More Peter Tosh

This is probably my favorite Peter Tosh song (the title is cool in and of itself, and what does igziabeher mean anyway?) So for anyone who could use a little more Peter Tosh in your life, here you go…

Today’s Track

Today’s track is “Equal Rights” by Peter Tosh (who I thought of immediately when reflecting on the latest atrocities currently going on in Gaza).

How Was Your Christmas?

Assalamu alaikum, you know, before Christmas, I really didn’t get to upset when people would wish me a Merry Christmas, especially when they didn’t know me. I mean, they mean well, and I don’t think that people were intentionally trying to be insensitive or anything like that. However, when Christmas time was over, I seemingly all of a sudden had people I know, that definitely know I’m Muslim, and I’m quite sure I’ve mentioned ot them that I *don’t* celebrate Christmas, suddenly start asking me “How was your Christmas?” And one person even seemed surprised when I mentioned that I’d gone to the park. They were kind of like, “Why did you go to the park?”

That actually made me more aggravated than people wishing me Merry Christmas. Because most of the people who did that were usually clients who were on the phone and wouldn’t have known I was a Muslim anyway. However, it seemed as though most of the people asking me how my Christmas was definitely know I was a Muslim, so why would they ask that? I’m not sure if they felt they had to ask or what?

Anyway, like some people have mentioned, I’m glad it’s over and Happy New Year (both Islamic and Gregorian).

More Gaza Blogging and Other Thoughts

Assalamu alaikum, I was half-asleep this morning, listening to the BBC, I’m not sure if it was NewsHour or The World Today, or what program they had on, however, the presenter was interviewing the Israeli ambassador to London, about the situation in Gaza, and it was probably one of the most one-sided things I’ve heard in a while, from the BBC, that I can actually recall! Well, except for maybe the situation in Zimbabwe, which is pretty anti-Mugabe.

Anyway, of course, the ambassador went on and on about how Israel needed to defend itself and how the air bombardment would stop if only Hamas would just stop firing those rockets! Aside from a few questions about how “the rest of the world views Israel as an occupier, what would you say to that? (a question that the anbassador didn’t even answer by the way), and some other question about the mounting civilian casualties, it was pretty much the same mantra, poor little Israel trying to defend itself and its citizens from the big bad evil Palestinians which according to this post don’t even exist anyway (or at least “Palestine doens’t exist they say) that they’re just “a part of the larger Arab community” etc., which means what? Taht they deserve the heavy-handedness (to say the very least), of the Israelis? The checkpoints, the strip searches, the wall? An countless other injusticies and indignities? Tell me why the Palestinian people deserve this? This post refers to Israel as the “51st state” and with all of the aid and material support we give them, they might as well be *lol*. An as I said, if the Israelis were any other people, they’d not be allowed to get away with this! Especially if they were say, Arab? Or something else other than what they are.

Aaminah has a blog post about how it seems we only get riled up when Palestine is involved, or at least, you don’t see as much mobilizing if it’s say, Darfur, or something like that. And I have to agree with her. In fact, her post made me check my own self to see if I was guilty of this. Because maybe I am? But there’s just so much conflict in the world, from Darfur to Congo to Palestine to Iraq to even Nigeria, Guinea, Senegaal, and The Gambia (the latter two countries being close to my heart). Someitmes I feel an utter helplessness, an utter powerlessness. All I can do is make dua, and sometimes I just want to cry. And perhaps that’s part of the problem a kind of “conflict overload”. I’d like to say that I give equal attention to all of the suffering in the world, but truth is, I don’t. And I don’t think I could, even if I wanted to. I just think it’d be too much, I’d not have the time, I’d not have the energy, and trying to give equal time and space to all of the injustices of the world would just leave me feelign drained and even more helpless than I already feel. Not that that is a valid excuse or anything, but… Well, maybe that’s one reason one conflict is focused on more than others.

