Scientific Progress Goes Boink...
I read an amazing article today-- about a Muslim woman who very clearly states everything she considers wrong with Islam & how Muslims need to stop the violence. It sums up much of what I think about it all, too. (You may have to register for the New York times to read the article. It's free & they only send you e-mails if you allow them to but it is annoying).
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/11/international/middleeast/11sultan.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin
Even better than the article is the clip of the interview of the clip with her on al-Jazeera-- http://www.memritv.org/search.asp?ACT=S9&P1=1050 .
One thing she says in the interview that's not mentioned in the article is "It is a clash between those who treat women like beasts and those who treat them like human beings", which has long been my core issue with Islam. Also not mentioned in the article is that after she comments about how the Jews forced the world to respect them through knowledge & skill after WW2 rather than by violence, she goes on to comment about the destruction of the Buddhas in Afghanistan & how no Buddhists destroyed a Mosque as a result.
As if to prove her point, since the interview on al-Jazeera, her answering machine's been recording a lot of death threats.
That wasn't what I was going to write about when I opened this update. The Times article happened to be one of the big 3 in the e-mail adition of the NYTimes that I get in my e-mail every day.
Instead, I was going to write about my brain. When I was at my Mom's the other night, she said that my mood seemed much better recently. I've certainly felt much better. Brain's not so noisy, able to think so much clearer & get things done that need to be done (although the stack of dishes is still looming in the kitchen, but those will get taken care of tonight). I think it's because I finally feel like we're on the right track with getting my brain shit under control. So I can be a fully-functioning person again. That's what I want more than anything else in the world right now.
I've been debating on what my last piece for the semester will be- I've got one planned that's for my Mom about her pride in us kids & how we've turned out. And I've got another that's about me finally being out of the darkness that I've been trapped in for so long. Both pieces will be done- just a question of when. "Into the Light" seems to be winning, partially because I like thinking about the fact that I'm happier & partially because it's technically a much simpler piece- only one hing, only one latch instead of a series of hinges & latches. And technical simplicity seems like a nice break after all the techinical issues with my last two pieces. Plus, "Into the Light" seems like it'd make a good "postcard" piece. I can get a couple of good photos of it & have postcards printed up that I can send out to galleries & such. Put stickers on them announcing when my show's opening is & send them out to friends. That sort of thing.
Hmmm....
Edit: Also meant to mention that there's flowers coming up right by the door to my apartment. Don't know what they are yet- daffodils or crocuses, most likely- but it's neat to have them. It actually seems like spring around here lately, when we're usually still buried in snow. Whee!
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/11/international/middleeast/11sultan.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin
Even better than the article is the clip of the interview of the clip with her on al-Jazeera-- http://www.memritv.org/search.asp?ACT=S9&P1=1050 .
One thing she says in the interview that's not mentioned in the article is "It is a clash between those who treat women like beasts and those who treat them like human beings", which has long been my core issue with Islam. Also not mentioned in the article is that after she comments about how the Jews forced the world to respect them through knowledge & skill after WW2 rather than by violence, she goes on to comment about the destruction of the Buddhas in Afghanistan & how no Buddhists destroyed a Mosque as a result.
As if to prove her point, since the interview on al-Jazeera, her answering machine's been recording a lot of death threats.
That wasn't what I was going to write about when I opened this update. The Times article happened to be one of the big 3 in the e-mail adition of the NYTimes that I get in my e-mail every day.
Instead, I was going to write about my brain. When I was at my Mom's the other night, she said that my mood seemed much better recently. I've certainly felt much better. Brain's not so noisy, able to think so much clearer & get things done that need to be done (although the stack of dishes is still looming in the kitchen, but those will get taken care of tonight). I think it's because I finally feel like we're on the right track with getting my brain shit under control. So I can be a fully-functioning person again. That's what I want more than anything else in the world right now.
I've been debating on what my last piece for the semester will be- I've got one planned that's for my Mom about her pride in us kids & how we've turned out. And I've got another that's about me finally being out of the darkness that I've been trapped in for so long. Both pieces will be done- just a question of when. "Into the Light" seems to be winning, partially because I like thinking about the fact that I'm happier & partially because it's technically a much simpler piece- only one hing, only one latch instead of a series of hinges & latches. And technical simplicity seems like a nice break after all the techinical issues with my last two pieces. Plus, "Into the Light" seems like it'd make a good "postcard" piece. I can get a couple of good photos of it & have postcards printed up that I can send out to galleries & such. Put stickers on them announcing when my show's opening is & send them out to friends. That sort of thing.
Hmmm....
Edit: Also meant to mention that there's flowers coming up right by the door to my apartment. Don't know what they are yet- daffodils or crocuses, most likely- but it's neat to have them. It actually seems like spring around here lately, when we're usually still buried in snow. Whee!