Oh, the joy of driving

My brother flew out to sunny California a few days ago and gave me the keys to his brand new car. I have been cruising around town and enjoying the power of a spunky little engine under the hood. On the other hand, this wonderful experience has solidfied in my mind that I should never buy a new car. Curving around sharp corners and whipping around other cars is way too fun for my simple two-wheeled life.




Often, I take online quizzes to calculate my ecological footprint and usually I am pretty happy with the outcome. Driving around as much as I have lately almost doubles how many resources I use. So I am goign to stick with my trusty old Buick for the long trips and bike the rest.

The people I meet

I am sorry for the blogging hiatus, but last week was the week o' exam here at Michigan State. I have been totally oblivious to the world around me. I remember biking away from my last epidemiology final and realized that I hadn't given myself time to pay any attention to the people around me. It is that time of the year again when parents come to all the residence halls and pick up their children. This next month is usually odd for both parents and the new college students. There is a potpourri emotions in the air. People have spent an eye opening semester at college and feel reluctant to go back to their parents homes, while parents thought they would enjoy a peaceful house, usually start missing their children.
As a first year graduate student, this last semester was just as extraordinary first for me. There are just a few days of relaxation before I get back to the grindstone. Regardless, I am back to the virtual world of this blog.

peace and love

Lock your bike

PHOTO: Autumn 2006

It is sad that people have to be so cautious of locking their bikes here in East Lansing, MI. As far as American cities are concerned, we have more than the average number of people biking around town. I have heard horror stories of people leaving their bike out for ten minutes and getting it stolen. I have been the victim of such crimes twice in my last six years as a student. Why can't everyone just follow the biker-code and not steal! I hate carying my bike lock around.

The Silence of Good People

(Inducted into the National Civil Rights Museum)

It once was asked of Martin Luther King
How the progress of rights could be so long coming
His answer was not the evil of some
But the silence of good people

Although we may never arrive in the garden
The sin is not in failure, but never starting
My silent friend, it is you that I am speaking of
Of the silence of good people

We, we will not be silent
We, we will not be silent
We will not be silent

Although we have only hearts, bodies, and minds
Against guns and clubs, lies and threats and money
When the truth is released, each echo comes louder
On the voices of good people

We, we will not be silent ...

I've taken my place on the streets of our land
With my sisters and brothers by the tens of thousands
And I have sweet hope, because I can hear
The rising voices of good people

We, we will not be silent ...

Action

Re-action

We will not be silent.mp3

Out of the loop

You may have heard of the much anticipated release of Playstation 3 this holiday season. It seems to be the ultimate gift for this year, even with it's $600 price tag.
Last year, when the Xbox came out people stood in like outside every possible Best Buy and Circuit City store to get there hands on the game consoles early, but this wasn't the motive for all the overnight campers. Some people cashed out on this 'pot of gold at the end of the rainbow', but putting it right up on ebay for anyone who may want to pay top dollar to get the system early. This year is no different, but like many other people I wanted to cash in on the game too.
So, for the last week or so I have been planning this out with my brother and reading all the in's and out's of getting the game system when it comes out and selling it on ebay.
Today, I noticed I had missed a few phone calls from my brother and I called him recently to find out that he is already in line . . . 30 HOURS BEFORE IT COMES OUT! I had no idea the effort involved in getting a Playstation earlier than others, nonetheless a $600 game system. I was planning on sleeping outside for the night and going home in the early moring with a new playstation 3, but there is no way I can sit in one spot for more 30 hour!
No biking
No running
just being still. . .
that would just be impossible, or maybe i am just bitter that I was the only person out of the loop.

photo: Chai 2005

I was brought up in a culture where daily life is punctuated by people gathering around a pot of chai. Even the cricket matches have a designated break for tea. So, now that I am older, I am drawn to different types of tea from around the world. About a year ago, a friend of mine introduced me to gun powder tea. It is a green tea originally from China, although now it is seen all around the Asian continent. In English, it is known as gunpowder tea because every single leave is rolled to a small black pellet and as you steep these pellets they unwrap "exploding" with flavor.
I recently received a packet of this tea as a gift and I have been thoroughly enjoying it. If you get a chance to try this tea, don't pass up the opportunity.

Massive Change

Photo: NOT the MCA

I was in Chicago this past weekend to be with some old friends and to part take in the Halloween festivities (I was a rain cloud, by the way). I visited the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) in Chicago and if any of you are planning on going to chi-town definitely pay a visit because they have a great exhibit called Massive Change . I was taken aback by so many of the things I saw there. The exhibit is set-up with special attention to the smallest details. It shows how far humanity has come being more environmentally / socially responsible (massive change) over the years and where we need to go in order to survive the future. There are three sections to the floor plan; Massive Change in the Museum of Contemporary Art, Massive Change in the City and Masssive Change in the world.
One wall of the exhibit had a huge thermal map of to world that shows the solar quotient of all the countries. Interestingly enough, the majority of the poorest countries in the world get the most sun. They had a proposal for incorporating solar power in those countries and how helpful it could be. They also had a room that showed the evolution of the Segway. There were hundreds of other things at this museum but I should leave some of them for you to discover for yourself.

BAM!

Photo: Autumn last year

Approach of Winter

The half-stripped trees
struck by a wind together,
bending all,
the leaves flutter drily
and refuse to let go
or driven like hail
stream bitterly out to one side
and fall
where the salvias, hard carmine--
like no leaf that ever was--
edge the bare garden.

