not have the same sexual appetite that I
had 20 years ago, but I was hungry.  I had
marinara sauce, I had home made halal beef
sausage, I had cheese, and I had dough.  Pizza! 
It's been a while since I had pizza, since a
calzone is quicker to make.  I made 2 sausage and
basil pizzas for dinner.  One for me, one for
you.  Oh I'm sorry, I ate yours since you weren't
here for dinner.  It's so romantic that I make 2
portions of everything when I cook, isn't it?  Or it could be that I'm hungry.  Whatever it is,
Erin I love you.  And I need you.  Please forgive me for my faults.

Letter to Erin 20150523

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

Hi Erin.  Oh, I'm tired.  Worn out.  I spent the whole day yesterday busting my butt, and today I can't do anything.  I didn't do much of anything in the morning.  Today was Friday, so I had to spend noon at the mosque.  So it took me everything I had to make my lunch, then I took a shower and vegetated until I had to leave.  In the evening, I had to go get gasoline and drinking water, but I did have time to make a batch of dough (finally!), and make something different for dinner.  I had a ton of mole sauce left- well, not a ton.  One and a half cups, so I made chicken in mole sauce, with fried onions and peppers with steamed rice.   I was about to put the rest of the sauce away in the cooler, but the cats stuck their noses in it while my back was turned washing dishes.  I had to throw the lot away.  That pissed me off.  More because it was my own fault that I forgot to cover the damned thing.

Oh, I'm tired.  I think I'll just lie and watch TV and snack on sunflower seeds.  Wanna snuggle and make love?  Oh, you're not here.  Sigh.  Wish you were here with me.  I love you, Erin.  And I need you.

Letter to Erin 20150522

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

Hello there, my beautiful Erin.  How are you feeling today, Sweetheart?  I love you so much.  Lots of manual labor for me today.  Chopping and burning in the morning, then pruning and harvesting mangoes in the evening.  I actually don't like manual labor, but if I don't move around then I'll bloat.  Now the huge, strong mango tree in my front yard is not a harumanis.  I don't know what kind of mango it is.  My Mom, who watched the tree grow, thinks it's some kind of hybrid, so it doesn't really have a name.  Let's call it the USA mango.  Some of the branches were hanging too low, and dragging the fruit on the ground, so I chopped them all off.  The fruit has to be brought and kept inside to ripen.  This particular mango is not as tasty as a harumanis.  It is more fiberous and thicker in flavor.  And there's a lot of it.  A LOT.

I didn't really bother with much cooking today.  Chicken nuggets for lunch, some cold chili after the Asr prayer, and dinner at Ina's.  I'm not much of a traditional person.  Not in demeanor, nor in palate.  But I do love "nasi lemak bilis telur" (rice steamed in coconut milk with crispy anchovies and boiled egg with spicy sauce) which is as traditional as it gets around here, and if fresh and done right, I can eat copious amounts of the stuff.  I don't bother cooking it myself because everybody around here makes it.  What is comfort food for you?  Besides chocolate mousse?  I haven't really heard you mention it.  InshaAllah, I'll make copious amounts of it for you.  But we must work out.  We don't want to get bloated, right?  Sweetheart.  I love you.  And I need you.  I have to go practice guitar now.

Letter to Erin 20150521

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

Hi Erin!  How are you, my beloved?  You are the love of my life, and you are the most beautiful woman in the world to me.  I love you, and I need you.  I thought I woke up late this morning after going back to sleep after the dawn prayer, but it was only 7:30 am.  So after the preliminaries with my cats and plants, I started working on my fried flat noodles with clams.  I completed it by lunch, and it turned out OK.  Not great, but OK.  Cockles taste better with fried flat noodles.  So for dinner, I dumped the rest of the clam broth into the leftovers, and it tasted better.

