Thursday, September 28, 2006

testing 1-2-3

it seems that my blog url may have been deleted.... so this is a test to see if that indeed is the case

Saturday, September 23, 2006

lol

well, after hearing about the toronto star's new ad campaign.. i figured i had to start posting again - just to make sure that they don't steal more of my ideas :P
ok, well, today is about willpower. or rather - a term i prefer - volition.
i've been thinking lately about what it takes to really do something you want to do, and i've decided that, in general, it is a matter of volition. (for those of you looking for exceptions as opposed to reading and seeing if i might actually have a point... yes, i realize that in some cases volition won't make things happen.. you can't wish a dead person to life) however - think about all those pesky habits you have that bug you to no end... often we sit at home and think: man, i HATE it when i do that - but do we actually DO anything about it... more often than not, we just keep on sticking to that same ol' habit.
now, what happens when that little habit starts getting in the way of things that you really do want... what then?
and then, we have to think - what actually causes volition to manifest itself? note: i don't say "create" because i don't think you can really create volition, i think it comes from within...
anyway, to all those students out there, if you're thinking: well, i really don't have any habits that are really affecting my life adversely... (let's put aside the general achololism afflicting our schools and universities...) think: procrastination. for me, this is a huge road block - and actually, i think it's probably from my parent's relaxed, chill attitude when it comes to things that, in my opinion, are worth getting done fast!
anyway... that's all for my junkyard today.


The attainment of any object is conditioned upon knowledge, volition and action. Unless these three conditions are forthcoming there is no execution or accomplishment. In the erection of a house it is first necessary to know the ground and design the house suitable for it; second, to obtain the means or funds necessary for the construction; third, to actually build it.
- 'Abdu'l-Baha

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

questions

well, here's a messed up one for all of you who are still out there reading. many of you have left for the summer - and well, some of you just plain don't live out here to start!
anyway, my question today is: why ask questions?
i've always loved to ask questions.. and i actually can't understand people who don't... which is unfortunate for me, i guess! and i don't mean... "to question" i mean "asking" - there's a difference.
in the first sense, i find that it means to undermine... you question what someone is saying to prove your own superiority. however, in the latter sense, you are striving to understand - to take ownership for the knowledge you have just acquired. i'll explain how to take ownership later....
but for now, i leave you with the above question!
take care - and i hope you all still have internet access!

Friday, May 26, 2006

blog break!

well, i must apologize for not posting in ages.. but i've been thinking a lot, and have become a bit of a recluse!
in any case, now that i've lost my ST to the ravages that are persian parenting (how's that for alliteration! eheh), i will have plenty of time to write - and no big thoughts, so really, this will be just fine... i think!
my question for today is: what makes music spiritual and uplifting or not?
i have media player on right now, and i've set it on a playlist that has a bunch of music that i've collected over the past year - mostly from what people have sent me, and some from stuff that i've ripped, etc. but nothing on this playlist is "religious" music. but i like the songs, and they do affect my mood or whatever... so what does it take to be considered "religious" music - or just normal everyday music?
i guess, yes, i can understand how some of the more... shall we say graphic pieces that pop music has come out with is totally NOT spiritual, but i mean, the line gets slightly grey when it comes to "butterflies and hurricanes" by muse - a song which is all about changing your life.
anyway, i won't belabor this point any longer! i'd like to hear your thoughts... if you're still around! it seems that everyone has left for the summer... or lost internet access! *sigh*

Saturday, May 06, 2006

stray thoughts

i've been thinking a lot this past week about what makes individuals spiritually connected. most of you have probably heard me talking here or there about my spiritual twin... and that's one example of a person that i have found that is almost exactly like me... we are similar in the way that we talk, act and understand concepts/situations. (i use the world similar.. we're not EXACTLY the same, eheh)... but this phenomenon.... that is, finding a person that is similar to you, and who you can actually trust (the people most similar to us are the ones that know us best - and know vulnerabilities best as well!) is not uncommon.
when you do find that person..or people as the case may be, you might forge some sort of connection. and my question is just that: what makes people connected... so with your ST (or kindred spirit, as some might call it), what makes that person your twin?
see, we can all relate to each other to varying degrees. that's easy enough since empathy is a pretty fundamental emotion - even if modern day western society is working to destroy it! but what increases or decreases the degree to which we relate to each other? and is it possible to create those points of connection artificially? (so is it possible to make yourself relate to someone else?)
i'll write some more thoughts at a less ungodly hour of the morning!