William Carlos Williams

tag me

Photo: OSLO in detroit 2005

A few of my friends and I recently visited the local laser tag joint for a game of virtual war, with laser instead of bullets and big blinking vests instead of bullet proof jackets. We were in a room of 28 other kids all under 13 years of age and I could see the fear of death in all their eyes. As I walked in this dark room these kids started running to the 'bases". They had this two floor maze all mapped out. It wasn't much longer till I was back outside in the real world and the laser tag staff printed out a sheet data on all the people I tagged with my laser and so on and so forth. Unfortunately all of these KIDS had done way better than me in every category.

I am on a mission to get better at laser tag because these little rascals will NOT beat me next time.
wanna join me next time I go??


BAM SLAM!!

babies

Find little khalid

I was listning to npr this morning and they had a quick blurb about this story.

Woman Shares Birthday With Daughter, Granddaughters

October 2, 2006 11:43 p.m. EST

Matthew Borghese - All Headline News Staff Writer
New York, NY (AHN) - A woman in New York now shares her birthday with both her daughter and granddaughters.
Rose Caracciolo was born in Queens on September 27, 1957. Twenty-one years later, her daughter Andria Hundley was born on September 27. Now, Hundley gave birth to twin daughters on the very same day, in 2006.
According to WCBS-TV in New York, Caracciolo wasn't there for the birth of her granddaughters. She was on her way to Mexico to celebrate her birthday.

VIA allheadlinesnews.com

What are the chances!
My Mom's birthday was yesterday, just five days ahead of mine, but we can't beat these September 27th babies!

can you dig it?

Photo: Jim's Trek is probably faster

I recently got a refresher course on the The Theory of Relativity and I didn't really even have to drudge through Einstein's On the electrodynamics of moving bodies . I love it when science teaches me lessons on the daily happenings of life. Einstein says;

For if the magnet is in motion and the conductor at rest, there arises in the neighbourhood of the magnet an electric field with a certain definite energy, producing a current at the places where parts of the conductor are situated. But if the magnet is stationary and the conductor in motion, no electric field arises in the neighbourhood of the magnet. In the conductor, however, we find an electromotive force, to which in itself there is no corresponding energy,

I had a problem with my computer recently and I was acting like the proverbial magent in motion and was only paying attention to the current around myself. I will spare you the time and not purse this drawn our analogy. My friends always critisizes me when I do this. But it wasn't until, late yesterday evening I noticed (at work)that there are people living in very close proximity to me and as I am engulfed in my annoyances they are trying to find food for their children and a safe shelter to rest their heads. It was a real wake up call. Sometimes the macroscopic frame of reference is the only way to look at things.

... just like the little magnet..... aaaaaahhh never mind.

2nd Ramadan 1427

Photo: Saudi Arabia '04
Yesterday marked the first day of the month of Ramadan according to the Islamic calendar. I drove home just to get in the mindset of fasting and usually it is easier to do that with family. There seems to be a unique aura in the Muslim community around this time. People wake up before the sun comes up, food is cooked and we eat an early breakfast, people observe the religion meticulously and then of course the meal at the time of Maghrib (sundown). Although, fasting is the only obvious part of this month, there is a lot more to fasting than just not eating food.
Muslims use this month as a time of spiritual reflection and pay attention to the inside instead of devoting so much energy to the outside world. Once this month starts I am always amazed by how we tend to plan our days around meals and other worldly concerns. Then, one day all of that is gone and it is a lot easier to make a more spiritual connection with God. Food is not the only thing a muslim has to refrain from during this month. One must abstain from "food, drink and other sensual pleasures" where they may be readily available. One could be walking around the house and although no one else may be home he/she has to keep from eating food. This kind of will power strengthens their faith. Every year, when this month comes around I find a new way it makes me a better person.
I found this website about how non-Muslims can help fellow co-workers or friends during this month who may be fasting. The following is a list from this site.


How non-Muslims can help during Ramadan:

Companies, schools, hospitals, etc. can help their Muslim employees, students and patients during the fast of Ramadan in a number of ways:

Since the employees are on a fast, they might find it more difficult to handle strenuous tasks. Assignment of lighter duties in some cases would undoubtedly be deeply appreciated by Muslim employees.

"Special consideration can be given to such things as requests for vacation time, the need for flexible early morning or evening work schedules and lighter homework assignments." For example, working the day shift during Ramadan would enable the employee to break their fast in the evening with their families, and to attend evening prayers.

"It is also very important that Muslim workers and students be given time to attend Eid prayers at the end of Ramadan. Eid is as important to Muslims as Christmas and Yom Kippur are to Christians and Jews."

"Hospital workers should be aware that injections and oral medications might break the fast. Patients should be given the opportunity to decide whether or not their condition exempts them from fasting." 2

A small token such as an Eid card or baked goods given to a Muslim co-worker or friend during Eid ul-Fitr would also be greatly appreciated. These cards cards are available from Muslim bookstores, or can be sent online. 4

Death ride 2006

Headin' East
This past weekend my friend Jim and I left for Ann Arbor, MI from East Lansing, MI on our bicycles. It was about a seventy mile ride and we flew through it. I had recently watched the movie Cars and it made me think that although highways are efficient, people miss out on such beautiful scenery as they cruise at 75mph on I-96.
After a much needed shower and a great night of sleep I biked on to Rochester Hills, MI (another fifty miles). Thanks to American Automobile Association I was able to call them up for a nice route avoiding the highways. Most of the trip was empty roads and peaceful scenery. We biked by many horse stables, kennels, farms, lots of cows, very small down towns and by lots of corn.

I also want to plug the this wonderful website (via maggie)
Bikely
Anyone can draw out a bike route and share with others. I have a few routes on there and will soon be adding this last long ride.

BAM!

Le Miewx

Le Miewx ran away!
but then we found her.

Sometimes we need to loose things / people to realize what is missing in our lives.

Sunflowers

My neighbours keep playing ice cream truck music on a keyboard. It has been like this for two days now.