Braaaaaaains.......

Live and learn

During the month of Ramadan, muslims (even those who are not terribly devout) refrain from food, water, tobacco, and sex during the hours that the sun is up. Also expected to abstain are infidels working in muslim countries. So thid means in practice that if you eat, you have to hide in your office.

Now the fun part: gum is included in this. Its like being back in Chicora Elementary....no gum allowed. This will be very tough for me.

The holiday doesn't make a lot of sense, but most don't. Once, as I explained Easter in the US I was asked, "wait, so the rabbit was resurrected?"

From the "What the ..." File.

On the right hand side of my blog is an advertisement. Today, that banner is for "Scientology.org". I'd love to know what keyword in my blog made the google ad-bots decide readers of qataristry LOVE the L. Ron Hubbard.

Ramadan is coming.

First a cute Henry picture.

Next, Nicole and I are looking for a charity for Ramadan. We're not going native, but we haven't really given this year, so with the local focus on charity during the holy month, we though there was no better time than the present. Any suggestions?

What could possibly go wrong?

Wow.

This may be the snuggliest thing I have ever seen.

Quick Funny

So, Nicole and I were comparing childhoods tonight as we bathed Henry. I mentioned that as a small boy I had a beaver skull as a toy, which had been given to me by my Uncle Ron, a noted fur trapper. I then stated that I'd have to see if I could find it to give to Henry when he got a little older. It was at this moment that I noticed Nicole looking at me as if I were mad.

This happens perhaps more often than you would think. Apparently, many of my stories from childhood strike Nicole as a bit odd, although it usually would not occur to me that anything is weird until I tell the tale and see a reaction. This does not mean she is approving or disapproving, but rather she just notices that they are not common experiences. (For example, it never struck me as odd that my parents wouldn't let me sleep over at other kid's houses at 14, but would let me travel as a carnival worker at that age.)

We discussed it briefly, and I used the standard "but I grew up in small town PA" excuse, which Nicole countered with the (true) statement that she did as well. Nevertheless, I though a beaver skull was a reasonable toy and Nicole thought it should be part of the serial killer training set. I tried to explain this difference in background agreeably by noting:

"Yeah, but you grew up ethnic."

Bubbles bubbles bubbles

H. Stockton in his bubble hat.