the hero with a thousand faces

roya has been cajoling me for days and days now - "where is your new blog post. i've been waiting forever for it - i'll give you some candy if you do...hmmmmm".

so, i'll take a moment, while i drink my hot apple cider, to write about something that came up last night at my Tabernacle of Unity class. so steven was talking, explaining some metaphysical thing...what was it?...oh yeah, he was discussing a question posed concerning the nature of the journey of the Manifestations - that there seems to be a pattern where they momentarily leave their community to go into isolation and then return.

he then cited the work of joseph campbell. i was sitting there, and it momentarily washed over me. and then something woke up in my mind and said "hey! i recognize that name". so i thought and i thought, and then it came to me. when i was in nashville living with nafeh and katrina, nafeh had rented this taped interview of joseph campbell. campbell's widest popular recognition followed his collaboration with bill moyers on this pbs series titiled "the power of myth", which was first broadcast in 1988, the year following campbell's death. the series exposed his ideas concerning mythological, religious, and psychological archetypes.

basic premise:

campbell explores the theory that important myths from around the world that have survived for thousands of years all share a fundamental structure, which campbell called the monomyth.

this fundamental structure contains a number of stages, which include (1) a call to adventure, which the hero has to accept or decline, (2) a road of trials, regarding which the hero succeeds or fails, (3) achieving the goal or "boon," which often results in important self-knowledge, (4) a return to the ordinary world, again as to which the hero can succeed or fail, and finally, (5) application of the boon in which what the hero has gained can be used to improve the world.

in a well-known quote from the introduction to the hero with a thousand faces, campbell wrote:

“ A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.”

the classic examples of the monomyth relied upon by campbell and other scholars include the Buddha, Moses, and Christ stories, although campbell cites many other classic myths from many cultures which rely upon this basic structure.

so there...roya, stop cajoling.

photo of the year

this picture was taken just before we went to go see the awesome, awesome film "Transformers"...enjoy :)





standers (left to right): brian, rafaan, vafa, lucia, houtan, me, nadim, khat, howard
croucher: amelia
kneelers (left to right): mat, adam, mike, sholeh

On the mind...

because there is just no time for a worthy blog today, i decided to post the first three random images that popped into my head to search for in google images.

aaaaaaaand the winners are:

i'll make it up to everyone, i promise.

the shortest weekend

this past weekend was the shortest in living memory. the time just seemed to slip through my fingers. friday i went to work for the first half of the day. tried to get as much done as i could, and then went home to work some more on my presentation. i found that instead i sort of needed to just sleep. i know i needed get some writing in, but i found the need to take a moment to breath was much stronger. but for some reason, my eyes just would not close. i laid there, staring at my ceiling fan, when suddenly the urge to creatively write came on me. i quickly grabbed my laptop, and wrote solidly for 15-20 minutes, stream of conscious, and out popped a short story - the first creative thing i've written since being in the israel. if your nice to me, i may share it. i'm not sure if the blog though is the appropriate place. after writing it though, i felt quite relieved and i was free to work on my talk.

later that night there was a dance party held in my living room. the girls from the floor below (my friends kathi, gigi, and corinne) asked to borrow my flat for this party as there air conditioning doesn't work that well - that and i'm pretty sure they just didn't want to move their living room furniture around. i have a super, duper air conditioning; so i said sure. it took just 10 minutes to get everything out of their and basically into my bedroom, set up the sound equipment, and turn the air conditioning on full blast in preparation for lots of people. it was heaps of fun. lucia even stopped by to dance, and nathan spent much of the evening playing my newly strung guitar in my room. after that i was of course pooped, but hung out at kathis place for a bit afterwards, where we were joined by enas, sogand, jodie, and kat.

yesterday morning, i woke up really late - unfortunately slept through a meeting. i guess i needed the sleep though. later i joined amelia up in the mercaaz for coffee and clever banter; went to roya's for some scones, scrabble, and more banter. and THEN i went home to relax and write. i think i need more sleep though. i'll try to find some pictures of the dance party soon to post.