Blogging Gaza

Assalamu alaikum, I know the title seems a bit “flippant”, or at least it did to me… But it’s the best my brain could come up with at the moment. Anyway, Izzy Mo has a series of articles worth reading…

She also had another post regarding the situation in Gaza and a few quotes stuck out for me…

… I almost shake with derisive laughter when I think about the fact that the United States government spends billions of dollars on counterterrorism against people who throw rocks. They throw rocks, people! That is what they have been reduced to—throwing rocks and falling into such depths of despair and loss that blowing themselves up seems more practical and peaceful than living under the tyranny of the Israeli state.

Yeah, but look at what we’re treated to by the US Media? I mean, take a few of these headlines, gleaned principly from my “Local” folder in Google Reader… “Militants Continue Rocket Attacks Against Israel” Or this one… “Mortars Rain Again Over Israel” Sounds Pretty one-sided don’t you think? And these are just the two I had the stomach to read. I have to rely on the Angry Arab for the other side of the story… Just so I can get a more balanced view of the truth of what is going on.

And you can only discuss this with a handful of Americans. If you suggest, merely suggest, that this violence doesn’t come out of vacuum, and that something bad must be going on in order for the Palestinian people to fight for as long as they have, you WILL be shouted down and branded an anti-Semite. This is how they squash descent. There is no discussion about how the Israeli government blocks aid (food and water) from reaching Gaza . No talk about bulldozed homes, starving children, curfews, check points, strip searches, and that wall—that wall which is nothing more than a replica of the same walls that cut off European Jews from mainstream society for centuries. They have learned their lessons from the Nazis and they have learned it well.

Oh but you see, that’s the problem. IMHO, it’s the Holocaust, either directly or implicitly, that lets the Israelis get away with this. All they have to do is say “oh Hamas wants to do to us what the Nazis did”, And then cry anti-Semitism if anyone questions them… No one else but them would be able to get away with such things. No one. But because they are Israel, and because they can play the Holocaust or Anti-Semite card, they get carte blanche to massacre people right before our very eyes and yet we do nothing! They could have a Congo, Darfur and Rwanda all rolled into one, and they’d still be given a pass and be able to use the “we were only defending ourselves” excuse. And no matter what happens, NO MATTER WHAT! It’s ALWAYS, ALWAYS, the Palestinains fault!

I’m sick TO THE TEETH of the Holocaust being used as an excuse to justify this current holocaust.

Oh but it’s not a “Holocaust” don’t you know? There’s only one “holocaust” didn’t anyone ever tell you that? This? Well, this is just a poor defenseless country defending itself against little boys with rocks and slingshots and crudely made rockets.

I don’t know what else to say except to make dua! I was talking to someone yesterday and I said that the most I could do, besides making dua, would be to give to one of the many charities taking up donations or something, but ya know, today’s “reputable charity” could be tomorrow’s alleged “terrorist organization”, who knows… I know that it shouldn’t, but the fear of having someone come and lock me up somewhere down the road, ’cause I gave $5.00 to a charity that by the time I get accused of being the latest terrorist mastermind I’d have already forgotten about kinda gives me pause. Although having said that, if you donated to say the Obama Campaign, the least one could do would be to give what you could to the charity of your choice. So… Well… Nothing more to be said about that I guess. Anyway, the latest situation in Gaza just angers me! I consider myself a pretty moderate person, but if this even makes me angry enough to understand why someone would want to go and fight for these people, then I can understand why, say, if I were living in Gaza, why a rocket attack or suicide bombing would seem not so bad. I mean do the math, 5 Israelis to at last I heard 380 Palestinians (not counting the 800 who are injured), that in and of itself is an imbalance that IMHO is just criminal to ignore! And anyone who tries to explain the “why” of it, to defend Israel for massacreing innocent civilians doesn’t deserve the breath and energy it would take to debate with them.

Possible Series: “Blind School Experiences” The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly”?

Assalamu alaikum, it’s not just the “bad” (some of which I referred to in yesterday’s post)that makes me who I am. It’s the “good” too. Because I’d not be who I am if it wasn’t for my parents, teachers, etc., who pushed me to succeed and to be the best that I could be. As I said yesterday, if it wasn’t for the school for the blind, there are a lot of experiences that I’d never have had. So I don’t want to give the impression that things were all bad. Unfortunately, though, it’s sometimes only the bad that you remember.