In the evening, I cut the grass over at your house inshaAllah.  I find that I can get more grass cut if it's not too long.  Kind of like working out: it's better to maintain a routine than to let it go and catch up later.  After that, I planted one of my harumanis/harumanis hybrids into the ground in front of my little house.  I already have two harumanis in my front yard which I planted 2 or 3 years ago.  Not hybrids, and I didn't take care of them other than trimming them and some bug spray.  Allah is the One Who watered them.  I estimate they will bear fruit in about 4 years, and in theory my hybrid should bear fruit sooner than that.  InshaAllah.  So this is a comparison test for my mango hybrids.

Letter to Erin 20150520

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

Oh God, I'm stuffed.  Alhamdulillah.  I went to pay my power bill this morning, but I forgot to bring money, so I had to go back home and get my wallet.  By the time I finished the chore, it was already 11 am and I knew I wouldn't have time to cook, so I stopped by the Tuesday market to pick up some lunch.  11 am is getting late in the day for raw foods.  Thus, after after buying some rice, I browsed around to see what was left.  And this guy offered me almost 2 kilos of clams for RM2.  I couldn't refuse.

Now these are the teeny weeny clams, about the size of a dime or less each, which the locals call "Lala".  Any normal person would think, "What the hell would I do with clams that small?"  Well, I say that if you have patience with getting the meat out, then there are many options of dishes.  Let's just say that a kilo of Lala generates more broth and meat than a kilo of large clams.  It has something to do with density.  So the first thing I did when I got home was wash the clams, then steamed them.  You can't let clams sit around!  Then I watched them steam through the glass lid, while I ate my lunch.  I saw how the broth is generated: the clams squirt the broth out in their dying throngs.  Grotesque, huh?  All food is grotesque if you think about how it leaves the body.

ANYWAY!

I separated the broth then put everything in the cooler.  I didn't have time to get the meat out until 6 pm, which is a tedious task considering each meat is about the size of 3 grains of rice.  Or less.  What I did was hold a bunch of clams in my right hand and flicked the meat off with my left hand.  I got about 3 cups of meat by the time they called the sunset prayer, I guzzled half of that and I still had about a kilo of clams still in the shell so I stuck that in the freezer.  Dinner was simple: noodles in clam broth.  It was a huge helping.  I'm stuffed.  Alhamdulillah.  Tomorrow, I'm going to have to finish off all the clams and broth because it doesn't keep.  So I'm planning to rearrange a local recipe: keow teow kerang (fried flat noodles with cockles) but with clams.  You wanna join me for dinner?  It's going to take me all morning to shell those clams, but maybe I'll make it in time for lunch, but you're welcome to join me.  I love you, Erin.  And I need you.

Oh by the way, Ramadan is one month away.  This year it's about June 18, one day after my mother's birthday.  Ramadan is when Muslims fast from dawn to sunset everyday for a month.  Ramadan is my favorite time of year, because of the things that happen, strange or deep or whatever.  What are you going to do? 

Letter to Erin 20150519

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

Hi Sweetie!  How are you feeling today?  I pray you are feeling great.  It started out sunny here today, then after the Asr prayer, the sky was filled with thunderous clouds.  Very dramatic.  Not much moisture though, just enough to water the plants.  I'm almost done with planting baby mangoes.  I have 8 mangoes left to peel and plant, then I can just kick back and watch them grow.  InshaAllah they will all turn out strong.

Erin, if you want me to air a commercial on my TV station, please make sure you are in it and that it's current.  I don't care if it's a budget of shooting the entire thing in your bathroom with a phone camera.  Don't give me something that's four years old.  And make sure you get paid.  You're my Queen, and I want to take good care of you.  I love you, and I need you.

Letter to Erin 20150518

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

Hey there, my beautiful Erin.  How are you feeling today, love?  I am longing for you as usual.  I wish to remind you that I am not in competition with you, my dearest.  I am your husband inshaAllah.  I am here to love you, and help provide and protect you.  Yes, you still have to work, but aren't your prospects better now?  I can't give you anything but my love but mashaAllah, your business is better than before.  Things grow better with love.  You are not living in my shadow: it's because I am your husband inshaAllah that I will help take your shots for you, while all you have to do is be beautiful.  And you are beautiful.  You are so very beautiful.  You are the most beautiful girl in the world to me.  I love you and I need you.

