Urban hell

 

Natty, you're so pretty!  I love those photos.  Yes there's no doubt: you are the prettiest girl in the world.  Where are you now, Honey?  Are you still in the city?  Or are you always in the city no matter where you are?  For a nature girl, you always seem to me to be enjoying the city.  I'm glad I don't live in the city.  It didn't work out that way intentionally, I just followed the path that Allah put me on.  When I was young, I always loved the city and its toys.  Then it happened, that living in the city sucks when you don't have any money.  Not having money sucks period, but poverty is more intense in the city.

Especially since the Covid, it doesn't really matter nowadays where you base your career because of the Internet.  If I had brought Mary to the city, it would have taken much longer for her to get to the karaoke joint in Second Life, and easier for Mary to get caught and killed.  It seems that neither talent nor beauty matters anymore in the city: one has to overcome the selfishness of survival.  Which is true anywhere of course, but much more intense in the city.  What about the rural poor?  How to raise the quality of life and wealth of the rural?  It seems to me that one has to turn the village into a city.  Have something to attract people to come here and plant their investment.  And once the village becomes a city, then it gets the problems and intensity of the city.  Ugh.  How awful.

 

Christmas politics

 

Hi Natty! How are you today, Honey?  I'm sure you are busy, so please take care of your health and safety.  Get lots of beauty sleep after all, you are a beauty.  I hope doing Christmas politics isn't bringing you down too much.  We have to do politics even though we're not politicians, and it sucks.  I hate politics but you are a sociologist, so perhaps you might find some enjoyment in the process.  Isn't it annoying about people who don't give a shit about God unless the situation is in their favor?  C'est la vie, such is life.  God be the Judge.

What else did I do today?  Not much that is different or interesting.  I did my laundry in the evening, because tomorrow morning I have errands to run.  This morning, I had errands to run.  So I had lunch downtown, rice vermicelli in soup.  Good stuff, you must try it someday inshaAllah.  Dinner was eggs and beans with sliced bread.  Convenient with laundry.  Want some?

Coffee

 

Hi Natty!  Whatcha doin', Honey?  I assume you are busy being a Christmas figurehead, running around doing all sorts of festive things.  Well you're gorgeous my darling, and I love you with all of my heart.  Oh, my parents came back!  I guess they didn't like it over there.  Looks like I have to go back to the old schedule.  I'm glad I put down those drum tracks yesterday...

I thought of you somehow when I was making coffee this morning.  Coffee makers are hard to find here, because nobody uses them.  What rules here are instant coffee and coffee grounds.  Can't find coffee filters here, either.  I recall the days when I was a 20-something musician in SLC, when coffee filters were cheaper than toilet paper.  In fact, we used them as toilet paper.  But over here I use coffee grounds, because instant coffee is overpriced for something that tastes and smells awful.  I just add water to a teaspoon of coffee grounds, then filter it with a steel strainer.  It doesn't get all the grounds, but they sink to the bottom.  And that's how most people here drink their coffee, is to let the grounds sink to the bottom and drink the top.  Espresso makers?  I think I've seen that at the supermarket, but no coffee makers.  The brand of coffee I use is the same one as the video below.  I love the fragrance.

The drum

 

Hi Natty!  How are you today, Honey?  I suppose you are getting into the spirit of the holiday season.  I hope you are having a great time Sweetheart, and enjoying good health as well.  I spent the evening today doing drum tracks.  Ah, there's nothing like live acoustic drums.  My main drum is something I made out of an old water reservoir, known locally as a "tempayan".  It sounds so good, Natty.  I mean, it sounds scary.  For the rim, I used the cage of an old fan which I noticed to be just about 20", the size of the drum head.  As you can see, I had to make some adjustments.  In lieu of tension rods, I found some tension hooks at the hardware store which I presume is for pitching tents.  I had them hooked up with steel wire to the grill of another old fan at the bottom of the reservoir.  I love this drum!  And there's still more I can do to make it perfect, but it already sounds so good.

