What I do in my spare time...

1920's Film - Palestinian Dress Demonstration

I believe this footage was taken by a UK film crew. It is dated 1920's Palestine. A smiling village girl gives a demonstration of how to put on a traditional village garb.

Oldest Human Hair Found In Fossilized Hyena Dung

"Scanning electron micrographs of five fossilized human hairs is shown. The hairs were recovered from a 200,000-year-old clump of hyena dung found in Gladysvale cave, South Africa."

Um, ok. ancient poop covered hair, exciting. Did the hyena eat this person or did the dude (couldn't have been a woman) have their head up a hyena's a$& or what? I think that story and pics would be worth the read.

Rebound

This always makes me smile. Good message...

Evolution of Dance

Fifty years of the American dance scene by some bold, but strange, young man...

Mormon Cuss Words

Growing up, I had a bunch of friends that were Mormon girls. They used to say the word "hell" as "H-E-Double-hockey-sticks". I guess the two "L"s look like hockey sticks? They also would say, "oh my heck!"


So I think this is really fun. I want to learn more Mormon swear words.

I will not go gray gracefully...

Within my lustrous auburn locks I found, a gray hair, single, and utterly root bound.
That is terribly scary. Imagine you wake up one morning, yawn and stretch. Put on your sock monkey slippers and shuffle into the kitchen where you fill your tea pot and turn on the stove. You wander sleepily into the bathroom to wash your face. Might as well run a brush through that head of matted mange bed hair. "Wait...what is that? It cannot be," The light reflects off a single hair as you look in the mirror above the bathroom sink. Sleep sand stuck to your eyes, pale, and puffy, you suddenly flush red with shock.

It's a gray hair.

I am in the prime of my twenties. I come from a family with a heritage of rich, thick, black hair. My grandfather looks like a young, mediterranean, Marlo Brando, even at 80 plus years old. And here I am, with otherwise, thick, shiny, and dark brown/reddish hair, with a single gray traitor glaring at me in all it's glory. Newly grown, it seems to stand almost straight at the top near my forehead.

I scream and then pluck the d&*% thing out and run to my mother who is sitting in the kitchen. "Look!!" I shriek at her, "Look at this...this THING!"

My mother begins to laugh. A menical, sadistic laugh. And then she says, "Wow, I was YEARS older than you before I ever got a gray hair!"

I am on the lookout. Let's hope it was a fluke, an isolated case. I'm putting a box of hair dye in the back of my linen closet.

Speaking of hair, do you think if could be the hair oil I picked up at the Indian grocery store? I soak my head with it once a week and wrap it in a bandanna before bed. In the morning, I wash it as usual, and then have massive shine and softness for the rest of the week. The brand is called, "Ancient", it smells like almonds, and I've convinced myself that it is made in a secret apothecary deep in India, a family secret passed on from long-ago Mongol Empress Noor Jahan herself. This is much more fun than acknowledging that it has been made only since 1978 at some factory in Mumbai.

It is all natural, but now that I think of it, there is very little English on the box. Maybe it contains bleach and I really didn't have a gray hair.

Brownie Sins, and Banana Confessions

I had a sweet tooth the other day. 99% of the time, I am a whole-foods, organic, vegetarian chef and connoisseur, that loves to cook. Every once in a while, the devil gets a hold of me and I become an overnight sell-out to refined sugar and saturated fats gone wild. And like the Christian story of Eve, I for some reason share only these recipes on my blog. One day, I'll get a conscience and share my organic, yummy, colon-friendly recipes. In the interim, enjoy...

Take one box of Pillsbury brownie mix.
Mix as directed, and bake. Do not settle for any other god-awful brand, like Betty Crocker. Use only free-range, organic eggs please. I mean, come on, we can't be that evil.

Cool a bit. Then smear with (room temp.) cream cheese.

Sprinkle with a good dose of granulated Sucanat. (That's organic raw sugar if you're not in the know)

Top with sliced bananas, strawberries, blueberries, whatever. You could even go deadly sin bound and add some swirls of chocolate syrup and fluffy blobs of whipped cream if you feel thus inspired.