Thursday, April 27, 2006

shallow.. oh so shallow me...

well, folks, i've just walked a full day on the streets of downtown toronto... *in my defense, i did go to the art gallery, and tomorrow i plan on hitting up the ROM during supper or something*
so in the midst of overpriced "stuff"... i've come to the conclusion that the best way of dealing with the draw of consumerism is to not buy anything at all. however, i realize that while that's a good method of treating "shopper's syndrome" while travelling... it's not practical for life.
yes, salty hank, this means that everyone needs to shop at some point.
so my question for the day is this: how do you judge what price is justified for an item?
ex: value village vs. holt renfrew?

anyway, i await your comments.... let me say.. i like travelling alone much better than my current predicament.
UPDATE YOUR BLOGS!!!!

Friday, April 21, 2006

the little things...

they say that it's always the little things in life that get to us most. a cumulative effect... like ten fingernails on a chalkboard instead of just the one...
i've never quite understood why, and tonight i understand it even less, but it seems to me that if someone could develop an immunity to "the little things" - they'd be quite powerful.
it strikes me that every life changing experience also starts out with some small, miniscule act. and you would never have dreamed it possible at that fateful moment.. but a year later - looking back, you can see your errors for what they were.
and then, you're surrounded by your mistake. you have constant reminders... maybe other people don't realize that you see it as a disaster - and they remind you of it, inadvertently. it's never in a big way - maybe it's even in passing. the gods are cruel, afterall.
so here there's a word in the newspaper that triggers a memory, so you go for a walk to clear your head... and then a smell reaches your olfactory receptors (just for you, ST), and, disgusted, you decide to listen to some music... maybe if you activate another sense it might destroy the others - but no.. even there, more reminders...
friends, i believe i've just figured out why people go mad.
they say that closure is important in allowing people to move on and deal with their past. but i ask you: how is this possible? how is it possible to erase memories and emotions and thoughts?
of course, you will say, no, no, it's about dealing with it.
yes, fine deal with it... but how?
how do you deal with the little things? i mean, i can see how you can block this or that out.. or move on from some causative event... but the effect of a single "little thing" is never great - it is the cumulative effect of many of these "little things" that has the power to twist the minds of human beings. (yes, jonathon, i did not say "twist the minds of men".. note also, i did not give in to the radical feminist stereotype that i am by saying women instead of men or human beings - do i get kudose points for that?!?)
so do you see a resolution in sight?
i sure don't.

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

patefactum

by the way... my friend the pre-right honoUrable jonathon has started posting again.... go check out his site

- YHS

my thoughts have come back!

alright guys, haji's back and ready to start making you think about more than just stupid monkeys and making salty hank and jonathon get frustrated with each other....

i'm wondering what makes a person burn out, and what gets them inspired to live again. my st and i have come to the conclusion that people burn out when they lose hope.. or rather, lose the courage to pursue their goals.
here's a quotation to back that up:

courage is like love; it must have hope to nourish it. - napoleon bonaparte

now, so the thing is.. if burning out is you losing the will to go on with your hopes and dreams... then what can get you back in your personal 'fast track'?

anyway, i'll quit writing...
as polonius once said....
"Therefore, since brevity is the soul of wit, And tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes, I will be brief"

and i shall.

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

quotation of the WEEK

this one's for jonathon and salty hank. you both should know better than to fight over a silly blog post by someone like me!

We've heard that a million monkeys at a million keyboards could produce the complete works of Shakespeare; now, thanks to the Internet, we know that is not true.
- Robert Wilensky


take care, boys.