mushroom soup de soy

ok, so yesterday evening i got home determined to write a good deal of my presentation for the wpp. however, i quickly realized that i was quite hungry. so i looked into the bag of food lucia had so kindly left for me. mmmmmmm....mushroom soup, and 7-up, and crackers. ah, so wonderful, reminds me of home. so i went to get the milk i would need to prepare the soup, and found that, in fact, the only type i had was vanilla soy milk. i hesitated for an instant over the pot with the already cooking soup...and then just poured it in with a slight hint of apprehension lingering on my face. i stirred and stirred, let it sit, stirred some more, and began to notice that this is not how it is really supposed to smell.

finally, it was ready and the moment of truth had arrived. slowly dipped my spoon, brought it up to my mouth, blew a couple of times to cool it down, and then just shoved it in like i was diving into a pool of cold water. i will use my new favorite neutral word to describe the experience: interesting. even now i can't tell if i liked it or not, i think i was just so distracted by the oddness of using vanilla soy that it blocked all other senses. but i know that i didn't want more than one bowl, that i remember.

anyway, that was my evening. :)

riveting, i know.

leo strauss

during my senior year, i immersed myself into the thoughts of leo strauss...i used his writings quite extensively for my final exam for one of my political philosophy classes, and i made sure to memorize key chunks of what he's written on certain subjects so that i would be able to quote directly. this is what i remembered today:

philosophy is essentially not possession of the truth, but quest for the truth. the distinctive trait of the philosopher is that “he knows that he knows nothing,” and that his insight into our ignorance concerning the most important things induces him to strive with all his power for knowledge

since political philosophy is a branch of philosophy, even the most provisional explanation of what political philosophy is cannot dispense with an explanation, however provisional, of what philosophy is. philosophy, as quest for wisdom, is quest for universal knowledge, for knowledge of the whole.

all political actions aims at either preservation or change. when desiring to preserve, we wish to prevent a change to the worse; when desiring to change, we wish to bring about something better. all political action is then guided by some thought of better and worse. but thought of better or worse implies thought of the good. the awareness of the good which guides all our actions has the character of opinion: it in no longer questioned but, on reflection, it proves to be questionable. the very fact that we can question it directs us towards such a thought of the good as is no longer questionable – towards such a thought which is no longer opinion but knowledge. all political action has then in itself a directedness towards knowledge of the good: of the good life, or of the good society. for the good society is the complete political good.

another thought....

there is no starting and stopping, only doing...no such thing as beginning or end

so much to do....

so much to look forward to:

• to prepare to sing for enas's and elisia's wedding
• to work on my talk for the wpp
• read, read, read like the nerd i am
• start reading a book with amelia (cause she asked to)
• eat lucia's delicious food every monday night
• a "defending the Faith" teaching practice group
• teacher training for Baha'i childrens classes (first meeting as a teacher today)
• eat the pecons sitting on my desk
• watch the videos of jameh on navid's webpage
• work of course
• increase my musical library
• and continue the "lucky day" streak i'm having right now

random picture of the day:

this picture was taken a couple summers ago at the world peace programme. it was so hot in the building that they had to buy some 30 or so extra fans to cool the place down. this is anis, leila, jenna, and me working tirelessly to get them all assembled. :)

baseball is my wife

last entry for today:

daddy, i love you, happy birthday. i'll call you tonight.

starting again

i finished harry potter 7 around 1:30 last night, or rather this morning...(sigh)...for a breif moment i just laid there not knowing what to do with myself. i've always had some book by which i can mark periods of my life. harry potter sort of permeated many many years, appearing in and out. now it is over. i felt both a slight sense of regret that i wouldn't get to loose my self in any more of the story, but also a big sense of relief - a slight sense of freedom. and in that moment i realized that i could no longer distract myself with things, resolve is now needed.

though, it was not just a childrens book. j.k. rowling did something incredible - for the world really. she just infused a new philosophy on life into our youngest generation, well, actually not a new philosophy per se. she told the world you have to stand strong for what is good.

but it is finished now...put it aside. but it is important to realize that one need not completely separate themselves from imagination and creativity to come back into the "real" world - they must blend, even if subtly and in the slightest way.

