Letter to Erin 20160425

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

Antonia, I'm afraid I cannot offer you a proposal with dowry until I have married Erin, and she has settled down in her new house, and if I can afford it, gives me written permission to have a second wife.  Until then, the best I can offer you is an endorsement as a potential second wife.  InshaAllah it would be very helpful to your career, because after all the endorsement of an athlete does not generate much or any revenue for a modeling or acting career.  My source tells me that you are in an oppressive relationship.  Has he hit you?  I can take you as a wife, but like I said Erin has priority.  What you need to do is to stop carrying trash with you wherever you go.  Dump it.

I'm the last to get paid.  I have yet to get paid.  I remember working in a restaurant, my job was to make sure the dough was the same every time, among other things.  The money I received from cooking I put into the music, to generate music, to keep the music alive.  Nowadays it's the music that's making money, but I haven't received any of it yet.  Yes I know I must be patient, and I am grateful that Allah chose me to bear this music.  I don't want your hard earned money.  It is my responsibility to finance our marriage, so I ask you to please love me and be patient with me until Allah grants me the means to pay for our marriage.

I don't know what happiness is.  Allah has provided me by inspiration this direction, that perhaps I may find happiness in marriage.  I love you and I need you.

Please make a donation of a minimum of one US dollar or one Euro to a worthwhile charity.

Qur'an 20160425

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

77.  Haven't you turned your vision to those who were told to restrain their hands, but establish regular prayers and spend in regular charity?When the order for fighting was issued to them, behold!  A section of them feared humans as, or even more than, they should have feared Allah.  They said, "Our Lord!  Why have You ordered us to fight?  Would You not grant us respite to our term, soon?"  Say, "Short is the enjoyment of this world.  The hereafter is the best for those who do right: never will you be dealt with unjustly in the very least!"

78.  Wherever you are, death will find you out, even if you are in towers built up strong and high!  If some good befalls them, they say, "This is from Allah."  But if evil, they say, "This is from you."  Say, "All things are from Allah."  But what has come to these people that they fail to understand a single fact?

(The Women 4:77-78)
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Letter to Erin 20160424

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

I'm grateful for your body too, Sweetie.  I will more grateful when you are with me inshaAllah, and I get to inspect your body closely.  You are beautiful.  Please don't lose your sweetness, now that you're becoming wiser and metropolitan.  Ya Allah, please protect my family and keep us strong and healthy.  Did you enjoy that bubble bath, by the way?  You looked angry to me.  People don't normally soak for a long time in hot baths here in the tropics.  Fungus.

Nothing out of the ordinary going on here.  Well it rained today, which is a big deal when there's been a drought.  I made a tofu and cheese omelet with the clam broth from yesterday.  It tasted great, but it wasn't photogenic so I don't have a picture to show you.  I got impatient and folded it over too soon.  Right now, I'm watching "How jet engines work" on TV.  Now that you both are globetrotting, please be safe and don't take unnecessary risks, OK?  I love you and I need you.

Letter to Erin 20160423

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

Hi Beautiful!  I'm writing this letter later than usual.  I had a late dinner, then I went to join the congregation for the night prayer. then as I was getting settled to write this letter, the cats chased a mouse into my bedroom and it hid behind my very heavy chest of drawers.  At first I tried to get it out with a long flat piece of metal.  I got to squeak a few times, but it didn't budge.  So I resorted to brute force and slammed the chest of drawers into the wall, then moved it outwards and found the mouse as flat as a pancake in the corner.  I guess death was instantaneous.

Now that I'm soaked in sweat, how are you my love?  My beloved wife inshaAllah?  Are you feeling absolutely great?  Since you're traveling around, I believe it's safe to assume that mashaAllah, people know that you're my girl.  I guess it wouldn't be so bad in London and if your bosses could afford an armed guard it would be OK, but if you're in the Middle East then I don't want you to go wandering around.  But please do try to have fun when you visit the Land of Make Believe.  Please keep safe, because I love you and I need you.  I haven't been in England since I was a small kid, but I do remember more now.  For some reason I remember my street address (114 Ifield Road, London SW10), I remember fireworks on Guy Fawkes day, I remember having an Irish friend named Rifle.  Yeah.  I remember making toy guns with Lego bricks.  I remember Black Jacks and Rowntree's Fruit Gums.  I remember going to Manchester and finding an Airfix shop.  I remember shopping in London with my Mom, then getting lost and miraculously finding my mother again.  I guess kids can remember a lot of things.

Yes ma'am, I won't let them in inshaAllah.  But did you want me to wear a muscle tee?  I thought you hated muscle tees.  My Dad bought me some clams this morning.  This type was "Snails of a Thousand Brains".  He said that they were bottom of the barrel, but there were still some good ones in there.  With clams, I always separate the meat from the broth immediately.  I used the meat to stuff won tons for dinner.  I didn't get much broth though.  Maybe I'll use that for my omelet tomorrow.  For lunch I had a block of tofu with my Mom's beef soup.  Hungry?

