Letter to Erin 20150515

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

Hello Erin, my beloved.  How are you feeling today?  I'm watching a James Bond movie right now.  "Tomorrow Never Dies".  Where the villain is a crooked media mogul.  I think Pierce Brosnan made an excellent Bond, even though the script writing got really cheesy after they ran out of Ian Fleming stories.  Did you notice that at least 2 of the James Bonds were Irish?  Jonathan Pryce makes a great bad guy, more like the classic Bond villain, even though he could be porkier.  I think I have every Bond movie except "Octopussy".  What's the best Bond movie?  Hmmm.  All the Sean Connery movies were awesome, but I'm going to have to go with "The Man With The Golden Gun".  I once visited the James Bond island that was in the movie, but I was too small to appreciate the experience.

I'm still very busy with my baby mangoes right now, which leaves me with little energy for much else.  I did sleep in today though, like a REAL rock star.  Besides, it rained and I couldn't do anything outdoors.  I've been eating quick meals too.  I made a batch of chili, and I bought a loaf of sliced bread.  I'll have to submit that the machines make better sliced bread than me.  I added butter in this batch of chili, and it tastes awesome.  Would you like to try some, dearest heart?  You're too sweet to be a Bond girl, but if you do get the part, be cautious of the physical demands of the job and your situation off-screen.  And don't you dare kiss Daniel Craig.  Just shoot him or something.  Erin I love you, and I need you.

Here's a photo of a Perlis Harumanis mango.

Letter to Erin 20150514

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

Hey there, my beautiful Erin!  How are you feeling today, my darling?  Suddenly I have very little time.  I sleep about 4 to 6 hours every day, including naps.  But at least I get to nap.  It's all those mango babies that take up my time right now.  Like this morning, I woke up at 5 am, did some worship, then started going over the fruit to save the seeds.  Then I have to plant them, and do yard work.  Not including other tasks.  And the night before, I stayed up late doing computer work.  It will be like this until I run out of fruit.  I hope this getting up early will not become a habit.  It's very un-Rock Star-ish.  Makes me look bad.  I'm going to get a bad reputation.

Oh my God, I'm drowsy.  I think I'll try to relax right now, maybe take a nap before doing computer work.  Erin, I pray you are taking sweet loving care of yourself, for I love you, and I need you.

Qur'an 20150514

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

7.  When Our Clear Signs are rehearsed to them, the unbelievers say of the truth when it comes to them, "This is evident sorcery!"

8.  Or do they say, "He has forged it!"  Say, "Had I forged it, then can you obtain nothing for me from Allah.  God knows best of that whereof you talk.  Enough is God for a Witness between me and you.  And God is Oft-Forgiving, most Merciful."

9.  Say, "I am no bringer of new fangled doctrine among the messengers, nor do I know what will be done with me or with you.  I follow that which is revealed to me by inspiration.  I am a warner, open and clear."

10.  Say, "Do you see?  If it be from Allah and you reject it, and a witness from among the children of Israel testifies to its similarity and has believed while you are arrogant, truly Allah guides not a people unjust."

The Winding Sand Tracts 46:7-10
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Had I forged it, then can you obtain nothing for me from Allah.  God knows best of that whereof you talk.  Enough is God for a Witness between me and you.  And God is Oft-Forgiving, most Merciful.

I am no bringer of new fangled doctrine among the messengers, nor do I know what will be done with me or with you.  I follow that which is revealed to me by inspiration.  I am a warner, open and clear.

Do you see?  If it be from Allah and you reject it, and a witness from among the children of Israel testifies to its similarity and has believed while you are arrogant, truly Allah guides not a people unjust.

Letter to Erin 20150513

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

Hello there, my dearest Erin.  Sweetie!  Are you feeling feminine today?  You are MY girl.  You are so beautiful, and I love you with all my heart.  I love you, and I need you.

I'm feeling better than I did yesterday, but my nose is still kind of stuffed up.  I'm not running a river of snot, but I am stuffed up.  I seem to talk a lot about the flu because it affects my singing.  Damn singers!  I hate them.  Divas, all of them.  A lot of my voice goes out through my nose when I sing.  People might think that it's easy to sing: "Oh, it's just like talking bla bla bla, anybody can do it."  Yeah, anybody can sing, but it's extremely difficult to sing well, and it means more than you can imagine mashaAllah.  So I was struggling today during voice training, trying to get the voice go out the nose and breathe at the same time.  My voice has become extremely sensitive since I became a chick singer.  I was pushing hard to move sound through the nose, when my fever came back.  I felt like collapsing, I was hallucinating and all that, but it wasn't anything a couple of aspirin couldn't fix.  Singing has to be perfect every time: I just can't give out a mediocre performance, not with the knowledge Allah has given me.  But the body has to be in perfect condition to sing perfectly.  Damn singers!  I hate them.  Divas, all of them.