time to buckle down.

question of the day:
which came first, the phoenix or the flame?

my friend leila

so i seem to be making a tradition of posting blogs of those people who are close to me, on their birthdays...if that sentence made ANY sense, good. today's candidate: leila.

so, i'll start from the beginning. back when i was young and naive...ooh...20 years old i think. the summer of 2004. i was gearing up to go the world peace programme. they attempted to connect participants as they arrived in so that they could travel to the school together. i was told that i would meet someone named leila, and another girl named hoda.

step one...arrive in prague. walk through all the check points and come out to the visitors greeting area and my eyes immediately go to this hippy little girl sort of bouncing their expectantly. she runs up to greet me (and me being the loser i am) simply stick out my hand in greeting. "oh, hi, nice to meet you"..."i'm geoffrey"..."my name's leila". she had a think belgian accent. so, its my first time out of the country, but she is a world travelor. i'm uncertain about what to do, and she was wanting us to both make decisions about how to proceed from the airport, to the busy station, to the train station, which would then take us to the town we needed to go.

bus tickets, no problem. ok, so now we get to the train station...i'm doing my best to blend, try to notice the little czech i learned before coming... now we are supposed to take the green line. so, we look for the green line. i thought well, the names of the lines should be color coordinated with the trains themselves...so here comes a train, has green, but looks like its all wrong. we stand, or rather, i stand their waffling for minutes on end, when leila finally saves the day laughing at my color coordination theory. we have to later on connect to another line, but we get on the train and pass the time with small talk. she is instantly cool, calm, relaxed, happy with life and comfortable with herself - so, so opposite with me. we connect to the next line, meet up with hoda (from finland) and take the train for to the town. the rest of the trip passed uneventfullly, we may have fallen asleep, it was a good couple of hours. but that initially traveling buddies connection really blossomed in to one of the best friends i've ever had and still have. we spent the next couple of summers together again at the programme - oh, and i can't leave out nadim, without him we wouldn't have been the beautiful trio that we were.

leila is kind, sweet, funny, open, witty, full of energy - and just emmanates this quality of softness that brings people in. we taught each other songs, shared games, loved children and had such great conversations passing time walking around townshend.

she is one of the few, few people that i've shared all my poetry with - that took it in, digested it, and related. she knew exactly the right things to say.

i do wish often that leila and nadim could simply join me here. hopefully some day in the future it may happen.

until then, happy birthday mon ami.

errr....

reading harry potter 7...can't be bothered...try again tomorrow, or possibly by the end of the day. :)

does sound have a spirit?

through a random conversation with my boss about google, we both wondered what would come up if we googled ourselves. so, i did just this. as i was filtering through all the imposter "geoffrey tysons", i found this article that my wonderful cousin vafa and i had written for the magazine fertile field...it was interesting to read what i thought then. it was titled "does sound have a spirit?", and it follows thusly:

By Vafa Bayat / 24 / Houston, TX and Geoffrey Tyson / 19 / Huntsville, AL

By blinding us from what we inherently know to be right and true, music that glorifies death, destruction, and desire keeps us from changing individually, and as a people. Just as positive music affects and speaks directly to the soul, negative music feeds off the rampant ills of society, such as materialism and misogyny. This type of negative music is simply a byproduct of a person’s lower nature.

*******************************************

Everyone would probably agree that the ‘mood’ of a room is decided most efficiently by the music playing within it. Hearing a well loved song draws out smiles, lifts the spirit, and creates even the desire to dance. At other times, a sad song can take one from a joyous state almost to tears, sometimes in only a matter of seconds. Words seem to be more memorable and moving when sung or put to music, more dramatic or emotional, hence the steadfastness of national anthems, school fight songs, and even commercials and movie soundtracks. It is a beautiful mystery, the effects that music has on our soul. It seems that music is something extremely natural to our lives, with its rhythms and beats. This may have to do with the nature of our bodies; each of us has a deep rhythm chiming constantly away; breakfast, lunch, siesta, dinner, bedtime, heartbeat, heartbeat, breathe in, breathe out, forever chiming.

