Qur'an 20150105

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

3.  The unbelievers say, "Never to us will come the Hour."  Say, "No!  But most surely by my Lord, it will come upon you, by God who knows the unseen, from Whom is not hidden the least little atom in the heavens or on earth, nor is there anything less than that, or greater, but is in a Record Perspicuous."

4.  That God may reward those who believe and work deeds of righteousness: for such is Forgiveness, and a Sustenance most Generous.

5.  But those who strive against Our Signs, to frustrate them: for such will be a Penalty- a Punishment most humiliating.

6.  And those to whom Knowledge has come see that this sent down to you from your Lord: that is the Truth, and that it guides to the Path of the Exalted, Worthy of all praise.

Sheba 34:3-6
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No!  But most surely by my Lord, it will come upon you, by God who knows the unseen, from Whom is not hidden the least little atom in the heavens or on earth: nor is there anything less than that, or greater, but is in a Record Perspicuous.

Letter to Erin 20150103

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

Erin, you're such a cutie.  You are my beautiful little sweetheart, and I love you with all my heart.  It is your sweetness that is most attractive about you, so when you offer us your nip slip in your cute and sweet manner, you drive us all into a frenzy.  It's not only that people might stop taking you seriously, but you might drive some people into a raging fury of love with your aura of innocence, which can be dangerous.  You could always wear a top underneath your jacket, or avoid plunging necklines.  Are you being paid to endorse a bra?  What bra?  My dearest darling Erin, please dress modestly.  I love you, and I need you.

My poor Floofy hurt her foot.  As you know, she has become jealous of her own kittens.  The kittens are almost grown up now, and I separated the boys from the girls by keeping the boys outside and the girls inside.  The other night, there was a catfight outside my window.  Floofy has been totally antisocial lately, finding her pleasure in open hostility, and growls at everyone including me.  But who hurt her foot? was it one of her kittens?  After a couple of nights in solitary confinement for her own protection, her foot seems to have gotten better, even though she still hobbles.  But she can limp away faster than I can chase her down to put her back in the cage, so I guess she must be getting better inshaAllah.

Letter to Erin 20150101

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

Happy New Year, my beloved Erin!  How are feeling today, dearest heart?  I pray that you are feeling awesome, and having a great time.  I want you to know that I care for you deeply, I think of you all the time, and I look forward with great anticipation to when we come together in marriage inshaAllah.  I want to remind you that you are not the same girl you were 2 years ago, you are not the same as all those other girls, because you are MY girl.  Please strictly guard your chastity and your faith.  I accept that you are under contract to work, and I want you to make lots of money for yourself, but when you are off duty you must dress modestly, and hide your beauty.  After all, it has become easier for people to fall in love with you, so please be cautious.  As for me, I am in love with you.  I want to marry you.  I love you sweet Erin, and I need you.

Letter to Erin 20141231

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

Hey there, my most beautiful Erin.  How is the most beautiful girl in the world?  Yes, you are the most beautiful girl in the world, because you are MY girl.  Mine, mine, MINE.  Happy New Year!!  Feliz Navidad!  Please pray with me that I get to build your house this year.  You must be on top of the world with your work, so please give thanks to Allah, and take good loving care of yourself.  Please eat properly, get lots of rest, and make lots of money for yourself.  You are such a sweetheart Erin, so please protect your emotions.  I want you to be sure that you are loved, and I will not abandon you inshaAllah.  I love you, and I need you.

Letter to Erin 20141229

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

So how good is your spy network, Erin my beloved?  Yeah, I have no privacy, I haven't had any privacy in 25 years, it's one of the liabilities of music, the stinky part of the Pubic Eye.  But since I don't have any privacy anyway, you might as well bear witness that I am faithful, and faithful to you inshaAllah.  I don't slut around.  All I do is stay at home, I go out to shop when I need to, and to the Internet cafe to post this love letter and browse for videos.  Sometimes I eat out, budget permitting, but Allah has provided me with some knowledge of cooking.  I sing everyday for 2 hours after the noon prayer for my voice training, then I usually go out to blog after the Asr prayer.  I usually blog every other day, sometimes everyday, sometimes 3 days apart, and every couple of months or so I take a week of isolation away from the Internet, but it could be that I go blog anyway.  I'm always back by sunset inshaAllah.  Sometimes the weather prevents me from leaving the house, so I would be late with my letter.  There's always something for me to do here at home, but I'm a lazy man, so I like to lie back and watch TV or play video games or snuggle with my sweetie, but you're not here so I can't do that.  I wish you were with me so we can go everywhere together.  I want us to never be seen without each other. 