Excuse me. I need to go take an advil for my newly born cavity.

It is not the critic who counts

"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly…who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who have never known neither victory nor defeat."

Theodore Roosevelt
American statesman, 26th US President Theodore
1858 - 1919

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Ursula said...
OT...your family is too cute.
I also peeked at your Picasa page-I'm going to the San Miguel/Guanojuato area in the summer for sdd's first communion (dh is from MX). Do you like it there? Things I should think about seeing while the rest of the family is celebrating and ds & I need to fill time. I have been doing some research and I can't wait to get down there and explore.
January 11, 2008 6:14 PM

Dina said...
Salaam sister Salihah... thanks for stopping by. I don't blog in English all the time, but feel free to add my link. I'd like to link back if it's ok with you.
February 11, 2008 10:14 AM

Edward Ott said...
I really like the roosevelt quote.
April 3, 2008 9:04 AM

A better idea is "made in China"...

Only a few of these messy, polluting, oil-depended, non-decomposing things ever make it into a recycling center. Billions find their way into the dump where they sit in our soil for up to 1,000 years. But hey, for 30 minutes of those 1,000 years, we got to carry home some oranges and a loaf of bread. Sigh.

I can't believe I am saying this, but, way to to go China!!

San Francisco is considering the same:
San Francisco Leaders to Consider a Ban on Plastic Grocery Bags

Whole Foods, my favorite grocery store for our family, will no longer be stocking plastic bags soon. (One story here) They will still offer paper bags, a cleaner, more renewable resource...or the best option is to purchase one of their super sturdy, spacious, collapsible and reusable grocery totes for just $1. They fold up small enough to fit in my diaper bag, yet spacious enough that they hold more than a regular paper grocery bag...and no more ripped paper handles to worry about while your tomatoes roll across the parking lot. ;)

If must be convenient for someone to stop "needing" oil-dependent, polluting, disgusting products, it doesn't get more simple, easy, affordable, and convenient than this.

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4 comments:
Plain Foolish said...
Ha! My grocery bag is super cute. (My clothes may be plain, but my shopping bag is cute? Some people have no sense of priorities, I tell you.)http://wrapsacks.com/totesheart shaped when it's all zipped up, and regular shopping bag (but with nicely sized handles) bag when unzipped. And it's got a little change pocket for when I'm at the farmer's market. And no, I don't get paid by these guys, though they are welcome to send me more bags if they choose.
January 10, 2008 6:54 AM

Plain Foolish said...
Oh, and for those with plastic bags in need of a use for them, they can be cut into a "yarn" and crocheted into a really sturdy tote. http://www.marloscrochetcorner.com/round%20plastic%20bag%20tote.htmlHaving done this, though, I strongly suggest doing it with a different, very easy on the hands project to alternate with, because crocheting with the plastic bags is very hard on the hands - no stretch at all - even cotton is easier. On the other hand, you're reusing materials that might otherwise go to waste, and the tote (I admit I didn't use the pattern above, I just sort of got out my K hook and made a solid round bottom and a few rounds up the sides then worked a mesh like Irish lace up the sides. It's my heavy duty tote, and totally sturdy.
January 10, 2008 11:19 AM

crafty fox said...
I'm glad you brought this up. So many people think nothing of it because it's such a common item, like plastic water bottles - aaarrrgh! They should at least charge money, like $1, to get people thinking.
January 14, 2008 11:02 PM

Am said...
Bangladesh banned plastic bags a few years back and it definitely cuts down on the garbage in the streets (although it doesn't eliminate it and a few scofflaw stores still use plastic bags.)In Bangladesh, the plastic drains were clogging sewers and killing sea life. Augh!
February 6, 2008 12:00 PM

Merciful Feline

Oscar the cat. (Globe Staff Photo / Dina Rudick)

A nursing home cat insures that no one dies alone...

http://www.boston.com/yourlife/health/aging/articles/2007/07/25/feline_intuition/

Talk about misunderstood...

Browsing Leena's blog, I came across this jewel of a gem...

