Letter to Julia 20140619

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

Hi there, my beloved Julia and Erin.  How are you feeling today, my darlings?  I pray you are feeling great.  You are the light of my life, and I love you, I love you with all my heart.  And I need you, I need you.  I'm still working on breaking down that old mango tree at Casa de Julia inshaAllah.  That old tree was hanging over the road to the elementary school, and its branches were brushing against vehicles, and it was dropping fruit on the road and in the storm drain.  It's still crawling with army ants.  It's a bigger tree than I thought, plus I had a whole stack of useless coconuts to burn, so I'm not done yet.  Then I have to cut grass.  Gah.  It's like a full time job tending the yard there, and I have to spend time and energy doing other things.  Like music.  Right now, I'm learning new songs for to add to my Chick Singer set.  Let's see... "Snowbird", "You're My World", "Touch Me In The Morning", "Georgy Girl", "Those Were The Days", "Reach Out And Touch", and "Marlene On The Wall".  Yeah, I like the old songs.  I  think neither one of your moms were born when "You're My World" first came out.  Well, neither was I.

Life is like the rain: it makes the trees grow, then they whither and die, and Allah is the One who prevails.

Letter to Julia 20140617

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

Hello. my precious wives.  I didn't expect to blog today.  I had planned to do some burning over at Casa de Julia inshaAllah.  There is that old mango tree that was hanging over the road that I chopped down last week, that needs to be broken down and burned.  Being my wives means you are with me on my spiritual path.  MashaAllah, you are at the top of your game NOW, and if the crowd irritates you, just send them my way.  I will refer them to Allah.  I am your husband.  So while you reap the benefits of our marriage in your business, don't forget that we must be aware of the Unseen.  Not just God, but also me who is far away from you, who loves and needs you, working and living on my faith that Allah will grant me the means soon to give you a secure and happy marriage, inshaAllah.  So please be good people that the world be in awe of your goodness, but never be bothered to follow after people who are obviously lost.  Don't bother saving them.  Save yourself first.  It is Allah's job to punish or reward people for their actions while they are on earth, and their lives are short in comparison to when they are not alive.  Should they believe?  I don't care if they don't believe.  I don't care about the faith of the faithless.  Don't you care about them, don't you care about their intoxication with intoxication and material possessions.  Give respect and credit to Allah in whatever you do.  Be the person who is aware of and prepares for God and the Unseen, as opposed to the person who is prideful now and regrets later.  And always know that I love you, I love you.  And I need you, I need you.

Qur'an 20140617

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

29.  Say, "The Truth is from your Lord."  Let him who will, believe: and let him who will, reject.  For the wrongdoers We have prepared a fire, like the walls and roof of a tent, will hem them in.  If they implore relief, They will be granted water like melted brass that will scald their faces.  How dreadful the drink!  How uncomfortable a couch to recline on!

30.  As to those who believe and work righteousness, verily We shall not suffer to perish the reward of any who do a righteous deed.

The Cave 18:29-30
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The Truth is from your Lord.

Letter to Julia 20140616

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

Hello, my dearest Julia and Erin.  How are you feeling today, my precious hearts?  I pray that you are feeling healthy and confident.  Erin sweetie, I hope I didn't offend you with my distorted cowboy accent.  I apologize, please forgive me if I did.  I wasn't pointing any fingers at you.  I was just having fun with ranch dressing, and trying to make you both smile because things have been too serious lately.  You sensitive little darling.  You're such a cutie.  Julia, you thought it was funny, right?  Oh, you're so business-minded.  You are truly a princess.  I love you both with all of my heart.  And I need you, I need you.  I've been trying to catch up on my grass cutting.  Grass grows so fast here in Malaysia.  So, my feet are hurting as usual.  And three's still a lot more to go.

Qur'an 20140616

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

21.  Thus did We make their case known to people, that they might know the promise of Allah is true, and that there can be no doubt about the Hour of Judgment.  Behold, they dispute among themselves as to their affair.  Said, "Construct a building over them."  Their Lord knows best about them.  Those who prevailed over their affair said, "Let us surely build a place of worship over them."

