A relative will be traveling soon to the Middle East, so my focus is on that part of the globe, even moreso than usual. Rather than current events or news, I'm interested in local culture and religion.
It's very easy to become comfortable in all the our bubbles, the "what you know", about your immediate culture, and to just assume that your experience is how the rest of the world functions. I do not think the rest of the world, let alone the rest of the country functions like the good state of Utah, but I've realized I have huge gaps in my knowledge of world religions, despite my World Religions class, personal reading, circle of friends, and joining in festivals and events.
Here's dipping my toe into a new world of being:
Al Hijra: Islamic New Year’s Day - First day of the Islamic New Year celebrated on the first day of Muharram. Al Hijra is the day when Mohammed began his migration from Mecca to Medina in Islamic Year 1 (1 AH), 622 CE.
Islamic festivals are the days celebrated by Muslims. The Islamic calendar is lunar, like the Jewish calendar, with 12 months of 29 or 30 days each, for a total of 354days, but the Islamic calendar makes no corrections to align it with the solar calendar so each year the Islamic holidays occur earlier and do not always fall in the same season. from holidaysmart.com
Islam was founded in the 7th century by Prophet Muhammad. Today this is the second largest religion in the world with more than 1.2 billion followers. The Quran is the sacred text of Islam. The Arabic word “Islam” means submission. Muslims believe that Prophet Muhammad is the final messenger from God. The goal of a Muslim’s life is to live in a way to please Allah (The God) so that one may gain enlightenment.
The Five Pillars of Islam are:
- SHAHADAH.: Faith - “There is no god except Allah, Muhammad is the messenger of Allah”.
- SALAH: Prayer - Praying five times a day.
- ZAKAH: Donate - Each year, Muslims are supposed to donate a fixed proportion of their savings for good deeds.
- SAWM: Fasting - Fasting during the month of Ramadan.
- HAJJ: Pilgrimage - Making a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in the lifetime of a Muslim, if it is affordable. from calendarlabs.com
Shop Local Day - Utah: 11/26/11
I am more of a browser than a shopper. I have my reasons. I do make the majority of purchases at book stores, art supply stores, and thrift stores, but these businesses feel more like treasure stores.
The mall, any mall, or box stores just make me tense. The only time I've been in a big box store and liked it, was when I was in Powell's block-sized bookstore. If you haven't been there, just book a ticket to Portland right now. It's so worth every last penny, and the city is a discovery in itself, and the people are friendly, (when I was exiting a cafe, a waiter gave me an umbrella and told me not to worry about bringing it back, but to pass it on).
This Saturday is Shop Local Day. Instead of heading to the mall or the store that cannot be named, (but can be viewed to great amusement),everyone, everywhere, support your local grocer, baker, cafe, bookstore, etc.
Here's my list:
Grounds for Coffee
Hip & Humble
The King's English Bookshop
Mazza Cafe Middle Eastern Cuisine
Mestizo Gallery
Frosty Darling
Kayo Gallery
Plates & Palates
Slow Train Music
3 Little Monkeys
Dolly's Bookstore
Sweet Tooth Fairy
Deseret Industries
Spoonology
Sego Day Spa
http://gaborbrothers.com/
Tabula Rosa
Blue Cockatoo Gallery
Golden Braid Bookstore
Cedars of Lebanon
Art Access Gallery
The mall, any mall, or box stores just make me tense. The only time I've been in a big box store and liked it, was when I was in Powell's block-sized bookstore. If you haven't been there, just book a ticket to Portland right now. It's so worth every last penny, and the city is a discovery in itself, and the people are friendly, (when I was exiting a cafe, a waiter gave me an umbrella and told me not to worry about bringing it back, but to pass it on).
This Saturday is Shop Local Day. Instead of heading to the mall or the store that cannot be named, (but can be viewed to great amusement),everyone, everywhere, support your local grocer, baker, cafe, bookstore, etc.
Here's my list:
Grounds for Coffee
Hip & Humble
The King's English Bookshop
Mazza Cafe Middle Eastern Cuisine
Mestizo Gallery
Frosty Darling
Kayo Gallery
Plates & Palates
Slow Train Music
3 Little Monkeys
Dolly's Bookstore
Sweet Tooth Fairy
Deseret Industries
Spoonology
Sego Day Spa
http://gaborbrothers.com/
Tabula Rosa
Blue Cockatoo Gallery
Golden Braid Bookstore
Cedars of Lebanon
Art Access Gallery
Black Friday: Ten Things To Do Instead of Shop
1. Sleep in.
2. Make breakfast using NPR's Splendid Table recipes - try Wheat Berries with Ricotta and Honey (Cuccia), Smoked Salmon Benedict with Sorrel Sauce, Savory Cheese Souffle, or Asparagus Quiche with Tomatoes and Tarragon.
3. Wrap up in a warm coat, sit outside, soak up the sun, and revel in the brisk air. Even better, walk the dogs, (or, your imaginary pet).
4. Settle in to your favorite chair and read Sabina Murray's Tales of the New World.
5. Check your local theaters for playtimes for Michel Hazanavicius's silent film
The Artist.
