Letter to Julia 20111212

Hi Julia. Are you hanging in there, my love? Of course I think of you all the time, and I pray you are doing well. I have been spending much time in the yard. Remember I told you that my little house is right next door to my grandfather's house? Well, the house and the compound has been overgrown with vegetation, and looks like a miniature jungle. I've been clearing the area out. It's an obvious hazard to the kids and people going to and fro on the road to the local elementary school, and it's right next to my house, so I certainly get the creeps having to look at that eeire old house covered and surrounded with vines and gloomy trees. It's a slow process, because I'm cautious, lazy, and can only work when it's cool enough to work, namely the two hours before sunset right after the Asr prayer. Being slow is for the best though. The compound is crawling with monitor lizards and snakes. Big snakes too about 2 1/2 meters long, most likely cobras, but I'm not sure because they always run when they sense me, and therefore not in a fighting mood. InsyaAllah.

Letter to Julia 20111210

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

Life is like the rain. God sends it down from the sky, it nourishes and rejuvenates the vegetation, which bears flowers and fruit, then becomes dry stubble which the wind blows. Meanwhile, God is the Only One Who prevails over all things.

Oh, I'm getting old, Julia. I sing and play the drums for two hours, then I feel like passing out. Two hours! When I was your age, I could go on all night, and dance as well! Well, my wisdom makes the music better, but I gave up much of my libido along the way. But a young man usually has no idea what to do with his libido. What the hell am I saying? Well, you can have what's left of my libido, Julia.

HOW TO COOK WITHOUT COOKING OIL

Perhaps you would like to cut down on the oil content of your foods, or perhaps one does not have access to cooking oil because it is too expensive or unavailable because it was sold in bulk to a wealthier buyer. Most foods, no matter how fat-free, have some level of oil content. Most packaged oils today are produced from plants like soybeans, corn, coconut, peanut, olive, sesame, oil palm, flax, sunflower, safflower, cottonseed etc. While it can be tedious to press or boil meal to extract oil, that is certainly how the ancients did it back whenever, and most of them were dirt poor. Mulch the grain/seed into a meal, then press for oil. Or heat the meal in water, then separate the oil from the water.

More efficient would be to stretch one's oil dollar. One way is to fry items in a closed pot, preferably with the food elevated above the oil by using some sort of grille, so the food does not come in contact with the oil. The oil is heated to evaporation, and coats and cooks the food. Very hot! But less oil is used, and the food tastes less oily. Of course one can recycle cooking oil by straining it, and reusing it. I've heard stories of Italian housewives deep frying calzones in iron drums filled with ancient olive oil.

Animal fat is the way to go for a dense oil supply, plus protein at the same time. Don't throw away that beef fat or chicken skin! Cook the beef or chicken fat first in a dry pot or pan, then separate the oil to be used for cooking vegetables. Animal fat is denser, so you would use less of it. Not too much heat either, because burned animal fat leaves a lingering stench which is unbearable. Now, one would assume that ground meats like sausage would generate more oil, which can be true. But gyro meat, which is beef and lamb sausage, leaves an oil which is disgusting and totally inedible, and is only good for greasing bicycle chains.

Funny, huh? Tick, tock....

Letter to Julia 20111207

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

But out of my cave again comes this reclusive writer, to do some work! For to Allah belongs all power. Oh Julia, I really want to snuggle up with my sweetie on a bunch of fluffy pillows, and kiss longer. The problem is that I'm actually some sort of workaholic, I actually enjoy working, at things that I enjoy working at. But since I'm also a contradiction, I'm lazy, and just want to snuggle up with my sweetie on a bunch of fluffy pillows, and kiss longer. But I guess I can get up to cook a nice meal for my honey, if I have the right ingredients. How about a cheese and asparagus omelette with grilled jumbo shrimp, with a bunch of sweet purple grapes on the side? Ah, alhamdilillah.

Once upon a time there were two men. God granted one of them two gardens, surrounded them with date palms, and in between the two gardens there were cornfields. Each garden brought its produce without fail, and in the midst of them flowed a river. This man boasted to the other that he had greater wealth, honor and power. And he went into his gardens with an unjust state of mind, saying, "I deem not that this will ever perish, nor do I deem that my time will run out. Even if I am brought back to my Lord, I shall surely find something better in return." The other guy said, "Do you deny God Who created you out of dust, then out of sperm, then fashioned oyu into a man? For my part God is Allah my Lord, and none shall I associate with my Lord. Why didn't you enter your garden saying, 'Allah's Will! There is no power but with Allah!' If you see me less than you in wealth and children, it may be that my Lord will give me something better than your garden, and God will send thunderbolts and turn your garden into sand, or the water will run off underground and you will never find it." So the gardens were destroyed by calamity, and the owner was filled with regret, saying, "Why wasn't I appreciative to God while I had the chance?"

Qur'an 20111207

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

28. And keep your soul content with those who call on thier Lord morning and evening, seeking God's Face. And let not your eyes pass beyond them, seeking the pomp and glitter of this life, nor obey any whose heart We have permitted to neglect the rememberance of Us, one who follows his own desires, whose case has gone beyond all bounds.

