a roaring of white in my ears, separating the sounds of the earth. too long on the tractor today, cottonwood seeds in the air, the hissing of summer lawns. it is possible to see the north american Lawn as a mighty edifice, an altar and an imperial arch, the mark of triumphalist histories: here passed Man, here he bent the land to his stern will, here he conquered the earth, here he made for himself a colony of light in the wilderness. metaphysics of the Plough.
turf we tend, guard jealously against foreign invasions: we have inherited these structures, they waste our efforts and those of earth: they have no Point, they have no Reason For Being. to sit on lawns and play croquet, afternoon tea: these the marks of aristocracy. leftovers, these are what we have, and yet we spend so much time, resources, upkeeping green grass because it pleases our colonized aesthetic sense, or else simply because it is there to do: because we have inherited them we will maintain them.
..my eyes are bloodshot, i need to sleep. outside physical-work as therapy, as release. usman holds fistfulls of my hair when on my shoulders ("ich will hisan sitzen! bittebittebittebittebitte!").
however. i'd said no posts till mid-july, so the reason for this postmortem up-throwal is to say i am slowly (ever-so) moving some pictures to flickr.
secondly: i please very need reading-suggestions. fiction, factoidal, poetry, prose, whatever - i cannot seem to actually read anything. i start it, i am interested, i read twenty, thirty, forty pages, but then - can't pick it up again. this is not a rational situation, reading is a great love, but by now i have tried everything from manicom to dh.lawrence to marquez to gabrielle roy to marcel proust to obscure texts on orientalist poetics and stream-of-consciousness technique in the modern novel - none of these seem to hold. help, then? even the random lurkers should suggest.
..but. till july.
say goodbye to alexandra leaving
and then our exile
Monday, June 19, 2006 at 11:34 p.m.
SStudios said...
Men's Health
Striker (soccer magazine)
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SStudios said...
"muntaka wanted to take pictures rather than join us in honest work."
- photography IS honest work :@
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said...
'The Cartoon History of the Universe'
seriously.
it has a nice annotated bibliography too. borrow from me if you like. cartoons, so it's a quick read.
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basit said...
muntaqa - "men's health"? "striker"? i am considering publicly disowning you. photography is honest work but not when there are other people sweating with axes and bowsaws.
j - honestly? alright. (: i'll probably be at the mce on friday..
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said...
how can you talk about other things?? we lost yesterday!!!!
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said...
no prob. alternatively, if you have time, come to my place friday evening - there will be barbeque.
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The Wayward Seeker said...
Salaams Akhi...
Its been far too long. Hope all is well with you, the fam and the farm.
As per some interesting readings...
Non-Fiction:
(ECONOMICS/CORPORATE CULTURE)
The Corporation : The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power -> Joel Bakan
(ECONOMICS)
The Great Transformation -> Karl Polanyi
(Yes...I know...Economics...but this is an important facet of society...and one that has been largely ignored by many Muslims...+ Polanyi provides an extremely interesting counterpoint to Milton Friedman [shudder])
(POLITICS)
The Mighty and the Almighty: Reflections on America, God, and World Affairs -> Madeleine Albright
(LINGUISTICS? PHILOSOPHY?)
On Bullshit -> Harry G. Frankfurt
(SEX-TRADE WORKERS)
The Natashas: Inside the New Global Sex Trade -> Victor Malarek
Fiction:
One Hundred Years of Solitude -> Gabriel Marquez
Miguel Street -> V.S. Naipaul
If you need more akhi, drop me a line. Wuddistan sounds beautiful this time of year. All I've got is the 6 X 4 Front-yard. Well...if God gives you lemons...
Anywho...What's with the lack of sleep?
[btw...sorry for the looong post]
Salaams Akhi
-TWS
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basit said...
anon - alas indeed, it is a mighty tragedy. on the radio they were saying they never had seen so many tears after a hockey game, people sobbing in bars and drifting listless down whyte. poor souls.
j - i'll try to make time. what time-ish friday evening?
ahmed - no apologies, i wish everyone'd throw up lists like that. will go through them as soon as i can. lack of sleep is a long story, it is self-imposed and burning candles at both ends.
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said...
6. give me a call/see me on Friday for directions.
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said...
Salamaat,
I hate giving readers reading suggestions, cuz well they prolly have read them all :)
my favorite of all time: The alchemist-cuehlo, read it again if you have already. It's gorgeous:)
Technopoly: Normon Solomon (non fiction)
Small is beautiful (can't remember the author: non fiction/economics)
Lord of the Rings: yes, I am a fan:)
And harry potter: yes, I am ashamed to admit:)
John Gatto: anything by him: i love his analysis on public education (or lack thereof)> Mostly a collection of essays but highly edutaining:)
I enjoyed Tariq Ramadhan (Western Muslims...can't remember the full title).
I shall stop here, because the list is getting too bulky. Happy reading:)
*in search of my poetry muse, we've been separated. *sniff*
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The Wayward Seeker said...
Salaams
>Maliha ->
1) that the same Norman Solomon of 'War Made Easy'? I've had it sitting on my shelf for about 2 weeks and have only flipped through it.
2) Know of any other good public/private education analysts?
