Danbury Update: 3-months, Part I

Salaam

Well, it's been three months since I've arrived to CT, Alhamdullilah. I wasn't really sure what to expect and in many ways I'm still not sure. Being here for a one year contract position was a difficult choice: leaving family and friends, SGP, my home (= TV & the iMac), and, generally speaking, my comfort zone for the majority of my life. But, the choice was made and as a Muslim we have faith that Allah is the Best of Planners. The reason for leaving was to broaden my professional context from a networking perspective as well as a risk-taking perspective (i.e. moving about 1k miles away for a contract position, but with the hopes of helping to lead this group and building upon my resume). That was the professional reason. The personal reason was to experience life outside of that comfort zone. Granted, it's not like I've moved to another country with a uniquely different culture, but, honestly, have you ever been to the East Coast? It may as well be...

The first few days of CT life started out with something I'm all too familiar with: lots of driving. Not only did I drive to CT from Chicago (a 15.5 hour journey that ended safely thanks to my wife staying on the phone with me for the last hour to keep me from dozing off), but the very next morning I drove from my cousin's place to Danbury (aka "Do-me-bury" courtesy of none other than Masood) for the next four days in a row in order to find an apartment. The distance from my cousin's place to Danbury is about 70 miles. So that's a lot of mileage I put on my bechara Corolla, ma sha Allah. Anyway, the apartment hunting took up the better part of those days and it's actually quite tiring. Two of those days were spent with a realtor my wife found. He was an older dude and knew Danbury and the surrounding areas extremely well. It was actually very useful to have him because I got a pretty good tour and feel of the area. He also pointed out specific attractions (yes, I'm taking the liberty of abusing that word) such as the awesomely cool Stew Leonard's (OK, it's a huge grocery/dairy store, but, I kid you not, it's worth checking out) [See Side Note #1 at the end] [Also See Side Note #2], one of the nation's smallest underpass bridges, and one pretty legit pizza place in Bethel, which he told me is the birthplace of PT Barnum (the circus dude). So, finally, by Sunday I settled on a nice looking apartment community that would allow me something I was not at all familiar with: a short commute from home to work. This place was all of 5 minutes and 33 seconds away from work.

...

Sorry, I needed a moment to take that in even after 3 months. A 5 minute commute? Me? After ten years of having loooong commutes [Side Note #3], Allah hooked me up most mercifully with a tremendous, tremendous blessing of experiencing a short commute. I look back at the past ten years and ask myself, "WTH was I thinking? And how come no one cared enough to provide an intervention for that?" To be honest, though, the one part of the long commute I do miss is using that time to catch up with friends, recite my wird when I was being a acha bacha, and listening to lots of talk radio, music, and/or miscellaneous stuff on CDs or my iPhone (i.e. lectures, Bollywood music, Amreekan music, Pakistani music, naats, qawallis, Quran, etc.). But, FTR, I do not miss it enough to where I'm asking for a long commute again! The fact that I come everyday for lunch is epic, a money saver, and phenomly phenom in that I get to spend time with my lil cutie pie, Suhaylah. Oops, let me revise that part for my continued posterity, "...and phenomly phenom in that I get to spend time with my amazing wife & my lil cutie pie, Suhaylah." (OK, since I pay her to read my blog, I do have to mention that she's been cooking like never before and doing a great job of spoiling me.) [Side Note #4].

OK, so now you're of course thinking, Wow, Pac Daddy, everything seems pretty legit. You're living life on the edge by having moved out to the East Coast and now you have a short commute, too. Can it get any better? Well, thanks for asking. Because while it can and does, Alhamdullilah, it definitely took an interesting turn on the way. You see, the apartment I selected was located essentially at a walk-out basement level. I thought this to be highly phenom as it allowed privacy (corner unit and the last building in the community), a nice yard in the back that my kid could play in, and a jungle (ok, woods, but relative to Chicago, the CT/New England area is a colossal jungle), which looked really beautiful & scenic. I began thinking to myself that this Danbury area could really work itself more positively than I imagined. Danbury was, relatively speaking, a sizeable city that had a uniqueness to it: a downtown area that had pockets of an old town feeling, some parts that are run-down, other areas could be best described as quaint (I wanted to say, "cute"), many other parts that were beautiful as everything here is hilly and located in the woods (this isn't an exaggeration, folks), one area that has CT's largest mall (Chicagoans, this isn't saying much, but the mall is def nice) with a Cheesecake Factory being built and, crucial to highlight, a Coldstone Creamery across the street from it, and many, many hole-in-the-wall/mom'n'pop shops like Double Twister (phenom homemade ice cream place). [Side Note #5]. And so to me that's something I looked (still do) forward to exploring.