Otherwise, I was able to function somewhat normally today.  I spent the morning filling up peat pots, then perusing each mango, after my usual morning routine with my plants and my cats.  Lunch was noodles with Chinese cabbage, using chicken broth that I made last night.  After voice training, I trimmed the trees over at your house inshaAllah, dug up some tapioca for my Mom, then filled up more peat pots.  Dinner was steak and cheese burritos with Chinese cabbage.  Yeah I know, burritos can only have beans and beef.  Tastes better than a beef and bean burrito though, if I may say so myself.  Want one?  Oh no, I ate yours!  Well, you weren't here for dinner!

Qur'an 20150513

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

4.  Say, "Do you see what it is you invoke besides Allah?  Show me what it is they have created on earth, or have they a share in the heavens? Bring me a book before this or any remnant of knowledge, if you are telling the truth!"

The Winding Sand Tracts 46:4
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Do you see what it is you invoke besides Allah?  Show me what it is they have created on earth, or have they a share in the heavens? Bring me a book before this or any remnant of knowledge, if you are telling the truth!

Letter to Erin 20150512

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

My sweet Erin, it is not a blessing that we are apart.  Together we are stronger, inshaAllah.  But we must be patient.  So please wait patiently, and pray as I do, that Allah will bring us together soon.  I love you, and I need you.

Alhamdulillah I managed to escape the flu destroying my voice so far, but I did have to cope with a fever today.  I have so much to do everyday, no wonder I am such a lazy man.  I just wanna snuggle with you.  But today, I had to take it easy during voice training.  Easy songs only.  No Janis Joplin, no Olivia Newton-John, no Sugarcubes, no high pitched songs whatsoever.  In the evening, I pulled down all the fruit from the mango tree at your house inshaAllah.  It is an old tree, and unkempt so it is very tall.  So I had to use an extra long bamboo with a hook, and it was super heavy.  I had to straddle it like I were fishing for bluefin tuna.  My forearm still hurts from the task, and it just barely healed from overworking on the drums.  These mangoes I reaped are for raising hybrid seedlings.  Perlis Harumanis mangoes are becoming world famous.  I was at the night market just now, and I didn't see any at all for sale, and they are supposed to be in season now.  InshaAllah my work will help enrich the local community and glorify Allah at the same time.  I beg of You, ya Allah, to help me and help me finance my marriage and my work.

Letter to Erin 20150511

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

**sniffle**  I caught the sniffles today.  Finally, after more than a month into the rainy season.  It would be nice not to have to catch it at all.  But the flu has proven throughout human history to be unconquerable.  This time, the Flu Virus Collective made its move at 9 am.  So I sneezed more than a couple of times, but not enough to stop me from tending to my cats and plants, then cutting the grass.  When the runny nose really kicked in was precisely at voice training time.  Good planning, huh?  So I had to slog through my work uncomfortably, until right after 4 pm I dropped to my knees and drained my sinus cavity.  You know something?  God put this thing we call a nose in the middle of our face with 2 holes facing downwards, it must have some sort of purpose.  Since the flu is unbeatable, these nostrils must be for dumping the sinus cavity.  The procedure works quite well, I must say.  Gross as it may be, the snots are under control and didn't go down my throat, and I am functioning normally but with the residue of a headache left from emptying the sinus cavity.  Aspirin.

What is "girl rot"?  I believe the world is suffering from "girl rot".  Is it that people don't know what's girly anymore?  High heels, boobs, butt, slutty dress... then they go on Springer, saying "I was born a man."  Since the advent of plastic surgery and the slutty dress, anyone can be girly.  But "girl rot" is something different.  MashaAllah.  You are MY girl, and that makes you the most beautiful girl in the world to me.  So some other girls get so jealous of you that they create their own personal world crisis.  It's almost like a disease for cats.  You know how all cats can look the same, except for cats that are loved become beautiful.

Erin, you are MY girl.  I love you, and I need you.