22.  Saying they were three, the dog being the fourth among them.  Saying they were five, the dog being the sixth, doubtfully guessing at the unknown.  Saying they were seven, the dog being the eighth.  Say, "My Lord knows best their number: it is but few that know them."  Enter not therefore into controversies concerning them, except on a matter that is clear.  Nor consult any of them about the Sleepers.

23.  Nor say of anything, "I shall be sure to do so and so tomorrow,"

24.  Without adding, "So please, Allah!"  And call your Lord to mind when you forget, and say, "I hope that my Lord will guide me ever closer than this to the right road."

25.  So they stayed in their cave three hundred years, and add nine.

26.  Say, "Allah knows best how long they stayed.  With God is the secrets of the heavens and the earth, how clearly God sees, how finely God hears!  They have no protector other than God.  Nor does God share God's Command with any person whatsoever."

The Cave 18:21-26
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Letter to Julia 20140614

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

Ray-yanch!  I mean, ranch.  Ranch dressing.  Now, there's no buttermilk here in Perlis.  No sour cream, either.  No, I don't put sour cream in ranch dressing.  I'm not going to add butter to milk, either.  I just used my Mom's powdered milk, and added enough water to make a thick cream.  Then a lot of mayo.  Not Best Foods, but freshly opened at least.  Blended them together, then opened up a pack of curry flavored ramen noodles, and used the seasoning pack.  Blended that in.  Hmmm, too salty.  More mayo.  At least I have fresh chives in the yard.  So I added a handful of finely chopped chives.  Mixed that in.  Yeah, it tastes like ranch.  Tastes really good, actually.  I needed ranch dressing for my chicken fingers last night.  Just thinly sliced chicken coated in breadcrumbs, curry powder and salt, then deep fried.  Don't overcook!  This afternoon, I had deep fried calzones.  Just dough, my sardine dip, and half a slice of cheese.  But oh so good, with ranch dressing!  I'm having the same tonight, even though the low quality mayo gives me gastritis.  I'm very sensitive to mayo.  This brings back memories of the pizza joint, where I made huge batches of ranch out of a gallon of mayo at a time.  Some people would order 20 sides of ranch for their pizza.  I would yell out, "Ray-yanch!" in my thickest cowboy accent.  You try it.  Say out loud, "RAY-YANCH!  RAY-YANCH!  AH GOTTA HAVE MAH RAY-YANCH!!!", then emphasize your statement with "YEEEEHAAAWWWW!!!!"  Uh-hyuk!  What?  You want to put ranch dressing on a salad?  Are you insane?  All right, I'll make a salad for you.  Because I love you, I love you.  And I need you, I need you.  We're going to have to use local greens though.  I'm having another deep fried calzone, but with less sardine dip.  Make it more like sardine flavored breadsticks with cheese.

Letter to Julia 20140612

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

Oh, I get it now: the orange cat with orange eyes from next door is a MALE cat!  I made a mistake.  He and Floofy weren't competing for the grey tomcat, he and the grey tomcat were competing for Floofy!  That's why he and Floofy weren't fighting all-out.  He's a bold fellow.  He has no fear of me whatsoever.  He doesn't like my touching him either.  He hissed and snarled when I picked him up to find out what gender he is.  He sure looks like a girl cat.  I should have known better.  Just because it looks like a girl, doesn't mean that it is a girl.

On the menu tonight is sardine rolls.  I roll out some dough, spread my sardine dip on to the dough with some sprinkled cheese, roll it up so it looks like a little sweet roll, but it's sardine.  Bake it up, and yummy!  Best when freshly baked!  My sardine dip is onions, lemongrass, and belacan blended in oil then fried until brown.  Add the sardines and chilli pepper puree, then simmer until done.  It's so good!  Here, one for you Julia, and one for you Erin.  I love you, I love you.  And I need you, I need you.  Oh by the way, another pair of my pants ripped up the inseam when I was chopping down an old mango tree over at Casa de Julia inshaAllah which was hanging over the road to the elementary school.  This time, my butt was hanging out.  You're not still giving away freebies, are you?  Please dress modestly when you're not being paid.  And please maintain your prayers.