Little did I know, however, that my own apartment was going to be an exploration, on many different levels, by itself...


To Be Continued... (= when I'm bored @ work again)

Side Notes:
#1. Yes, for those that are fans of Bill Simmons' Grantland project (great site), I am totally copying his footnotes style here bc it's really cool and, if I've learned anything in life, cool things are worth copying like the one time in kindergarten I ditched school because one of the troublemakers in our class did it and, well, it was obviously cool (just don't ask me about my mom's reaction that I still remember all these years later). Anyway, I need some nerd to show me the HTML tags to do the linking. Any takers?

#2. Is this what Danbury has lead me to? Convincing people that a huge grocery/dairy store is an attraction? If so, then so be it. And you will be forced to check it out if & when you visit me. Doh, maybe I shouldn't've wrote that because now I pretty much guaranteed you won't visit. :-/ But, really, I love Stew Leonard's.

#3. At one point, back in Chicago, my commute was so long that I was considered a traveller and could shorten my namaz at work. Of course, that translated into me staying late so I could do Isha as a traveller, too. Just kidding, please relax to any RG (religious guy) reading this. But my long commutes were also due to my desire of not wanting to leave the Southwest suburbs of Chicago, which I love dearly.

#4. I feel like I just sold out on my loyal blog readers, who I don't pay to read this, by having a shot out to my wife. I'm sorry, loyal readers, but if you're married and the only friend you have in Danbury is your wife, then you'll understand why these shotouts are necessary and could be a potential reoccuring theme for future blogs throughout my stay in Danbury. Wow, I think I need to internalize this for a second. My wife is my only friend out here. Wait a second. Will the wife read this Side Note? Crap. I'm doubley screwed now.

#5. So it seemed like Danbury encompassed everything any normal person would want: a dubious area to keep you on your toes, nature to keep on your toes due to the looming threat of wild deer and/or pheasants attacking you without warning alongside an army of insects the Midwest has never seen (and I pray never sees) and pollen the size of golf balls to ensure that even though you've been keeping yourself agile and alert by being on your toes, you won't be able to breathe so you'll just have to stay indoors assuming that the pollen, which has created a thick film on your car, hasn't travelled with you and that the deer and pheasants haven't devised a strategy to at least leverage their insect army to seek out, infiltrate, and destroy your apartment. Oh my God. I just had an ephiphany about this place. CT is like the body's immune system. It's a big ol' white blood cell that won't stop attacking foreign objects like myself and my family. Or maybe it's like Rambo. No matter what the age, it will infuse itself with steroids (= pollen) and keep on finding insane ways of killing you. Or maybe it's like my brother, Liam. It has a certain set of skills and will find you and kill you (see the movie Taken for background). Or maybe it's like...ok, ok. I'll stop. Honestly, it's not that bad, but it's fun to make fun of some of the things we've experienced. Overall, I'm truly grateful for what I have here no matter what it is. All Praise is Due to Allah.


More to come

Mad JZK, Fellas

Salaam

Well, my moment is here. Off to CT for a new chapter in life inshaAllah. So many emotions running through before I leave, it's hard to capture it all...

I wanted to predictably say, "MAD JZK" to all of you guys again for coming through on Friday night to DM one more time before I head out from Bufu, IL to Bufu, CT.

I especially would like to thank AJ for his coordination of the entire event. I'm taking the liberty to describe myself as a master planner of events, too, so I know something involving like 25 guys, ma sha Allah, is no easy task. And AJ did this, as always, effectively and beyond what I could ever ask for. The food set-up was amazing (and thanks to Sayeed for brining the rice from Usmania Chinese), the picture with everyone's messages was an amazing idea and took a lot of work to set-up. I was duly impressed and touched. Of course, in no small part was my guy Taha who was the gracious host (and I should mention Sana here, too). It was phenom of him to give up his place so willingly and help make sure the event was smooth. Him and AJ avoided any "mega" disasters. Taha's hosting coupled with his poker table management was great and much appreciated.