However, I was musing today, wondering why it is that some “bad” things stick with you more than others? An example with this would be the time I had to go to juvenile court to testify against a boy who sexually assaulted me (another long story). I was about 14 or 15 at the time. I know what happened to me, I could even relate the whole series of events today. However, because no one saw him, and I was totally blind and only could identify him by voice, the judge felt he had no choice but to find the boy not guilty, because ostensibly, my blindness prevented me from identifying him visually which, in turn, caused enough reasonable doubt (and the standard of guilt has to be “beyond a reasonable doubt”), such that he couldn’t find him guilty, although he told the prosecutor after the trial was over that he felt, personally, that the boy was guilty. The message I got is that if you are blind, and you can’t see your attacker, even if you can identify him (or her) by voice, or some other means, your testimony is just not valid and it’s not going to lead to any kind of conviction or finding of guilt. God forbid if anything like this ever happened to me again, I’d darn sure not report it! Why put myself through all of that? Because when this sort of thing did happen to me, I did all of the “right” things, the things I was told that I should do. I told my houseparent, I told my parents, I decided to press charges, I wanted to “fight” as I put it (although the rumor was the school wanted to sweep it under the rug, go figure). I went through all of the interviews, the state police coming and taping my side of the story, I was interviewed over and over again, to insure my story didn’t change! I had to tell a lot of different people what happened to me. I was embarrassed, I felt ashamed, I felt violated, I felt vulnerable! And this boy pretty much got nothing! To my knowledge anyway, as after this (and another incident) happened, he was no longer attending the school. Which was a good thing, because if they had let him back, my parents stated emphatically that they’d have pulled me out of there and kept me home/sent me to public school. And the school just couldn’t have that. So anyway, I went through all of that only to be pretty much told that what happened to me really didn’t happen, or that no one could prove that it happened, because I was blind. And oh, the defense attorney made me look like a little liar who was just trying to pin something on this “poor little boy” because I didn’t know who’d done it actually! So anyway, all I’m saying is I understand why the majority of rapes and sexual assaults are not reported. Because it’s not the perpetrator that usually suffers, but the victim.

The blind school I went to was, from what I’ve heard, one of the better schools for the blind in the country, but I’m telling you, some of the stuff I saw there, the politics, the gossipping of the staff members about other students and staff (many times right in front of other students), the favoritism they showed toward other students, the mistreatment of students they didn’t like? I don’t like to say that I hold grudges, because I don’t feel that I do, but when I recall this time in my life, and certain events which happened during that time, it still evokes raw emotions. I don’t know if that’s normal or not. I’m not sure if it’s something that I should “get over” or not.

And I don’t like to boo-hoo about it because I know than many others have gone through a whole lot worse that I could even ever dream of. So I really don’t want this to be a “feel sorry for me” type of post. Part of why I’d started this blog in the first place was to create a platform to try to hash the things that I felt comfortable enough sharing with the world out, and perhaps get some feedback, advice, discussion, whatever. And as my mood has gotten better since Sunday evening lol, at this point, I don’t see any reason to change anything that I’ve done in the past (except to utilize my password protect and “private post” features a lot more freely).

So there you go. Not that this is going anywhere lol. But I feel like some of my best posts, the posts that seem to flow more freely, are the posts where I just start writing! The “planned posts” never really have worked for me. But I find myself sometimes revisiting certain events that have happened in my life, to try to gain some wisdom from them, to try to learn from them. And since I have become Muslim, I try to put an Islamic outlook on things. Perhaps if Allah didn’t will for me to go through these things, I’d not have been the person that I am today. And whatever “wrong” has been done to me, Inshallah, I’ll be rewarded for my struggle in dealing with it. Putting things in that light makes me feel a whole lot better.

I’d had the idea that perhaps I should start a series on some of my “blind school experiences”, both the good and the bad. And I’m wondering if any other blind bloggers have done this. That is something that I’ll have to research. Perhaps if I did start something like this, I could share my experiences with others who may have gone through similar experiences. Or at least give those who didn’t go through something like this a taste of what I went through. It seems like a good idea now, and I’d like some feedback on what others think, but who knows, it might not seem like such a good idea later on.