6. Occupy a space other than the mall.
7. Set aside at least two hours to create your Life List, mightygirl.com's Maggie Mason's brainchild.
8. Eat Thanksgiving leftovers for lunch.
9. Take a nap.
10. Go for a drive by yourself or with someone you really like. Turn down the radio, and talk.
2. Make breakfast using NPR's Splendid Table recipes - try Wheat Berries with Ricotta and Honey (Cuccia), Smoked Salmon Benedict with Sorrel Sauce, Savory Cheese Souffle, or Asparagus Quiche with Tomatoes and Tarragon.
3. Wrap up in a warm coat, sit outside, soak up the sun, and revel in the brisk air. Even better, walk the dogs, (or, your imaginary pet).
4. Settle in to your favorite chair and read Sabina Murray's Tales of the New World.
5. Check your local theaters for playtimes for Michel Hazanavicius's silent film
The Artist.
6. Occupy a space other than the mall.
7. Set aside at least two hours to create your Life List, mightygirl.com's Maggie Mason's brainchild.
8. Eat Thanksgiving leftovers for lunch.
9. Take a nap.
10. Go for a drive by yourself or with someone you really like. Turn down the radio, and talk.
NaNoWriMo 2011 - How to Leave
This is the beginning paragraph/s of the piece I am writing for NaNoWriMo 2011. I'm taking it slow, mainly because its coming to me very slowly. I know what the heart of the story is, what I want to happen for this character, but its like being in a terrible snowstorm, all I can see are the brake lights of the car directly in front of me, which I follow, hoping, together, we stay on the road. I can't really see where this piece is heading. I'm just trying to stay on the road.
I tend to overthink absolutely everything, so I'm chosing to see this process as positive. fyi: this is a first draft, so tense problems and general messiness is the norm, and I am really going to try to leave it alone, and not edit a thing, (although I already have a wee bit, but no more!)
How to Leave
Danna
The honey locust tree is a cluster of thorns and ancient bark. Its roots have held to the rich soil since the ground was first home to herds of mule deer and pronghorn sheep, later home to Shoshone, and later to pioneers, and later still to a blur of inhabitants until the present day. The finger-shaped leaves have fallen from the branches weeks ago, and the tree looks like an angry drunk, all tangle and fist. Because of this, or in spite of this, a great horned owl and red tailed hawk have taken up residence in the tree’s upper branches, in shifts: the owl at sunset, the red tail when the owl decamped at sunrise. Both bring their kills to the tree. Small bones and an assortment of feathers and sinew circle the base of the tree, a kind of unholy halo.
When an underground spring burst through layers of loam sand and silt clay to the surface, it quickly insinuated a a meandering row-wide swath through the newly plowed dirt toward the lake to the west, both the owl and hawk, waited patiently for the hidden to furtively dash from the underbrush, and follow their noses to the source of the sweet water.
The spring, the last descendant of the ancient Pliestocene sea that once covered the ground, went undiscovered until the first snowfall. The woman who lived in the property in front of the alfalfa field, walked out in the glint of morning light and saw a mirage of crystal shimmering across the field and thought for a moment she was witness to an artwork created by the finger of an ancient god.
I tend to overthink absolutely everything, so I'm chosing to see this process as positive. fyi: this is a first draft, so tense problems and general messiness is the norm, and I am really going to try to leave it alone, and not edit a thing, (although I already have a wee bit, but no more!)
How to Leave
Danna
The honey locust tree is a cluster of thorns and ancient bark. Its roots have held to the rich soil since the ground was first home to herds of mule deer and pronghorn sheep, later home to Shoshone, and later to pioneers, and later still to a blur of inhabitants until the present day. The finger-shaped leaves have fallen from the branches weeks ago, and the tree looks like an angry drunk, all tangle and fist. Because of this, or in spite of this, a great horned owl and red tailed hawk have taken up residence in the tree’s upper branches, in shifts: the owl at sunset, the red tail when the owl decamped at sunrise. Both bring their kills to the tree. Small bones and an assortment of feathers and sinew circle the base of the tree, a kind of unholy halo.
When an underground spring burst through layers of loam sand and silt clay to the surface, it quickly insinuated a a meandering row-wide swath through the newly plowed dirt toward the lake to the west, both the owl and hawk, waited patiently for the hidden to furtively dash from the underbrush, and follow their noses to the source of the sweet water.
The spring, the last descendant of the ancient Pliestocene sea that once covered the ground, went undiscovered until the first snowfall. The woman who lived in the property in front of the alfalfa field, walked out in the glint of morning light and saw a mirage of crystal shimmering across the field and thought for a moment she was witness to an artwork created by the finger of an ancient god.