I enjoy writing highlights of any event, so without exception, here they are:

1. The "Good Luck, Pac" sign with everyone's (a) heart-felt and/or (b) hysterical messages
2. The speech(es). Courtesy of AJ, some of it has been captured and uploaded to YouTube (but YouTube / iPhone restricted the amount that was able to be uploaded): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKw6hX3pSgw
3. Memorable parts of the speeches:
4. From Aref desperately campaigning for control and acceptance of the DMC to AJ's hug-to-say-it-all.
5. From Aladdin's baseball bat story (true story) on how we met (and maintained our friendship) to Irfan's 10-min long speech, which, while started off slowly w/no material, ended very sincerely and phenomly.
6. From Samir's absolute molestation of me to Taha admitting that he wanted me gone so he could spark a new romance with AJ (this won't happen as [a] I will kill you or [b] I will kill you).
7. From Sayeed also admitting that he wanted to attend at least one party with me so he could see me go to my own brother Ali/Jake/Liam admitting he wanted to see me leave to gain more control over the house (I'm beginning to detect a pattern of you guys anxiously waiting for me to depart...).
8. From Fahad finally admitting he was turned on when he, well, got a piece of me sometime ago, to Badie asking me about my sister.
9. I can keep going on-and-on, but I hope you basically get the point that in fact this was something I really enjoyed and will cherish.
10. The un-RG discussion led by Aladdin (go figure) on how to have a boy. [RG = religious guy, for those who are somehow unaware]
11. The heart-felt speech Jake gave before I cut the cake
12. The food and dessert set-up. Even the cake that had a picture of a clown (perhaps representing how you all perceive me)
13. My realization that while playing poker, after winning a BIG hand and throwing in chips w/out regard, that there's probably a reason why Allah has not made me filthy rich
14. The stripping part of the night which caused all RGs (ok, just Sayeed; the lone RG) to look down to lower the gaze. Which probably was the smart thing to do.
15. Above everything else, all my homies who came through just to hang out and bang.

Alhamdullilah, Allah has blessed me with the best of brothers and friends. I am grateful. Please know that in CT, you all have a home. And I realize that CT itself is not anything particularly sexy, so keep in mind that NYC is only an hour or so away. Please keep me in your duas as I begin this new chapter in life; you are all in mine.

With much love,

Pac

Visiting My Father

Salaam

In the heart of Lahore, accentuated with the coming of Eid, the markets were busier than usual. Understanding how the streets there worked was downright puzzling. Countless markets were selling meats of all kind (fresh fish, beef, chicken, and notably goat meat). Beggars, as usual, were pleading for money. Young boys were either running errands for their families or up to no good by playing in the streets. Men were directing their mules strapped with large wagons holding vegetables, or fruits, or anything else they could sell in order to make a living. Clothing shops were being frequented by people with an appetite for bargaining while small and large hole-in-the-wall restaurants were being frequented by people with small or large appetites. There were shops selling furniture or a variety of trinkets. Shops selling equipment or gadgets. And some shops selling things I wasn't even sure of what purpose they could serve.

Meanwhile, people in cars were trying to manage narrow lanes with hundreds of people walking through them or bikes and motorcycles zooming in and out between cars and rickshaws alike. Everything you could imagine in a market multiplied by 100.

So, the markets, and the world for that matter, carried on as usual.

But in the middle of this hustle and bustle lies a graveyard. It's not as prominent as you would expect especially coming from the West. In fact, you may even walk right by it without noticing. And perhaps thats how it intended to be.

But if you were to happen across it and enter the graveyard, you'll notice on your right a small but frequently visited masjid welcoming you. Outside of the masjid the graveyard contains the bodies of at least a couple or few hundred souls. One of those souls belongs to that of my father. (May Allah rest his soul and grant him forgiveness and peace. Allah huma sali Allah Muhammad. Aameen).

The graveyard itself was simple -- again by comparison to Western standards -- but its inherent and immaculate beauty coupled by the serenity felt while walking on it's pathways was apparent. Outside were the chaotic Lahorey streets and inside was tranquility. Many graves had beautiful white marble with small plants over it. Nothing grandiose but noticeable and beautiful. Other graves had simple black signs with the name of the person who occupied its space etched in white. On the other hand, additional graves lacked such identification. And if it wasn't for the raised mound of dirt recognizing that a body was buried there, you could easily walk right over them. Nothing else to differentiate it or tell people who lays there. For such individuals, most would walk by without a second thought, though the more introspective among us would wonder who lays there and whether that person has loved ones who visit and make dua for them. Allah knows best, but I sincerely hope there are...