We are living a spiritual life, my dearest.  The fact that you accept me as your husband is a spiritual fact, and by that choice you live in a different reality than others.  I have lived this reality much longer than you, so I am much more used to how psychedelic or weird it is.  It can get strange while doing the mundane, like grocery shopping.  And it's not the same kind of weird like backstage at the Victoria's Secret fashion show.  You can be alone in your bedroom looking at your TV, and you can sense that you're not really alone.  Life in the Public Eye, also Jinn TV.  But I will help distract them away from you, inshaAllah.  Please pray.

I've been trying to duplicate this little house that I live in Sims 3, but there's something wrong with the scaling of objects.  For example, a car or a double bed is 3 squares long.  If I define one square as one meter, then a bed is 3 meters long!  My bedroom in real life is 3 meters!  So my little house is much more spacious in Sims 3 than it is in reality.  Perhaps my definition of one meter is off within the game.  Well, your house inshaAllah will be right next to my little house, which is my office/studio.  Oh!  My Sim has acquired a girlfriend.  They met by chance, at the town park.  Her name is Erin Kennedy.  But she's not Irish: rather, she looks Mexican.  And she works in the military.

Erin, please make a donation to a worthwhile charity of a minimum of one US dollar.

Letter to Erin 20150517

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

Hi Erin!  How are you doing, my Sweetheart!  How are you feeling today?  Oh, it's just another every day day for me, and people are still the same.  We have to keep things mundane if we want to raise a family.  So I don't want to hear about your going out clubbing every night in your "fuck me" heels.  That's just plain dangerous.  So please stick to business and stay at home if you're not working.

I still engrossed in baby mangoes right now.  But I couldn't take much more of the early hours, so I slept in this morning before getting to work.  No fancy meals either.  I still have chili in the cooler, so I bought a loaf of bread and chicken nuggets.  I did make some chicken sandwiches for dinner.  It's easy: just fry up the nuggets, then makes sandwiches with mayo, black pepper, cream cheese, lettuce, and onion.  Put a couple of drops of hot sauce on each nugget.  Quite yummy, I must say.  And very Western.  Want one?  I love you, Erin.  And I need you.

Letter to Erin 20150516

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

Hello, beautiful Erin.  And how are you this lovely day?  Busy, busy?  So am I.  This morning, I woke up at 4 am.  But I was so worn out by 8, I couldn't continue.  After all, I had another late night last night doing encoding.  I want to relax right now, but there's always something to do around here.  I need to make a batch of dough.  And some mango juice.  Right now, I'm watching "You Only Live Twice."  This movie has the distinction of featuring the best Bond villain: Donald Pleasance as Ernst Stavro Blofeld.  Wealthy, powerful, bloated and ugly, a guy you would just love to hate.  Classic Bond villain.  Let's see him again in the next Bond movie.  Hey, I want that toy helicopter 007 used in the movie!

I had a few chicken bones left over from making chicken broth in my cooler.  I took a sniff at it, and thought this won't last much longer.  Then the indoor cats started going berserk.  "OK OK, be patient, I'll give you some."  While they were gnawing away at their snack, I stripped the meat off the rest of the bones, and used it for my noodles.  The cats were still going crazy after they finished their snack.  While I was having my lunch, ------- stuck her claws in my butt, so I smacked her.  Don't be greedy!  Aggressive female!  So she backed off a little, quickly stuck another pawful of claws in my butt, then quickly ran and laid down by the front door with a scowl on her face.  I've never seen a cat scowl like that!  I wish I had taken a photo, but I didn't get a chance.  I was right about those chicken bones, though.  By sunset, they made a frightful pong in my trash.

Oh I'm sorry, I couldn't share my lunch with you.  I didn't want to waste that chicken, but I would never have served it to you.  The cats loved it, though.  And I love you, and I need you.

