Posts from — February 2009

First of all, I have to say that, while not flawless, this year’s Academy Awards broadcast was the most entertaining in years.

Most of the people/movies expected to win, won and so maybe there weren’t many actual surprises but Hugh Jackman was a great host. The host of the Oscars doesn’t have to be a comedian, just someone who engages the crowd and gets them interested in the show and I thought Jackman did a great job.

Just a couple of things.

-Yay for Slumdog Millionaire! I sincerely loved that movie and I don’t know the last time I was rooting for a movie to win like I was doing for Slumdog. It was awesome that pretty much the entire cast was there, even the little kids. I think the kid who played little Jamal was my favorite.

- Also loved how A.R. Rahman won for Best Score and Best Song. Loved the performance too.

- I was expecting either Waltz with Bashir or The Class to win Best Foreign Language Oscar and was surprised that neither of them won since those two were the favorites.

- I had a problem with the stars of High School Musical being featured in one of the performances. And why was the guy from Twilight presenting? He really did look like a vampire (not that I have actually met any vampires in real life).

Anyways, beyond a couple of gripes, good show.

I went through my old livejournal a couple of days ago and thought I would share a post from back when I was in NYC visiting my cousin:

January 30, 2005

It started out simple enough. All I wanted to do was to take pictures from the window of my cousin’s apartment. I figured the best way to do to it was to actually open the window and then take pictures. That way, I wouldn’t have the glare of the windows coming up in the pictures as the flash reflected off the glass.

Makes sense, I thought to myself, congratulating myself on my cunningness.

So I started to open the window. Cold air rushed at me, catching me by surprise. I only had the window open a bit, not enough to take a proper picture, so I tried to brace myself to push the window up more. I couldn’t and, according to my cousin, I looked like I was constipated as I was struggling to get the window open. I put on my hat and scarf and grabbed my camera, still determined to get decent photos from the window. I aimed the camera through the small opening and took a few pictures, clearing myself of the window as soon as I could to get away from the cold air that wouldn’t stop coming at me. I finally just shut the window (easier said than done), giving up. I looked at the pictures that I took. Considering I was shivering, the pictures came out blurry.

And then I just turned off the flash of the camera and took pictures through the closed window.

I finally got around to reading Watchmen, a limited comic book series that came out in the 80s. I say finally because my brother bought it come years ago and I even had it on my own shelf for some months now.

Accolades are written all over the edition we have and I have admit, everything that has been said about Watchmen is true. I had no idea what it was about going into it (well, I knew it was about a bunch of heroes, but that’s it) and was brought into well developed story with interesting characters. The last chapter itself could only be classified as “whoa”.

I can’t believe I’ve never read it before. I have heard about it for years now, especially when I was reading Kingdom Come, a 4 part comic series that took place in the DC Universe. People always seemed to mention Watchmen in context. When any interesting comic book miniseries came out, there was always the inevitable comparison to Watchmen. And yet, I had never read it.

Well, now I can say I have read it. I thought it would be funny to pretend that I have always been a fan of Watchmen when I go see the movie, y’know, to make sure everyone thinks that I have been a part of this from the very beginning, but after being reminded that Watchmen came out in 1986 and 87, I realized that my proclamations of such a claim wouldn’t quite fly.

I’m now officially looking forward to the movie. I have been waiting for 20 years to see it.

Hmm, did that last part sound convincing? I’ll try to work on that before opening day…

I made my Monday trek to San Francisco last night to go to Arabic class with the usual last minute mad dash scramble to get the train I wanted before it left the Fremont station. A few stations later, I realized I forgot my umbrella in the car and hoped it wouldn’t be raining when I got to the city. Turned out a lack of umbrella was the least of my worries.

On the train, I had an internal struggle as to whether or not I should get coffee before class, a tradition that I’ve had. The “why not” won out and I found myself in a coffee shop in the minutes leading up to class. As the barista turned to me and asked what I wanted, I reached into my Timbuk2 messenger bag to grab my wallet but instead my hand didn’t close on anything. I looked in. I forgot my wallet.

I said “Never mind” and walked out, realizing I didn’t have as much as a quarter on me. I was very careful as I crossed the street to get to class since I was mindful of the fact that if, God forbid, I was hit by a car, I didn’t have any form of identification on me.