You may know that my father died almost two years ago.

He passed away with little to no possessions in his name, mashaAllah. After his passing, pictures of his room revealed the simplicity of his lifestyle fit for those who you usually only read or hear about. In other words, those who prefer to live simply while focusing purely on Allah and spending as many moments as they can in the masjid. Someone who didn't care much for the world. Someone who knew a secret. A secret that really isn't or shouldn't be a secret, though most people live like it is: the secret of knowing that this life is but an illusion. A temporary place in which we were instructed to live in it like a traveler.

Now think of the description I provided of the graveyard and it's environment. It's surrounded in the middle of one of Lahore's busiest streets yet inside it's calm and secluded, perhaps protected, from all the commotion. It doesn't care for the outside world. The hustle and bustle. It maintained itself on the inside with pristine and awe inspiring beauty. Similarly, my father's love for ibadat, despite living in a world that begs for attention with the same tenacity that the beggars on the market streets do for money, is equally awe inspiring.

The All Mighty, through visiting my father, had taught us this important lesson.

I would have never imagined that saying salaam to my father in person after so long would be this way. The thought is a painful one which is always followed by uncontrollable tears. The love between a father and son is unique, powerful. No matter the situation. Of course, I am reminded that Allah is the Best of Planners and on this I have absolute yakeen.

So it was only fitting that my father, who, especially in his later years, was unphased by the duniya and it's offerings, was buried in a graveyard that was uninhibited by its surroundings. I am content with this. Actually, I am more than content for where Allah has planned and allowed for my father to be buried; I am grateful.

Allah in His infinite Wisdom, Mercy and Forgiveness elevated my father in such amazing fashion. SubhanAllah. Alhamdullilah. Allahu Akbar.

May Allah accept the good deeds from my father. May Allah grant my father noor, comfort, and protection in the grave. May Allah always facilitate loved ones to continue making dua for him. May He (Swt) forgive his sins and elevate his rank in the Hereafter. Allah huma sali Allah Muhammad. Aameen.

With love to you always, Dad,
Imran

Vegas

Hi

[Blogger's note: I began writing my account of a recent trip to Vegas and LA on the plane ride back home, but never posted it. At this point, it's kinda pointless to do so since I've shown the pics of it and as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words...]

It's been about a year since I've vacationed with my wife. Our last trip was a nice international trip largely due to the fact that I had to go across the pond for some work and turned it into a little recreation as well. It was a tad bit cold, but still enjoyable.

Anyway, this trip we ensured that the weather wasn't going to be an issue and so we West Coasted it by going to Vegas and LA. The Vegas part was my idea and LA was the wife's, which I'm thankful for because the trip would've been otherwise really short.

Vegas
We get to Vegas last Wednesday late afternoon to the Hilton Grand Vacations Hotel, which is right off The Strip. The hotel has two towers and it's about six years old. The tower we stayed in is the newer part at about 2 years, maybe three. We stayed in a one BR apartment style room. A room that we could've comfortably stayed a week (and believe me, we probably packed for at least a month's worth of clothes). It was really nice and very clean. Initially we stayed in a room that had a view of The Strip but it was a part of The Strip where there's sill a lot of construction. So we switched over to a view of the Red Rocks Mtn. That was much better. The room itself had a flat screen in the living room, a small dining table that could easily accommodate for three or four (= a minimum of ten by desi standards). The full kitchen had granite counter tops and ceramic tiling for the back splash. The cabinetry was a dark wood which was surprisingly filled with dishes for your use. There was also a large closet that we thought was a pantry but turned out to house a washer/dryer unit. That made us feel kinda silly that we over packed but we had no idea of course. As a side note, the wife and I tend to always overpack but this trip in particular was the worst by far. We easily had ten outfits to go by the end of the trip between the two of us! Clearly a reflection of not traveling as much as we'd like.

So getting back to the room: the bathroom was nice and adjoining to it was a closet leading to the bedroom. Directly opposite of the bedroom closet was a huge tub which we never used (except once as a wudu station). So anyway we were sold on the comforts of Hilton and living the Hilton life. (Imagine how Paris Hilton travels...)