More Thoughts.

Assalamu alaikum, firstly I have password protected my post from yesterday! Mostly because I started thinking that my self-esteem issues, and my little tantrum about how no one likes me, etc., is absolutely and completely selfish, given what so many others are going through right now (and I most especially had the people of Gaza in mind when I thought of this). Here I’m thinking of taking a blog down because, ostensibly, of what others think, when, firstly, I know I have at least something I can contribute, and secondly, my little blog really doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things anyway.

I really hate it when I throw, in the figurative sense, little tantrums like this! And it’s funny how different things look in the morning, which is probably why, after all, my posts could sometimes use some editing or reworking, or something other than just writing it and slapping it up on the blog for anyone to read. Especially when I get in these moods where I want to beat myself up and / or act as though most of the rest of the world dislikes me. I’m telling you, that’s really childish.

As I said in my original post, I have had a series of events the past few months or so that have left me feeling, well, vulnerable, the latest being that I’d thought the cashier at the store across the street from me had given me the wrong amount of change, and being that I can’t see my paper money, and unlike coins such as quarters, dimes, etc., where you can feel the difference in the coins, I have no idea if a cashier is handing me the correct change or not, as paper money feels the same no matter if you have a $1 bill or a $100. As it turned out, that’s not what had happened at all, but that’s another story that I won’t get into publicly. And while I know this perhaps happens to sighted people too, as a blind person, when it happens to me, well, it’s rather the same as getting the police called on you when you get lost, or being talked down to as if you’re a kindergartener. It’s different. Because when you’re sighted, you at least have the option of looking at the money that is being handed to you and disputing it when it happens, unless of course you’ve already gotten home when you realize that mistake. Then, I guess, there really isn’t anything you can do about it. When someone short changes you, as a blind person, there is a loss of dignity, or sort of violation. And yes, my husband is right when he says that all things belong to Allah, and if I had actually been stolen from, or even if I dropped the money or otherwise lost it somehow, whatever the case, Inshallah, I’d be rewarded with something better than that. And perhaps this should have made me feel better but it didn’t. I wasn’t sure what I was more upset about, my own carelessness in that I lost money or the fact that I had possibly been taken advantage of.
Anyway, as it turned out, the money was eventually found, and all’s well that ends well as they say. However, for me, any time something like this happens, I lose a bit of the self-confidence, the independent spirit, that I possess a great deal of. And it makes me that much more careful when I once again go back to the store to make a purchase, or, in the case of getting lost, I’m more careful to pay attention to where I’m walking, sound clues, certain landmarks, etc. And that is if I even want to try to venture out at all.
I go through certain moods where I start questioning myself, sometimes it’s an argument with someone that brings it on, sometimes it’s something I read, sometimes it’s an event in my life, but whatever it is, I find myself asking myself, am I really as independent as I think I am? Am I really as intelligent or knowledgeable as I think I am? Could I perhaps have been a nicer person? Could my adab have been better? Things like that. There is no more a tough critic of myself, than myself.

And this self-criticism can be a good thing, but for me, too much of it can also lead to self-esteem issues. And this has gone back to my elementary school days, and more specifically to being told by certain school staff members that virutally *everything* I did was wrong, bad, not good enough, etc. Add this to the “you can do almost anything if you put your mind to it” I got from my parents as well as other staff members, and this has led to a lot of confusion, a feeling of getting a lot of mixed messages, that even as I am an adult, I’m still coming to terms with.

And what upsets me is when people say “get over it”? Well, in some ways I have, but as I said, in many ways I’m still struggling. Perhaps it was at the time in my life that a lot of this mental abuse to which I’m referring occurred, as I was between the ages of 9 and 12 (and to some extent it occurred even after that) that has made it so hard for me to shake it off. Maybe if it had happened later in life, when my personality was set? Or when my self-identity was more assured? I don’t know.