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

for my old friend, salty hank....

hey SH - i lived in gibraltar for a couple of months last summer.. and i met someone that reminded me of you.... :P
interestingly enough.. when i compared your dna to his.. i found that they were more than 96% identical! go figure...
(btw. i did actually take this photo in gib. these furry creatures are native to the mountain... behind him, you can see the strait of gibraltar... and one day, i'll post a picture that is aimed to the left of harry over here, and you can see morocco!)
so the question of the day for you folks....
what IS the difference between a person like salty hank, and a monkey like harry? obviously humans and monkeys are different... yet our dna is so similar....

for the procratinators in the crowd....

i was bored a little while ago.. and i thought that today, i would do a blog entry in pictures.... i don't think words are necessary to explain these ones...



hahah, good luck with exams, everyone! remember: in the big scheme of things - none of this really matters!

Saturday, April 08, 2006

hypocrisy galore

hy·poc·ri·sy Audio pronunciation of "hypocrisy" ( P ) Pronunciation Key (h-pkr-s)
n. pl. hy·poc·ri·sies
  1. The practice of professing beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not hold or possess; falseness.
  2. An act or instance of such falseness

...according to dictionary.com.... (just so i can say i wasn't plagiarising...)

i had a some friends over last night... and the topic turned to the old quotation i'm sure you're all familiar with "let deeds not words be your adorning"... it was interesting for me, because i've been faced with that all week - hypocrisy, that is.
i'm a biochemistry student - just finishing off my 2nd year, and interestingly enough, i'm beginning to meet a lot of my fellow majors in this last month of school. for those of you who do not know, biochemistry is a "feeder" to colleges such as medicine, dentistry, vet. med, etc. so of course, a lot of the students that i meet are pre-somethings and extremely competitive. i could care less about what a person wants to do with his/her life... and how they get themselves there.. well, i'll just try to get out of their way (i don't like being a doormat, thank you very much), but i do care why you're going to do something...
it struck me back in high school, too.. this attitude of "i'm going to be a doctor because it makes lots of money" - news flash for you, kids: you want money? go into business - or make a brilliant discovery (eg. invent your own DNA). professions such as medicine no longer pay what they used to relative to other professions. in any case, i'd hope, at least, that my doctor would care about who i am, as opposed to how many times s/he can make me visit him/her so that i can help fund the cruise trip that year!
so, last night, i'm talking to these friends of mine about hypocrisy - out of the blue.. i didn't bring it up. and today, thinking back on it.. i wonder, are there different levels of hypocrisy?
so, for example, is it worse for someone to go into a profession like medicine for the money, and not to help people.... or say, commit to an organization knowing full well you're never going to fulfill half of its requirements for members?
maybe i'm just biased towards certain situations, but i think that it must depend on your motivation.... so perhaps, your level of "falseness" is dependent on the instance in question, and to the magnitude of the effect it has on your environment...
however, if we go back to the definition above, it seems that there is no gray area here.. it's a matter of you either do as you say, or you don't, and it's as simple as that....
ideas? i'd like to hear them....

- a very confuzzled crazy haji

Sunday, April 02, 2006

quotation of the day

If you want to understand the meaning of happiness, you must see it as a reward and not as a goal.
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

for more on the meaning of happiness - see below

...for my most critical editor in life....

ah, rainy days....

well, yesterday was the first rain of the year. it was, allow me to say, brilliant. today, the sun is out, birds are chirping (i can hear them even with my window closed - soon, they'll be waking me at 4AM... the little buggers!!!.. i mean, i love the birds... *stupid magpies taking over silverwood!*) ok, right i digress....
its' a wonderful day out!
it's an interesting feeling.... as if, somehow, even the human population here is coming out of hibernation... stretching and opening their eyes for the first time all winter... (we've had about 2 months of clouds and blizzards - cut us some slack! when the irish say they hate rainy days.... i say to them... well, at least not EVERYTHING you see is white!)
and after the rain yesterday... see, rainy days... they seem to have a certain melancholy hopefulness to them. glad tidings, almost... some might even call it.... cleansing. it makes you ponder and look out the window and sigh.... (to my irish friends: i can see how this can get depressing if it's every other day at random times)
anyway, that was my ode to rainy days..... kindy wimpy and bleagh, but i tried!