Please don't brood over remarks, negative or whatever, made by other people to you.  They don't belong in our world, so how could they ever know how it feels, or what's really going on?  Besides, have you ever met a skeptic that had talent or even potential?  Neither have I.  You are MY girl.  No matter what people say, know that I'm the one who loves and cares about you.  So please put your faith and trust in Allah, and in our love.  Place your faith and trust in Allah, and Allah will grant you a great reward.  As for me, I love you, and I need you.

Letter to Erin 20141227

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

Erin, please make a donation of a minimum of US$1 to a worthwhile charity.

Hi Erin my Sweetheart.  As you know, my mission is to stand my ground here and build a tourist attraction in the name of Allah, own the land that my little house and my grandfather's old house stand on, and build a house for you and studio for myself.  InshaAllah.

I have a problem though: I can't draw.  Well, I can't draw well.  I don't even have a vision of what kind of house would please you.  I suppose it would be a 2 level house with a master bedroom and 3 or 4 smaller bedrooms, with all the modern amenities.  What kind of house would you like?  Perhaps you would like to take up a new hobby: architecture.  Install one of those home design programs on your laptop, and build your house gradually as you travel, or relax.  The dimensions are 17 by 19.5 meters just for the house, and doesn't include the yard.  Again, that's meters.  Asia is metric.  Parking would be on the north side of the house, and the house is on the west side of the street.  And pray that Allah grants me the wealth I need to do this properly.

If you don't have anything by the time Allah grants me what I need inshaAllah, then I guess I'll have to turn to a professional architect.  We'll have to go to a pro anyway, but if you have your own vision, then I can build you the house of your dreams inshaAllah.  Please try to be modest, and not gaudy   A house where we can take root and raise a family.  There's an elementary school just a few houses away.  I'll probably be the runt of the family, but I still have a little bit of strength left.  I really like the Essex house that was on "This Old House".  Not so much the shape, but the modern amenities and the Universal design.  What do you think?  We won't have such a huge yard, but big enough inshaAllah.

Erin, you are my girl, and I want to marry you.  You are the most beautiful girl in the world.  It has become too easy to fall in love with you, so please hide your beauty and don't be complaisant in speech.  Try to stay at home if you're not working, and study the Qur'an.  I love you, and I need you.

Letter to Erin 20141225

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

Hello there, my beloved sweetheart Erin.  Are you feeling good today?  You are such a sweet, nostalgic girl.  Muslims don't celebrate Christmas.  Muslims celebrate Ramadan and the 2 Eids.  This is a Muslim community, so the Internet cafe is open and I am able to blog this love letter today.  I love you, and I need you.

I did grill a fish this morning.  I'm not celebrating Christmas, I'm just grilling a fish.  My Dad gave me a huge hardtail scad, and I spent the whole morning yesterday processing it.  Hardtail scad has no scales, but a thick skin which makes it perfect for stiffing and grilling.  It is the big fish that have the flavor, a strong and thick flavor, and a strong smell so when you gut it, the fishy smell lingers.  Yeah, it's fresh: it's just a fish with strong flavor.  I filleted it and kept the flesh for sashimi, took off the head and tail, and saved the skin and bones for grilling.  It was a big fish, so there was still a lot of flesh left.  The key to stuffing is that the stuffing has to be ready to eat before you stuff whatever.  For this fish, I blended onions then strained them and sauteed them in vinegar and anchovy bouillon.  Then I grilled it and basted it with butter.  Fancy some?  I'm not celebrating Christmas.  I'm just grilling a fish.