Letter to Erin 20150515

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

Hello Erin, my beloved.  How are you feeling today?  I'm watching a James Bond movie right now.  "Tomorrow Never Dies".  Where the villain is a crooked media mogul.  I think Pierce Brosnan made an excellent Bond, even though the script writing got really cheesy after they ran out of Ian Fleming stories.  Did you notice that at least 2 of the James Bonds were Irish?  Jonathan Pryce makes a great bad guy, more like the classic Bond villain, even though he could be porkier.  I think I have every Bond movie except "Octopussy".  What's the best Bond movie?  Hmmm.  All the Sean Connery movies were awesome, but I'm going to have to go with "The Man With The Golden Gun".  I once visited the James Bond island that was in the movie, but I was too small to appreciate the experience.

I'm still very busy with my baby mangoes right now, which leaves me with little energy for much else.  I did sleep in today though, like a REAL rock star.  Besides, it rained and I couldn't do anything outdoors.  I've been eating quick meals too.  I made a batch of chili, and I bought a loaf of sliced bread.  I'll have to submit that the machines make better sliced bread than me.  I added butter in this batch of chili, and it tastes awesome.  Would you like to try some, dearest heart?  You're too sweet to be a Bond girl, but if you do get the part, be cautious of the physical demands of the job and your situation off-screen.  And don't you dare kiss Daniel Craig.  Just shoot him or something.  Erin I love you, and I need you.

Here's a photo of a Perlis Harumanis mango.

Letter to Erin 20150514

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

Hey there, my beautiful Erin!  How are you feeling today, my darling?  Suddenly I have very little time.  I sleep about 4 to 6 hours every day, including naps.  But at least I get to nap.  It's all those mango babies that take up my time right now.  Like this morning, I woke up at 5 am, did some worship, then started going over the fruit to save the seeds.  Then I have to plant them, and do yard work.  Not including other tasks.  And the night before, I stayed up late doing computer work.  It will be like this until I run out of fruit.  I hope this getting up early will not become a habit.  It's very un-Rock Star-ish.  Makes me look bad.  I'm going to get a bad reputation.

Oh my God, I'm drowsy.  I think I'll try to relax right now, maybe take a nap before doing computer work.  Erin, I pray you are taking sweet loving care of yourself, for I love you, and I need you.

Qur'an 20150514

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

7.  When Our Clear Signs are rehearsed to them, the unbelievers say of the truth when it comes to them, "This is evident sorcery!"

8.  Or do they say, "He has forged it!"  Say, "Had I forged it, then can you obtain nothing for me from Allah.  God knows best of that whereof you talk.  Enough is God for a Witness between me and you.  And God is Oft-Forgiving, most Merciful."

9.  Say, "I am no bringer of new fangled doctrine among the messengers, nor do I know what will be done with me or with you.  I follow that which is revealed to me by inspiration.  I am a warner, open and clear."

10.  Say, "Do you see?  If it be from Allah and you reject it, and a witness from among the children of Israel testifies to its similarity and has believed while you are arrogant, truly Allah guides not a people unjust."

The Winding Sand Tracts 46:7-10
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Had I forged it, then can you obtain nothing for me from Allah.  God knows best of that whereof you talk.  Enough is God for a Witness between me and you.  And God is Oft-Forgiving, most Merciful.

I am no bringer of new fangled doctrine among the messengers, nor do I know what will be done with me or with you.  I follow that which is revealed to me by inspiration.  I am a warner, open and clear.

Do you see?  If it be from Allah and you reject it, and a witness from among the children of Israel testifies to its similarity and has believed while you are arrogant, truly Allah guides not a people unjust.

Letter to Erin 20150513

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

Hello there, my dearest Erin.  Sweetie!  Are you feeling feminine today?  You are MY girl.  You are so beautiful, and I love you with all my heart.  I love you, and I need you.