in other news:
i've decided that april fool's day is not about the person who is tricked being the fool... but more about the trickster being foolish enough to find the trick funny. i pulled probably the worst prank possible on a friend yesterday morning (i was up early... and really bored!) only to find out that death had come knocking on this person's door on friday night. (apparently death's knock is: "shave and a haircut - two bits!")
and i recall... a few years back... a different friend of mine had gotten me good.... by telling me that her sister (who is a year older than i) was engaged. whoa boy, did that one get me good!
in any case, i'm wondering what you all think of the ol' poisson d'avril!
leave one.... or many...

Thursday, March 30, 2006

question of the day: education

well, folks, i guess we've come to a conclusion about the question of "what is happiness".

the answer, aptly stated by one "s" is : happiness = warm bath
stay tuned for more insightful answers to the critical questions of life.

education is necessary to wholistic human development. DISCUSS.

good luck with that one everyone.. go ahead and sign anonymously or not if you like.... i'm sure everyone would love to hear what you say... i'll start writing back too, i promise!

*sam - you'd BETTER comment!

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

the second holocaust

not to take away from the wonderful discussing happening one post down (i plan on adding to it soon enough) but this link just got sent to me. the author implies that a second holocaust might be in its embryonic stages at this very moment.
i'll let you judge for yourselves. feel free to comment...and since it seems that we like anonymous comments... please, by all means, be my guest.

Saturday, March 25, 2006

question of the day

alright..
in addition to the questions below... i would like to ask the following.... (this has come up in more than one recent conversation.... eek!)

what is happiness?

and if that doesn't cause what a good friend of mine calls a "brain fart".... i don't know what will!
but write your thoughts.. sign them anonymously if you're just that self-conscious....

initiating contact

Here are a couple of photos I thought were slightly interesting... I was messing with my camera yesterday and found a few interesting "modes"... sam.. the one at left is just for you! stay tuned for more! (sorry for the formating... blogger and I are not getting along very well today....)
In any case.... I wanted to discuss well, several things, but I won't bring them up just yet....
for today's post, i thought i'd go back to my "seinfeld" motif.
my title for this blog entry "initiating contact" sounds a bit awkward, i realize, however, i think it suits this entry perfectly.
anyway, so, my question for the day is:

what is the procedure on the "call back"? or, in this disgustingly technological age, "msg me, sometime, eh?"

i do believe this was actually discussed on seinfeld - but it was in regards to the morning after... as in, so you have a "great" night with someone... then you're obligated to call them back, etc etc..
in my case, i'm speaking a lot more generally... for example, many people say "yeah, i'll give ya a call sometime" - friends! not just some person you go out on an awkward date with... or one of my friends does the "i'll call you right back, ok?"
now, i must admit, i am very much "contact" shy. so i feel weird calling even my best friends - what if they're busy, or don't want to talk or... a million what ifs! however, if i tell you i'm going to call, chances are, unless something stupid happens, that i will.
on the other hand... people that go through the horrible experience of leaving me a message (with my parents or voice mail).... well, good luck on getting a call back from me... i'll do everything in my power to avoid it. excuses, staring at the phone.... perhaps even dialing and then hanging up.. ahaha (i can even SEE sam saying aww, tah)
in my defence, I KNOW i'm not the only one out there with callerphobia. not to be confused with cholera, although both are potentially deadly. eheh
anyway, let me know your thoughts.

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

handsblog

in an effort to impress me, jonathon has posted the most updates in one day to date - earning him a place in guiness record history.
might i say, dearest jonathon, if this feminist were possibly lesbian, she would consider going straight just for you....
ahahahahaha
more on feminism later.

by the way, his posts really are quite funny. OAW is too.. but they're two different classes of funny. which makes them both funny! so you should check them both out.. links are to the right.