But the recollection that I have is that at the very time that I felt as though I was figuring things out, at the very time that I thought that I was finally progressing, finally figuring out who I was, along comes a person who completely destroyed that for me! Completely made me utterly unsure of myself, told me I was nothing, told me that if they treated me any differently, that it would inevitably hurt me. And that some day, I’d thank them for what they were doing!

Perhaps one reason that I have such a hard time letting this go is that I never got any closure to it, that this person never got what I felt they had coming to them, as it were. And I never felt as though I got the chance to show this person that I was capable, smart, intelligent, etc., to prove them wrong.

I’d found out later that part of this person’s treatment of me might have been a result of their own abuse suffered as a child, however, this doesn’t give me much comfort or excuse their behavior toward me in any way. They should never have been put in charge of small children. And something should have happened, and it wasn’t. Instead, I was told I was a liar, that what I was saying happened to me hadn’t really happened, and when my parnets threatened to pull me out of Indiana School for the blind and send me to public school, I was literally pulled out of class, sat before the dean of students, the head of the elementary department, as well as my fifth-grade teacher at the time and told that I’d never make it in public school, the kids would tease me, I’d not be able to get my work done, and that I’d come back to them anyway. This was also around the time that the supervisor of the houseparent who was mentally abusive to me literally pulled me and another firend of mine out of bed one night, because antoher girl had heard us talking about said houseparent on the schoolbus, and we were forced to tell the houseparnet and the supervisor everything we’d said to our parents about said houseparent. And then we were told that we were liars, that our memories were faulty at the very least, and how could we dare say such things about people who’d been so good to us. Then we were told to just go to bed, don’t tell anyone about what happened, and just pretend as though nothing had happened. I remember they’d kept us up for like 2 hours, way past our bedtime, for what?

I’m telling you, if I have any children wit disabilities, Inshallah, I’m keeping them at home! Because no matter what good I gained from going to the school for the blind and there was a lot of good, I got to do a lot of things I’d not have otherwise gotten to do, I’m not sure if it was worth having the residual issues that I’m still struggling with. Although I’m sure that I’d still have “issues” no matter what path my life took. The thing is, I don’t like discussing this too much. Firstly because it happened so long ago and I really do feel like I either should be over this, or at least have dealt with this sufficiently enough to have this not continue to be a struggle for me, and secondly, at least with my family anyway, it causes them too much pain to hear me talk about it. My mother especially wonders aloud if she and dad made the right decision in sending me away to school. And I’d have to say that in the grand scheme of things, they did. At least they made the best decision they could with the information they had at their disposal at the time. So I don’t fault my parents at all. They made a very difficult decision in sending a then 5-year old child away to school. I applaud them for their decision, because they had my best interests at heart and fought against their desire to do what would benefit them in the short-term in keeping me home.

And as I said, I got to do many things that I probably wouldn’t have gotten to do had I gone to public school. I participated in a lot of extracurricular activiites that would not have been available to me in public school such as track and field, speech competition, swimming, etc. I also got to go downhill skiing, I went to space camp, etc. And I’d not give these experiences up for anything. However, I’m not sure if it was worth all of the other things I had to endure.

Anyway, a lot of what I’ve relayed probably goes a good way toward explaining my angst regarding not only this blog, but how I relate to people, in general. I’m very self-conscience of what I feel other people think of me. Perhaps I shouldn’t be, but I am. An example of this would be my tendency to constantly wonder, in the back of my mind, if someone is telling me the truth, or if they’re telling me what I want to hear. For instance, if someone says they enjoy talking to me, in the back of my mind I’m wondering if they really feel that way, or if they’re saying that because they think that’s what I want to hear. Because I was constantly told that no one cared what I had to say, because I talked too much anyway, and if they do say they are interested in what you have to say, then they’re only saying that in order not to hurt your feelings. Having said this, though, the more I get to know people, the less of a problem I have with this issue. So it’s not as though people have to constantly keep assuring me that they’re really saying what’s on their minds.