I have decided that I can't rely on online shopping for the work that I do.  I'm certain that I would be wasting a lot of money online, especially in pursuit of name brands.  The only way to shop for name brands is to go to a brick and mortar store.  More than being ripped off, I have found it very entertaining to build my own musical instruments.  Not just in itself, but also to avoid "buying a new engine without a having a car."  You know what I mean?

Qur'an 20211204

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

38.  Say to the unbelievers, if they desist their past would be forgiven them, but if they persist the punishment of those before them is all ready.

39.  And fight them on until there is no more tumult and oppression, and there prevails justice and faith in Allah altogether and everywhere.  But if they cease, verily Allah does see all that they do.

The Spoils of War 8:38-39

Princess

 Oh Natty, that's precisely why they're jealous of you!  Oh Honey, you're caught in a feedback loop!  You poor, precious princess.  And you're so pretty!  I just want to take care of you.  Don't worry about a thing Honey, everything is going to work out absolutely fabulous for us inshaAllah.  It is December, huh?  We will come together, Natty.  I won't abandon you, inshaAllah.  Please be patient and pray.  Ya Allah, please protect my Natty.

Are you hungry?  I was so pleased with my ramen this afternoon.  I wish I could have shared it with you.  I didn't take any snapshots of it.  Like I said before, I don't want people selling ¥1,000,000 bowls of Zam-style ramen.  But if you folks want to try selling your own ¥1,000,000 bowls of ramen, here's a recipe from YouTube:

Oh dear, I don't use pork.  I used just one chunk of beef shoulder bone.  I boiled it with some fresh ginger from my yard on Wednesday, along with a spice pack like this:

It's actually a generic pack around here, and I reuse it.  I put the soup in the cooler when it was done to be used on Friday.  Whoops!  I forgot to put salt!  No big deal, on Friday I fried up some garlic and potato slices then added the soup back in.  I used the seasoning packet from a pack of ramen for the salt.  Then I heat it up, and add tofu strips, Vietnamese coriander leaves, a little more beef chunks from my latest batch of roast beef, and some fish cake.  When it was hot enough, I put the ramen brick in.  Just long enough to soften up a little, then I moved the noodles into my soup bowl to rest on a little soy sauce, and I cracked an egg over it.  I poured the hot soup in while taking care not to break the yolk, then topped it of with dried fried onions, salted radish, and home made hot sauce.  That's a good batch of hot sauce I made today alhamdulillah.  I used lots of pickled soybeans.  I nearly choked the blender, it was so thick.  Come share my ramen with me, Natty!

Hi Natty!

 

How are you, Honey?  Aw don't you worry about a thing, everything will work out just great for us inshaAllah.   You are MY girl, and I love you with all of my heart.  You are at the top of the world!  So enjoy your place, and don't worry so much OK!  You are the most beautiful girl in the world to me.  Please be patient and pray.

Today is Thursday over here for me.  In the morning I went downtown to the pharmacy to get pee suppressant pills for Lookie.  Life in this house is tough for my female cats somehow, I think it has to do with Mary's singing.  Now there's a male cat in the house, but he's biding his time with producing kittens.  I guess he knows that kittens generally outrank other cats.  At first Lookie seemed to heal from her urge to pee with Adolf in the house, so I took her off the drug.  But she can't do without it.  Wah!  My kitty is drug addict!  I'm hoping that a batch of kittens would help her out, but that remains to be seen.  Ya Allah, please heal and protect my kitties.

Don't you think it's fascinating that a Biblical date palm came back to life?  The Prophet (peace be on him) loved dates, but I don't like them.  Ya Allah, please forgive me!  I am managing though to plant fruit trees in my yard that I do eat, and it's a slow process.  I cut the grass this evening, and it's been a while since I did so because it's been very wet here.  Now that my sister is taking care of my parents, I want to try cutting the grass in the mornings, since I usually buy takeout lunch.  Today I had beans ready in the cooler, which is a quick fix for dinner along with a burger and a sunny side up egg.  Want some?