Sex, Ducks and Fire

First, the fire portion! That's my hand after playing in some of the sooty stuff that's come floating down in our yard.



Next, not a duck, a mocking bird. My dog has killed several of these guys. Not the Pomeranian, my Shiba Inu. He's our 'great white hunter'.



Duck on a flag pole.



Ducks.



Same ducks, a little closer.



Same ducks, closer still.

I actually got parallel to them, but they flew off before I could get the picture.

That's all...

Oh, wait, I said something about sex, you say?

I can't believe I....

Well...okay, if you insist.

Kids out of the room?

I give you....sex!

Lizard love!

First time my dad saw these two, he thought they were fighting. This same pair keeps mating on our pool screen. It's embarrassing.

Dear Universe,

I long for the days of arranged marriages.

Dating sucks.

Jilbab

EDIT: You can still give me opinions, cause I like to hear 'em, but I splurged and bought both! I'm weak.

Opinion time again! Because really, that's why ya'll're here, is so I can bounce fashion choices off you. ;-)

I present, two jilbab. Well, according to the site, one abaya and one jilbab. Though, if what I've understood from some posts on the subject at Pixie's site, both are Qur'anic jilbab, but the styles have been given differing names, i.e. abaya and jilbab. I know, not something you needed to know. *hand wavey*

Wrap abaya:




Very basic, but I still like it, and I *believe* it's the same kind that I've seen on Coffee Catholic.

Hooded jilbab:




Ummm...it's gotta hood. Doesn't that make everyone happy?

Both of these are from Al-Mujalbaba.

Both are basically the same price, and both come in a size that will fit me. Also, both come in a variety of colors. Um, yeah. So. Thoughts?

Also, I blame Coffee Catholic for this. *points finger in direction of Scotland* This is all your fault!

Documentary: A Time for Burning

This was something I accidentally came across, recorded, and just got around to watching last night. To be perfectly honest, there was no description information on the tv, so I thought it might have been about the Salem Witch Trials or something. Turns out it was about race relations in 1960's Omaha. Slightly different.

It was very, very good. Fairly short, maybe 50 minutes. The basic premise is this: A Lutheran pastor (Rev. L. William Youngdahl) wants to begin integrating his white church. Now, it's not like he picked up a couple of black families and plopped them into his congregation with no warning. He was going through the board, the proper channels - what he wanted to do, as a first step, was set up a sort of exchange program. Put two or three of their families together with two or three families from the black Lutheran church in town. Let them get to know each other. Because, as he says in the film, most of his congregants don't even *know* anyone who's not white.

It goes about as well as you'd expect, and the pastor winds up resigning. There's no violence or anything, at least not that's recorded in the film, or anything that I could read about it. It's just... well. I'm one, I think, if at all possible, everyone should read/listen/watch a thing, rather than have it described to them, or even read a summary. I was going to just recommend that, should you get the chance, you watch it, but then I found the whole thing on YouTube.

So, here you go:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUvlzk2tvaY

Also, here's the link to the Wikipedia article on it: A Time for Burning. I know, Wikipedia, but I read the article, and it matches what I found other places, and has it in the nicest, most concise format.

And this is the quote that stuck with me (it also happens to be quoted in the Wikipedia article - which just proves how striking it is): "This one lady said to me, pastor, she said, I want them to have everything I have, I want God to bless them as much as He blesses me, but, she says, pastor, I just can't be in the same room with them, it just bothers me."

Birthdays and Technical Hijab Difficulties

I turned 27 on Friday. Go team me!

My family has never made a huge deal out of birthdays. When we were kids, we'd have small parties, presents, cake, etc. It was fun, but as we've gotten older, it's been more, 'what do you want'. And I don't do parties. So...very quiet. I got swag, which is always nice. Penguin stuff, mostly cutesy, though my friend Eve brought me back a porcelain penguin from Russia. And my new camera was a bday present from my parents, though I am not 'ept enough to use it properly.

We went out to dinner with my Grandmother (mother's mother).

What did I decide to do for the first time on my birthday?

Wear khimar properly outside my house. I was...semi-hijab, let's say, because I'm certain that an actual Muslim would point out several 'deficiencies' in my outfit. But I covered the basic bases. Loose slacks, a dress over that that hits below my knees, a long sleeve shirt under the dress, etc. And then the khimar. Underscarf, and then just wrap and pin. Very simple, covering the chest, etc. I sort of decided to do this on the fly, so I didn't have any pins, or even safety pins. When I wear them at home, in the yard, I just clip it closed with a barrette.