After settling in, ordering some room service for drinks and eating my father-in-law's phenom chicken sandwich he had so kindly packed earlier that day, we assessed our what-to-do options:
1) pay $300+ per person to watch Cirque Du Soliel performance of O at the Belagio
2) pay $350 per person to go a helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon.
3) walk up and down The Strip which was gonna be Heena's first experience and my second.
4) watch cheaper shows
5) pay waaay cheaper than option one to watch Ka by Cirque Du Soliel at the MGM Grand
6) engage in shady activities following the principle of "What happens in Vegas..." [Azubillah!]

We opted for options 3 & 5. Number six was tempting considering the city's nickname (kidding) and the other pricey options were, well, pricey. Though if we would achieve we-live-in-Oakbrook-and-can-afford-anything status, then we will undoubtedly follow up on the first two options inshaAllah. (FYI: helicopter tour picks you up in a limo and you have drinks in the sunset.)

[Blogger's note: Yep, that's as far as I got. Simply for the fact that I started it and had it my email for some time, I thought I'd publish what little I have.]


Cheers

Flash Forward Flahes Lost & Other Season Premieres

Hi

I thought it appropriate with today's weather to write about last week's Fall TV season premieres. Overall, I have to say that I'm quite pleased.

Flash Forward
Great start. I think most people I've talked to have taken an instant liking to this show, but one of the aspects that's really roping in people to the show are the Lost references. Consider the billboard in the background of this shot (link courtesy of Farooq). Not only this reference to Oceanic Airlines (and a comedic one if you squint your eyes to read it), but some sites out there (http://the-odi.blogspot.com/) are drawing comparisons to the numbers mentioned in Lost. Now, this obviously cannot be chalked to mere coincidence. It has to be one of the following reasons: (1) Great marketing to get Lost fans into a new show considering that this will be Lost's last season. I can imagine producers of the show sitting at their brainstorm sessions saying, "Ok, now that we've mind F'd these people into drawing parallels between the show [that may or may not exist], what can we do to keep them coming?" "I know!" chimes another producer, "Let's slowly sneak the entire cast of Lost into the show." And so enters Dominic Monaghan, the actor that plays Charlie in Lost, into the promo for the next show. And then there's Penny from Lost (actress Sonya Walger) who plays Olivia Benford. But, who knows, with the expiration of Lost, these actors may simply be well-liked to the network and are trying to capitalize on it. Alternatively, we might get into the second reason: (2) The Lost World and FF World are in fact the same "universe" and there are intentional crossover, overlapping stories. How ridiculous would that be?! Ridiculous in a possibly phenom sense, that is. That, for example, the worldwide blackout is related to the time traveling from the island or when Ben initially made the island disappear or... Well, for FF-Lost conspiracy theories, I'm sure you can find tons on the WWW. Regardless, even as a standalone product, Flash Forward is extremely interesting. The baseball footage where they showed some random person awake was eerily cool and intriguing. It makes you think of the many possibilities of what happened: a new natural phenomena? Aliens? Something that will always remain unknown? An act of God (azubillah; but I'm sure that will be a small theme)? A government conspiracy? Guess I'll have to stay tuned..

Heroes
Two-hour premieres are always good. This show started off Season 1 unbelievable. It was on its way to becoming one of my favorites shows of all time. I could probably watch Season 1's season finale 100x. Subsequent seasons, however, were lacking. I'm not sure what creator/producer Tim Kring was thinking. It was like he was taking a football team to the promised land, but inexplicably decides to bench his starters in favor of the third stringers. The last two seasons strayed away from the great ideas and themes of the first season; namely, the battle between good and evil (Peter: the embodiment of good, the reluctant hero; Hiro the eternal optimist; Sylar: the embodiment of evil). Actually, I think I still kept watching because of Sylar. He was always entertaining. Anyway, this season seems like its trying to return to what captivated us fans in the first place. Peter is back to his original job helping people out. He had a radio (reminiscent of Peter Parker in one of the Spider-Man movies) to listen to crimes and stop them -- using his Superman-esque (not quite, but you know what I mean) powers for good. Surprisingly, I enjoyed the duality of Nathan's character with him battling his inner Sylar and with Sylar getting in Parkman's head. I also like the mysterious new presumably evil character who is apparently on some mission of redemption, though you can tell he has some sort of grand plan. (What's his power btw?!) Also, for those that didn't know, the guy with the knives who moves really fast is the same guy who played Darth Maul in the fourth installment of Star Wars. Let's hope Heroes can keep the momentum. I'm not sure if I can take anymore disappointment...

