Qur'an 20181101

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

20.  So if they dispute with you, say, "I have submitted my whole self to Allah and so have those who follow me."  And say to the people of the Book and to those who are unlearned, "Do you submit yourselves?"  If they do, they are in right guidance.  But if they turn back, your duty is to convey the message.  And in Allah's sight are God's servants.

(The Family of Imran 3:20)
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Yellow

Hi Honey!  How are you today?  I suppose you are getting much needed isolation at that cabin of yours.  Well you go ahead do what makes you comfortable, after all the life of a rock star (and wife) can be seriously weird.  I hope everything goes smoothly for you, and that you are having a fabulous time.  I believe I just made the best batch of chili I've ever made in my life.  So simple too, and all local ingredients.  No tomatoes, either.  Yes, I used nothing of the tomato family whatsoever in this batch of chili.  The key is in the beans.  You have to cook the beans at low heat until they disintegrate and saturate.  So I cooked the red beans until they broke, let them sit overnight before adding the other stuff.  I'm a busy person, so I can't just leave the beans on the fire unsupervised.  What I did was cook them while I was in the kitchen, shut off the fire when I left the kitchen, then turned the fire back on when I got back to the kitchen, and over and over again over a period of 12 hours.  Oh but seriously, this batch of chili is perfection.  Alhamdulillah.  I don't think I will ever experiment with chili ever again.

I took apart a banana tree in the evening.  Yesterday I took down a large bunch of bananas because a few of them were ripe, so I chopped down the entire tree because banana trees only fruit once in their life.  Bananas turn yellow when they ripen, but I can't see that.  Usually the birds see them ripen first, after all that's all they do, is sit on a wire and watch the fruit ripen.  My Mom has a sharper eye than me, so she was the one who told me to harvest those bananas.  Even though banana trees are softer than other tress, like a giant stick of celery, it's still a tree and very, very heavy.  I got a solid workout dismantling that tree.  My heart felt like it was about to burst.

My last photo shoot was also totally awesome!  Alhamdulillah.  I don't celebrate Halloween because I think it's kind of pagan, so I didn't plan a Halloween themed session.  The computer told me to wear yellow, and from that I chose a location in Texas.  It started off like any other photo shoot, but the last two snapshots made it a Halloween theme.  It was a surprise for me.  Talk about going with the flow.  Whoever would think that yellow is a Halloween color?

Qur'an 20181031

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

15.  Say, "Shall I give you glad tidings of things far better than those?  For the righteous are gardens in nearness to their Lord with rivers flowing beneath, therein is their eternal home with companions pure, and the good pleasure of Allah.  For in Allah's sight is God's servants."

(The Family of Imran 3:15)
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Green snake

Hi Natty honey!  How are you, my love?  You don't mind if I start calling you "Honey" instead of "Natty honey", do you?  I don't want there to be any confusion regarding the matter.  I'm sorry I'm blogging later than usual.  I didn't have time to post before I had to head out to the mosque at sunset.  Damn!  I saw a green snake entering the house through my bathroom window.  I immediately went inside to kill it, but I couldn't find it.  I pretty much spent the whole day in the kitchen.  Mackerel was going for cheap at the night market last night, and I suddenly had a craving for raw fish.  Mackerel is so tedious to fillet though.  When I have wealth enough to be married inshaAllah, I assume it would be wealth enough to not have to settle for mackerel for sushi and sashimi.  Filleting all that fish took the whole morning.  Good thing lunch was quick to eat.  Dinner was fried noodles, and I also cooked up some beans for the next batch of chili, and some rice for the cat.  When you cook Honey, follow this rule: cook for your tummy first, then add flavor later.

I looked for a forest for my last photo shoot, but somehow I wound up at some mountainous spiritual abode.  I did find a cabin, but it was a little more luxurious than yours, thus not as rustic.  These photo shoots sure take a long time!  I need to manage my time better...  Anyway, I'm sure you know my position on spirituality.  Many gods do not make The One God.

The abandoned city

Hi Natty honey!  How wonderful it is to see you again, I love you so.  You look as rustic and muted as the cabin except for your expensive shoes, they shine as bright as the sun.  It seems like a lovely little hideaway that you've found for yourself there, but I find it hard to believe that you are too far removed from society, judging from that drink you're holding, you can't be that far away from a convenience store.  Have fun at your mountain cabin, Honey.  Practice cooking!

With my bright white and black outfit, I knew I wanted a dark city for my next photo shoot.  These photo shoots take forever!  First I have to plan the outfit, then scout the location, then compose the snapshots.  The abandoned city is an eerie place.  It was designed as a center of decadence, now it has an aura of forsaken decadence.  Imagine that.  Creepier still is how clean it is.  Even though most of the stores are vacant, there is no trash anywhere, the food looks freshly made, the bottles of liquor full and unopened, the sex toys and torture devices clean and unused.  While wandering around, I constantly felt as if I were to be ambushed by zombies at any time, but no...  Not even the zombies wanted to be there.

Beautiful scenery

Hi Natty honey!  How are you feeling today, my precious darling?  I hope you are as fabulous as ever, and having a marvelous time.  I also wish you the best with your studies.  Make us proud!  I'm in a better mood today.  A lot of sleep helps, of course.  This month I've been feeling worn out.  My daily routine hasn't changed, so I'm thinking, is there any change in my diet?  There's the legume project of this month.  It can't be that, because it's too pure.  I've been drinking these coffee sticks lately, that has ginseng extract in it.  Ginseng has the reputation of increasing vitality, but somehow I've been experiencing the opposite effect.  Perhaps it's the double whammy of ginseng and coffee, too much stress on the heart.  I've messed around with coffee before, and it raised my blood pressure.  I must keep my coffee mix consistent, but I received these coffee sticks as a gift so I had to use them up.  Having to use things up is a habit of mine, possibly bad.  Possibly.

I've been enjoying taking snapshots of myself in exotic locations in Second Life lately.  I don't go where the crowds are.  I've never been one to buy into that mentality that the more people at a place the better.  In art, the crowd is ALWAYS wrong.  Besides, all those avatars stuffed in one place means lag, lag, lag.  I found a beautiful white garden yesterday.  It's laggy, but there's a lot of detail.  I guess to truly enjoy SL one must have an awesome machine.  Someday, I will have my dream computer.  InshaAllah.

Oh yeah, Sunday is PINK!!!