nostalgia

Photo: Faisal Mosque in Islamabad, Pakistan. 2005


This is a passage from the book The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini about my hometown in Pakistan.

If Peshawar was the city that reminded me of what Kabul used to be, then Islamabad was the city Kabul could have become someday. The streets were wider than Peshawar's, cleaner, and lined with rows of hibiscus and flame trees. The bazaars were more organized and not nearly as clogged with rickshaws and pedestrians. The architecture was more elegant too, more modern, and I saw parks where roses and jasmine bloomed in the shadows of trees.
(name) found a small hotel on a side street running alone the foot of the Margalla Hills, W passed the famous Shah Faisal Mosque on the way there, reputedly the biggest mosque in the world, with its giant concrete girders and soaring minarets. (name) perked up at the sight of the mosque, leaned out of the window and looked at it until (name) turned a corner.

News

Some of my family is here in the from Pakistan, so I have been driving back and forth from school. Most of the time I have NPR playing in the background, as I make these one and a half hour trips. Lately, it has been hard to blog about anything because all I hear is bombings on the other side of the world. There was a program on NPR about how infrior US news is compared to Arabian news. They seem to be a lot more comprehensive, atleast as far as this war is concerned. So, I decided to include Pakistani news in my NPR listening regiment and I agree with whoever made that comment on the radio. I am sure it is no comparison to Arab TV, but it is definitely a lot more involved than what I could have been watching on CNN.

John Steward also "slam[ed] the lebanon coverage". Although satirical, he makes such a good point about what it takes for us Americans to "feel" what is going on in the middle east.

Hills to the Heights

Photo: The little things

I have been apartment hunting like a fool lately and I have had to drive all to all these places. The bike has not been getting as much love as usual. So, Yesterday I decided to go on a longer ride from Rochester hills, MI to my aunts house in Sterling Hts, MI. They were having a bbq there but once I got there I couldn't stop thinking about the ride back. I jumped on their trampoline for a bit and then headed back home to Rochester. It was about 28 miles of perfect weather and cool wind in my face. On my route there I took a really busy road and learned from my mistakes. For the trip back I found this freshly paved road and it was a much faster trip.
I had made this trip to Sterling hts in my car countless amount of times and if I never biked it, I would have never realized how beautiful it could be.

My Iman was talking about how we are always striving to be faster. Most of technology tries to improve things we do so we can do them quicker. Sometimes it is soothing to slow down just a little bit. . . . but not too slow, because walking this trip would have been brutal!

I feel a little better for the Jim and Khalid Death Ride 2006.

phishy

Photo: Candle in old apartment


Every summer I listen to a lot of Phish

people make fun of me for it

but I am all out of "give a cares"




snap

Le Mieux

I never thougth I would admit this, but living with a cat is so wonderful. Most of my childhood we had a dog and a cat was never even an option. This is Veloria even though I like to call her Le Mieux (The mieow). It is so wonderful to cuddle with a cat when I am watching tv and a wonderful distraction when I am reading. Although, I will always hold a special place for dogs in my heart, I have recently made some room for cats too.

clipless yay

My days of biking with Chacos® are almost over. I recently went clipless . I feel so freakin' connected.


PS

RIGHT PEDAL: righty tighty and lefty loosy
LEFT PEDAL: righty loosy and lefty tighty

biking in the roch.

PHOTO: upper west side, Manhattan, NY NY


Rochester Hills, MI

I have been back home for the past couple of days for a family gathering and I have noticed that people in Rocheter are not used to bikers. Of course you will occasionally see a cute old couple biking along a path but not as often as one should. Especially because we have such smooth and wide sidewalks. Yesterday, my cousin and I biked over to Cold Stone but I had to pick up some film on the way. So, I asked her if we could swing by CVS. In East Lansing, I usually take my bike in every store and no one says anything. Of course, I did the same at this CVS without a thought. But I got the weirdest looks and got yelled at for brining a bike in the store. I don't think shopkeepers should be allowed to asked someone to keep their bike outside if they don't have a bike rack already set up.

خالد ابراحيم