open faces that smile a lot
foggy days when the rain barely mists down
overhearing strange conversations
New York City
the way words can mean so many different things
dancing for hours
feeling like I am back in Haifa
patterns
(I Like: #1,#2,#3, #4, #5, #6, #7)
Posted in Thoughts, Travel | Comments (1)
There is something about traveling…airports, the unknown, the things that my eyes see that are different from everyday life. And for the life of me, I can’t seem to pack in advance…so I find myself trying to consolidate everything into a suitcase at midnight. I might have managed, and will have to be content with what I’ve done.
I am going to attend a wedding that I am ecstatic about. I am going to see friends, both from my service at the Baha’i World Centre and from closer to home. I am going to stay with my cousin, who is eerily similar to me and who I am very excited to spend time with. Most of all, I will get out of Chicago for a few days, which is exactly what I need.
Posted in Family, Friends, Travel | Comments (1)
Today is the Baha’i new year, Naw Ruz. It has been one hundred years since the remains of The Bab were laid to rest in the Shrine on Mount Carmel. For one and a half years, I could see the Shrine from my apartment. Such a blessing!
“…’Abdu’l-Bahá had the marble sarcophagus transported with great labor to the vault prepared for it, and in the evening, by the light of a single lamp, He laid within it, with His own hands — in the presence of believers from the East and from the West and in circumstances at once solemn and moving — the wooden casket containing the sacred remains of the Bab…”
‘The most joyful tidings is this,’ He wrote later in a Tablet announcing to His followers the news of this glorious victory, ‘that the holy, the luminous body of the Bab … after having for sixty years been transferred from place to place, by reason of the ascendancy of the enemy, and from fear of the malevolent, and having known neither rest nor tranquillity has, through the mercy of the Abha Beauty, been ceremoniously deposited, on the day of Naw-Ruz, within the sacred casket, in the exalted Shrine on Mt. Carmel… By a strange coincidence, on that same day of Naw-Ruz, a cablegram was received from Chicago, announcing that the believers in each of the American centers had elected a delegate and sent to that city … and definitely decided on the site and construction of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkar.’”
(Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 276)
I remember how often he [Shoghi Effendi] would tell the visiting pilgrims that because a simple candle was denied the beloved Bab during His imprisonment in Mah-Ku, His resting-place was to be eternally a temple of light. This was also true inside His tomb, where there is a magnificent chandelier, with almost a hundred electric bulbs that, when lighted, turn the sombre dim light of the inner chamber into the full glory of brilliant sunshine.
(Ugo Giachery, Shoghi Effendi – Recollections)
Posted in Baha'i, Haifa | Comments (1)
NYLON PARLA, the photoblog that I contribute to, has this week’s theme up, which is “Streetlife”. Check it out!
Also, the illustrious and illustrative Ekundayo has made this awesome poster, which I want to share with you.
The caption on the picture states:
“I’m not saying comedy and satire have no place in the racial discussion. I’m saying that lately its become acceptable, especially among young white males and the peers and comedians they look to for social cues, to say incredibly hateful and ignorant things behind a smokescreen of irony or shock humor. Saying “I’m not racist” after thinking of and deciding to actually say something racist is not enough to get you off the hook. Spread this around if you agree.”
Posted in Baha'i, Photography | Comments (1)
I saw this a while back, but haven’t had a chance to post it.
Posted in Technology | Comments (1)
I read books like they are the last pieces of driftwood and I am drowning. They are my lifeline, inspiration, education, and friends. I learned to read before I went to school, my parents forming letters and words, using the Baha’i Writings and endless books to teach me. I learned to write much more sloppily. But this is not about writing, it is about reading.
I have read so many books that I forget if I’ve read something before, sometimes. Half of my high school library collection was devoured in the four years that I was there. I think I was voted “Most likely to become a librarian” in an informal class poll.
One of my favorite passages from a fictional book comes from The History of Love:
“Even now, all possible feelings do not yet exist. There are still those that lie beyond our capacity and our imagination. From time to time, when a piece of music no one has ever written, or a painting no one has ever painted, or something else impossible to predict, fathom, or yet describe takes place, a new feeling enters the world. And then, for the millionth time in the history of feeling, the heart surges, and absorbs the impact.”
Everyone needs to read beautiful things.
Posted in Books, Personal, School | Comments (5)
One day was filled with the white clouds the size of universes as we walked up (down) the hills. One day was seawater, digging toes in sand and smooth stones, not knowing how to speak to you. One day was the infinite day of jasmine, roses, and smiles in sunlight. One day was colder than any other, when she finally realized, on the eve of her birthday, that her eyes and smile were the most dangerous weapons she had. The amount of power in that realization nearly brought her to her knees, scared her so badly that she sought refuge in being alone.