I chided myself on the elevator up to 7th floor of the building to get to class, wondering if the other two people in the elevator somehow knew I was sans wallet. I told one of my classmates, a lady that I’ve become friends with, what happened. She offered me money for coffee but I declined. If anything, I was worried about the drive home from the Fremont BART station. I was reminded of one Simpsons episode in which the Simpsons escape from the cops and as Homer is about to start the car, Lisa says: “But Dad! You don’t have your license.” He tries anyways and when the car started he said, “It still works!”

Anyways, after class I walked over to the BART station with my classmate and she asked if I needed any money. After checking my BART ticket to make sure I had enough on it to get me home (I did, with 2 bucks to spare) I declined again but then thought better of it. “If it makes you feel better, I’ll borrow some money from you,” I said. I took the $10 bill she handed me and added: “Just don’t tell my mom.” I’m in the BIG CITY by myself WITHOUT my WALLET. My mom wouldn’t like that.

“At least you will have something to give if you get mugged,” she said. True, true.

I worried through my BART ride home, even if I did try to get lost in the This American Life podcast I was listening to. I felt a brief surge of horror as I thought I caught the wrong train connection but relaxed back into my seat when I realized I was on the right train. I got to my car back in Fremont and drove home veeerrry carefully. Turns out that my keys still worked despite a lack of license. I hate being without my ID though. Made me feel exposed.

The End.

So I volunteer for a media committee for the masjid in downtown San Jose and one of the guys on the committee produces shows from time to time. A few weeks ago, he wanted to get the Muslim perspective on the Obama presidency so he invited a few people and he planned to record them just giving their thoughts on the topic. I went because we were supposed to have a meeting right before that. As this guy set up all his stuff, he told me to sit with the other three people and I was like, dude, I didn’t know I was going to be on tape. But alas, I had no choice and sat with the others as we answered a few questions and gave our thoughts.

Anyways, that was a few weeks ago. He posted up a cut of the video on facebook, youtube, and who knows where else. A friend texted me today and said something positive about one of the comments I made on the video. I texted her back, saying that I couldn’t bear to watch it. I…just…can’t. I may or may not be bad in it and I wish I could have prepared for more than the 2 minutes I had. Maybe I even would have slapped on some lipstick or something and made an attempt to, at least, look like I spent some time getting ready.

Oh well. I guess one should always leave the house with the idea that one could be on camera in a moment’s notice.

I happened to be reading through my old livejournal journal today and came across something I wrote back when I was unemployed a few years ago. I made a list of things I wanted to do in my free time. So, here is what I wrote back on Wednesday February 23, 1995 in italics. My notes will follow each list item:
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-Write everyday. It doesn’t matter if it’s crap, I need to get into the practice of writing on a regular basis. I start writing and then I leave it alone for a while, which is what i need to stop doing.

I have been writing a bit more, but mostly for this blog. I still need to write more in general.

-Read more. This includes non fiction as well, such as religious books and books in which I can actually learn something.

I’ve read a lot more books since I wrote the above, including a lot of non-fiction books. However, I’m not done reading all the books I have so there are definitely a lot more I want to get to.

-Start taking more pictures. This task would include buying myself a better camera.

Totally started taking more pictures. Back then, the camera I used was the family’s first digital camera, a 3 megapixel Canon camera. It was good for what it was but I wanted to do so much more. I went from that camera to the Canon sd 700 IS (one of the first Image stabilization cameras), to the Canon sd 850 IS after the 700’s my LCD broke, and now to a Canon XSi. I still need to improve my photography skills though.

-Make a documentary. On what, I don’t know. I’m inspired after watching ‘The Yes Men’.

Uh, yeah. Haven’t gotten to this one yet.

-Pack a bag and move to Paris. Get myself an apartment. Write. Ride the Eurorail for awhile. Write. I’ll always have the apartment in Paris in which I can always go back to in between jaunts across the continent.

This would probably be classified as one of the not so realistic goals as mentioned above.

-Save the world

I’ll let Obama handle this one. And Superman.

-Make a connection with someone

I think I’ve made a connection with a lot of people since I wrote this but I still need to make that one connection with that special someone.

-Learn and then use more software, including the whole Macromedia Suite.

