6 Words Only

Can you tell the story of your life in JUST 6 words ? Think about it , you can only use 6 words to describe you and your life story . I challenge you to do just that . Read my contribution below . Write yours in the comment section at the end of this post . You may do it anonymously if you wish .


Good chick went wild, good again !

Tag .. you are it !

Talks on Prisoners Release

I hesitated to write on this subject knowing full well I might be opening Pandora's box of very nasty surprises , but I felt I had to comment on Libya's proposed action to release some Islamist rebels from prison . Saif Al Islam Ghaddafi , chairperson for The International Foundation, is currently in negotiations with an Al Quada- affiliated Islamist rebel group to release some of it's members that are in prison .

As a foreigner living here , married to a Libyan , mother to Libyans , grand mother to Libyans , I am frightened to know this may come about . Used to be , being a Muslim was a natural thing here . There was no compulsion in religion to be extreme . I mean everyone is Muslim here . The Christain foreigner's working here , or the occasional Christian married to a Libyan are the exception to the rule , but they are treated with respect and are allowed to worship as they wish . They are not allowed to evangelize though . But more and more on the streets here in Tripoli you will see men with short Arabic style dress , all rumpled , many times not too clean looking even though the clothing most be clean to pray in , short pants , long unkempt breads , menacing glares towards people in general , women singled out for the " special " look . If you try to engage them in a conversation they act as if you are the bane of Righteousness . Sometimes in tow , you will see a woman covered from head to toe in swaths of BLACK material ,with a veil shielding her face from view . This is a relatively new affection one didn't see here in Libya before maybe the mid 1990's . Women dressed however they felt like either traditionally or "western" , the same for men .They still do , don't get me wrong . But this growing group is pushing this form of dress on others , onto people that don't necessarily agree with them . Much like the Taila-bad in Afghanistan did with the baraka .

This is alarming ... WHY ? Because these people ( here I loosely use this term ) are generally the NEW MUSLIM RIGHT and they , I have noticed when ever I have occasion to engage them in conversation, are the Extremist that want radical change in the Muslim world , if not the entire world . They are NOT tolerant of other views , cultures , or religions .They think like many other closed minded groups through out history , that if you are not with them , then you are their enemy .

Where ever they have the power ( Pakistan , Afghanistan , Iran etc....) then chaos follows in government and civilian life , with the collapse of the economy . Women and children seem to pay the price with loss of simple freedoms such as education and for some reason , medical care . I find the frequency of the NEW MUSLIMS RIGHT converts down right scary . They are so black and white in their dealings and thoughts with the world ,no grey anywhere . No give or take with them . I am not alone in this feeling. This isn't just a foreigners feeling either . I hear Libyans expressing their concern also .They are too cautious to vocalize loudly their fears due to their concern over this groups growing power in the society . This is a potential future problem taking root now .Hopefully it can be worked out without jeopardizing religious freedoms we have now .

Pink Floyd , Babies , And Nowhere To Go

Last week was one of those weeks when so much was panned and nothing got done . Don't you just hate it when that happens ?Like running in place , never got that , why run if you aren't going somewhere in the process .

A friend and I have planned a trip to the mountains for a year. I was charged , ready to go , made all kinds of arrangements for the trip . Juggled around Moe's schedule to make sure he was ok , only to find out at the 12th hour it was no go . I was disappointed to say the least but , you know , stuff happens so , next time .

I needed to go grocery shopping , which at the best of times isn't a while lot of fun here . For one thing you can't count on a consistent supply of consumer goods . That means one time you go shopping and you can find ... oh , maybe peanut butter , but not syrup .Then the next time there aren't any of those items but something else that you have waited for a long time . Currently on my list is Worcestershire sauce . It was a staple all last year and now I can't find it anywhere , sigh ! So , this too is turning out not to be such smooth sailing task to accomplish, as simple as it should be , it hasn't been . I still haven't made it to those shopping aisles , yet more delays .

My grandson was quite ill this last week, also . Hopefully he will be better soon . Nothing too serious but with little ones even small things can get out of hand if not closely monitored . So that sorta sums up my week ; stop and start , red light , green light, hurry up to go no where .