But just as God endowed us everything good, beautiful, and virtuous, He also gave us the ability to be poisoned. Sadly, if we allow ourselves to just absorb, and keep absorbing all these mental and physical poisons of greed, lust, and racism, we stagnate the progress of our souls. The more we do this, the harder it is to recover and embrace fully the truth of God. The teachings of God create a sort of safe house that, if we are steadfast in our beliefs, can protect us from the dilapidation of morals and virtues happening in society today. The more often we stray out of these protective boundaries, the harder it is to be strong in our principles as we find ourselves living in two different, conflicting worlds. By striving to know and love God, we begin to know and love who we truly are. If we have two sets of virtues, two sets of truths, or two sets of gods, we will never fulfill this purpose.

So, what role does music play in this? By blinding us from what we inherently know to be right and true, music that glorifies death, destruction, and desire keeps us from changing individually, and as a people. Just as positive music affects and speaks directly to the soul, negative music feeds off the rampant ills of society, such as materialism and misogyny. This type of negative music is simply a byproduct of a person’s lower nature. That kind of expression, in my opinion, has the ability to spread like poison, as exemplified by the music that now tops the play lists of our radio stations.

In the same way that evil can be thought of as the absence of good, music can likewise be bent to express all facets of human nature. There are songs which speak of spiritual things— happiness, love, joy, friendship, warmth, beauty, and grace; and there is music that glorifies drugs, alcohol, suffering, pain, lust, hate, degradation, racial disunity, and an exaggerated view of the importance of material things. It may be true, in my opinion, that everything has its place, and this latter type of music may keep us informed about the reality of life and make us desirous to change these things, but I don’t feel it has a very valuable role in our lives, for it only saddens, disheartens, numbs and desensitizes our hearts without providing us with anything meaningful that might make up for this sense of loss. It also makes us more aware of our physical sides, making us want more, making us feel insignificant, taking us away from that feeling of a desire for spiritual advancement, for universal brotherhood with everyone, and the joy that is our God-given right and privilege. Needless to say, this doesn’t mean that we should be oblivious of the suffering we see around us, God forbid, but we should not let our choice of music sadden us, rather, we should use it as a means to alleviate that suffering.

Music is one of the strongest mediums through which our emotions, our characters, and our souls are affected. Because music has such potency and power, it has the ability to control the emotions of everyone. Why not use it for its intended purpose, and glorify the Source that gave it to us?

*******************************************

so...how did i sound as a 19 year old? and brian, don't say lame :)

mountains

i've realized since being here that i really miss mountains. i miss seeing their beauty and i miss the feeling i get that just urges me to climb them and get lost in their forests and rocks. to feel that sense of insignificance, and also that sensation that i have momentarily become yet another inhabitant of its world. i've missed the physical challenge that it offers me, to push my body on as driven by my spirit of curiosity and adventure, and love for the earth.

it has always been something i can look at and say "see, this is something that can provide me with the chance to overcome myself; i will push myself on" and suddenly the pain of falling and the scrapes become welcomed things, or rather they simply fade to the back and become moments lost.

i've realized that the mountains have provided me with some of the few moments in my life where i've pushed myself beyond that breaking point that hinders so many things from getting accomplished. how do i translate this to the rest of my life? when certain things come easy, what is it that lifts you past that subtle barrier and carries you on to excellence?

mountains carry so much emotion as well - they are sad and proud, harsh and beautiful. they carry with them the world, without the noise, without all that is unnecessary. without the noise.

alicia

i thought it would be fitting to begin today's first post with a piece of poetry, as i am now going to write about my eldest sister Alicia; who's birthday it just happens to coincidentally be today.

(i keep using pictures of jameh
because he is so beautiful)

alicia and i share a poetic soul. this is the part of us that feels so deeply, that is soft, and that is simultaneously easily hurt, but also fortifies us with the strength of the beauty of the world.


one concept, above all others, really encapsulates alicia: "bells and gongs" (only imagine this being said in the sing-songy voice of an 11 year old girl- it would take way to long to explain the context of this phrase)

what does this phrase imply you ask?

