Bamboo wands

 

Oh hi, Natty!  How ya doin' Honey?  I just got done with dinner.  Nothing special, just fries with an egg and bean sandwich.  What are you having?  Yeah my meals have been boring lately, but they're quick and easy, plus my tummy is very happy with me.  You're welcome to share my food with me.  I spent the evening trimming a bamboo to make my final pair of wands.  I guess I could just use some hickory that someone I didn't know ground and shaved into drumsticks, but I bet even the people who cut down the hickory tree didn't know the history of it.  I know where and when and the situation of my drumsticks, or wands (sounds cooler).  Not that I cast any magic with it, I don't practice magic, but drumming is a spiritual thing.  The wands you see above are American.  I used to ride my bike to the laundromat when I lived in Tempe, and a neighbor frequently threw out bamboo that grew in his yard onto the side of the road.  So I would gather the bamboo and take them home, and my apartment was filled with bamboo.  I lost most of my wands when I lost my home, but the above pair I still have today, which makes them about 20 years old since I cut and shaped them.  I had them with me when I lived at the mosque, you can see the tips are flattened from when I drummed on the pavements of Tempe.  This pair was also used for most of the Shadowplay recordings since 2000, the tape covers the fractures caused by hitting the rim too hard.  The fat one is for the left hand.  I like bamboo drumsticks because they are usually curved not straight, plus bamboo makes its own tone, so what your hear is both the bamboo and the drums.

This current bamboo I'm working on came from a patch I grew by the wall to my parents' yard.  I call it a patch, but actually I only let one grow tall while I cut down the rest.  It's about 10 years old.  I harvested it and destroyed the patch a few months ago, then let it sit under the sun and rain for a couple of months.  It has turned black and white since then, and there is a parallel fracture all along the thinner part.  Story of my life.  Maybe the fracture will make it useless.  InshaAllah it won't be.

Movie night

 

Hi Natty!  How are you, Honey?  Are you having tons of fun?  Admit it, you are hooked on that crazy carousel.  It may have caused you panic in the past, but now you don't know any other kind of life.  Well you have your fun and get your travel kicks in while you are young, because travel is more fun when you're young.  Take care of your health and safety.  The funny thing is even though you are moving around, the carousel is actually anchored to one spot.  So you are actually going in circles around one spot.  What I do is stay in one spot, and here I stand my ground inshaAllah.  While you are riding your wooden horse, you might as well watch a movie with me.  Wait, it's an action movie!  I'm sorry it's not a girlie flick.  Honey you can watch this movie with me, or switch on your device on your side of the bed and watch your favorite girlie flick while I watch this testosterone driven action-packed thriller.  It's "The Equalizer" (2014).  Denzel Washington is excellent in this movie, and perfect for the role!  Great concept too, but I feel sorry for the sequels because it's not as much fun after you know who Bob McCall is.  I don't think I want anybody to know me except my wife.  Honey, please don't spill the beans on me until after I'm dead OK?

Sweet!

 

Hi Natty!  Hi Honey!  How are you today, my precious Princess?  I hope you are feeling great and enjoying yourself.  Oh, everything is sweet around here!  I mean the food, and my teeth are under pressure.  I don't even consume as much sugar as most other people.  I still have the same kilo of sugar from last year in my cooler.  My teeth have become so sensitive to sugar, that I had to stop sipping my coffee.  Instead I slam the whole cup half an hour into Mary's set, and with half the sweetener I normally use.  As you know, I buy takeout now more often than ever, and I can tell they put a lot of sugar in their savory foods.  Folks, you don't need so much sugar in your savory foods!  Half the amount is more than enough.  Keep savory savory!  I had to cut the grass this evening, so I bought my dinner at the night market.  Fried chicken with rice.  I don't like many of the local sweets, but I do like the one in the video above called "tepung bungkus" (literal translation meaning "flour wrap").  But there wasn't any of that stuff at the night market.  Sold out.

Honey butter

 

Hi Natty!  How are you today, Honey?  Is the door wide open?  I hope you are feeling healthy and confident, and having a marvelous time.  It's Sunday here today.  I'm busy all day on Sundays, and I need a nap.  The weather is nice and cool, and perfect for napping.  I just finished my dinner.  I made chicken breast cooked in honey butter again, to go with beans and sliced bread.  It's really simple, folks: first you heat up the honey butter at medium heat.  It doesn't need to be mega sweet like the above video, just 2 tablespoons of salted butter to one tablespoon of honey.  Cook that honey butter until it becomes dark and starts smoking (don't burn it!), then immediately toss in the cubed chicken breast and turn the fire down to simmer.  I marinated my chicken in soy sauce, which I suppose makes this a teriyaki chicken dish.  **shrugs**  Cook the chicken until pink becomes white, then it's done!  Don't overcook the chicken!  The chicken should attain a nice dark caramel color from the honey butter.  It's a yummy meal with beans and sliced bread.  Want some?

Justice to orphans in the name of Allah

 

Qur'an 20210821

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

127.  They ask your instruction concerning the women.  Say, "Allah does instruct you about them, and what has been rehearsed unto you in the Book, concerning the orphans of women to whom you give not the portions prescribed and yet whom you desire to marry, as also concerning the children who are weak and oppressed: that you stand firm for justice to orphans."  There is not a good deed which you do, but Allah is well-acquainted therewith.

(The Women 4:127)

Elephants don't forget

 

Hi Natty!  Oh, fun!  That looks like a nice office space.  It even looks cat proof, except for the stuff on the window sills.  Where are you now, Honey?  Those towers in the background suggest that you are back in LA, but the streets look awfully clean.  That's a nice serving of hummus and pita bread.  The bread looks nice and fat, and the hummus looks a bit dark.  Is it one of those crazy California flavors?  Like mesquite smoked or chocolate hummus?  Ew!  I don't like chocolate flavored anything unless it's chocolate, and it better taste good.  I have some lentils just sitting around in my cooler, maybe it's time to make some hummus for you.  That bread looks like it was baked in a shallow pan then flipped over.  That would be a little more challenging for me since I only have a toaster oven.  I think I'll make that a project some time in the future: hummus for Natty.  I think I'll steam the hummus in banana leaves.

I watched this movie when I was a kid.  As far as I remember, it was a sad story.  The elephant died.  The movie is on YouTube if you want to watch it.  It's called "Haathi mere Saathi."  No subtitles, though.