How do you sleep?

I sleep really well... no alarm wakes me in the middle of my sleep... in fact nothing (barely anything) wakes me...

Amazingly enough, I was so tired yesterday I decided I'd sleep half naked... It was fun.. until I felt really cold with AC on full.. so I sorta woke up, turned off the AC then went back to sleep... Then I felt really hot so I sorta woke up, turned on the fan and went back to sleep...

It was fun... well most of it... Thank God I live alone...

Satisfaction=Happiness?

From Finding Happiness at Work
Read the following statements about each basic desire. If they strongly describe you mark "+" if they somewhat describe you mark "0," and if they apply to you very little mark "-":

1. Curiosity. I have a thirst for knowledge. +

2. Acceptance. I have a hard time coping with criticism. -

3. Order. It upsets me when things are out of place. 0

4. Physical Activity. Physical fitness is very important to me. 0

5. Honor. I am a highly principled and loyal person. +

6. Power. I often seek leadership roles. +

7. Independence. Self-reliance is essential to my happiness. 0

8. Social Contact. I am known as a fun-loving person. +

9. Family. My children come first. -

10. Status. I am impressed by people who own expensive things. -

11. Idealism. Compared with most people, I am very concerned with social causes. 0

12. Vengeance. It is very important to me to get even with those who insult or offend me. 0

13. Romance. Compared with my peers, I spend much more time pursuing or having sex. -

14. Eating. I love to eat and often fantasize about food. -

15. Saving. I hate throwing things away. +

16. Tranquility. It scares me when my heart beats rapidly.


Now, look at your "plus" items. These are your priorities, and you should have five or six of them.

1. Curiosity. I have a thirst for knowledge. +
They don't have any crappy piece of way to gain knowledge here with that "Colleague" in front of me..

5. Honor. I am a highly principled and loyal person. +
I do my work as required of me, always go by the book and extremely hate work politics...

6. Power. I often seek leadership roles. +
I like to lead my own self then others... You wouldn't be anywhere without leadership...

8. Social Contact. I am known as a fun-loving person. +
It's nice to have a friendly conversation here and there...

15. Saving. I hate throwing things away. +
I hate wasting... so yea...


Although I totally disagree with:
"To do well in a career and enjoy life, people need to be in a job and work environment that are compatible with their intrinsic desires," concludes Reiss. "By repeatedly doing those things that fulfill your values, there is no limit to how meaningful and happy your life can be."

Repeatedly doing anything gives me the bore... New challenges within these fields are always interesting...

Venting...

I was thinking about writing about satisfaction.. but a few mails changed my mind..


X:
I have reviewed the ***** Workflow functionality and it seems it is exactly what we need. Can you, as a matter of urgency arrange for a live demo form a supplier and forward to us the product cost details.

Me:
I seem to notice that the Workflow is only limited to documents and specific lists provided by the installation. The Workflow cannot be extended to other lists available in Sharepoint. I have contacted *****, and hopefully they will reply with clarifications.

Colleague who is an !@#!@#!:
You seem to have read only about the Workflow for Share Point. Check out their regular workflow engine in their website.

I AM talking about Sharepoint dammit...

Colleague who is an !@#!@#!:
Can you please send me a progress report of what activities you were engaged in on Sunday last and yesterday!

Me:
I have been trying to setup the Failover server which shall be completed Today

We also had a 3 hour communication plan session and User Training. I have to train one PO and one PM today 1:00 pm.

Colleague who is an !@#!@#!:
It is a wonder you want me to guess your activities based on what you projected to do. I am asking about what was done. A mail sent at 10: 46 AM does not tell me what you did until 5 PM.

Managers

As requested by Princess Donna, Ima write sum'in about my Managers...

Well, my first experience with an Egyptian manager hadn't been good. He started off in IT as a Graphic Designer (seems like all managers I hate start with graphic designing)... When I had first joined the company he was the Multimedia Director... I was introduced and everything was fine until he showed me his works... So I thought maybe he just needs improvement and should be fine.. I later found out that 90% of the presentation he claimed he did was done by this other guy... Now I could smell something fishy so I decided to stay away from the guy...