We did get some wonderful news this week . My youngest daughter went for her 5th month maternity check up to see her baby's sex by a ultra sound . She is having a lovely little girl !!! Can't tell you how thrilled we were to learn all is well with her and the baby .

On a bright note ..... Music Lover sent a comment to my post " A Special Present" ... Pink Floyd's song " Coming Back To Life " . You can listen to it here . I did . I hadn't heard this before and as usual Pink Floyd "speaks " to my heart . Love them !!!! I went to YouTube and listened to a few of my favorite Pink Floyd songs and watched their videos .Here is one of my all time favorites " Comfortably Numb". "Sorrow" is a haunting tune . Well , lets just face it , there will never be anything like Pink Floyd's music ever again . The music resonates through you as it connects to your soul . Pink Floyd has pulled me through some pretty bad times in the past . Floyd RULES !

What Does Your Car Say ?

I just read this hilarious article in Forbes magazine describing what signals your car sends out to others . I thought the whole time I was reading it what kind of mixed messages my car must send out to all that share the road with me .

I have a grey /silver Mitsubishi 4 door sedan .The side mirrors have been smashed out by persons unknown . Then there are dents , scratches , gouges ,bashes , and last but not least .... the whole right side that has been caved in by a man in a hurry . Sat . dishes have made artistic dashes across my hood as they tumbled down from the tops of the surrounding Condo's in storms past .I have a large dent in the rear bumper due to a taxi driver not looking where he was driving ... right up my , well I guess I can't really say where he was going but you get my meaning huh ? The left back fender has a scrape that was a gift from someones son that was upset when I didn't move out of his way fast enough for him . I got whip lash from that one . A man drinking his morning coffee proceeded to plow right into my front fender as he stared right into my eyes . I won't forget him anytime soon , tee hee !

I have to drive like man here in Libya , sorta like Texas Hold Um poker , no holds barred !Once , a man was trying to squeeze me into a wall so he could pass me on a one lane alley. I had to ask him , " Honey , do you think that is a wise decision ? I mean , look at my car . Do you think I am afraid of a little ole wall ?" His eyes twitched . I knew he would give way .

A Special Present

Moe's birthday is the day before Valentines Day . He used to remember Valentines Day every year by giving the kids and I a box of candy each , sometimes flowers or something personal for me. Many times we would go out for dinner and dancing . It was all very romantic and it also served to redeem his lack of memory when it came to anniversary's , birthdays ,holidays , and other special days . I would tease him and say he only remembered it because it came the day AFTER his birthday . He would smile his " I am a devil and you love it " smile never denying the charges .

That was when we lived in the States . We moved back to Libya in 1990 . The dances and dinners no longer where celebrated by outings to restaurants or clubs . We cooked dinners at home and danced around in the living room to the radio/ cassette player we managed to "borrow" from my brother in law . There were no clubs and restaurant's were so exorbitantly over priced we never thought about going out . Candy was a faint memory as it was on the embargo list for some weird reason known only to governments . If you did find candy back in the 1990's it was usually way over priced and well beyond it's pass due date, not something affordable for a family of 6, nor desirable either .

Then as the sanctions were lightened up here and consumer goods were allowed to enter the country things became available to some degree , but still too expensive . About that time my husband became ill and was unable to work because of his heart .I worked and my lovely daughters worked . We got by , things looked up .

Slowly but surely we started to rebuild our lives after we lost our home here in Tripoli to a new road that was being built . They came to knock down our house one day , wanted us to move out of a 3,ooo sq, ft. house with 5 bedrooms , 2 living rooms , 2 large entry rooms , a huge kitchen , with a dinning room , 2 baths , and 3 storage rooms , into a 2 bedroom apartment in 2 days ! Just imagine ! Somehow and not without a lot of hard work on my daughters part , did we manage to do this .

Then my husband had a major stroke . We thought he would die . It took many months of long hard hours of rehabilitating physiotherapy for Moe to return to some normalcy . He had a second stroke 2 years later . He again had to re-enter the world of physiotherapy because this time he had been partly paralyzed on the right side. His memory never returned to what it used to be , although he has continued to make great strides towards improvement even now . So forgotten birthdays , anniversary's , and Valentines Days are the norm , never given any special thought .This year he remembered Valentines Day all on his own . He came to me and said he had a present for me . He gave me a big kiss , he said it was to celebrate Valentines Day . The loveliest kiss I ever had ,the best present of all !