Smallville
Phenom! Clark is finally trying to embrace his Kryptonian side and become who he is destined to be (that would be Superman -- i.e. a lesser version of myself). I like the costume. It's nothing fancy, but the S symbol is what's good to finally see. I also like the introduction of Zod (currently only a Major and not a General) and I'm intrigued as to why they don't have any of their powers. Seeing Zod interact with Tess will -- hopefully -- also prove to be an interesting development. Admittedly, though, I am really disappointed with how they simply killed off Doomsday from the prior season. He's the guy that kills Superman in the comics. There should have been an EPIC fight scene either last season or the start of this season. Anyway, the producers and writers can make it up to me by making Clark embrace his inner "It's a bird, It's a plane, It's Superman" by FLYING! C'mon! Ok, they did at least elude to it the premiere and successfully teased us by showing him jumping off the Statue of Liberty but then cut to another scene. Next episode with Metallo should be a good one...I hope.

Community
Hysterical pilot episode. This show had me at the trailer I saw when the character Abed (played by Chicago native Danny Pudi) replay a scene from classic Breakfast Club. I was dying. I really like the dialogue; it's witty, funny, and even charming. So while it may remind you of me, instead of solely checking me out, you should check this out, too.

Anyway, that's it for now. A few of my other regular shows haven't premiered as yet (i.e. Legend of the Seeker [a guilty pleasure], Lost, and my beloved Chuck), but I'll critique at that point.


Cheers

An Ode to Michael Jordan

Hi

Yesterday, the greatest basketball player to date and of all time was enshrined into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

It was arguably one of the greatest HOF class inductions. You had David Robinson (The Admiral), John Stockton, Coach Vivian Stringer, Jerry Sloan, and His Airness, Michael Jordan.

The speeches for the most part were interesting and like Jordan mentioned (he was of course the last to speak) in his speech, you learned a little bit about the others that you probably didn't know before. Jordan's speech, though, was clearly the best. Of course I am biased as all heck, but the night definitely belonged to him. Even Stockton joked around how his family and friends came so far more so to see Jordan than him.

Now, if you don't understand who MJ was, then you probably would think his speech wasn't as memorable or significant as it should have been. This is clearly the opinion of Adrian Wojnarowski from Yahoo! Sports. In fact, the title of his article is "Jordan's night to remember turns petty." The article had some points to it. Yes, Jordan was definitely getting back at people -- Jeff Van Gundy, Bryon Russell, etc. And, yes, he did in almost narcissistic fashion tell his kids that he wouldn't want to be them (note: if you didn't watch it, first, shame on you, but second, know that he said it laughingly). But if you think somehow that this made his speech -- his moment to shine -- somehow less than expected, or uneventful, or "petty," then you probably have no clue who MJ really is. At least to his countless fans.

You cannot blame the guy for his comments if you really want to think about it. Let's consider ALL the attention he's received to date and will likely continue to receive for years to come: For starters, and to make my job here easier, why don't you YouTube Jordan and see all the various homages he has out there? There are videos that people have on him where you can tell they took a lot of time to put together (example 1 out of thousands: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtU0ifvVPV8&channel=hoopsencyclopedia). ESPN created a phenom link on their website capturing his top 23 moments leading up to yesterday's commencement. And what about his marketing genius that came as a result of his play? I've blogged this before, but here's another one. I also noticed yesterday on Facebook that my die hard Kobe Bryant and LA Lakers fan of a cousin posted an interview with Mike Wilbon and Jordan with a caption underneath stating, "simply the greatest ever." He put the Chicago Bulls on the map...and internationally, too. I have personally experienced this during my travels to Europe. I recall one cab driver in Madrid, who didn't speak much English, say "Chicago Bulls!" with a big a smile when I told him I was from Chicago. This guy mattered that much to the NBA. To basketball.

So, tell me, how can you fault him for telling us what's on his mind? For getting back at others not simply because he can (and should in my opinion!), but also to show just how competitive he is. Even now. And it's not like Jordan was completely self-absorbed. Adrian Wojnarowski forgets to mention that Jordan mentioned his ex-wife to his kids to recognize her contributions. He talked at length about his competitive drive stemming from his brothers and sisters. About how his mom still keeps him at check despite being 46 years old.

Jordan is the greatest ever. He created a dynasty and one of the most dominant teams in sports history. He was right last night. It's the players who go out there and play. And it was Jordan who would find ways to win.

Last night was Jordan being himself...cocky & competitive to the end. I loved it!

Congratulations, Michael Jordan. We miss you!