Later on however, I found out that the guy was promoted to Head of the Web Department... I was literally like, "What!! He has no skills.." I kept it to myself obviously and his team... Now, his team hated him as much as I did (or vice versa)... I thought to myself, "I have to do something about this..."

So, the next thing you know, he's promoted as the Chief Technology Officer and he knows crap about technology... Apparently he had learned Oracle in 13 days... *shrug*

I had a sincere talk with my CEO about the future of the company.. and guess what? He promoted me to the Head of the Web Department.... Seeing this, that guy's blood boiled... Even more so because the team had informed the Management personally that I was a whole lot better than the previous guy... So this guy started playing games...

We had a new project... Quite a big one at that.. We had to make a replica of the UEFA site, except completely in Arabic... The CEO obviously consulted the CTO who directly said 5 days... I was like, "WTH (I couldn't use F coz that's considered really bad in this env.)!!!"... I had to convince the CEO with the CTO smiling at me and interrupting me quite a bit... Finally I got the CEO convinced that it would take 15 days... The CTO hated me even more.. He started shouting and screaming...

Rivalry ensued.. He would come and start giving my team tasks without my approval... Start coming and disturbing us very often... Start being picky on every little thing...

In any case, we completed the project on schedule, on time, in budget, complete customer satisfaction etc. etc... That guy started boiling so bad, he would sit late every day (The GM used to come in late every night)... And I started noticing these things and finally I decided I can't take it anymore... I went to the CEO just to tell him I quit.. He asked me to stay till the end of the month and I did... And then I left feeling sorry for the company...

Last I heard about them... They're trying to survive.. The CEO has quit... Several others are planning... But holding on to the last string...

Anyway, I hate work politics...

Recently, the Indi Colleague's trying to tell me that I shouldn't be part of team meetings coz it doesn't concern me... And tryin to impose this on me by CC'ing the real Boss...

Well I guess time has come to change another job...

I hate places with no challenges.. No definite direction... No strategy... No personal development...

What is the point?

I just don't get it.. What is the point of making a website if you don't have something niche? Everywhere you go, you get the same thing... Forums, Blogs, Auctions, Portfolios, etc. Its all there on the web... What more do we need?

Message?

A few words from Al-Qaeda then the response from Bush (didn't have enough time to finish it off)

AlQaeda:

Stick and Stones (missles and bombs) can break my bones but words (Terrorist) can never
hurt me.

You see Mr. Bush, we are a people who have faith. The faith in the right things. History has
proven that the people who have faith persevere. Whether they lose in the beginning they win
afterwards.

We are a people who do not care about this world, since our existence is for a purpose. We are
created for something and that something is to make all worship the Creator and not the
creations. We stay with the pain. We believe that without pain without sacrifice we would have
nothing. Every step you take to try to destroy us, we are enlightened. We know that someday
we are going to die and we have accepted this as our true fate.

We are not a materialistic people. We do not own things except what is truly needed. In the end it is the extra things you own that end up owning you. We have the ability to let things that do not matter truly slide.

Please go ahead and try to attack us. Destroy us with all you can. It is only that when we have lost everything that we are free to do anything.

Predijuce does not show much reason. Your predijuce towards our people (Afghanistan and Iraq) made you kill innocent civilians. Your evil is man's inhumanity towards man.

There are varying degrees of evil, we are due lesser farms of filth, not to push the bounds and crossover, into true corruption, into our domain, but if you do, you will look behind you and you will see us, and on that day you will reap it, and we will send you to whatever God you wish.
Do you possess the depth of faith to go as far as needed? We are warriors, when engaged in combat, the vanquishing of the enemy is our only concern. We suppress all human emotion and compassion. We kill whoever stands in the way. This truth lies at the heart of the art of combat.
Revenge is never a straight line. Its a forest and like a forest its easy to lose your way to get lost to forget where you came in but we have a guide, the only true Guide.. Our God, Allah.

We deserve our revenge and you deserve to die.