Wanted....

Wanted !

Be on the look out for :
A fat baby angel carrying a bow and arrow set with him.
He has soft curly golden hair , big blue eyes.
He goes by the alias of Cupid .
Anyone seeing this being should approach with caution !
Known to inflict LOVE on anyone he shoots with His arrow !

Happy Valentines Day to all you Lovers out there !

A Quiz For You

Here is a quiz that Khadijateri sent to me . I think you'll be surprised at who you will find compatible , politically speaking . I sure did , and how ! I need to go rethink a few things , lol ! Here is a different one I found in The Houston Post . It is a little more involved , but equally reveling .

"You might find this interesting - answer 10 questions at http://www.votechoo ser.com and find out which presidential candidate is most similar to you!"

Not Your Daddy's Country

I think I am gonna live , well , maybe . Still recovering from the flu that I had all last week .It has settled into my chest . I thought I was gonna die a couple of times . I remember thinking once or twice it might not be such a bad thing if I did .

So, in between sleeping and coughing up my lungs last week , I played cards on the computer to pass the time . I like to listen to music at the same time . This was perfect. A while back a friend had given me a load of mixed music to download onto my computer .I have been lazy, never getting around to breaking it up into genre's . SO , while listening to the music , I decided I would do just that , categorizing hard rock , rock , indie , jazz, blues , classical , and country into separate files .

Aaaah , I rediscovered country . Never was a big country fan growing up , and really never found it interesting until the whole Urban Cowboy thing came along in the 80's. Of course everyone in Houston became a cowboy when John Travolta came to town and Mickey Gilly's to film that movie , even me . I had a hat, boots, the whole nine yards ! But so did all of Houston , even the Yuppies ! LOL ! But after the fad passed I put the hat in the hat box on the top shelf of my closet to gather dust out of sight . That was my very short lived affair , well not a affair really, it was more like a flirtation, with country music .

I sat listening to all these different genre of music sneezing , snuffling among a mountain of crumpled tissues, coughing until I was blue in the face ,when I had a Eureka moment ! I rediscovered the NEW COUNTRY music . It is New and definitely Improved . I heard all about "Acky Breaky Heart"s , "Boot Scootting Boogie"s , saying "Good Bye To Earl".One husband asked his self "What Kinda Gone" was his wife talking about as she slammed the door on her way out . I heard THE song , the one that spoke to me ( truthfully , I ashamedly admit there were a ton of these ! LOL ) but this one made me remember all those times when I wanted to say "Gone " to Moe , too . It made me laugh . A woman declares she is out the door and on her way "Down In Mississippi Up To No Good" . Sort of a Thelma and Louise thing with her and her friends. I became reacquainted with "I Love A Rainy Night" which brought back a flood of wonderful memories of rainy nights gone by . A different song finds another husband worrying how "Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off " when he hears his wife is going to have a Girls Night Out . Country has come a long way from Your Daddy's country music . I tried to include links so you could enjoy these songs too , but didn't manager to get it to work . Maybe if you haven't already heard these songs you might investigate them on your own and find a whole new world waiting for your adventurous soul .

Warp Speed To Space

Did you know that the native Americans ( Indians) have names for the full moons ? They say there is a rock on Mars that looks like a womans body .Click on this link to find all sorts of events that will take place this month in the night sky . Here is a link to the solar and lunar eclipses for 2008 . There is a special prayer in the Quran just for a full solar eclipse .Thats pretty interesting huh ?

If you find any of these above topics fascinating like I do , then you might want to take a look at the Space web sight . They have all sorts of things listed ; space walks , missions in outer space ,meteor near hits to Earth , asteroids , astronomy basics 101 , Images of The Day shots of the Cosmos , among a whole host of other things . Have fun discovering the Universe ! If you scroll ALL the way to the bottom of my blog you will find a map of the starry sky widget . You can click on the widget to change the sky setting to you're location any where in the world .