Letter to Julia 20130622

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

Hey Julia, my dearest!  Are you excited?  Are you?  Are you?  It's almost the fasting month!  Are you ready to rock?  Well, I'm getting ready to fast.  I do so love the fasting month, much more than the Eid.  The whole month is thoroughly enjoyable for me.  I must tell you about my Ramadan routine.  The spend most of the night preparing food and eating.  I don't eat much for breaking fast at sunset, because I would be going to the mosque.  So I prepare a big meal at about 3 or 4 am, eat well, then stay awake until the dawn prayer.  I wake up later than usual in the morning, try to get my internet work done as quickly as possible so I can take a nap before voice training at 2pm, I always voice train at 2pm.  But since I can't drink coffee, I need the nap so I don't lullaby myself into a coma.  I maintain my house chores and yard work routine, but I try to make sure I have a light meal ready for breaking fast at sunset.  Ramadan is also my most social time of the year, because every night I attend additional prayers at the mosque.  I don't really talk to anybody, I'm just there for the prayer, which usually ends at 10pm.  Yes, you're going to have to come along with me.  InshaAllah.

Letter to Julia 20130620

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

Hi Julia.  How are you feeling today?  I am fasting today.  No, it's not Ramadan yet.  Ramadan begins on Wednesday, July 10.  Hey, that's Andre's birthday!  Yeah, I remember my old friends, and they still visit me in my dreams.  But anyhow, I'm fasting today.  I love the fasting moth.  It's my favorite time of year, because I find it to be very surreal.  Allah sent Bat Cat to me about a week before last year's Ramadan, right when the Colorado theater shooting was.  Hence his name, Bat Cat.  Plus, he looks kind of like a bat.

I spent the early evening clearing out the area where I hope to build Casa de Julia someday soon, inshaAllah.  What if I suddenly came into a lot of money?  I thought to myself.  Then I would immediately go into motion to marry you.  First, I would have to prepare this little house for you to live in while we build Casa de Julia, namely buy the land, then build your bathroom and our master bedroom, and make the doorways taller.  At least.  All this before you can move in.  After that, I would go (or send someone) to Germany to fetch you, to bring you back here for a simple ceremony at the local mosque.  If you have a big production planned, then it would be in addition to this.

Of course you can come over and we'll live in a hotel while we work on the house.  I don't want to move out of the house even temporarily, because of my singing routine, and to take care of my parents.  Plus, I love small houses.  Would you want to live here while all the building and whatever is going on within?  You might be pregnant, you know.  Otherwise, we'll go with my plan, which could be time consuming.  It all seems so small and tedious doesn't it, compared with your glitzy fashion shows, mansions, and penthouses.  But mashaAllah, what's occurring here is bigger than all that.  Do you believe?

Letter to Julia 20130619

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

YOOOOOOOLIIIIIIEEEEEEE!!!!!!

So I went to have a steamboat buffet at my brother's restaurant.  Where did you go?  Do you know what a steamboat buffet is?  Well, when we're married inshaAllah, we'll be having it regularly, so I hope you get used to it.  I kind of enjoy eating it alone, because I don't have to see any of those darned vegetables in my soup.  I usually eat until I'm bloated.  I'll be fasting tomorrow, though.  InshaAllah.  Why am I fasting tomorrow?  Because it's fun!  Whee!!  I'll probably still come in to blog my love for you.  InshaAllah.  Why?  Because I love you.

Letter to Julia 20130618

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

Hi Julia.  I'm sorry I didn't come in and blog yesterday.  I had to take the cat to the vet.  It wasn't Chee Cheah or Bat Cat, but one of my brother's cats.  She's pretty hammered: she's the one that had the mouth disease, and now she has a fungal infection.  The vet said that the mouth disease is pretty much over, so thank Allah.  So please don't look at me like that.  I don't like to announce my visit to the vet, because then they would be crowded, and I would have to stand around there with a nervous cat.  So please forgive me.  I love you!  I didn't do anything to dishonor you, and I have full intent to keep my promise to marry you.  I just don't have any money right now.  So please pray with me that Allah grants me the means to give you a good married life, and we would be together always.

So please eat and enjoy the good things that Allah has provided for you.  Go out and enjoy good food with your friends at restaurants you trust: you know what the limits are.  I really miss good cheese, so I envy you.  Blue cheese, swiss, provolone.  I don't have much money to eat out all the time, but Allah has granted me a little knowledge on how to cook, so I am grateful.  Please be grateful to Allah.  Ya Allah, thank you for Julia.  She is all I could ever dream of in a girl.

Letter to Julia 20130615

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

Hi Julia.  How are you today, my love?  Let me remind you again that the goal of our marriage is to slow down, stay put, and enjoy our life and love together.  To raise a family, and enjoy our house.  Your house.  Casa de Julia.  I'm trying to build a tourist attraction here, so I can't travel.  I won't allow you to travel without me, so any trip you want to take will have to planned way ahead.  Together always, OK?  InsyaAllah.  No spontaneous journeys.

No, I'm not going to force you to watch my TV station.  InsyaAllah, we're going to get satellite TV for you, so you can have your sports and current events.  You're just going to have to start getting used to being Boss Model, and to get your business to come to you.

And please be certain that Allah will test your faith.  So if you are having troubles and suffering, please know that I suffer without you.  Together we are one, and your hardship is mine.  Please be patient, maintain your prayers, and persevere, and say, "To Allah we belong, and to God is our return."

Letter to Julia 20130612

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

Hello Julia, my beautiful young bride.  You are my girl, my heart, my future.  You are the most beautiful girl in the world to me.  You are all that I can ever dream of in a girl, and I love you.

There are a lot of things I don't talk about in these letters.  Mostly because since I have no privacy, you and everyone else should see things for yourselves.  Also because I don't have much power.  I'm just a servant of Allah, so I ride the waves of the Power of Allah.  Ya Allah, please grant me a happy and secure marriage with my Julia, and all the toys/tools and means I need to create music that pleases You.

So you must know that I'm locking on to the perfect fond for fried noodles, using entirely local ingredients.  My experience in Italian food takes over here, so my fried noodles is more like a Malay spaghetti, except that I don't use any pasta, tomatoes, or cheese.  Mighty tasty, though.  Praise Allah.  I could easily polish off a wok at a time.  But nobody loves a fat astronaut, so I don't.

Qur'an 20130612

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

142.  The fools among the people will say, What has turned them from their Direction to which they used to face in prayer?  Say, "To Allah belongs both east and west.  God guides whom God wills to the Straight Way."

The Heifer 2:142
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To Allah belongs both east and west.  God guides whom God wills to the Straight Way.