Long time, no write, not good
I'm forcing myself to sit down and write. It's been way too long since I wrote a blog and I've been finding it difficult to settle down and write something. I just haven't been in the mood but that will have to wait for a F/O post.
Updates? Well, my sore throat grew into a bad case of bronchitis and I really just started feeling back to normal last week. That's part of why I haven't been writing - I couldn't concentrate enough to get words to paper or digits ;-) Unfortunately though that makes things worse since I don't have an outlet. You know that feeling like your creativity has been stifled? Then you think, well no wonder. I haven't been doing anything creative. That's where I am.
I've been reading a lot. I finished Reza Aslan's No god but God. I highly recommend this to everyone for the incredible education it gave me in the history of Islam and early C.E. Arabia. For that alone, the book is worth a read. Alas, it failed to give me the hope in modern Islam that I expected. There are some problems with the book - for instance, he completely ignores the history of Muslim atrocities in India while trying to make the point that Islam isn't really violent and while I've never believed that it is (people are violent, not religions persay) this intellectual dishonesty ruins his thesis. I'll write more about this at a later date.
I'm currently reading Bart Ehrman's Misquoting Jesus which I also highly recommend. It traces the history of New Testament book manuscripts from the earliest days of Christianity, highlighting the massive number of changes that were made especially early on. Ehrman started out as a strict fundamentalist/evangelical but changed his mind after realizing that the hundreds of thousands of contradictions contained in these books makes it impossible to know what the original words were. There's a good write up about his impeccable qualifications here. I'm itching to read more of his books as well.
I've been listening to a lot of music lately. Pulled out the Nick Drake again and I've been listening to that a lot. Also, the Eurythmics and solo Annie Lennox since Dave Stewart started blogging at Intentblog. (How cool is that??)
I ordered a new belly ring online but I'm going to have to send it back since there's no bend in the shaft. After some bizarre emails, they've finally agreed to take it back. Not sure if they're giving me a store credit or a refund though. It was only about 8 pounds (U.K. site) so I won't be too pissed if I can't get my money back but the jewel is simply not wearable in that condition. It's too bad though because it's sooo purdy.
Lots of shopping as well... tops mostly but also a pretty skirt. I need new sandals but the ones I want (Doc Marten slides) aren't in the stores here and I can't order from the U.S. or European sites. I'm going to see if a local merchant can do a special order for me. I don't know about the rest of you but I'm having trouble finding clothes and shoes that I like. And since I hate going from store to store browsing, I'm not a happy shopper at present. I think I'm going to order some hair sticks from Maiden's Treasures - has anyone else ordered from them? Were you happy with them? I've also picked out some barrettes and clips from the Hair Boutique and will be ordering them soon.
So much spending. I even bought lavender-coloured bed sheets :-)
Updates? Well, my sore throat grew into a bad case of bronchitis and I really just started feeling back to normal last week. That's part of why I haven't been writing - I couldn't concentrate enough to get words to paper or digits ;-) Unfortunately though that makes things worse since I don't have an outlet. You know that feeling like your creativity has been stifled? Then you think, well no wonder. I haven't been doing anything creative. That's where I am.
I've been reading a lot. I finished Reza Aslan's No god but God. I highly recommend this to everyone for the incredible education it gave me in the history of Islam and early C.E. Arabia. For that alone, the book is worth a read. Alas, it failed to give me the hope in modern Islam that I expected. There are some problems with the book - for instance, he completely ignores the history of Muslim atrocities in India while trying to make the point that Islam isn't really violent and while I've never believed that it is (people are violent, not religions persay) this intellectual dishonesty ruins his thesis. I'll write more about this at a later date.
I'm currently reading Bart Ehrman's Misquoting Jesus which I also highly recommend. It traces the history of New Testament book manuscripts from the earliest days of Christianity, highlighting the massive number of changes that were made especially early on. Ehrman started out as a strict fundamentalist/evangelical but changed his mind after realizing that the hundreds of thousands of contradictions contained in these books makes it impossible to know what the original words were. There's a good write up about his impeccable qualifications here. I'm itching to read more of his books as well.
I've been listening to a lot of music lately. Pulled out the Nick Drake again and I've been listening to that a lot. Also, the Eurythmics and solo Annie Lennox since Dave Stewart started blogging at Intentblog. (How cool is that??)
I ordered a new belly ring online but I'm going to have to send it back since there's no bend in the shaft. After some bizarre emails, they've finally agreed to take it back. Not sure if they're giving me a store credit or a refund though. It was only about 8 pounds (U.K. site) so I won't be too pissed if I can't get my money back but the jewel is simply not wearable in that condition. It's too bad though because it's sooo purdy.
Lots of shopping as well... tops mostly but also a pretty skirt. I need new sandals but the ones I want (Doc Marten slides) aren't in the stores here and I can't order from the U.S. or European sites. I'm going to see if a local merchant can do a special order for me. I don't know about the rest of you but I'm having trouble finding clothes and shoes that I like. And since I hate going from store to store browsing, I'm not a happy shopper at present. I think I'm going to order some hair sticks from Maiden's Treasures - has anyone else ordered from them? Were you happy with them? I've also picked out some barrettes and clips from the Hair Boutique and will be ordering them soon.
So much spending. I even bought lavender-coloured bed sheets :-)