The Abaya Monologues

Some western "empowered" journalist (and wife of a former Bush speech writer) spends a week in her own personal "nightmare" of niqab. Notice that she is focusing on the subject of an American woman wearing niqab in America, not women in other parts of the world that are forced to wear niqab. Why focus on a real issue when you can just pick on Muslims here in America.

For example, I adore the part where she is reading a story to her daughter, in her own home, at night, in her little girl's bed...while wearing niqab. LOL!! What a hoot. Like we wear hijab 24/7. Then she is shown working out with weights alone with a male trainer. Uh, sure, that's very normal for a niqabi. And what's with the length of her abaya anyway? So, how many actual real American-niqabis did she interview or talk to or ask how or why they do what they do? You'd think since she wants to liberate these women, she would think to ask them for their thoughts. Instead she personifies exactly what she is supposedly protesting...denying their voice. Oh, wait, who needs primary sources when doing research anyway? Nothing like the media giving us the scoop on the real truth.

I'm off to go wash my hair...oh, can anyone suggest a good shampoo that will fully penetrate my hijab? I can't seem to get my hair clean with it in the way.

Groan.
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4 comments:

Plain Foolish said...
*sigh*

Please. I wear a cap, and can just *imagine* where she'd go with that. (sarcasm on) Fascinatingly enough, I can't wash my hair easily either with it in. When you find that shampoo, let me know, okay? Because we all know it's only Muslimahs who cover, right? (sarcasm off) Yeesh.

About as good as the lady who assumed I must be Canadian because of my dress and cap. (No, I haven't figured that one out, either.)
January 3, 2008 10:03 AM
Salihah said...

ROTFLOL!!! Plain, you crack me up! And you're right...maybe next week we'll get to watch her shopping at Walmart dressed like an oppressed Amish woman? Or maybe a nun? So many millions of us veiled ladies out there to choose from and liberate.
January 3, 2008 11:01 AM

Plain Foolish said...
Heavens, no, darling! Walmart? I don't think! Nothing more downscale than Ikea! Actually, I'm wondering when she's going to show off the wonderful "freedom" she's advocating by going to Whole Foods in a micromini and tube top.

Yeah, that'll happen. Right after she does that Amish series.
January 3, 2008 11:28 AM

Am said...
Oh my gosh, that was the funniest thing I've ever seen! I love how she has figured it all out. It's not religious or even cultural. Just a political tool of oppression. Shame since she rocks the niqab beautifully. But the abaya was sooooooooooooooo funny! Apparently she was waiting for a flood? Was it a Gulf abaya? And yeah, the lack of primary sources was charming.

Gotta run, I think Muna is playing in the toilet!

Brown-Eyed Girl

My dad used to sing a Van Morrison song to me, "...you're my brown-eyed girl". We'd be in his pick-up, flying down country dirt roads...my head out the window, dust stirred into the breeze, the wind in my snarly little girl hair. I found this picture of my dad and I, August 1984...

Domesticated

I keep finding myself more and more immersed into the Realms of Domestic Bliss. I could be very morose about this. Ten years ago, I imagined myself building a school in Sudan, climbing Everest, or living in a yurt in the redwoods of California, complete with my own hand-woven loin cloth and bra, and a girlfriend named Moonlight Oracle.

Today, I am sitting at my computer surfing through Allrecipes.com, adding a dinnerware set at Bed, Bath, and Beyond to my wishlist, and drooling over KitchenAid 6 Qt mixers. Yes, I want one. Bad. Not just the simple classic version, but the big major league 6-Quart Professional version...in red.

Today, I enjoy sudoku puzzles, know how to do kegel exercises, am wondering how to build a cold frame for a lettuce garden. I do all this while wearing sock monkey slippers. I know no one named Moonlight Oracle.

Sigh.

SiCKO

The BEST movie I have seen all year. Please rent it, buy it, whatever...please just see it. Then, speak up. It's time for a revolution of how our taxes dollars are spent. How about healing, not killing?

Been here. Done this. Sick of it. After watching SiCKO, I was ready to start packing my bags for France.