I’ve learned some software since I made the goal but haven’t yet learned anything in the (what was used to be called) Macromedia suite. I will soon get Dreamweaver and Flash though.

-Create a website chock full of stuff that everyone wants to read. It will then become a sensation overnight.

I think I was kidding about the overnight sensation part. I actually have created a website (this one, if you’re wondering ) and it’s filled with stuff that some people want to read so I guess I’ve half accomplished this.

-Learn Arabic and French while brushing up on my Spanish and Urdu.

Hey, I finally started learning Arabic! Woohoo! Not French just yet. I have been looking through Urdu as well though. Cool, cool.
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It’s been kind of weird to read some of the stuff I wrote on my livejournal. I seemed to be a bit more introspective in those posts, mostly because I knew only a few friends were reading it and that’s it.

I wrote the above 4 years ago and while it’s nice to know that I’ve made progress on a few of those, I still have a lot more I need to do.

So in my last post, I wrote about being worried that someone will judge all Muslims by something that I do. One’s actions and one’s religions do not go hand in hand but I know that I represent Islam to some so that’s why I’m aware of what it is I do.

I’m reiterating the above because today there was some pretty gruesome news on the internet. The founder and CEO of Bridges TV, a channel created to help portray Muslims in a positive light, is accused of killing his wife. And not just killed. Beheaded.

Article - Prominent Orchard Park man charged with beheading his wife

Muzzammil Hassan’s heinous actions ended a life and ruined a family. I don’t want to lessen the severity of that but I need to add that this guy messed things up for Muslim Americans. He represented Islam to many, especially by creating Bridges TV and his continued actions in the Muslim community, and he blew it.

The article didn’t try to connect his actions with his religion but the anti-Islam sites already have. For some reason, people can’t seem to understand that just because a person happens to be one faith, there actions are not necessarily sanctioned by their religion. Only when a person’s faith is Islam is the religion used against them. This guy happened to be Muslim but it wasn’t Islam that told him to kill his wife, to behead her. I mean, what religion does tell one to do that?! Same as we wouldn’t bring in religion into acts of violence that occur all over this country, Islam shouldn’t be brought into the mix here as the cause.

I’m still incredibly shocked by this. Unfortunately, he didn’t just make himself out to be a wife killer, he made all Muslim men out to be potential wife killers. That’s not the way it should be but that’s how certain people will choose to see it. This guy just demolished the very roads he set out to pave and it’s incredibly sad.

I had a realization a long time ago - that I could be the first Muslim that a person may come across. Maybe even the last. People may see the hijab and automatically figure out that I’m Muslim.Therefore, a person’s entire perception of Islam and Muslims could be influenced by me.

That scares me. I’m nowhere near being a perfect Muslim. What if I do or say something wrong? One of my fears is that I’ll flip out at the supermarket if the cashier messes something up and then everyone will look at me and think that all Muslims are as inclined to exhibit that kind of behavior. Because of these irrational fears, I always try to be on my best behavior when I’m out and about. Not that I have to suppress urges to yell at anybody or anything (I’d like to think that I’m a pretty easygoing person) but I’m only human and I wouldn’t want my actions to transfer onto someone else just by association.

I have always been really open about talking about religion when asked and I have never minded talking about Islam, whether it be with a stranger or someone I know. In class the other day in the minutes before instruction was to begin, one of my fellow classmates that I’ve become friends with had a thoughtful look on her face before she said to me “I have about 47 questions and I was wondering if I could ask you a few,” she said.

“Ask me anything,” I replied. I then inserted my usual caveat that I don’t actually know everything. The reason I don’t mind talking about religion at all is that I feel that it is much better to go ahead and ask something and clear up any misconceptions than to not ask at all. If I am the only Muslim that someone comes across, then being approachable can maybe allow someone to attach a more human face to Islam that isn’t quite so negative. It may be a small thing but I’m constantly aware of that prospect.

However, I’ll just go ahead and apologize in advance if I ever mess up in the future

I was in a convenience store yesterday in the minutes before my Arabic class to get a caffeinated libation to help me wake up a bit. The owner, a dark haired, Middle-Eastern looking man with a gold cross around his neck, said hello when I walked in and I smiled a hello in return. As I was buying my drink, he asked me if I spoke Arabic. I said that I was in the process of learning. He then asked if I was Arab and I said no, parents originally from Pakistan and all that. Y’know the drill.

