Qur'an 20210901

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

4.  They ask you what is lawful to them.  Say, "Lawful unto you are things good and pure, and what you have taught your trained hunting animals in the manner directed to you by Allah.  Eat what they catch for you, but pronounce the name of Allah over it, and fear Allah, for Allah is swift in Taking Account."

(The Repast 5:4)

Independence Day

 

Hi Natty!  How are you today, my love?  I hope you are well and enjoying life.  I love you with all of my heart.  Today is Malaysia's Independence Day.  What did I do?  I stayed at home.  I didn't even go out to take the trash to the dumpster.  I did my laundry.  I made ramen for lunch.   I did some burning in the evening, then I had fries with steak and beans for dinner.  It was a nice day.

Those shorts

 

What a lucky dog!  He certainly has very good taste.  Natty, those shorts are very tight.  I've been so distracted all day, I can't stop thinking about it.  Aren't you supposed to wear underwear over those?  Do they make bike shorts for dogs?  I'll have to admit when I was your age, I had a pair of bike shorts.  Black.  I wore it in public.  Repeatedly.  To social events and parties.  ** covers face in shame**  I don't know what I was thinking.  Oh by the way, I Googled "bike shorts for dogs" and this is the closest thing I could find:

I made another batch of my generic roast beef this evening.  I call it generic because it's simple-seasoned with no salt, so there's room for using it in other dishes if I want.  But I mostly use it to add to takeout food because it's quick to heat up, plus food service portions of beef here are small and expensive.  I need to eat animal flesh everyday, otherwise my left shoulder hurts.  Chicken and fish are OK maybe, but beef does the best job in keeping the heartache away.  Just a burger patty's worth would do.  I had a lot of drippings left over.  I froze most of it, and I used some to make beef chow mein for dinner.  Instead of using the usual Asian veggies, I picked some basil from my yard.  It was a success, I think.  It didn't taste like beef chow mein, though.  It tasted more like beef stew with basil, and noodles instead of potatoes.  You want to try some?

The Artist

 

That's right Natty, I don't have any heirs and my parents are old.  I had many opportunities to marry, but I didn't.  Being dirt poor, I don't really have anything to give to an heir.  All my material possessions are basically cheap junk and used items which I built and converted to create music.  Worthless while I'm still alive, but when I'm dead it becomes nostalgia.  And you can see for yourself in the video above how much nostalgia is worth.

Qur'an 20210829

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

176.  They ask you for a legal decision.  Say, "Allah directs about those who leave no descendants or ascendants as heirs.  If it is a man that dies, leaving a sister but no child, she shall have half the inheritance.  If a woman who left no child, her brother takes her inheritance.  If there are two sisters, they shall have two-thirds of the inheritance.  If there are brothers and sisters, the male having twice the share of the female.  Thus does Allah make clear to you, lest you err.  And Allah has Knowledge of all things."

(The Women 4:176)

And I love you so

 

Hi Natty!  How are you today, my love?  I hope that all is well with you, and you are feeling happy and confident.  I want you to know that I think of you always.  You are MY girl, and I love you with all of my heart.

I added a few more songs to Mary's set for her to sing.  Let's see... "Lorelei" and "Frou-frou Foxes in Midsummer Fires" by the Cocteau Twins (Mary's choices), "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" by Julie Covington, "I Who Have Nothing" by Shirley Bassey, and "And I Love You So" by Perry Como.  At first I thought it was Andy Williams that put that song in my heart, but today I found out that it was Perry Como.  One of those invisible influences, I guess.  Mary Unknown7 is a pop diva, so I try to choose the all-time favorites for her to karaoke.  Other songs are personal favorites of mine and hers, and the rest are Shadowplay songs that are suitable for Mary to sing.

More interesting than the pimple popping videos

 

Hi Natty!  How are you?  I hope you are feeling calm and happy.  How's the pee?  I see a lot of recommendations about drinking lots of water, but I'm not so sure if it's healthy to pee all the time.  Especially nowadays during the Internet age.  Maybe the belly feels a bit hot.  I don't know.  I'm still thinking about that.

I've really been into dental scaling videos lately.  I think they're more interesting than the pimple popping videos.  I think people find them as relaxing as popping bubble wrap, and I'm sure many of them want to go back to being adolescents just to pop their pimples.  Do you think teenagers could rent their faces out to people who want to pop their pimples for pleasure?  Maybe that's what's going on in Vietnam, but for more professional reasons, hence the millions of views on those videos.  When it comes to popping out chunks of gunk for a nice deep clean, I endorse dental scaling over pimple popping videos.

