After a long wait, I’m getting my wisdom teeth (all 4!) removed in 9 hours. I’m sure it will be lots of fun.

It has been suggested by unnamed sources that I make them into a necklace.

Therefore, I won’t be writing emails, reading blogs, answering phone calls, or being at all social for a few days. Just in case you’re wondering why I’ve fallen off the face of the earth.

I was making mashed potatoes tonight in preparation for all of this, when I discovered that the potatoes had something against me. They were attacking me, flying all over the kitchen, landing on the floor, jumping on my face. It was a mess. I was also receiving phone calls from friends. I managed to bend a fork beyond recognition, as well. Angela was gettting a kick out of watching me drop things and clean up splattered potatoes.

Wish I had taken pictures.

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The first duty of the beloved of God and the maid-servants of the Merciful is this: They must strive by all possible means to educate both sexes, male and female; girls like boys; there is no difference whatsoever between them. The ignorance of both is blameworthy, and negligence in both cases is reprovable. “Are they who know and they who do not know equal?”

The command is decisive concerning both. If it be considered through the eye of reality, the training and culture of daughters is more necessary than that of sons, for these girls will come to the station of motherhood and will mold the lives of the children. The first trainer of the child is the mother. The babe, like unto a green and tender branch, will grow according to the way it is trained. If the training be right, it will grow right, and if crooked, the growth likewise, and unto the end of life it will conduct itself accordingly.

Hence, it is firmly established that an untrained and uneducated daughter, on becoming a mother, will be the prime factor in the deprivation, ignorance, negligence and the lack of training of many children.

O ye beloved of God and the maid-servants of the Merciful! Teaching and learning, according to the decisive texts of the Blessed Beauty, is a duty. Whosoever is indifferent therein depriveth himself of the great bounty.

Beware! Beware! that ye fail not in this matter. Endeavor with heart, with life, to train your children, especially the daughters. No excuse is acceptable in this matter.

(Abdu’l-Baha, Baha’i World Faith – Abdu’l-Baha Section, p. 398)

In some respects woman is superior to man. She is more tender-hearted, more receptive, her intuition is more intense.

It is not to be denied that in various directions woman at present is more backward than man, also that this temporary inferiority is due to the lack of educational opportunity. In the necessity of life, woman is more instinct with power than man, for to her he owes his very existence.

If the mother is educated then her children will be well taught. When the mother is wise, then will the children be led into the path of wisdom. If the mother be religious she will show her children how they should love God. If the mother is moral she guides her little ones into the ways of uprightness.

It is clear therefore that the future generation depends on the mothers of today. Is not this a vital responsibility for the woman? Does she not require every possible advantage to equip her for such a task?

Therefore, surely, God is not pleased that so important an instrument as woman should suffer from want of training in order to attain the perfections desirable and necessary for her great life’s work! Divine Justice demands that the rights of both sexes should be equally respected since neither is superior to the other in the eyes of Heaven. Dignity before God depends, not on sex, but on purity and luminosity of heart. Human virtues belong equally to all!

(Abdu’l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 161)

That is to say, there must be no difference in the education of male and female in order that womankind may develop equal capacity and importance with man in the social and economic equation. Then the world will attain unity and harmony. In past ages humanity has been defective and inefficient because it has been incomplete. War and its ravages have blighted the world; the education of woman will be a mighty step toward its abolition and ending, for she will use her whole influence against war. Woman rears the child and educates the youth to maturity. She will refuse to give her sons for sacrifice upon the field of battle. In truth, she will be the greatest factor in establishing universal peace and international arbitration. Assuredly, woman will abolish warfare among mankind. Inasmuch as human society consists of two parts, the male and female, each the complement of the other, the happiness and stability of humanity cannot be assured unless both are perfected. Therefore, the standard and status of man and woman must become equalized.

(Abdu’l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 108)

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I ended the semester on December 10th, but didn’t find the need to write about it. I just checked my grades and I am very happy with them (yay!) so that is all there is to it.

Home is good. As usual. I hope everyone is having a great winter break/holiday/eating time.

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I got to roast marshmallows with my little sister. Haven’t done that in much too long! mmm fire…

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(A water main near my work exploded and coated trees and power lines in ice, creating a temporary ice world.)

Here
This is where
those fragile moments
came together
in a dazzled display
of laughter and inside jokes.
This is where
each of us
have been able to show ourselves
as who we truly are.
There is no need to
tear ourselves down
in order to build up.
I am faced with
the improbability of this…
the beauty and delicacy…
I am reminded, finally,
of why, and how,
and that despite what is said
we overcome our issues
with each other and the world.
Even if it means that somehow
(just a little bit)
we grow up.

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Apparently I’m more of a “spontaneously funny” person.