This Moment: 6:14 A.M. November 19, 2011
The dogs and I are wrapped in the dark cocoon of early morning. My dreams have vanished. Their only reminder is the dull ache in my jaw from clenching through the night. I am filled with a juxtaposition of calm and anger and try to ferret the dream's content. I wonder about the owl in the willow and the hawk in the honey locust tree, their small heads tucked into the down of their breast, both secreted in the tangle of branches weathering the first real storm of the season. The owl's foraging is completed for the evening, but moments from now, the hawk will pounce on the slight scurrying under the snow and bring it's find to the tree and tear the small body apart. The world outside my window slowly emerges in a white shroud. Plants that have survived the first frosts, are surely dead. I will pull their limp bodies from the terra-cotta pots later today. The small dog is coiled into a tight knot next to me licking his left fore paw. The big dog readjusts her old bones on her pillow. I hear my husband cough in the kitchen. The cat is yowling, almost wailing a dirge, from the living room. She desists, bored with her own suffering, and we are offered a respite from her incessant complaints. A train racing down the track is the only sound. Now snoring from the living room. I imagine my husband sitting on the living room couch wrapped in the velvet patchwork throw, his coffee beside him, entering the territory of dreams. I hear a train coming, it's voice ushering the day and it's promises. For a fleeting moment, I think to run to the closet, grab my coat, boots, hat, and race to it. I want to tell the train to wait for me. Tell the train I am willing to go as far as it will take me.
Quote Therapy: The Seven Deadly Sins - Mohatma Gandhi
Wealth without work
Pleasure without conscience
Science without humanity
Knowledge without character
Politics without principle
Commerce without morality
Worship without sacrifice.
If you think about it, all human suffering stems from one of these.
I hate the word sin. It implies a sucker punch of judgement, so, instead of sin, I like to think of mindful living.
I can't say I am anywhere close to the abode of mindful living, but I have the address, and that's a start.
Years ago, I was a single mother, short on patience and emotional reserves, just trying to do what had to be done and enjoy my daughter and life. I remember a story on the radio I heard from this time about Gandhi. He was in an important meeting and his nephew stormed in demanding something, acting like an angry child, and the observer said that Gandhi, instead of being annoyed, sending the child away, merely put a finger over the child's mouth, and his other hand over his own heart until the child calmed. Another part of the story was how he used everything for its purpose, as in he had a pencil that he continued to use until it was nothing more than a nub.
I think I am a pretty typical American. Something cracks or chips, I throw it away and buy another. That is, until lately, with the economy and its wake up call. Suffering of any sort is a call to mindful living.
If you look closely at any of the sins, the yin yang quality is so obvious, but it wasn't about an hour ago.
Pleasure without conscience
Science without humanity
Knowledge without character
Politics without principle
Commerce without morality
Worship without sacrifice.
If you think about it, all human suffering stems from one of these.
I hate the word sin. It implies a sucker punch of judgement, so, instead of sin, I like to think of mindful living.
I can't say I am anywhere close to the abode of mindful living, but I have the address, and that's a start.
Years ago, I was a single mother, short on patience and emotional reserves, just trying to do what had to be done and enjoy my daughter and life. I remember a story on the radio I heard from this time about Gandhi. He was in an important meeting and his nephew stormed in demanding something, acting like an angry child, and the observer said that Gandhi, instead of being annoyed, sending the child away, merely put a finger over the child's mouth, and his other hand over his own heart until the child calmed. Another part of the story was how he used everything for its purpose, as in he had a pencil that he continued to use until it was nothing more than a nub.
I think I am a pretty typical American. Something cracks or chips, I throw it away and buy another. That is, until lately, with the economy and its wake up call. Suffering of any sort is a call to mindful living.
If you look closely at any of the sins, the yin yang quality is so obvious, but it wasn't about an hour ago.
Occupy: Two Months Today
A picture is worth a thousand words.
In addition to the photo, I've included articles, political cartoons, and lyrics from Crosby and Nash they recently sang on linktv.
NYDaily News, Occupy spreads across United States
Christian Science Monitor Occupy Wall Street at two months: Hundreds arrested across US
The Economist Time to participate in democracy
US News: Evictions Mark a New Start for 'Occupy Wall Street,' Not an End
How 'Occupy Wall Street' Started and Spread
Jack Ohman Tribune Media Services
What Are Their Names
David Crosby, Neil Young, Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh and Michael Shrieve
I wonder who they are
The men who really run this land
And I wonder why they run it
With such a thoughtless hand
What are their names
And on what streets do they live
I'd like to ride right over
This afternoon and give
Them a piece of my mind
About peace for mankind
Peace is not an awful lot to ask
In addition to the photo, I've included articles, political cartoons, and lyrics from Crosby and Nash they recently sang on linktv.
NYDaily News, Occupy spreads across United StatesChristian Science Monitor Occupy Wall Street at two months: Hundreds arrested across US
The Economist Time to participate in democracy
US News: Evictions Mark a New Start for 'Occupy Wall Street,' Not an End
How 'Occupy Wall Street' Started and Spread
Jack Ohman Tribune Media ServicesWhat Are Their Names
David Crosby, Neil Young, Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh and Michael Shrieve
I wonder who they are
The men who really run this land
And I wonder why they run it
With such a thoughtless hand
What are their names
And on what streets do they live
I'd like to ride right over
This afternoon and give
Them a piece of my mind
About peace for mankind
Peace is not an awful lot to ask
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