We will make you suffer till your last breath, that is our promise.

Bush:

Your attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. Your acts shattered steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve.

This will be a monumental struggle of good versus evil, but good (we) will prevail. This battle will take time and resolve, but make no mistake about it, we will win.

You are an enemy that tries to hide, but you won't be able to hide forever. You think your harbours are safe, but they won't be safe forever. You prey on innocent and unsuspecting people, then run for cover, but you won't be able to run for cover forever.

Your acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat. But they have failed; our country is strong.

Accidents

How many times have you been in a car accident?

Besides the fact that I drive like a wacko most of the accidents I have been in were the other guy's fault...

Accident #1
I'm driving on a straight two-way road and this guy comes and bumps into me.

Accident #2 - Life Threatening...
I'm driving on a highway, real fast, and this guy from my right tries to overtake me. Obviously he hits me and sends me spinning down the freeway till I hit a lamp post. The guy was nowhere to be seen...

Accident #3
I'm driving on the right side on a double road (two roads separated by an elevation with some trees) and this guy with a Cadillac Escalade hits my Corolla 90.

Crazy Drivers... pfft..

Hate

How often do you get irritated? What does it take to irritate you?

I get irritated by constant repitition... doesn't matter what it is.. as long as it is being repeated... it drives me crazy... My boss is the one person I know in my whole life who irritates me not only because of his repitition but because he doesn't want to understand...

For example, we have a problem and I somehow solved it without help from anybody... He just won't "understand"... He would go like, "No, how did you solve it?" - he's no techie and he tells me this himself when he's more sane... and when I tell him, then he goes I don't understand... I feel like saying, "Bugger off you imbicile", which obviously I keep to myself.. try to explain to him some more but no he would twist the question around so somehow HE is the one who solved it..

Bloody Indian... (I'm not generalising, just that this bloody Indian has gotten on my bloody nerves)... Hate the sound of this person...

Jealousy among other things

I just got meself a brand new SE P910i.. Its a bit bulky but its fine... In any case, I could see the fire in the eyes of someone... Its amazing what that fire can do...

I also noticed there are coupla thousand if not millions of dating/matching etc. sites..

In fact there are so many sites that are duplicated... The same information over and over again... And people copying and pasting from one site to another... The web has certainly grown entangled into itself..

Why is this? Is it just another way to brainwash your mind into doing something you wouldn't normally do? Is it to lure you in a round robin tournament where it will be you will lose no matter what you do?

Dreams...

I just can't seem to get rid of this dream. I've had it since quite a bit of time now. I think this might be the third time I'm seeing this... here goes...

The dream starts with 3 guys working to fix the roof of this shed. Apparantly this shed contains lots of shrimps. Its like a normal red-wooded barn type thingy. It starts to rain, first slowly, then harder... Now these guys are a bit confused... The youngest of 'em, probably in early teens, steps inside a broken edge onto something he could stand on and continues fixing the roof properly. All of a sudden, this kid slips and falls into the shrimps.

Now it gets wierd.

The shrimps eat this kid alive. Skin him to the bones, and you finally you see a skeleton with his hands up. The other guys are all talking about how he risked his life to save blah blah blah...

Then it fades out.

The next thing we see is two guys and a girl or two girls in a small boat on a river. Towards their left, is the same barn, deserted and all. The river ends and they get off. These guys definitely know what they're here for. They run, obviously looking around, to the entrance of a small cave which is blocked. After some code playing and trying to break through they're successful and all go in, except one guy who keeps watch. They start searching through this small room and finally come upon a small button. After pushing this button the scenery slides and they can see what they were looking for; The Anti-dote. They pick up the syringe and go outside only to find their friend lying on the ground. They quickly give him some 10-20ml of the anti-dote and he starts to come around. They make him stand and he gathers himself up. They look ahead and...

There are loads of shrimp bees thingy's flying around.

They're like, "RUN!" and start running for the boat. The bees following them and trying to sting them. The girl is the first one to reach near the boat and then this guy steps in front of her. Its the KID. She screams and accidentally she shoots him with some load of the Anti-dote and he faints. They all get in the boat, cover themselves up with a blanket and...