29. Say, "The Truth is from your Lord." Let him who will, believe, and let him who will, reject. For the wrongdoers We have prepared a fire which is like the walls and roof of a tent will hem them in: if they implore relief, they will be granted melted brass that will scald their faces. How dreadful the drink! How uncomfortable a couch to recline on!

The Cave 18:28-29
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The Truth is from your Lord.

(God does have a sense of humor! Life in hell is often referred to in the Qur'an as "entertainment", where, in the example of verse 18:29, an inhabitant kicks back on a couch of flames, and drinks a cocktail of melted brass.)

Letter to Julia 20111205

Hello again, my beloved beautiful Julia. Are you maintaining your prayers, and taking good care of yourself? I've been holing up here in my cave, and I've been marveling at how things turn full circle. The more things change, the more the stay the same. I remember praying over and over again for God to get me out of the pizza joint, out of the food business, and out I went, on a crazy rollercoaster which is too long-winded to explain. But I still have to eat. And since I don't have money, I have to make the best I can out of cheap stuff. And suddenly, the cheap stuff becomes expensive, but how can it be my fault, since I don't have money to buy the expensive stuff? So, I'm always looking for options. Lord, I hate the food business. BUt I'm never going to work in a restaurant ever again, insyaAllah. I pray that you are able to eat properly without other people making a huge fuss. Probably not, but hey you are just so gorgeous, I love you, and I want to marry you. So you must try hard to take good care of your precious body.

Then I remember long ago, when I had no skill at singing. People kept complaining and criticizing my singing, wanting to replace me, telling me how to sing, etc etc etc. Do it for the music, they said. Maybe I was being superficial, I don't know. You can't stay in music business if you don't love music, y'know. Today, since Allah gave me some ability to mirror some famous singers, I am hated even more. See what I mean: trying to please the crowd is the worst mistake in art. But that's Rock and Roll, I suppose, it's the nature of the beast. Except for the kids, of course. Whenever I practise, they seem to pop out everywhere then instantly evaporate, like ghosts. Maybe they were ghosts.

Whoops! I'm talking too much. But I gotta talk to my sweetie, y'know? She's so beautiful. I have to run back into my cave now, and just kick back with my kitty, and watch Shadowplay TV. As for you, you are my wife, then your closest friends are the ones who believe best in God. So keep that circle closed, and do not take for friends and intimates others outside your ranks, for they will not fail to corrupt you. Their mouths already speak hatred, and what their hearts conceal is far worse.

Qur'an 20111206

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

21. Thus did We make their case known to people, that they might know the promise of Allah is true, and that there can be no doubt about the Hour of Judgement. Behold, they dispute among themselves as to their affair. Said, "Construct a building over them." Their Lord knows best about them. Those who prevailed over their affair said, "Let us surely build a place of worship over them."

22. Saying they were three, the dog being the fourth among them. Saying they were five, the dog being the sixth, doubtfully guessing at the unknown. Saying they were seven, the dog being the eighth. Say, "My Lord knows best their number: it is but few that know them." Enter not therefore into controversies concerning them, except on a matter that is clear. Nor consult any of them about the Sleepers.

23. Nor say of anything, "I shall be sure to do so and so tomorrow,"

24. Without adding, "So please, Allah!" And call your Lord to mind when you forget, and say, "I hope that my Lord will guide me ever closer than this to the right road."

25. So they stayed in their cave three hundred years, and add nine.

26. Say, "Allah knows best how long they stayed. With God is the secrets of the heavens and the earth, how clearly God sees, how finely God hears! They have no protector other than God. Nor does God share God's Command with any person whatsoever."

The Cave 18:21-26
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My Lord knows best their number: it is but few that know them.

Allah knows best how long they stayed. With God is the secrets of the heavens and the earth, how clearly God sees, how finely God hears! They have no protector other than God. Nor does God share God's Command with any person whatsoever.

Letter to Julia 20111203

Hi Julia my love, how are you feeling? I'm just sitting here, writing a love letter, and watching TV. It's been a busy week for some reason, but unproductive. I did a lot of unnecessary running around. For instance, I went to the government clinic to pick up some antifungal cream for my left toe, but it was a long wait because the place was packed, as it usually is. Normally I am prepared to wait, but that day my stomach had some urgent business to attend to, and it started to protest, so I took my stomach home to the comfort of the toilet it so loves, as opposed to a public restroom in a public hospital. That's another reason why I don't like to travel anymore: I don't like to be far away from my bathroom! Wouldn't you prefer to use only your own restroom that you are familiar with? Especially considering the lack of privacy we have to put up with? It's not as simple as taking a roll of toilet paper along with us wherever we go.

Well, I guess I'm stubborn, huh? God gave me this baby, and I have been raising it alone for many, many years already. And I want you. I don't have faith in the morning, then turn back in the evening, like some others. Now please excuse me, I'm going to go and hide in my cave.