I know that none of this should bother me, I mean, if people aren’t saying what they thing, then it’s their fault if I blabber on and they don’t stop me. However, I am very sensitive to the feelings of others, and the last thing I’d want to do is bore people to death. The truth is, there’s a part of me that just knows I have a lot to offer the world, yet another part that says no one would care anyway. Now how crazy is that? I guess if I bought into this whole astrology thing I’d be the classic Gemini. Because I feel as though I have duling parts of myself. The optomist, the pesimist. The part that once to talk and the part the wants to keep silent.

So anyway, in short, I’ve shared briefly, or not, part of what makes me who I am. And on that note, I gotta go. It’s getting late and my husband needs to use the computer.

My Uncle was Martyred in Ghazza – May Allah Accept Him from the Shuhada’ — A Concerned Muslim

Assalamu alaikum, we’d like to think that the tragedy of others will always touch us, however, it always seems worse when things like this hit close to home. This awful, I truly have no words.

Please make dua as the post says…

My Uncle was Martyred in Ghazza – May Allah Accept Him from the Shuhada’ — A Concerned Muslim

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Israel bombs university in Gaza

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Israel bombs university in Gaza

Protected: *sigh*

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I Like to Move It Move It

Assalamu alaikum, well, I decided to cut back the TV watching for both myself and step-daughter, and I brought my XM radio out into the living / dining room so she could listen to the kids’ channel. My radio receiver has a feature where you can pause/replay, etc., and she’s been listening to the same “I Like to Move it” song for the past half hour! Now, I remember the original, it was a dance hit back in the 1990’s and this one is a terrible imitation of it! She doesn’t seem to mind, though, lol.

And I can’t remember what movie that comes from either! I’m sure someone will tell me though lol.

Need Computer Help ASAP!

Assalamu alaikum, I occasionally get the following error message when trying to start programs or open up help files, etc.

“Bad Image : The application or DLL C:\WINDOWS\system32\MSCOREE.DLL is not a valid image. Please check this against your installation diskette.”

What does this mean, and how do I get it to stop? Do I have a virus? As I tried to do a virus scan and my computer locks up when I try. I’m a little nervous about this and whatever is causing this, I’d like it gone, Inshallah.

Could someone help please!?

A Preliminary Review of MagicJack

Assalamu alaikum, I’ve seen the commercials for this on TV, and some of my husband’s coworkers use this. So I thought I’d try it. Besides, I was thinking that if it works, I can get rid of my Vonage, pay $39.95 for the first year and $19.95 for any year after that, and no monthly phone bills. If you want international service, you have to add credit/money to your account to be able to make international calls.

So anyway, I ordered this, I think Thursday? And it came in the mail today! It’s a USB device, about 2 inches by one inch, very small, you plug it up to your computer via the USB plug on one end, and you plug your phone into the other end. Once you plug the device into your computer, Windows does it’s thing, recognizes the device, MagicJack starts up, and then a registration screen comes up, where you choose your number, accept their terms of service, etc. And within minutes, you have a working number where you can make calls and receive them. And I think it’s free for the US and Canada.

The cons to this device are that your computer needs to be running (and MagicJack’s software needs to be loaded and running too), for you to be able to make or receive calls. So there’s no back up if the power goes out, or if your computer locks up, etc., it’s possible that you might lose the call your on, though I’m not sure of this. Also, on my computer, if you restart your computer with the device plugged in, the computer won’t begin the restart process, it’s kind of like what happened back in the old days when we used to use 3.5 inch floppy disks and you accidentally left them in the drive when you went to restart your computer, though I’m not sure if this is true for all computers or for mine. When this first happened, I thought there was something wrong with my computer. Also, you can only use one device per computer, so if you have multiple devices in your household, you need multiple computers. You can’t plug in two devices on the same computer.

Anyway, a really cool thing about this device (and perhaps this would be a good gift for any friends or family living abroad), is that the device can be plugged into a computer, anywhere in the world, and you can make and/or receive calls as if you were in the US. As always, though, you must have an Internet connection while doing this, and this needs to be a high speed one. And if you don’t have a phone to plug into a device, you have to have a headset, and I’m sure these can be purchased anywhere, though it looks like the headset would have to have the phone-jack plug on the end like your phone would, as it would have to plug into the MagicJack device where the phone would go.