I'm feeling better than I did yesterday, but my nose is still kind of stuffed up.  I'm not running a river of snot, but I am stuffed up.  I seem to talk a lot about the flu because it affects my singing.  Damn singers!  I hate them.  Divas, all of them.  A lot of my voice goes out through my nose when I sing.  People might think that it's easy to sing: "Oh, it's just like talking bla bla bla, anybody can do it."  Yeah, anybody can sing, but it's extremely difficult to sing well, and it means more than you can imagine mashaAllah.  So I was struggling today during voice training, trying to get the voice go out the nose and breathe at the same time.  My voice has become extremely sensitive since I became a chick singer.  I was pushing hard to move sound through the nose, when my fever came back.  I felt like collapsing, I was hallucinating and all that, but it wasn't anything a couple of aspirin couldn't fix.  Singing has to be perfect every time: I just can't give out a mediocre performance, not with the knowledge Allah has given me.  But the body has to be in perfect condition to sing perfectly.  Damn singers!  I hate them.  Divas, all of them.

Otherwise, I was able to function somewhat normally today.  I spent the morning filling up peat pots, then perusing each mango, after my usual morning routine with my plants and my cats.  Lunch was noodles with Chinese cabbage, using chicken broth that I made last night.  After voice training, I trimmed the trees over at your house inshaAllah, dug up some tapioca for my Mom, then filled up more peat pots.  Dinner was steak and cheese burritos with Chinese cabbage.  Yeah I know, burritos can only have beans and beef.  Tastes better than a beef and bean burrito though, if I may say so myself.  Want one?  Oh no, I ate yours!  Well, you weren't here for dinner!

Qur'an 20150513

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

4.  Say, "Do you see what it is you invoke besides Allah?  Show me what it is they have created on earth, or have they a share in the heavens? Bring me a book before this or any remnant of knowledge, if you are telling the truth!"

The Winding Sand Tracts 46:4
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Do you see what it is you invoke besides Allah?  Show me what it is they have created on earth, or have they a share in the heavens? Bring me a book before this or any remnant of knowledge, if you are telling the truth!

Letter to Erin 20150512

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

My sweet Erin, it is not a blessing that we are apart.  Together we are stronger, inshaAllah.  But we must be patient.  So please wait patiently, and pray as I do, that Allah will bring us together soon.  I love you, and I need you.

Alhamdulillah I managed to escape the flu destroying my voice so far, but I did have to cope with a fever today.  I have so much to do everyday, no wonder I am such a lazy man.  I just wanna snuggle with you.  But today, I had to take it easy during voice training.  Easy songs only.  No Janis Joplin, no Olivia Newton-John, no Sugarcubes, no high pitched songs whatsoever.  In the evening, I pulled down all the fruit from the mango tree at your house inshaAllah.  It is an old tree, and unkempt so it is very tall.  So I had to use an extra long bamboo with a hook, and it was super heavy.  I had to straddle it like I were fishing for bluefin tuna.  My forearm still hurts from the task, and it just barely healed from overworking on the drums.  These mangoes I reaped are for raising hybrid seedlings.  Perlis Harumanis mangoes are becoming world famous.  I was at the night market just now, and I didn't see any at all for sale, and they are supposed to be in season now.  InshaAllah my work will help enrich the local community and glorify Allah at the same time.  I beg of You, ya Allah, to help me and help me finance my marriage and my work.

Letter to Erin 20150511

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

**sniffle**  I caught the sniffles today.  Finally, after more than a month into the rainy season.  It would be nice not to have to catch it at all.  But the flu has proven throughout human history to be unconquerable.  This time, the Flu Virus Collective made its move at 9 am.  So I sneezed more than a couple of times, but not enough to stop me from tending to my cats and plants, then cutting the grass.  When the runny nose really kicked in was precisely at voice training time.  Good planning, huh?  So I had to slog through my work uncomfortably, until right after 4 pm I dropped to my knees and drained my sinus cavity.  You know something?  God put this thing we call a nose in the middle of our face with 2 holes facing downwards, it must have some sort of purpose.  Since the flu is unbeatable, these nostrils must be for dumping the sinus cavity.  The procedure works quite well, I must say.  Gross as it may be, the snots are under control and didn't go down my throat, and I am functioning normally but with the residue of a headache left from emptying the sinus cavity.  Aspirin.