1. creativty of expression: alicia has a wonderful, wonderful imagination; and this is probably, well this and curiosity..and clarity, where we connect the best. we love words. we love expression. we love to delve into the essence of things; to be poetic; to find beauty; to find tranquility; and to find that ever-abiding sense of meaning in our lives.
2. curiosity and thirst: her drive to know and discover is something that i've always, always admired about her. forever she is striving to garner more and more knowledge, to better herself, to assist those around her to find the truth.
3. clarity: alicia chooses her words quite carefully, and i think this is something that i've picked up from her. her intentions are to say what she means, and she does just this.
4. the random sayings of a little girl: funny enough, this quality of hers has maintained quite a bit of stability over the years, and has manifested itself in truly wonderful ways that we all love her for.

it must be difficult to be the eldest child of 6. a certain sense of separation must gradually seem to sneak in as we grow older, move away, experience different things...its a separation that one must always be seeking to remedy and fill. for a good portion of our lives, we defined ourselves as a group, one single entity...as we grow older, and as Achebe has pointed out, "things fall apart". but what we don't always realize, is that at the same time, if we truly desire it, things slowly begin to move back into a state of singleness...and we define ourselves as "one" again as we realize that we can never truly separate ourselves from the reality we were instilled with as children.

i feel myself in this moment of transition; and so know, alicia, that what may have appeared to be periods of time left blank, are actually spaces being filled with memory, knowledge, love, and a deep appreciation for your being. you care so much, and it inspires me to find that in myself as well. to be always thinking of others; to be always striving purposefully through life while maintaining a sensitive soul, which is a mark of depth and devotion.

happy birthday, all my love.

one of two for the day

last night i had a class, and at the teacher's house where we gathered, his daughter was dancing in and out of the room. as she smiled or laughed as she went by, i thought of this poem:

i think about the seemingly
effeminate nature of flowers;
and drop the mantel of an
ethereal past, to envision
the daughter i wish i had.

today, i sat near a child
no more than three,
who laughed, simply
to test the sound of
her own voice. and i?
i nearly cried.

(dedicated to alicia)

katrina

i've decided to dedicate today's blog to my sister katrina. not only because it is her birthday today, but also just because it is long over due.

needless to say, katrina is....amazing, which is like the biggest understatement in the world. if you knew how much she's accomplished in her life, how open she is, how loving, how practical, how intelligent, you would realize quite quickly that she really is an emblem of the advancement of women in this day.

there really is no way to explain everything that i owe her. she has always, always been there for me. a true friend and sister, always helping me to think for myself while at the same time guiding me to the right answer. she is so intuitive, and accesses the reality of things so quickly. she is a beautiful mother, and nafeh would agree, and extremely beautiful wife.

i love her so much...even when that one day she came into my room to get me to stop being so stubborn and started messing with my guitar strings and broke one of them - you broke my high e string...that's like the kiss of death...you have to have the high e (this was a while ago - 5 or 6 years).

i loved those mornings when during the summer she needed to train for the upcoming university soccer year, and we would go running, do drills, push ups, sit ups...and when we went to gulfport and would go running on the beach. you would always let me win.

i loved the times we spent talking about dreams in the kitchen when i was about 17.

i loved our time in switzerland, playing soccer in the barn, walking in the woods, sitting and reading.

i loved when you would make fun of me when i would try to act too cool - notice this is past tense. i've realized that i'm NOT cool :) and must therefore stop pretending because it is pointless.

i love watching the mexico video where you tried to act really cool.

i love when you play with jameh. and i thank you and nafeh so much for allowing me to spend a month with him

i love when you play with nafeh.

i love being with you when you get really tired and fussy...you get really, REALLY cute.

i loved how you looked at your wedding...like a white, snow princess wrapped inside some woolly animal.

i love the crazy dances that you do...even when you're trying to dance for real.

i love the little sing-a-longs you make up on the spot to entertain and distract us kids.

katrina, in short, i love you. happy birthday.

it is difficult to get the news from poems yet men die miserably every day for lack of what is found there. - william carlos williams


for some reason, i woke up with these two things in my mind...i lake covered in fog, and this line from wcw. they merge and make sense to me at least. today is a good day.