But here's looking to seeing you in uniform at 50. Like you said, "...limits, like fears, are often just an illusion."

Bears Season '09-'10

Hi

The season fast approaches and I am so excited. A rejuvenated
Urlacher? Jay Cutler? Forte repeating (hopefully exceeding) last
year? Devin Hester proving he's a legit #1?

So many questions.

My life can finally resume with football and Da Bears back in the
picture!!!

Bear Down!

FYI: pic here is from the first ever game I attended last season.
Bears won in OT against fudge packers. One of the coldest games ever,
too! Jzk, Meraj/Taha for the hookup!

iPhone: The Hummer of Phones

Hi

This is a good article on how exactly the iPhone is the "Hummer" of phones (i.e. data guzzler). (Link courtesy of Ali.) But it also points out how it's not just an iPhone or AT&T issue, but as smartphones are used more and more, all wireless providers will have to step up their network coverage.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/03/technology/companies/03att.html

I wonder what'll happen when 4G comes out here?!

What will be annoying (but good money-making for Apple or other cell phone makers/providers) is that Apple will then introduce an iPhone 4G. Then a year or so later, an iPhone 4Gs. And I'm sure they'll add on extra features like an HD camera (which I'm sure they already have). Heck, I'm sure these corporations are already thinking in some lab somewhere about 5G speed and phones that will handle them. I wish we could exploit them for all the technology they have!

I know there are pros and cons of increasingly relying on technology, but I'm strictly talking about the "Wow!" factor here. I liked to be Wow-ed, folks. I think it's a constitutional right and should be mandated in a Declaration of Technology, if you will:

We hold these truths to be self-evident that not all technological platforms were created equal, that they are endowed by Apple/Google/Microsoft/Nokia/[insert technology company] with certain phenom features, that among these are Life (App Store), Liberty (Free Apps), and the pursuit of Happiness (paying a lot for awesome technology on your credit card and worrying about the costs later).

Can I get a John Hancock at the end of this, please?! Or I guess a "Steve Jobs" instead?


Cheers

Dude from Wisconsin Speaks Urdu

Hi

This is pretty awesome:



It's good to see in this global age someone taking such an active interest in learning about another culture and absorbing it into one's life. Of course, I say this so easily when it's someone taking interest in Pakistani culture & language!

But, man, I feel like a punk for not learning Urdu as good as he has learned it. Really impressive. He should now just revert! He's obviously smart, too, since he went to UofC. Come to think of it, I remember Umar mentioned that they had classes in Urdu when he was still a student there. Clearly, he should've taken them!

Watching videos like this makes me feel proud but also a bit embarassed. For a culture and country I love so much, should I not also take the initiative to speak better Urdu? I know my Urdu is vastly superior than my brothers (don't let Umar's love of poetry fool you and if Ali says otherwise, just ask him about the flying fish story...), but regardless I still mess up on conjugating words. And it's so clear when I speak that I speak it in an Americanized way. In fact, yo creo que me espanol es mejor! Ideally, the languages I'd like to inshaAllah learn to speak, read, and write fluently are Arabic, Urdu, Punjabi, and then brush up on Spanish, too. Make dua for a brother.

Side note: At the end of the day, though, I go to sleep fine knowing that at least my Urdu isn't Hydro Urdu. We might as well call Hyderabadi Urdu Chinese for practical purposes...


Allah hafiz

2009 Iftar Party Report

As salaamu Alaikoom

Well, it's certainly been a minute since my last posting. Then again, these days my entries have started off with this statement. My scapegoat is the married life, which I enjoy, of course, but I'm just sayin that I'm able to blog this entry while my wife is out of the house.

Onwards...

This years party was perhaps the largest in size, mashaAllah, with a total of 34 people. Add a few more to that number when you factor in my family. Most were surprised -- as was I -- on the number and I particularly got a kick out of Aladdin's comment of, "Dude, when this thing started it was just me, you, and your brothers." By the way, props to my boys Sami, Aladdin, Harris (HP), Omar, and Fahad for attending every year, Alhamdullilah. I think Farooq and potentially Baseer might be in that category, too. (Apologies if I left you out.)

Oh, and I want to especially hate on the following: Mofeez, Kamran Ch, Tariq, and Imran ("The Mizz"), and Princess Hassan for confirming their attendance but never showing up! Even if you texted or called me or had a valid excuse like a new born (Tariq's case) or your father is in town (Hassan), I still reserve the right to put you guys on blast, dang it!