What is "girl rot"?  I believe the world is suffering from "girl rot".  Is it that people don't know what's girly anymore?  High heels, boobs, butt, slutty dress... then they go on Springer, saying "I was born a man."  Since the advent of plastic surgery and the slutty dress, anyone can be girly.  But "girl rot" is something different.  MashaAllah.  You are MY girl, and that makes you the most beautiful girl in the world to me.  So some other girls get so jealous of you that they create their own personal world crisis.  It's almost like a disease for cats.  You know how all cats can look the same, except for cats that are loved become beautiful.

Erin, you are MY girl.  I love you, and I need you.

Qur'an 20150511

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

25.  And when Our Clear Signs are rehearsed to them, their argument is nothing but this: they say, "Bring back our forefathers, if what you say is true!"

26.  Say, "It is Allah Who gives you life, then gives you death, then God will gather you together for the Day of Judgement about which there is no doubt," but most humans do not understand.

The Kneeling Down 45:25-26
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It is Allah Who gives you life, then gives you death, then God will gather you together for the Day of Judgement about which there is no doubt.

Letter to Erin 20150510

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

FASHION!!  Turn to the left!















FASHION!!  Turn to the right!















Erin, you are MY girl.  I love you, and I need you.

Letter to Erin 20150509

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

Hello there Erin, my most beautiful friend and love.  How are you feeling today?  I pray you are feeling great.  Because I love you, and I need you. 

Today is Friday.  Every Friday I have to attend Friday prayers, so I try not to go anywhere in the morning, so I can get there early.  Today I was there first.  When one has a routine based on the instructions of the Qur'an, it becomes much easier to observe how life and the environment responds to Allah.  Certainly no human can accurately predict when the rain falls, but when we leave that to Allah, then Allah will grant us rain in accordance with our piety.  The skeptics maintain that the rain is just there, like life is just there, with no divine governance whatsoever.  Thus they regard the Signs of God as a joke.  When the time comes and they receive the  evidence they persistently desire, it will be in the form of a painful humiliation.  How else would you convince someone who wants his ass to be kicked before he is convinced?  But forgive them, and leave it to God to kick their asses.  After all, they are just there like the waste of our time.

Hm.  I'm watching the Donny and Marie show right now.  I used to watch this show all the time when I was small.  There were only 2 channels on TV back then.  You weren't born yet when the TV variety show was common.  How would you fit in with the Donny and Marie show?  How about those outfits, huh?  More interesting than what's going on stage is the audience.  I've never seen an audience so well behaved like in this show.  Almost like church.  Check it out.

Letter to Erin 20150508

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

Oh hi, Erin.  I'm just sitting here wishing we were already married.  It's not a blessing that we are not, but that is meant to be.  You have your career right now, and I have to do whatever it is I have to do.  So please be patient, and wait to when Allah gives us the big Yes.  InshaAllah.

When I woke up this morning, after falling back to sleep after the dawn prayer, after waking up earlier to conduct extra worship, I ate a mango for breakfast.  It's very close to mango season, and the first ripe ones are beginning to fall.  Then I cleaned out the cat room, then I went and cleaned up at my parents' house.  Then I watered all the baby plants.  Next I planted more mangoes, after removing the pulp and seed pods of several fruit.  At this rate, I will have hundreds of seedlings by the end of this season inshaAllah.  My first harumanis/harumanis hybrids are coming along fine, but there are only 3 of them.  So far.  I deep fried a sausage calzone for lunch, then took a nap.  After voice training, I exercised then tidied up my bedroom, and after the Asr prayer I trimmed the jackfruit tree behind my house.  I took a shower and visited my Mom at the hospital.  I had dinner at Ina's restaurant, prayed the sunset prayer, now I'm writing this love letter to you.  I love you, Erin.  And I need you.