I decided to use an earring. I mean, it's basically just a short little pin, right? And with the back, it should work. But, just to be safe, I brought along two barrettes in case something went wrong, or I decided to switch it back to the way I usually wear it.

Walk out the door:

Mom - I don't like it that way, it makes your face look fat.

*ponder in the car, since I'm not driving*

Me - Okay, but since I *am* fat, so what? So, Mom, I'm just going to ignore you. (Which is what I actually said to her)

*pick up grandmother*

Grammy - You know I don't like you covering your hair.

Me - It's my head. (Seriously, I've tried explaining, but it doesn't sink in. You have to know the woman)

*driving some more* *earring pops out, back is lost to the netherrealms of the truck seats*

Me - Bugger.

So, I fixed it in the car, putting it back the way I usually do, which leaves the front of my neck and whatever chest isn't covered by my top exposed. Which, given the clothes I wear, isn't a lot or anything.

We ate dinner, dropped Grammy back at her place, and then my parents decided to stop at Sams. So, I decided to try again, and redid it, 'pinning' it with one of the barrettes. Not the most fashionable of things, but it didn't clash, and it held.

Secondary technical difficulty - I tend to walk at a purposeful, brisk pace. This causes the two ends of the scarf to sort of fly up and back. Clearly, it needs to be pinned down there as well.

I'm pretty sure people stared, but to be honest I just ignored them. It didn't make me nervous, I didn't feel weird, just sort of unhappy that my experiment was marred by the 'technical difficulties'. I'll do it again, but better prepared next time.

New Camera, Hijab, Niqab

New Camera, why are you fuzzy? I suppose I must read the instructions... :)

However, I like this outfit, the funky pink top, black undershirt and jean skirt. Opinions? Despite the fuzziness, for which my techno-ineptness is to blame, I am certain.

Also, what is it about niqab? It's just...beautiful...seriously, I try it on, and it's like a whole 'nother person...

What does it say that I think this is my favorite picture of myself?

second pic a little fuzzy, yes, because, you know, camera issues...

Children and Modesty

I've been thinking about children recently. I don't have any, of course, but I do pray that one day I'll marry and have children.


Really, though, what's come to mind recently is that, not only do we need to, as parents, or even just adults in the world, need to set an example. Children learn by example, they want to imitate their parents, or their favorite aunt or uncle, a teacher. You get the point. :)

The whole world is oversexed, less (cloth) is more, etc. While I feel that children do need to be taught the 'facts of life' and the proper names for sex organs (this is for, God forbid, sexual abuse issues - if a child knows what a penis is, what a vagina is, then they don't need to resort to euphemisms, and can tell a parent or another adult when there is inappropriate touching and exactly what was happening). But they need to be taught these things in the proper way, not just exposed to nudity and sex and violence all mixed up together. However, it doesn't even stop there. Have you looked at kids clothes lately? They're mini versions of adult clothes, which aren't all that modest in the first place, and then, it seems like we think we can dress kids in even just a little bit less, because they're kids, and they don't know sex yet. And that's where we fail, in so many ways. They're kids, and they sure as hell *shouldn't* have any idea about sex in that respect, but they do, because we've allowed it to permeate everything in our society.

Because I'm a big believer in visual aids:

JonBenet Ramsey. I only use her picture because I'm wary of using just some random kids pic, in some of those pageant outfits. And this was one of the less sexualized pics I could find! Do I really need to explain what's wrong with this?

And a small variety of modest clothes for girls. A little Muslim, a little Amish, and just some others. Okay, the Victorian style dress might be a little much, but I thought it was pretty! :)

(Aren't they just *so cute*!)

(This is from a site called Biblical Garden)

(This & the next two are from Katie's Mercantile)








Also, because it's just an example of someone missing the point:




A skin tight t-shirt advocating Christian modesty. *headdesk*


So, if I have a point, I think it's this: We need to, not only set an example for our children of what is and is not acceptable in terms of dress and our actions, but we need to start them out from the beginning! You can't dress your kid up like a hooker and then expect them to dress modestly once puberty hits! They're going to be facing enough trouble in the world, why are we adding to it?