musa update

did i mention that musa is "saying namaaz" now? it's only whenever the mood strikes him, and in his own way, but he stands up, and then bends over all the way so his head is on the floor, then comes back up but squatting and bends his head back, moving his lips mysteriously, then bends forward into sajda again. today he did it with me when i started my dhuhr prayer, and on occasion he will do it when i ask him, "do you want to say namaaz?"
i never intended to teach it to him in such half urdu half english. i meant to teach him "make salaah" or something like that. but something about babies brings out the urdu in me, for some reason...

still not really any identifiable words, except for "baa baa" for byebye (accompanied by a miss-universe wave) and "DAAA!!" for dog, and apparently for other things as well but definitely for dog. but his understanding is clearly miles ahead of his speaking language... pointing at things he wants and reacting to certain words and phrases. he's getting to be a confident walker mashallah. and his eating is getting a little better alhamdulillah, though he's still waking up like a newborn through the night and will only nurse back to sleep. but i've resigned myself to that for the time being, though i'm starting to think about how on earth i will ever wean him if he doesn't wean himself...

hijabi fashion

found this interesting to see. a rare instance of a hijabi presented as an ordinary american girl. the subject is "on being fashionable" so don't get discouraged that all she's talking about is hijab and being fashionable with it. still nice to see.

baby is stinky poopy and clients have not come yet, so i'm going to go wash him up...

correction and recommendation

interesting how history melts into conflicting stories when you look more closely. i picked up a book called Sojourner Truth: A Life, A Symbol by nell irvin painter, only to find out that the speech normally attributed to sojourner truth - "and ar'n't i a woman?" - is actually NOT an exact quote (big deal with journalists like me). there were actually two main sources for the speech Truth did give, in akron, ohio in 1851, and in any case it was certainly an important and powerful speech. one report was written immediately after the fact by a man who knew Truth already, and was therefore familiar with her style, and the other - the one that went down in history - was written by a woman named francis dana gage, about twelve years after the fact - she was in attendance at the speech in question, but only came to know Truth after that speech. so apparently painter's interpretation that gage "invented" the phrase "and ar'n't i a woman?" is pretty controversial, though it seems pretty convincing to me (that if she had said the phrase at all, let alone four times, the writer of the first report probably wouldn't have missed it). also, she was known to have had only five or so children.

this is gage's report of the speech as presented in Wikipedia, though i think gage used the word "ar'n't" instead of "ain't":

Dat man ober dar say dat womin needs to be helped into carriages, and lifted ober ditches, and to hab de best place everywhar. Nobody eber helps me into carriages, or ober mud-puddles, or gibs me any best place!" And raising herself to her full height, and her voice to a pitch like rolling thunder, she asked. 'And ain't I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! (and she bared her right arm to the shoulder, showing her tremendous muscular power). I have ploughed, and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man--when I could get it--and bear de lash as well! And ain't I a woman? I have borne thirteen chilern, and seen 'em mos' all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain't I a woman?

truth was a preacher, and often described as having an innate, witty intelligence, though she was unlettered. i had had no idea that she had actually worked at selling herself as a speaker and symbol, had written her narrative and sold it well during her lifetime, or that her children went on to live and die in relative poverty and obscurity... painter's book was fascinating to read and makes me want to read more biographies.

one other recommendation i must make: just finished reading freedom and necessity by stephen brust and emma bull. never read either of them, fantasy writers, but this book was not exactly fantasy, though i kept expecting it to be from reading the cover blurbs (i wonder if there is much money to be had in writing cover blurbs? how do i get that job?). i really enjoyed this book, even though since my style is to read fiction very fast, and this is a densely written (think austen) book with much reference to hegel, marx and engels, of whose philosophies i have only vague ideas, and some social revolutionary concepts in mid-19th century england, i have to say i did not understand everything and may have to read it again. BUT. the characterizations are brilliant, some of the best i've read actually, as is the love story (with all its questioning of what actually constitutes love between two characters who are so unwilling to let their guards down). definitely recommend - abu sinan, if you're reading this, i thought of you in particular, even though this isn't technically "celtic" (though of course celticness pops up quite often).

so the house is clean and i'm sitting here waiting for the clients to show up and come see, keeping musa confined in the playpen behind me so he can't make a mess i have to scramble to clean up as soon as i hear the door open upstairs. not working though...

"sandwiched" by wendy's

i can't find the video, but has anyone seen that recent wendy's ad for its double-melt burger (cheese and jalapenos and other stuff stuck between two burgers)? basically it's this guy in a window-side airplane row, in the middle seat, while the plane is boarding. then these two hot chicks - for that is all they are supposed to be - come and sit on either side of him and they're all smiling as he eats his wendy's burger. and the voice-over says something along the lines of being stuck in the middle isn't always bad... wendy's new burger has melted pepper jack cheese, cheddar sauce, bacon and sliced jalapenos between "two juicy fresh never frozen beef patties", and you see this guy sitting between the two smiling beautiful women. like, wth??? and nobody is saying anything about this ad? i mean, if they are, tell me about it, coz i'd like to see it. but a brief googling hasn't shown me anything. yikes. anyway i did find this article about another promotion for that particular burger, including free $1 gift cards for middle-seat passengers over thanksgiving weekend.

man, those fast-food burgers are nasty enough - i just watched fast food nation a few nights ago so i'm really feeling that - but then to see women compared to them... isn't this what everybody got in a stink over for that imam in australia, comparing women to "uncovered meat"? well, here in america, we just use the analogy of the ultimate man-food, a burger, instead...