Letter to Erin 20150507

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

Hi there, my beautiful Erin.  How are you feeling today?  I pray you are feeling healthy and confident.  My Mom's went through knee surgery today, so I pretty much spent the whole day at the hospital.  Mostly just sitting around, waiting for them to finish their work.  So I just turned on the mp3 player, and went to sleep.  At this point it seems the surgery was a success, alhamdulillah.  My Mom has a nice hospital room: a private room with her own toilet.  How classy.  Like the Ritz.

I hope you are maintaining your own medical connections, because you never know, we may have to import doctors for you.  My parents use government hospitals, mostly because my sister-in-law has a high position in their local hierarchy.  As for me, I have to self-medicate.  I've been doing so for a long time already, mostly because of hidden enemies.  Paranoid?  Maybe.  After all, prevention is better than compensative lawsuits.  But my routine isn't that special, just a lot of prayer, prevention, balance, and early detection.  Of course I can't force that on you too much because you are a foreign wife in the Public Eye, so you would have to suffer the hospital, hopefully not 3rd or 4th class.  But that is all conditional on my being able to afford you the best married life inshaAllah.  Never expect the Public Eye to come to your rescue.  The Public Eye is there to gloat and be entertained by our suffering, then act indignant after we die.  God is the One Who protects and saves. 

Your intelligence is valuable to me, and I adore that about you.  So please learn to be as independent as possible of the global medical system.  And pray.  Good health is truly a gift from God.  So praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds.  Erin I love you, and I need you.

Letter to Erin 20150506

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

Hi Erin!  My beautiful sweetheart!  How are you feeling today, you most gorgeous girl?  Mwah!  I woke up so early today.  4:30 am.  I often wake up super early to do extra worship, but today I didn't get a chance to go back to sleep.  My Mom went back to hospital for her surgery, and the chain reaction of that kept me busy.  I tried to nap on a chair during the short breaks, but that's never as good as a full 8 or 9 hours.  I read somewhere that productive adults need only 4 to 6 hours sleep.  I bet they're not models though.  So you make sure you get plenty of rest, my Rock and Roll Princess.

Now you are probably thinking about saving the brick structure of my grandfather's old house, and designing your house around that inshaAllah.  What I had planned is to burn or trash anything that's not stone or brick, then demolish the stone and brick to be used to elevate the ground floor, as a precaution against flooding.  There hasn't been any flooding in recent years since the state upgraded the drainage system around here.  But it would be easy for Allah to overcome that.  All too easy.  So I suggest you design from scratch and not try to adapt to salvaging the old house.

I'm going to try to relax now.  What's the rush anyway.  I want you to know that I love you, and I need you.

Letter to Erin 20150505

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

Isn't Floofy a cute kitty?  She knew that the photo was for a supermodel to look at, so she started posing.  Don't let that svelte appearance fool you: Floofy is a fat cat.  But I've never seen a cat suck her gut in to look thinner for a photo before.

And how are you feeling today, my dearest Erin?  Are you puzzling over house plans?  If you've seen my grandfather's old house, you may be interested at how one side of the house is quite well built, while the south side of the house is ramshackle.  The well built section, made of brick and wood, is the older part of the house.  The other part, made of planks, zinc, and some asbestos, was built after my teenage years.  Who knows what my grandfather was thinking about then.  It may have been my fault: I was a rotten kid.  From my current perspective, the house is crawling with jinns.  So when you move into your house inshaAllah, I must teach you some verses of the Qur'an so the jinns don't give you a hard time.  As for me, ghosts follow me all the time, but I love the Qur'an and I study it everyday.

My sink is clogged up right now, so I poured some clog remover down there, and it seems to be working, but I need to leave it alone for a while.  So for dinner, I went to the night market and bought some fried chicken, fried noodles and soya milk.  Would you like to share my dinner with me?  Erin I love you, and I need you.