I wake up...

Extremely wierd. More because I love shrimps...

The spammers like me.. for some reason I just keep on gettin these dumb junk mails that I have to delete over and over again...

I saw a Viagra ad the other day... Quite an interesting analogy they used there... Man where do these thinkers come from... I would never have thought of actually using a straw to symbolize what it did and a Coke cup to symbolize what that did... These thinkers may be the only reason creativity still exists... (Just in case you're wondering what kind of cup, the pic's on the right)

Its been quite a bit of time I haven't blogged... Probably because I'm not very particular about blogging anyway... Even so, I have been keeping myself busy. Working 9 hours a day, coming home to an empty house. Preparing dinner (actually lunch since I don't eat anything till 530). Eating. Going window shopping.

I recently got in touch with my dad. He didn't recognize me at first, thinking I was calling him coz he owed me money (I think he was drunk). In any case, he said, "Oh, how you doin son? Been a long time hasn't it? Well son, I have one thing to say to you. You have made me proud."

Me: "How so?"
Him: "You have worked your way up."
Me: "Haven't we all?"
Him: "Sure, but you have done well."
Me: "I don't quite think so."
Him: "Well, I do. And believe me when I say this, you're better than your other brothers."
Me: "Well, I don't really know my other brothers."
Him: "That is another issue..."
Me: "Do you need money?"
Him: "Why do you say that?"
Me: "You thought I owed you money in the beginning of..."
Him: "These people keep on bothering me..."
Me: "Maybe because you really owe them."
Him: "When are you going to visit your grandmother?"
Me: "She has been dead for 10 years."
Him: "Don't get smart on me young man."
Me: "How much do you need pops?"
Him: "About 10 grand."
Me: "I'll send half of that tomorrow."
Him: "Thanks kid, I knew you were better than the others."
Me: "Don't start. Talk to ya laters."

There goes my vacation in the States...

Look at the Time...

I haven't blogged in ages... And though I don't have much to say even now... I would like to say this:

truth is peace of mind and falsehood is doubt

Good luck everybody with the summer... The sun's gonna fry you sooner or later...

So I am there checking my e-mail and guess what advertisement I see?

Its amazing what the world has come to. First there was modesty now there's love. First there was truth now there are lies. First there was knowledge, now we're just a bunch of fools watching movies and advertisements that not only promote materialism but also demote modesty.

Now when you see this advertisement, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Who do you think are the audience?

Since I already mentioned materialism you would like to know where does the materialistic view come around in this ad. Well let's break this ad down to 3 different bits. The top bit with the Logo (True); the middle bit with the picture; and the last bit with the punch line.

The first (top) bit
When you look at the ad the first thing you might look at (depending on where your eyes go first would either be the middle or the top; either case you'd definitely look at the top before going down) would the word True with an underline on the letter u. Some that is True is consistent with fact or reality, or in other words real. The first thing that would pop up in almost every other guy's head would be like "I wish... let me check it out...". Why? because he thinks that this is real. Some other guys would think, who probably have had the experience, "Impossible... never happens..." but then he still go checks the ad. Why? because True does not only symbolise real but it has an underlined U... "It's for You"...

The middle bit
Its a bit self-explanatory so I wouldn't mention too much just the fact that its eye-catching.

The last bit
Now we have the punch line. "What's more fun than love?" Any kid who has gone through his teens most probably knows the meaning of love (which is due to the fact that every normal human has hormones). The kid knows that it was fun while it lasted so the kid wants to feel the fun more. He does not want to be deprived of the "high".

.... Lost my train of thought... That's what happens when you blog at work.

Conspiracy Theory

We are in the midst of a time where technology is advancing to its limits and the state of the world (friendship between countries, etc.) is going down the drain.

Taking a step back we need to look at what is happening... While America used to have investment in other countries, now other countries have investments in America... America's currency is slowly losing to the Euro... Debt is increasing by the minute...