So we started talking about Arabic and he asked about what I thought of it. I told him it was hard but that I was having a really good time learning it. He said that when he was little, his dad moved his whole family back to their home country and he had to start from scratch, speak in Arabic, and become accustomed to another country. I asked him where that was. “Ramallah,” he answered. In Palestine.

And then we started talking about the conflict. I know things are bad over there but I still try to have at least a bit of optimism regarding Israel and Palestine that maybe one day, things will be ok. This guy doubted that things would ever get any better. He even said that the way things are heading, he wouldn’t be surprised if that whole area was nuked out of existence - Palestine, Israel, all of it. He cited Iran’s nuclear weapons and how things could just get out of hand.

I was just… flabbergasted is the word I would I use. There are so many obstacles in the way for peace between Israel and Palestine but one can’t just write it off as a lost cause. “You can’t really believe that,” is what I said to him. Because you can’t. Once you do, once you believe that there can’t be anything done to ever achieve peace, then it’s all over.

He just shrugged his shoulders. We talked for a bit more and said our goodbyes as I went off to class.

For some reason, I was randomly thinking about my flight home from Pakistan back in 2007. I’m not quite sure why, but my thoughts turned to the people I talked to while making my way back to the States, my single-serving friends. On the flight from Karachi to San Francisco, I made 3 single-serving friends and I thought I would talk about them a bit here (since the day is almost over and I have yet to update):

SSF #1: Pakistani businessman who I met him while flying from Karachi to Lahore. He was just coming from Singapore, where he was doing some business. When I told him I was on my way to the United States, he said “Don’t tell me that!” He had lived in the U.S. for a while when he went to school and really missed it. He told me one particular story about when he had a job in which he had to sweep up the floor of a convenience store and he was wondering what it was he was doing there since he had a better life in Lahore. However, he realized that he was getting a richer experience and he really appreciated his time there. He didn’t have too many good things to say about Pakistan. When I told him that I was only in Karachi for two weeks he said that it was enough, that I probably wasn’t able to do more than watch a lot of TV. He was right.

SSF #2: Pakistani housewife/mom I met while on the flight from Lahore to Singapore. While the plane was backing out of its space on the tarmac in Lahore, she was still on her cell phone. I got very paranoid about the effects of talking on a cell phone while the plane was moving but I didn’t want to say anything to her myself. So, I covertly beckoned for a steward from my aisle seat and when he came, I leaned towards him and pointed over to the lady sitting next to me. He immediately asked her to hang up, which she did, and he then thanked me. I don’t even remember the last time I told on someone but fortunately for me, she didn’t notice I ratted her out.

Later, we talked. She was going to catch a connecting flight from Singapore to a place I can’t remember to be on a cruise with her daughter. Her daughter was in computer engineering, married with a kid, I believe. She thought I was from Dubai judging from my western clothes (I left Karachi in jeans and a black hoodie). She told me a bit about her family and I talked a bit about mine. She seemed really nice and I really am glad she didn’t notice I told on her. That would have made for an awkward flight.

SSF #3 British businessman who I met on the flight from Singapore to San Francisco. He had relocated to Singapore and was on his way to San Francisco for business. We sat in silence all the way from Singapore to Seoul but then started talking after Seoul when I exclaimed how it took way too long to go through security in Korea just to get back on our flight. We talked mostly of my trip to Pakistan and I talked about the conditions, relatives, even the fact that my aunt and uncle never turned on the hot water i.e. we had to take cold showers. We talked about the difference between Pakistani mentality versus Western mentality as well. “So,” he eventually asked. “You didn’t go to Pakistan to get married then.” I shook my head and said “No.” When we were getting closer to San Francisco, he asked me what was the first thing I was going to do when I got home. “Take a hot shower,” I replied. I was pretty excited about that. Out of the three, I probably talked to him the most.

The flight from Karachi to San Francisco was really the only time that I had meaningful conversations with the people I was sitting next to. I think it helped that I was by myself and none of these people were flying with anyone either. I’ll try to make more of a habit to get to know different people when I get a chance to fly in the future. Flights are a lot more interesting that way.