Oh no!  The tree that fell parallel to the old house is still alive!  I saw tiny green shoots on the trunk while I was cutting the grass over there.  That means the roots are still alive, so I need to burn them.  Good thing there's a big hole where the roots are when it ripped out the dirt when the tree fell over.  I'll stuff that full of dry coconuts and banana leaves then set it alight, maybe then that tree will die properly.  InshaAllah.  Gardening, huh!

Tuxedo

 

Hi Natty!  How are you today?  I hope you are well, and having a great time.  We need to make a donation today OK?  Please make a donation in the name of Allah of a minimum of one US dollar to a worthwhile  charity.  Are you hungry?  Would you like some of my dinner?  I made fried flat noodles with chicken, it turned out successful.  But my pickled soybeans aren't ready yet.  Pickled soybeans are reday when they turn red, but I needed them for my stir fry!  So I had to use them.  I probably shouldn't have.  I used some local herbs for my stir fry called "daun kesum".  It's usually for fish broth, but it's so fragrant.  And it has a bit of a bite to it.

Oh, the good news is that the bamboo that I'm using for my wands is only superficially fractured!  As far as I can tell, the fracture isn't a deep gash, so these drumsticks might last a few decades inshaAllah.  I haven't cut in the hollow part yet, I don't dare to.  All I did today was portion the parts out, and it looks like I will be making 3 wands.  Hm, I only have 2 hands.  I had enough bamboo left over to make a staff.  It's a bit taller than me.  It looks like about your height, Natty.  I brought it inside the house, of course.

Bamboo wands

 

Oh hi, Natty!  How ya doin' Honey?  I just got done with dinner.  Nothing special, just fries with an egg and bean sandwich.  What are you having?  Yeah my meals have been boring lately, but they're quick and easy, plus my tummy is very happy with me.  You're welcome to share my food with me.  I spent the evening trimming a bamboo to make my final pair of wands.  I guess I could just use some hickory that someone I didn't know ground and shaved into drumsticks, but I bet even the people who cut down the hickory tree didn't know the history of it.  I know where and when and the situation of my drumsticks, or wands (sounds cooler).  Not that I cast any magic with it, I don't practice magic, but drumming is a spiritual thing.  The wands you see above are American.  I used to ride my bike to the laundromat when I lived in Tempe, and a neighbor frequently threw out bamboo that grew in his yard onto the side of the road.  So I would gather the bamboo and take them home, and my apartment was filled with bamboo.  I lost most of my wands when I lost my home, but the above pair I still have today, which makes them about 20 years old since I cut and shaped them.  I had them with me when I lived at the mosque, you can see the tips are flattened from when I drummed on the pavements of Tempe.  This pair was also used for most of the Shadowplay recordings since 2000, the tape covers the fractures caused by hitting the rim too hard.  The fat one is for the left hand.  I like bamboo drumsticks because they are usually curved not straight, plus bamboo makes its own tone, so what your hear is both the bamboo and the drums.

This current bamboo I'm working on came from a patch I grew by the wall to my parents' yard.  I call it a patch, but actually I only let one grow tall while I cut down the rest.  It's about 10 years old.  I harvested it and destroyed the patch a few months ago, then let it sit under the sun and rain for a couple of months.  It has turned black and white since then, and there is a parallel fracture all along the thinner part.  Story of my life.  Maybe the fracture will make it useless.  InshaAllah it won't be.

Movie night

 

Hi Natty!  How are you, Honey?  Are you having tons of fun?  Admit it, you are hooked on that crazy carousel.  It may have caused you panic in the past, but now you don't know any other kind of life.  Well you have your fun and get your travel kicks in while you are young, because travel is more fun when you're young.  Take care of your health and safety.  The funny thing is even though you are moving around, the carousel is actually anchored to one spot.  So you are actually going in circles around one spot.  What I do is stay in one spot, and here I stand my ground inshaAllah.  While you are riding your wooden horse, you might as well watch a movie with me.  Wait, it's an action movie!  I'm sorry it's not a girlie flick.  Honey you can watch this movie with me, or switch on your device on your side of the bed and watch your favorite girlie flick while I watch this testosterone driven action-packed thriller.  It's "The Equalizer" (2014).  Denzel Washington is excellent in this movie, and perfect for the role!  Great concept too, but I feel sorry for the sequels because it's not as much fun after you know who Bob McCall is.  I don't think I want anybody to know me except my wife.  Honey, please don't spill the beans on me until after I'm dead OK?