Standing from this place we need to evaluate the present and the possible future. What is in favor and what is not? And how we can avoid whatever is not...

We have so many unsolved problems and they seem to keep on increasing. The fact that time is running out seems to not effect us at all...

While we sit at the TV and listen to the predicted weather which we are quite sure is not going to happen, we don't predict our own future...

President Bush's war on terrorism has been using Ariel Sharon's approach to fighting terrorism which is to find terrorists and kill them. But so far the more terrorists Sharon kills, the more Israelis get killed by terrorists. The current state of Israel which is in a state of horrible insecurity will probably be the future state of America.

What we are going to see (probably very soon) is a war. But this war is not going to be anything like the previous wars that have taken place between countries. This is going to be a huge war... A war of religions...

Why hasn't it happened until now? Well the fact of the matter is... the people are currently looking the other way. For example, Afghanistan was destroyed - Pakistan looked the other way; Iraq was destroyed - all Arab countries looked the other way.

Why will it happen? You see there is only so much you can fear... If you lock a person who is afraid of the dark in a corner of a dark room.. That person will try his best to come to the door and bang it... You can only fear so much when you gain the confidence... And this confidence is going to drive these people...

What will happen to the rest of us?

Ice Cream

Have you ever tried having Ice Cream with a fork? I was feeling bored and I didn't want to wash the piled up dishes since yesterday so I decided, being lazy that I was, to have Ice Cream and fulfill the couch potato legacy...

Only to my surprise I found no clean spoon available... At that second *TING* and idea struck and my eyes were focused on the lovely and lonely fork... ~Tan Ta Ra ra~ Mr. Fork saves the day.. I took the fork and started eating...

You cannot imagine how incredibly fun it is doing something new... And I had my few minutes of extreme fun... The fun although changed into frustation at the end when some of the Ice Cream that had melted just wouldn't get onto the fork... After a coupla tens of times of trial and error I finally decided to drink the remaining part... This is where a new challenge arose..

How exactly do you drink from a plate?

After the whole episode was over I decided that I'd be better off doing the dishes every time I eat.. Since I don't have much to do anyway...

Animal Instinct

I was taking care of a few Goldfishies... very cute... The only problem was cleaning out their aquarium every few days... I would watch them for a great amount of time (lonely as I am) and try to understand what their point in life is... Tiny of a brain they do have which prolly only thinks about where the food is and what this "thing" with big huge face is doing looking at me taking a poo...

I also had birds, 2 finches and 2 budgies... Very noisy the finches... the budgies were okay... white, small, hopping around in their cage... The finches on the other hand would keep on fighting... One day I decided to thoroughly clean the budgies cage... So out of my complete illiteracy of relationships between animals I placed the budgies and the finches together in one cage and went on cleaning the budgies cage in the other room...

BIG MISTAKE

I came back and found that the birds had fought.. was a scene from a terrorist movie.. There was blood everywhere... One budgie badly hurt bleeding from the legs the other budgie was just sitting on the corner... One of the finches had blood on it and the other was in another corner... I quickly separated them and then examined each and every one real close... The budgie that was badly hurt and bleeding from the legs lost 1 leg and the other budgie died a few days after... The finch covered with blood is still alive whilst the other finch also died around the same time as the budgie...

Barbarism?

Recently I just started giving no heed to spoon and fork (forget about using chopsticks). Why has man created these tools when God has created hands? Why not just use your hands to eat rather than using two pieces of carved out metal.

In my experience, while using my hands to eat I feel more satisfied (fuller). On the other hand if I use a spoon I feel I need to more... more to eat... feel unsatisfied.

Am I going against evolution? Heck who isn't?

Forgetful Jones

Its been almost a week since I have blogged.. I had thought about many things to write about but never had the chance to even jot those thoughts down on a piece of paper... Having no thoughts listed out to write about I am sort of empty handed when I start writing this post...
Its amazing how we talk to ourselves and think things over... and then we just tend to forget them... How many times have you thought of something and then forgotten it?