There are moments when you read something, or see something, or experience something that affects you so deeply, that you feel as if you really have left your body...and you look down at your arms, attempt to will them to move, but find that the connection is lost. An "out of body experience" is too cliché. I've momentarily found my self in the wilderness that Blake calls the "dark night of the soul" - where the weight of the wisdom of the world bears down, and our only reaction is to quickly spasm, and separate ourselves from the reality of things in a moment of self-preservation.

Built of Sand

Can the Innocent write poetry,

Or is theirs of a different kind?

How it hurts to bleed my heart.

Yet with each word I pull poison

Using honeyed hands made sweet

By memories that remind me of

Yesterday and the sun of tomorrow.

The masses seem to forget about death,

And yet they shake dust from their eyes.

Have you been asleep, hiding away in your

House of sand? When will you realize,

No one truly loves the desert.

But I feel it now,

Pressed to my chest – a fiery sensation.

For Time is a madman.

czechland

as some of you may know, in the first week of august i will be heading to the czech republic to assist with the World Peace Programme. i had written in to chad asking how i could help, and now i get to be in beautiful hluboko for 3 days! three wonderful days with Professor, elham, amgad, and jamila...brian of course will be there too :).

i'll be giving a couple of presentations i think. not sure what on though just yet, though i'm not too worried. it will come to me.

czechland is coming...the beautiful castle, the sparkling lake, the warm nights, the thousands of mosquitos, the magnificent countryside, the greenery - i miss the greenery so much, the coffee, the neighborhood pizza, the lovely people. oh, i really need to begin to brush up on my czech. i've been out of practice for a while now.









but again, i must refocus my mind...get to work...do purposeful service.

oh, and if you haven't seen it yet...YOU MUST. transformers is one awesome movie. so, so, so funny and it gets your adrenaline pumping like nothing else. i was laughing and/or smiling the entire time...and for hours and hours after it as well.

el loco blanco

brian is here...he slept on my bed last night, and i pulled out the special pink, polka-dotted sheets to welcome him (his favorite colour and pattern if you didn't know). ah, it feels like old times, how wonderful!

brian, oh brian don't look so lost
brian, oh brian your face has moss
brian, oh brian wants to play a game
brian, oh brian don't look so lame

stories

there is a beautiful man who works here...who has actually served in the Holy Land since 1979. the other day, a question popped into my head: since the building i work in used to be the Seat of the Universal House of Justice, and it has only had air conditioning since not that long ago, i figure it must have been extremely hot. i wondered what they wore. now, you only see House Members in suits, and i was sure that this was becuase of a policy mandate created when the Seat was relocated to the Arc. but what did they wear before. so i asked one of the people here who would have had first hand knowledge. i was regaled with stories for half an hour, hilarious and heart warming stories of this building. oh, and the House Members used to dress quite casually, even sandals. i mean it gets really hot here, especially if there is no air conditioning. of course, they dressed formally when they went to the Shrines or had appointments, make no doubt of this, but when they just had to work around the office they made sure they were comfortable. what a treasure of memories this man is! it was so wonderful, and humbling to hear of the conditions that worked and suffered in. right now, there are approximately 15 or 16 people working this building - there used to be 55 people serving in this building alone! incredible, simply incredible. roger white, apart from being a fabulous poet, was apparently quite the character too.

for those close to me, but far; an ode

gibran says that friends are "your needs answered...For that which you love most in him may be clearer in his absence, as the mountain to the climber is clearer from the plain. And let there be no purpose in friendship save the deepening of the spirit." i felt compelled to take a moment to express my love and praise to those special, special individuals further from me than i wish them to be.