One day was solitude by a pond with the midsummer prairie breeze tangling her hair, bench slats pressed hard against her back as she cried to the squirrel who sat nearby, looking confused. [humans are so strange]
One day was actually five days worth of looking into eyes across café tables (lunch tables/empty living room spaces/only 2 feet between us), trying to read soul sentences that blurred and skipped [“no one should be allowed to play the record of me like you did”, she thought, half in anger, half in joy].
One day she was the sweet child she once was, and the next she was standing tall in a pair of shoes that made her body look much too wonderful, and she hid behind her clumsy silliness and sharp remarks, and smiled her deadly smile and looked around with her deadly eyes and brought life and love back to 1/3 of the inhabitants of the room (the rest of them refused to meet her gaze).
One day was photographs on blank walls, captured stories in still frames.
One day was a woman in yellow galoshes as she deliberately stepped into a giant puddle, ripples moving out and she smiled as the water flowed around her.
Posted in Stories | Comments (2)
http://nineteendays.wordpress.com/2009/03/07/day-six-2/
Check out today’s posting…it took quite a bit of effort to get those pictures to the wonderful ladies at nineteen days, as I did not have internet access last night. I used Twitter at around 6 am to inform them that I was running late, and would send them soon! After waking up for breakfast before dawn, I raced over to the local Kinko’s (in my pajamas) and tried to connect my laptop…no luck. So I put my memory card in the computers they had there, paid my $1.75 fee, and sent off the pictures and quotation. Whew!
Posted in Baha'i, Photography | Comments (1)
First, and most importantly, is this amazing letter from the Baha’i International Community that was sent on March 4, 2009 to the Ayatollah. If you want a clear explanation of the situation of the Baha’is in Iran, distilled to a few pages, this document is ideal.
Ayatollah Qorban-Ali Dorri-Najafabadi
Prosecutor General
Islamic Republic of Iran
Your Honor,
Your recent announcement regarding the administrative affairs of the Bahá’ís of Iran has brought to the arena of public debate issues which not only affect the safety and livelihood of the members of that community but also have profound implications for the future of every citizen of that esteemed nation. The steps that have been taken to formulate the response of the Iranian Bahá’í community to your announcement have surely been communicated to you. The Yaran and the Khademin, the small groups that have been attending to the spiritual and social needs of the several hundred thousand Bahá’ís of Iran, the former at the national level and the latter at the local, have expressed their willingness to bring to a close their collective functioning. This decision has been made for no other reason than to demonstrate yet again the goodwill that the Bahá’ís have consistently shown to the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran for the past thirty years...
Read the rest of the letter here.
Also, there is a map of incidents in Iran where persecution has taken place at a new site called Baha’i Watch. Very well done.
Finally, there is a video that gives “A brief overview of the historical, and current day persecution Baha’is have endured in Iran. Includes a glimpse into how Baha’is around the world are agents for change.”
Posted in Baha'i | Comments (1)
Includes:
Only $19.95!
This little idea came out of a conversation I had with a friend about cooking dinner during the Fast. It is the last few hours which are the hardest, as you prepare food and anticipate the moment that you will eat and drink again. I tend to get more creative during this time…I want to eat really good food! In the last few days I have made: homemade spaghetti (none of that canned stuff), burgers, mashed potatoes, pineapple meatballs, scalloped potatoes, Persian rice, and a few other random things that I can’t remember.
The Fast is a spiritual time, but you DO have to keep a sense of humor about it. 
I was going to put a picture of food to illustrate this post, but decided to be kind. Also, it is time for my nap.
Posted in Baha'i, Humor | Comments (5)
I decided to change a few minor things on my blog, the most noticeable of which is the addition of a second sidebar, where I have linked to a number of blogs of friends of mine. I cleaned up a lot of old links, and if you haven’t updated your blog in 3 or 4 months, I probably took it off of the list. Blogging is about interacting and posting! If you’re blogging…keep up the good work! If you think I might not know about your blog, please send me an email or comment to let me know. I like to keep up with everyone.
I also updated the “Links” and “About me” pages…
NYLON PARLA, the photoblogging project that I am a part of, has started up again after a short hiatus. Link to it and spread the word!
During the Baha’i Fast (which starts today), the photoblog nineteen days will be featuring a guest photographer each day, with a contribution from all of us on Naw Ruz. I’m so excited about being a part of it, and can’t wait to see what everyone contributes.
Speaking of the Fast, this is the first time that I’ve fasted at home since I was in high school (except for the occasional weekend home from university), and I’m really looking forward to it. As usual, I am awake at a very late hour and hope that waking up at 5:45 am won’t hurt too much.
Posted in Baha'i, Personal, Photography | Comments (4)