(Thanks to Kelsey for the pic, yes that is me in the bag. Angela is next to me.)
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“Therefore I hope that whether you be in the east or the west you will strive with heart and soul in order that day by day the world of humanity may become glorified, more spiritual, more sanctified; and that the splendor of the Sun of Reality may be revealed fully in human hearts as in a mirror. This is worthy of the world of mankind. This is the true evolution and progress of humanity. This is the supreme bestowal. Otherwise, by simple development along material lines man is not perfected. At most, the physical aspect of man, his natural or material conditions may become stabilized and improved but he will remain deprived of the spiritual or divine bestowal. He is then like a body without a spirit, a lamp without the light, an eye without the power of vision, an ear that hears no sound, a mind incapable of perceiving, an intellect minus the power of reason.”

(Abdu’l-Baha, Baha’i World Faith, p. 262)

Another confirming quotation from the Writings. This is why I strive.

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Finished in the last 48 hours:
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress : A Novel, by Dai Sejie

Funny in Farsi : A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America, by Firoozeh Dumas

Currently Reading:
Memories of Nine Years in Akka, by Youness Afroukhteh
I highly recommend this book. Here is an excerpt that I enjoyed…

“White tea, fragrant and delicious, was made ready and within minutes other friends began to gather until the renowned Zaynu’l-Muquarrabin and Mishkin Qalam arrived.
Each introduced himself and Mishkin Qalam, as part of his introduction, gave me a few strands of his own hair, both white ones and yellowed ones. He said: ‘It’s my thin beard and crooked body that are my passport to fame!’ To which I responded in jest: ‘I too have helped, for I have always said that Mishkin Qalam does not need to tell jokes to get laughs – his face and body serve the purpose all by themselves!’ Everyone broke out in hearty laughter and this opened the door to more light-hearted comments and merry-making.” -P. 19

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I home at my parent’s house. I missed Feast in Chicago today for the first time in…a very very long time. I’m sad, because I also know that I’m going to miss the next Feast because I’ll be getting my wisdom teeth out. Such is life!

I just raked half the leaves, came in to take a break. I’ll be going back out after I drink my (Persian) tea and eat some chocolate (real chocolate, the kind that comes in a pretty box and tastes good). I do not care for Hershey’s or Snickers.

I got to spend time with my mom last night, and of course we had a lot of fun. I need to do this more often. (hi mom!)

Chicago folks, I suggest a visit to one of the many museums in this fine city on a Tuesday, perhaps this coming one? It shall be free. Discuss. Email me. Or call.

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Right now I’m learning how to be not selfish.

I’m learning how to cut down on complaining.

I’m learning how to study (wow, fascinating. In my senior year of university!) Well, actually I’m learning about how my brain chooses to acquire knowledge. It tends to adopt a method of “the best shortcut” of doing things, which can be helpful most of the time. When I walk down the street, I start calculating the quickest way to get somewhere…even if this means cutting through buildings. It means I summarize things in my head. My brain latches on to what I find interesting…even if that isn’t what will be on the test.

I’m learning how awesome rocky road ice cream is at 2 am.

I love 93 XRT (radio station). Some artists played recently: Smashing Pumpkins, U2, Modest Mouse, Ben Harper, Counting Crows, R.E.M., Coldplay, Flaming Lips, Doors, Depeche Mode….the list goes on.

I’m learning to appreciate just how much laughing with you lifts my spirits. How much the joy in you affects me.

Hey world, are you out there?

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(click to enlarge)

(Near my house)

At the hospital where I work, I type in the names of the different clinics every day. My favorite is “Nuclear Medicine”. I smile every time…I get an image of doctors blowing things up. Weird.

What kind of doctor specializes in elephant skin diseases? A pachydermatologist. (yes, I made that up. I’m sorry for inflicting that on you.)

5 finals this week. wheee!

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I’ve started to forget the colors in a sunset.
Of course I see the stereotypical gradients in my mind,
likely placed there by television or National Geographic.
It isn’t quite real, though.
Here, the skies are cloudy or full of smog
shocking to the eyes, ruining the effect.
I am lucky if I find space between buildings
to catch a glimpse of the horizon.

The most indelible memory of dusk is from childhood.
My bedroom window, facing west, filled with an orange glow.
I would squint my eyes as I tried to fall asleep
in South Carolina summer evenings
with the sun staring me in the face.

And then the sinking down over the Illinois prairie,
with nothing but sky and grass and the occasional tree,
lonely without its usual entourage.
For some reason, the sunset seems longer on the prairie,
stretched across a wider frame.

I am starved for beauty of the natural sort, here.
Except for a large body of water
that I pass at high speeds,
barely glancing over.

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