Accurate...anis, you know what i mean
Neopolitan
Is kind, soft, and funny
Saichiro...wishes he was a samurai, and will sometimes attack you to prove this

Eggcellent, beautiful friend
Laughter personified ;) (one more "l", and love her so so much)
Hammy
A brilliant lawyer
Minute by minute mindset

Loves kids
Energy...lots of it
Is a great singer and ami
Loves children (*notice the difference)
A spontaneous ruhi queen

Nederlander
A linguist to the max
Dancing fool
Is the biggest fliert in the world
My best bud

Shaadster
Hopes to marry someone that is _____ and _____
A true, sincere friend
Advice, lots of good advice
Doctora
Is a gtalk master

PHWOAR!!

so after a couple of questions that have come to me like "who the heck is that on your bulletin board in your office", i will take a moment to explain. the picture of the couple on the right is composed of Mr. Omeed Rameshni-Khamsi and Mrs. Kathryn Rameshni-Khamsi. Omeed held the position, before me, which i know have. he left a FANTASTIC legacy here. he improved the office dramatically, and i'm finding it hard to really keep up with his flury of accomplishments. he is, in short, a beautiful man. BUT he is nothing compared to his wife :). Kathryn is so intelligent and real...she really keeps Omeed in his place, whose head is just sort of everywhere most of the time. they are both wonderful, wonderful people and completely committed to the Faith.

the couple on the left is of Omeed's sister Amelia and her husband Shingo. There is only one word to describe these two: cool...EXTREMELY cool. they ooze it; from the way the dress to the way they carry themselves and interact with others. they even produced a cool baby. Shiori is beautiful and amazing...incredibly talented herself. if i had pictures of Amelia and Shingo's art work i would put it up. what an incredible family!

i had about a month with Omeed. it was a fun-filled learning experience, and he trained me quite well. we had one favorite game though which is worth mentioning. it was called XBC. because of the sensitive nature of this information, i cannot divulge the rules and concepts of this game. IF however, you ever find yourself in haifa, and stop by the office, we may just play a round or two.

ain't nothing wrong

today begins yet another week. i went to a party last night, one hosted by the brazilian contingency here, and so as a result of much dancing and good-time having, a feeling of lethargy of the mind is currently clouding that part of my brain that forms words. what makes it worse is that now i have to try to read hebrew. things are just not clicking right now.

this morning we had office prayers. i had picked one out to read, but i just sat there staring at the words. i knew that if i tried, i would be slurring my way all over the place. so i just sang one. further entrenching myself in the persona of..."tweety". oh well, what to do.

i realized last night that i really miss dancing...and not just crazy shaking of the hips that is characteristic of brian, but real dancing...south american style. it reminded me of those times when navid and i would join those random dance classes for ballroom and salsa lessons - in the futile attempt to culture ourselves. it made us focus on the form and the purpose of the dance because, as navid found out the hard way, if we started to get jiggy, our parteners (which were usually 50-60 year old women) might just break a hip. ah, good times.

navid stay strong, and keep reminding brian that "there ain't nothing wrong with....", well, you know.

fear and guilt

i woke up this morning thinking about the nature of fear and guilt...i didn't get very far. instead i'll leave you with this poem:

spears in sunlight

with one hand i grip
and with the other i loosen
the hold of the world on my shoulder.
with ears stretched miles back to hear
the muffled sounds of shuffling feet.
i shout to the earth to fight
the garrulous nature of crickets.
for i want to tell the multitudes,
and in my words and signs i've left clues,
that madmen and heroes often sit unnoticed.

arab + american = belgian calendar

last week i had to go see a man, let's say his name is Hani, about some...er...work related matters :). his office is actually just down the road from mine, and so it was just a short walk over to his building. it was quite hot outside, and i'm sure i arrived looking quite flustered. so i step into his office, and he rises from his chair. my first thought was, "man, i just want to give this guy a hug". he was such a lovely man, and a bit like a small teddy bear. but i compose myself, walk over, give him a firm handshake...and then, and i don't know if it was initiated by me or him, i found my self embracing him. he sat me down, got me cold water, and we talked and talked about other matters before even approaching business. then we got down to what we needed to, to the nitty gritty, and then we chatted some more. before i'm about to go he says, "oh, i must give you a gift". so he then proceeds to pull out of his desk this attractive little calendar from Belgium. he had been invited to speak at a conference in Brussels, and after the conference was shown around the city by the mayor who then presented him with various souvenirs, one of which was this calendar. so now i have a new calendar in my office. people here are so giving.