Letter to Erin 20150504

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

Oh hi, Erin!  Sweetie!  How are you feeling today, my love?  I pray that you are feeling healthy and happy.  It's just another mundane day for me here.  I had to get a cell phone.  Yeah, I hate cell phones, and if I had a choice I wouldn't have one.  But my Mom is entering surgery, so I had to get one.  It's not one of those expensive toys, in fact it's rather cheap.  But it does run Android, and with a big enough SD card, it can be quite enjoyable.  It took me a while to get the right wallpaper, because you're so pretty!  Erin I love you, and I need you.

Little ---- is eating her cat food again.  All this lack of appetite crises!  President Bobby seems to be OK, even though he won't eat in front of me.  He has tons of energy, and is as macho as can be, so I can't say that he's sick.  I'm starting to think that his main rival is Bat Cat I, who happens to be completely independent, so I guess Bobby is attempting to match him.  This cell phone does have a camera.  It's only 2 megapixels, but I'm going to post pictures of my kitty family.  Here's a picture of Mama Cat!  Her name is Floofy al-Ramadan, aka Floofy Darling, aka Floofy al-Woofy, aka Woofy al-Floofy, aka al-Floofy Woofy.  Oh no!  No photos of me yet!  I'm not pretty like you.  It's going to take me a while.

Letter to Erin 20150503

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

Hello, my beloved Erin.  How are you feeling today?  I pray you are feeling great, and healthy.  I have had a very busy day today.  I woke up at 3:30 am, did some extra worship, then worked on the Internet until dawn prayer.  I went back to sleep for an hour, then took care of the cats and the plants.  Then I did some shopping and came back to prepare some noodles.  I had time for a short nap before voice training, then in the evening I went back to stuffing peat pots with dirt for my baby mangoes.  I took out for dinner, now I'm writing this love letter.  Erin I love you, and I need you.

Now it seems like Bob Cat's turn to not eat.  He just sits there in a regal manner, looking around while the others eat.  Since all the cat food belongs to him, he can just eat whenever he wants because the others always leave some for him.  But I don't see him eat.  I asked him, "Bobby, do you have a fever?"  He shook his head.  I said, "But you're behaving like you have a fever."  So I gave him some fever reducer.  He probably doesn't have a fever, but just in case.  He's such a tough guy.

Letter to Erin 20150502

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

Hello, my beautiful Erin.  Raging emotions?  There was about to be a storm just now.  The sky was almost black, but on the opposite side was pure sunshine.  It's so hot before the storm: when the vapors solidify into the tears of the sky, I can feel my being steamed as I kiss the ground in prayer.  I always ask God for our happiness together, more than five times a day.  And whenever it rains.  The rain didn't materialize today, even though my sweat dripped like rain.  I spent the evening under the mango tree with a coil of mosquito incense burning under my chair, stuffing peat pots with dirt for my baby mangoes.  With Bat Cat sitting pretty and watching.

Floofy Darling is eating her cat food now.  She's so fat, she could use a diet.  But now little ---- has no appetite.  I know she is in heat.  She suffers the most from being in heat, if one could gauge so by her howling.  She's past the howling phase, now she's hiding and moping in an old guitar amp box.  Perhaps Floofy was communicating to me about her daughters, and their behavior being cooped up and in heat.

You my darling, are so famous and beautiful that it is safer for you to be cooped up.  But please don't be regretful, because I love you, and I want to marry you.  I'm watching "Roxanne" right now.  It's a 1987 Cyrano de Bergerac rewrite set in a beautiful small mountain town, with Steve Martin as a fire chief and Daryl Hannah as a beautiful blonde astrophysicist.  Yeah, she's a rocket scientist.  Like you, huh?  Since it's so lonely at the top, you might as well use your mind to explore, right?  I'm going to do some encoding and Sims 3 next.  Erin I love you, and I need you.