"To forget is human..." - Me (at least I think so)

Its always easier to forget than it is to remember. Remembering requires more effort than forgetting. Apparantly that's common with nature; earming requires more effort than spending; pulling water from the well requires more effort than drinking... etc...

---------------

Work is tiring... Wish I could just do some managerial stuff, earn good money and find peace...

---------------

Hope the people in Indonesia are doing better after the Earthquake... God what is happenin to this world? Tsunami and now this...

My Dream Came True

This is something I came about recently

Detroit-based African American journalist and PR woman, Angelene McLaren, has been a Muslim for six years. Upon conversion she took the new name Sumayyah bint Joan. Here she records her encounter with Islam.

Ever since I was a little girl, I've always had a profound relationship with God. Even though I was raised a Catholic, with all its ambiguities, contradictions and confusion, I did my best to stay God-focused and not to give in to the teachings of the Church, because even to me as a child, they seemed to go against the grain somehow.

During my high school days, I made a conscious decision to apply myself more thoroughly to my faith. I attended mass twice a day, every day, went to the confessional at least once a week, and did all the ritual practices my priest insisted upon; all in an effort to draw closer to a God. The church failed to me to answer all of life's most pressing questions; who am I, who and what is God, why am I here, and what should be my relationship with this superior being who created the universe? How am I supposed to live my life? Who is my role model, and how should I follow him or her? Why does God need to have a son now, when He was alone in the creation of all that is, and need no partner or intercessor before? My priest was unable to answer my questions, beyond stating that I should have faith, and that it did not all have to make sense as long as my faith was strong enough. This did not satisfy me, and on finishing high school, I left the church and set out on a quest to find the correct way, belief and religion.

I investigated a number of religions in an effort to get rid of this internal emptiness. I practiced Hinduism, Taoism, Zen Buddhism, and in later years even dabbled in White Witchcraft. Now, most people may find this crazy, but you have to understand that I was searching, truly searching, but all these left a void, and just never seemed to fit.

Then one day my sister came to see me and what I saw took me by surprise. She entered the house with a very long dress and was covered from head to toe. Her hair was covered by an opaque scarf and came over her breasts to right above her waist. After asking her why she was dressed like that in the middle of summer when it's at least 85 degrees outside, she explained to me that she was a Muslim.

Now of all the religions I looked into, I never thought of investigating Islam, mainly because there didn't seem to be a lot of information readily available, and because I carried a lot of the Islamic stereotypes in my head, that I now have to deal with in other people. So I left my family and moved to California, still without a religion, or a sound relationship with God. In the beginning a lot of stereotypes about Islam kept me from studying about this religion.

At that point I gave up, and just decided to go with flow, and not worry about it. I did this for two years, and although I found love and got engaged to marry to my college sweetheart; something was still missing. In the back of my mind, there was always that nagging voice that kept telling me that my life was out of order, but I would do my best to ignore it, until one fateful night.

Right before I was due to leave California, and return to my home state to be with my fiancé and begin building our lives together, I had the scariest dream I've ever had in my life. In this dream, two very tall men dressed in white were standing at the foot of my bed. As I looked at them, I thought they were either aliens or angels, I wasn't sure which, but I was very afraid and was trying my utmost to get away from them, but the harder I tried to get away, the closer to them I got. Eventually, we ended up on top of a very high mountain, with a sea beneath us as red as blood and as hot as lava. The two men pointed and instructed me to look into the sea.

What I saw will stay with me until the day I die.

The sea was full of naked people, being turned over and over, like meat being roasted over a fire, and they were screaming, "Help us, help us!" Needless to say, I felt I was getting a fist-hand glimpse of Hell, and I was terrified. I told my fiancé about the dream, and he just laughed and said that I had an overactive imagination, but I couldn't dismiss it so easily.

When I returned to Michigan, I found out that my other sister, and my cousin had also embraced Islam during my absence. This made me curious, so I asked my sister to give me some books to read, and one of the first was, Descriptions of the Hell Fire. Everything that was in my dream was in this book. I was floored.