one more thought:

"Century of Light" is amazing

question of the day:

according to Shoghi Effendi, what were the three major achievements for Abdu'l-Baha's ministry?

a century of light

this morning i awoke with many, many thoughts on my mind. and after a restless night, i find myself needing to take several moments to simply catch my mind, settle it down, and focus. hopefully, writing this morning will provide that ease which i need. in tandem with a good friend of mine, i'm going to begin rereading Century of Light. i've read it twice before, but for some reason, it just didn't really stick. and so i'm really looking forward to what i'll find and realize. i find myself just learning and learning (which can be quite exhausting) as i reflect on what i need to do, what i've accomplished, and what i've handled incorrectly. but then again, as Baha'u'llah has stated, "this is not a Cause which may be made a plaything for your idle fancies...". it is a difficult, blessed process.

in terms of good news that's just come up, i've been officially invited to teach at the Baha'i school (which teaches the children of the Baha'i staff serving here). i've been asked to teach, along with another person, the age group of 4 to 5 year olds. very, VERY exciting. i'm really looking forward to it (if you have any advise, please pass it on). i haven't been able to really interact with children for a while now. unless you count my ruhi 3 class which i just finished - and even then, they were still just adults acting like children. i've still yet to do my practical bit for the class though...hopefully i'll get that done soon.

today is the 4th of july, independece day. last night, lucia and i celebrated it with a good ole american meal of macarooni and cheese and hotdogs. then we watched the movie "independence day"...and i lasted about 45 minutes, before i just got too comfortable and it got to the point where i just had to get home to my own bed. i just can't seem to stay up too late, and this leads me to another topic: nicknames. i've somehow aquired a couple which really stick out. my friend kat dubbed me "grandpa" for my said inability to simply stay awake; and at work, in dark corners, i'm referred to as "tweety". ruha, who i work with, named me this. i guess because of i sing and am blonde. although, when she is upset with me, she calls me "twitty", so this name works on a couple of levels i guess.

one more thing: BRIAN IS COMING SOON!

mi oficina

Ok, so i thought it would be neat to post some pictures of my office.

This one is me of course...and for some reason i look like a giant behind my desk.
This is Nabil. He's from DC. He knows Ghaneh, Melody, and Professor Bushrui really well.
And...this is just another snapshot of me desk.
So i'm back at work after being sick for a couple of days. this past saturday lucia and i went with some friends hiking at a place called yehudia. it was fantastic. we'd been before, but not for about a month. anyway, so since we went last, i had basically spent the majority of my days in solitude in my dark office (i haven't turned on my overhead lights for about two weeks - i have a window behind me) or at home, or taking night time strolls. i was very very excited to get outside and pit myself against nature. in short...nature won. touché, nature, touché! i suffered from momentary dehydration and heat stroke. i admit i wasn't prepared. so i spent the last two days sick at home. i'm back at work though, feeling a tad stuffy but good. and in the end, i'm glad to be busy once again.

mi familia bonita

during the last week in march, my eldest sister and brother in law came to visit. here are a couple of pictures taken from our day trip to Acre.

(Brian G, Roya, Lucia, me)

(Lucia, me, Roya, Amelia)

a fresh start

ok, so i've been inspired to start keeping a blog once again...i think my experiences here in Haifa have been so intense that i've not had a moment to just sit and process things. fortunately, i'm sick at home right now (it's a long story, one i will tell later) and so i have enough time and energy to make this initial effort.

the words which reignited this interest: As corny as this will sound - my love for my family and friends urges me to do this in the hope that keeping a blog will sustain the connection that I have with you all.

there is one unfortunate thing though...i'm currently typing on my flatmates computer. although the keyboard is biilengual (french and english), i'm not completely, and this short entry is taking forever. :) don't worry, i'll write more soon.

just know i'm well, drinking tea, getting stronger, have cable tv, and am currently rocking out to nsync. i love you all.