Letter to Erin 20151231

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

Hello there!  Hi there!  Time ticks on, and I'm still not married.  You are my girl.  I love you and I want to marry you.  I need you.

Alas, I have no power.  The proof of that is that I have no money.  I have no money to build your house, so I have no power.  I have no money to buy musical instruments, so I have no power.  I am like a caged ape being fed reasons to live every once in a while.  I have no power.  Allah has all the power.

I hang my trash on a nail on the wall at about eye level.  Like a caveman, huh?  But some vicious beasts have figured out that they can jump high and hang on to the trash bag with their claws, and rip the bag open.  So now I have to keep my trash in a bin on the floor with a lid on it.  Menacing varmints are forcing me to be civilized.

Letter to Erin 20151230

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

Hello, beautiful girl!  You are my girl, and I love you so.  Please stay blonde for me, because I prefer blondes.  I need you.

I spent the evening hacking away at the tree on the roof of the old house sitting on the space where I will build your house inshaAllah.  It's taking a long time, yeah I know.  A tree is a very heavy object, and it's difficult to swing a machete upwards over my head.  Every blow landed diagonally on the trunk, so I had no choice but to use my left hand also, which is bad in aim.  I managed to get only one branch down today, but there is only one branch left.  Then there's a bigger tree on top of the roof on the other side of the house.

My Dad gave some good sized hardtail scad this morning, so I had that for lunch.  The back had been cut open, so I chopped off the heads and tails.  Slicing the back open is a procedure for stuffing, but I didn't stuff the fish.  I smothered the insides with tom yam paste (tom yam is a tamarind-based Siamese hot sour soup) with salt and ground cilantro, and fried it up.  Alhamdulillah.  Delicious.  A success.  You must try some.  Dinner was half pitas stuffed with steak and potatoes in brown gravy.  Alhamdulillah.  Delicious and filling.

Letter to Erin 20151229

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

**yawn**  Please close your mouth with your hand when you yawn.  I almost put myself to sleep during voice training today.  It happens, part of the job.  I had to take quick naps in the middle of my set more than once before.  Make sure you nap too, OK?  Don't give up your dreams, Dreamer Girl.  I love you and I need you.

I was busy all day today.  I had to pick some eye drops at the hospital for my Dad, and some eye drops for me at the pharmacy.  Then I drove around on my Dad's motorcycle to look for parts for my motorcycle.  It's running OK now, alhamdulillah.  I had lunch over at Omar's stall, across from the courthouse complex.  My usual, which is rice vermicelli in soup.  Omar is very serious about his soup.  I asked him if his wife happened to cook the soup today, and I got scowled at.

I was cooking up a steak for dinner, when my Dad gave me something else for dinner.  There's this restaurant down the road on the way to the golf course that sells flat noodles fried like pancakes, then you pour this really thick soup on top of it.  Very delicious, and very well done.  I enjoyed that while watching "Airplane 2" dubbed in Russian.  That reminds me, I have to do some encoding tonight.  Part of the work of running the best TV station in the world mashaAllah.

Qur'an 20151229

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

1.  Say, "O you who reject faith!"

2.  I worship not that which you worship.

3.  Nor will you worship that which I worship.

4.  And I will not worship that which you have been wont to worship.

5.  Nor will you worship that which I worship.

6.  To you be your way and to me mine.

Those who reject faith 109:1-6
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Letter to Erin 20151228

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

How's it going, you gorgeous Rock and Roll Babe?  Born to be wild?  Well, you're MY girl.  I love you, and I need you.

Right now. I'm watching "High Plains Drifter".  You know the movie, right?  It's where a ghost wreaks vengeance on a town afraid of strangers because they participated in a public murder.  Would you call such a group of people a "mob"?  Even though they seem to be average people?  By definition they are.  I would definitely consider this movie one of the best movies of all time, but there's one flaw: they have such beautiful teeth.  They could be supermodels' teeth.  They could be your teeth.  I don't have such teeth.  I have cowboy teeth.

I just had dinner while watching the movie.  It's chili, but with potatoes instead of beans, and flavored with brown gravy.  That brown gravy powder my Mom gave me sure is useful.  Tastes great.  Alhamdulillah.  I had the beans because I just went to the supermarket and bought some, but I wanted to try it with potatoes.  Would you still call that "chili", or would you call it "hash"?

Letter to Erin 20151227

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

Hey there, hi there!  How are you, Precious?  Are you having fun, and staying busy?  Well, please keep your nose clean.  Yeah, temptation is everywhere, but you don't need the stuff.  You are strong enough not to need the stuff.  I love you so much.  And I need you.

For some reason, I haven't been getting enough sleep lately.  Yeah I've been getting up in the middle of the night to do extra worship, but I do that anywhere sometimes.  I guess I need to nap more.  I'll do that right after I finish this letter.  Otherwise, my schedule isn't more pressed than usual.  This morning, I visited the old widow at the top of the street.  When I left, my motorcycle didn't want to start.  So I guess It's time to take it to the shop.  Lunch was leftover "lontong" that my Mom made, which is basically meats and veggies in a coconut milk and turmeric broth with pressed rice.  Dinner was rice at Ina's.  Ach!  I'm getting drowsy.  Take a quick nap.  It'll do you wonders.

Letter to Erin 20151226

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

Hi Sweetheart!  How are you?  I pray you are doing well, and are getting plenty of rest, because I know you are busy.  I want you to know that I love you, and I need you.

Today is Friday, so I went to Friday prayer in the afternoon.  There was a high school class reunion happening today, which I didn't go to.  And for good reason, too: I was a demon when I was a kid.  If you didn't fit in when you were in high school, I was LOATHED.  So I stayed home.  I think I'll have some vanilla ice cream.