Next, let's talk food:
This year's menu was also done on a bigger scale as I had a team of cooks. MBN to be me! Seriously, I'm a lucky guy to have somehow been able to convince my mother, wife, sister-in-law, father-in-law, and mother-in-law to cook stuff for the event. SubhanAllah! May Allah protect all of them and give them endless joy and success always. Ameen! Because of this team that I assembled, the dessert menu in particular and the "iftari table" as well were more stacked than usual with things like pakoras, 150 samosas (aloo, keema, and cheese varieties), homemade dip (well, everything was homemade), juices, dahi baray, cholay, grasshoppers (the square mint green stuff), Oreo chocolate ice cream cake, graham cracker pudding thing, peanut butter brownies, orange creamsicle, and even a Hydro dish. All that, mashaAllah, plus the main meals of meatball/egg salan, chicken pulao (rice), rita, another salan dish, bindi (okra), daal, and spaghetti (namely for the Arabs!).

Just take a look at this picture of a bunch of the guys swooping around the table like vultures when it came to dessert. While I didn't capture it on film, this crowd later morphed from a flock of swooning vultures into a ferocious horde of lions waiting to pounce on its prey as my wife and sisters kept taking out more desserts (with the assault led by Sarosh)...


Animals, I tell you!

Okay, so we all know the food is the only reason people take time to fill out applications for the Passport to Plainfield. Now let's get into some of the highlight reels, shall we?

1) First and foremost is Thabraize's and Mumu's financial hour. T&A Accounting was apparently a major sponsor in hosting last night's Iftar party as he was given the floor in explaining how to work the system (legally, too, supposedly). I'm looking into getting a transcript to post later on because summarizing what Thabraize and Mustafa said would require at least a 10 page blog entry. This was the only point of the evening where someone unconditionally had the floor as we all sat in silence. Except for Riyality, of course, and his always hysterical quips (i.e. calling Thabraize cheap because Thabraize gets 1 mile per dollar spent on his credit card whereas The Riyality Show gets like a million miles per dollar spent or something like that...).

2) While this year's party had the most attendees, the usual number of people that stayed past midnight was notably less than in the past. MAD props to Sami and Samir for coming back from taraweeh after the taraweeh they attended ended at 1am. And also to Farooq and Quad for coming back from the city! Now that's love and dedication, man. I am still in disbelief, however, that Irfan and SIM left so early last night. Usually, they're always down to bang until the wee hours of the night. I guess they're officially on lock-down. As SIM left with his head down slowly walking back to his car, Quad was just coming back into the house and told him that "Pac is the new SIM!" (SIM didn't take that lightly and told us jokingly to "Go to hell." Fortunately, hell/shaytan is locked up this month!)

3) The last guests (Sami, Samir, and Awais) left at 3am. And in yearly time-honored fashion, I did in fact remove my shirt for the viewing pleasure of all. However, this year, I waited until the end to do so as what I'm sure Samir and Sami will regard as a royal treat. As an aside, the past two years the Iftar party went up to Fajr, but to my wife's appreciation, it didn't this year. Next year, I will chain some of the guys to the basement to make up for it...

4) I beat both Quad and Awais in Madden. Effortlessly.

5) As all of you know when you read my Evite, I always mention an option of praying taraweeh at home. Let's face it, this is more of a joke and never manifests. But this year, my BIL, HP, lead a handful of the guys in taraweeh in the basement, mashaAllah. Alhamdullilah, a phenom blessing.

So there's probably many other quotes or events of the night that took place that deserve mention on the blog, but the best part time-after-time is the brotherhood factor. As Muslims, we're blessed to have such a high regard and love for brotherhood and to me this is what I love seeing. I love sitting back at times to watch everyone have a good time. Allah has blessed me with some of the best of company, so much love to all you. May Allah protect you all, give you good health, happiness, and a long and successful life in the footsteps of the Beloved Rasool (sw). May Allah bring you all -- all of us -- closer to Him and His Prophet (sw). Allah huma sali Allah Muhammad. Ameen!

Alright, feel free to comment your own highlight reels or anything else you want to add in. MAD JZK to everyone for coming through with special shot out to my brother Umar and his wife Nida for flying in from Providence, RI mainly in honor of this tradition, mashaAllah! It wouldn't have been the same without you.

Please keep me & the family in your duas, fellas.


Until next Ramadhaan!