Anyway, I’m going to use this for a couple of days, see how it works, and if it works fine, go ahead and cancel my Vonage Service.

So a good review so far, but I’ll update this post if anything changes.

Busta Rhymes apologizes for Arab Money song after Iraqi Rapper, Narcicyst, responds | MR’s Blog

Assalamu alaikum, Alhamdulillah, this is a good thing, however, one would have thought/hoped that Busta would have done his homework before even putting this song, or the remix, out in the first place.

Maybe he’ll write an apology song?

With all the other offending rappers present as well?

Busta Rhymes apologizes for Arab Money song after Iraqi Rapper, Narcicyst, responds | MR’s Blog

I’m Officially Sick.

Assalamu alaikum, yep, I’ve got kinda this cold/cough/laryngitis thing going on. Which is not good when my job requires me to pretty much spend all day talking on the phone. I was off work the week of Thanksgiving, and had yesterday off for the Eid Al Adha holiday, so I really don’t want to take any time off.

So I went to work today, however, by the time I finished the day, my throat felt like someone had dumped sand or hot coals or something like that into it. And I sounded like it too. I’ll have to re-evaluate in the morning whether or not I want to go into work. Because I know talking all day can’t be good for my throat. But normally, I don’t go into work only if I either have some major stomach issues, or if I’m running a fever. But I pretty much have everything else, the achiness, the just feeling awful, the coughing, the clogged up ears, all of that.

So anyway… Inshallah, I get better soon… And once I do, I’ll try to figure out how to get the tracks I’ve been blogging about to play, as the player is only showing up if I’m logged in. But I just don’t have the stamina to fix it right now.

Today’s Track

Assalamu alaikum, haven’t done this in a while but… Today’s track is a remake by Sikouba Bambino, a Guinean artist, of the James Brown classic “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s world”.

One of my favorite shows on the BBC World Service is Charlie Gillett’s World of Music The show comes on at 11:30 my time, on Sunday evening (though I think they air it at various times during the weekend), which is usually when I’m just getting to bed, and am kind of in a “wrapping up the weekend” mode. It’s gotten to the point that my husband and I usually end up listening together, and he seems disappointed if we happen to miss the show for some reason. And it’s priceless to see him react to an artist he recognizes (like last night when Youssou Ndour came on).

So anyway… Charlie Gillett featured the above-linked track on his show last night, and it was beautiful, that was my initial reaction anyway. And I knew I had to blog it. Beautiful kora and balafone going on, and from what I’m told, the lyrics are pretty much a faithful rendering of the original song.

So enjoy…

Wall-E

Assalamu alaikum, maybe I’m living under a rock or something, but I’d never heard of this movie until I went home this past week, and my mom rented it. And the movie has almost no dialogue so it’s almost impossible for a blind person to try to watch this movie without someone trying to describe it to you. So I was extremely happy to get my hands on a DVS version of the movie, as what had been described to me by other family members seemed, well, kinda cute.

I remember asking “Who is Wall-e?” And my brother replying, “he’s a trash compacting robot”, and I kinda liked the music, and all I could remember, that really stuck out for me was hearing the female robot, EVE, saying “Wall-e!” throughout the whole movie.

So on Sunday, I watched (er listened) to the movie, and it was really cute! If it wasn’t getting late, I’d, uh, er, “watch” it again. It sounds weird to say “listen”, but that’s another topic.

So anyway, I called my mom today, and I told her I’d watched it again, and I told her that I cried over parts of it, and how stupid I felt about that. And she laughed at me. Not in that “oh you’re really stupid” kinda laugh, but the “oh I understand” laugh.

So anyway. I also watched an audio described version of Mclintock, which is a John Wayne movie (my father’s a huge John Wayne fan, and we’d started watching that movie before leaving for the airport on Sunday). I’m telling you, if every movie was audio-described (and I wish that it was), I’d probably never leave my house. So perhaps it’s a good thing that they all aren’t.