So I began reading and reading, and going to lectures and asking questions, and the more I learned about Islam, the more my head and heart told me that this was what I was looking or all along. I had made up my mind to embrace Islam, but I had one small problem, my fiancé.

He was adamant that he was not going to be a Muslim, so I had to choose between the man I loved, and doing what I knew in my heart was right. Allah, SWT, says that if you say you truly believe in Him and His Messenger, (peace be upon him), He will test you, and this was my test.

Despite the great amount of pain it caused me at the time, I did choose Islam over my fiancé. That was almost six years ago, and Allah has since blessed me with a wonderful husband who loves Him and Messenger, and a beautiful son. Allah says for all who truly want guidance, He will lead them from darkness into light; and I know that is what He did for me.

Sumayyah Bint Joan
------------------------------

Excerpts from an interview with Sumayyah bint Joan

Your family background
My family is from the island of Jamaica, and they immigrated to the US when I was six. My father, unhappy with the corruption of American society, sent us back to Jamaica to attend school, and I spent the school years there, and our holidays in America.

Education
I attended elementary school and high school in Jamaica. I then went on to the University of Michigan, where I studied Mass Communications. I am currently working towards my Masters in Mass Communications and Journalism. I also hold professional diplomas in Print Journalism, Broadcast Journalism, Photojournalism, Community and Media Relations, Electronic News Gathering and Newspaper Layout and Design.

Family's reaction to your conversion to Islam
I was the third of my mother's children to accept Islam, and although she was surprised, she did not treat me with any animosity, she felt as long as I was happy, she was happy.

A little about your husband
My sister's husband had a very good friend, who in turn had a very good friend (my husband) and he mentioned to my sister's husband that he had a friend who was looking to get married, and that's how it came about.

The books that had major impact on you.
I read many books before accepting Islam, and I had carried a copy of the Qur'an for about six years with me before I actually decided to sit down and read it. The Qur'an, the True Religion by Abu Ameenah, The Description of the Hellfire, The Description of the Paradise, and a slew of books by Ahmad Deedat.

How about your Dawah work?
My dawah efforts have been concentrated on the writings that I do for Islamic magazines like Islamic Voice and Al Jumuah magazine. I feel comfortable doing dawah that way and will continue to do so, insha' Allah.Common stereotypes that you encounteredThe most common stereotypes that I have to deal with, is the myth that because I wear full hijab, I am not educated, I am unsophisticated and I am oppressed. I hate this. But when I speak to people, and they find that I can string together a coherent sentence, they are at first surprised, but then they see the error of their ways. A lot of the problems, is because we Muslims have allowed outside forces to define who we are. Until we take the microphone and start telling people about Islam and the Muslims, they will always carry around the wrong ideas, based only on ignorance.Prospects for Islam in AmericaAmerica needs Islam. This country is so a-moral, that it boggles the mind, but the people are searching. The problem is that the majority of the Muslims who are here, are here for the dunya, and not for dawah, so you'll see the Muslims acting just like the disbelievers. So until the Muslims start loving Islam and come to grips with their responsibility to the rest of the mankind, things will only get worse. But despite our lackadaisical attitudes, Islam is growing here at a tremendous rate, and it shows no sign of slowing down.

Taken from: http://www.islamfortoday.com/angelene.htm

The week has ended and two days of vacation (i.e. no work) have almost begun. Its amazing that we always wait for the weekend to come. Its more amazing that we want it to come more because we don't want to do anything. But of course not all weekends are empty.

Last weekend I went on a road trip. Its sort of my favorite past-time (driving). I sometimes wish there was a road to everywhere in this world and I could be the only one who has driven on every street. Fantasies can be misleading.

That reminds me... I used to play a game called Final Fantasy... Lovely game... Nice story to it too... I wonder if they can make these kind of games more like reality... Or maybe I should start this kind of game...

In any case, weekend seems to be the only time where I can look back on the past 5 days and reflect. Being able to understand and being able to see the past are very important for planning for the future. In other words, you can only know (at least to an extent) what will happen in the future by completely understanding the past.

"The past moulds the future" - Wonder if anybody has already said that...