Letter to Erin 20160422

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

Let me tell you a couple of things I know about Jesus Christ (peace be on him).  I've talked about this before.  Jesus Christ (peace be on him) was sent to the Jews as prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) was sent to the Arabs.  The purpose of the return of Jesus Christ (peace be on him) is to kill the Antichrist (in Arabic known as the "Dajjal").  All this action will take place in the Middle East.  Can any one of you brainy beauties guess which city did prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) say that Jesus Christ (peace be on him) will make his return?

Malaysia achieved its independence from Britain in 1957.  When I was small, I lived in London for a couple of years.  My Dad got his law degree in London, and he took the whole family along.  I don't remember much because I was small, except Cilla Black, the Carpenters, and waiting for my Dad to stop by and say hello on his way to classes while I was cooped up in a nursery school.  Cilla gave me an idea a few years ago about doing a regular concert/talk show for TV syndication.  Sounds profitable, but who's going to produce it?  My primary concern is to please Allah with music.

Yesterday evening I was cutting the grass by the roadside, and I just finished the length of your house inshaAllah when my trusty old weed whacker died.  Well, I guess if it died then it's not so trusty.  I took it to the mechanic this morning, and I was able to finish what I started just now.  I took a photo of how dry the rice fields are.  While I was taking the photo, a crow was watching me from a nearby tree and panting like a thirsty dog.  I couldn't catch him on camera, though.  Nothing special on the menu today.  Just leftovers, leftovers.  Dinner was leftover chili with a sunny side up egg on top a block of fresh tofu, to be eaten with a loaf of bread.  Want some?  I love you and I need you.

Letter to Erin 20160421

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

There there now, relax your heart and don't despair.  Learn how to waste time, don't be in a big rush like everyone else.  Eventually you will discover that they're in a big rush to catch up with you.  Get some hobbies, waste some time.  And do it without drugs and alcohol.

Yes Honey, I know that there is danger from people working above me.  It's been that way for decades already.  What's more dangerous is to let them work/walk all over me.  I need you to trust me, or better yet trust in Allah.  I keep asking you to pray, so please pray.  I need you to keep yourself safe.  Don't take any unnecessary risks.  And I need you to be loyal, if your love is true.  If you believe in our love.  I love you and I need you.

The corner grocer had some nice eggplant this morning, so I fried that up with onion to be enjoyed with a block of tofu.  Eggplant soaks up grease, then spits it out again, so controlling oil content is the trick to frying eggplant.  I wish I had marinara sauce but I was too lazy to make some, so I used ketchup instead.  I had to finish off the dough, so I made a tortilla, and enjoyed lunch with my Mom's "sambal belacan".  I was stuffed.  I think I made lunch for 4 people.  I was only able to eat 3/4 of it.  I think what was so filling was the combination of tofu and bread.  Dinner was fried stuffed won tons.  Those are so yummy.  I could eat 100 of them, but I only ate 31.

Letter to Erin 20160420

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

Now now there, you need to relax your heart.  Use your mind to relax your heart, what's the big rush anyway?  You need to learn how to waste time, just do things to waste time, and do it without drugs or alcohol.  How about a video game?  I like to shoot baskets on my cell phone to waste time.  How about playing the piano with only your left hand?  I would ask you to pray if you could be sincere, or pray to pass the time should be OK.  There's no need for despair.  Just let the time pass by.  There's no rush.  Everybody else is rushing around, but not you.

When my uncle came around a couple of days ago, we talked about our backs.  You know, back aches, lower back pain.  I told him that I like to sleep on the floor, because it's great for fixing back pain.  I like sleeping on the floor, it's a habit I'm actually quite reluctant to give up.  If you're lying on that nice, soft mattress, of course I'm going to climb up there and bounce around with you .  But eventually, I would slither back down on the floor... it's so much cooler down here.  Would you like to join me?

Lunch was fried stuffed won tons.  It's such girlie food, and so tasty!  To be enjoyed with my home made hot sauce, the same sauce I toss chicken wings in.  Today's flavor is calamari.  I also put garlic, tofu and julienned kaffir lime leaves in them.  I know you're going to love my fried won tons.  I also got 5 blocks of the best local fresh tofu.  Fresh tofu has a short life in the cooler, so I'll be eating only tofu dishes for the next few days.  Unless you like fermented tofu.  My approach to fresh tofu is to treat it like a staple, like rice, bread, or noodles without compromising its shape.  So for dinner, I had a block of fresh tofu swimming in a broth of ground beef, brown gravy, finely diced garlic, onions, and potatoes, with basil leaves.  Irish stew soup.  Thick but not too thick.  I'd share it with you!  I love you and I need you.