B -> drove by an old farm a few blocks from my place today and suddenly pictured you on an out of control tractor. Got to get some rest brother. The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long.
Jazaaks and Salaams
-TWS
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said...
Salamaat,
No TWS...i am just starting reading up on education, it's more relevant now that I have to worry about my lil one's path.
kheir..i will let you know if i come across anymore...
peace n' cherries:)
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basit said...
j - apologies again on being late. i thought i could put up a fence in less time. misunderestimation.
maliha - i think i read something else by cuehlo, not the alchemist. a few days ago i read an article about how harry potter is shaping the consciousness of so much of a generation. (: and thank you for your list (:
ahmed - i'm going to changearound the metaphor - some lights take twice the effort to burn at all, and better to make a great blaze than to drift mediocre through half-lit tableaux. but no, i know what you mean. last time i tried this i ended up making myself sick, so..moderation.
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The Wayward Seeker said...
Salaams
>M - Know what you mean sister. Since my sister had her kids I been worried about the same thing. I wonder if proper home-schooling would ever be an option...but then again, most parents have enough on their hands. All I know is some Islamic Schools really need to critically look at their curriculum...and that's all Im going to say (at least on the comment box).
>Didn't really enjoy Harry Potter. But then again I can't get through the novels (He's too damn angsty). It seems as if the mythology is so restricted. It could have been made extremely interesting by some more Asian/Middle Eastern/Native mythological influences (can you picture him fighting an army of Ifrit?).
>Cuehlo's style is phenomenal in The Alchemist. Its almost like the entire fable is an extremely lucid dream. Also like the variety of influences in his work. I've been meaning to read up on his other stuff. What'dya read B?
>Sir...You are a master of the metaphor. I concede.
[gotta stop with these long posts]
Salaams
-TWS
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basit said...
dukhi, enough with the apologies, else i throw you out the site.
i agree on potterean mythologies being restricted. but even keeping to western tradition, there's a wealth of...imagination, resources, that rowling doesn't even touch. at least in the first three - haven't read the rest.
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said...
Salaamat,
Why I feel this insane need to jump to rowling's defense, i have no idea.
b: she does explore more issues in her last three books and they get progressively darker and more exciting (in a morbid sorta way). I think her first three were boring in comparison...
w: can you blame her for not exploring the Ifrit armies? isn't every writer imprisoned within his/her own paradigm?
on homeschooling viability, you would be surprised at how many mothers are making that work. I read a book of everyday homeschooling stories (can't remember the tite..sorry) and it was like 21 families: diverse in class; race; mostly christian homeschooling families. It was really instructive and inspiring to see how people implement it and make it work.
I won't send my lil man to Islamic school. They just aren't to par...and they just have a long, long, road ahead.
it's tough to worry about one's own compounded ignorance; let alone the little pure soul that i have been entrusted with.
sigh.
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said...
I will be happy to send you a copy of my book Master of the Jinn: A Sufi Novel, if you email me your address. I think you will enjoy it :)
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The Wayward Seeker said...
>M - "it's tough to worry about one's own compounded ignorance; let alone the little pure soul that i have been entrusted with." < Indeed...
Homeschooling does seem like a wonderful alternative if done correctly. But honestly, I think parents should also be afforded some time for themselves (i.e. during the child's school hours) for work and such. Still, my experience has been limited to multiple kids (twins, triplets and such) rather than single kids.
On an unrelated matter...Have you tried baby sign language with him?
>IK - A Sufi Novel huh? Sounds pretty interesting. Think you can pass that down this way (to glass.shard@gmail.com)? I must say that my Djinn reading material has been pretty much limited to A Thousand and One Nights and odds and ends.
Jazaks/Thanks
>B - Post something man! Im dying over here...
Salaam a lizzle
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basit said...
ah...apologies for the delay in reply, i have been away for days, in southern alberta.
m - homeschooling! homeschooling! it is the way to go, it is a glorious life, i homeschooled for five years.
islamic schools...if they actually have muslim teachers and have "islamic curriculum", as opposed to grabbing secular curriculum and adding some "islamic studies", or sprinkling some du'a at the beginning or such, then maybe they can be called islamic schools? but at this point they are mostly "muslim cultural schools", and ain't even doing that as they might.
i.k - i had no idea you read this! i'd love a copy of your novel - email is on its way. (:
tws - post is up, though i half-hesitated. i'll post more often from PIKSI.
on kind of the same note as the above, islamic education and whatnot, what i have finally got around to proofing is Concentric Circles: Nurturing Awe and Wonder in Early Childhood, A Foundational Approach...i honestly think everyone here who is a potential parent or teacher or human being should read this through and buy this, my mother has been working on it for over a year, and it is now nearly (almost!) off to the press. for more info... www.mef-ca.org, but more particularly read "the approach", linked at the site as 'what is it about'..
reading it makes me want to be five years old again, so that people can do these things with me.
..then again, sometimes i do feel like i'm five.
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The Wayward Seeker said...
Salaams
Thinking this over: 'they have no Point, they have no Reason For Being'
I'd tend to agree with you...but North American lawns are an important carbon sink...especially in the Carbon-spewing West. Still...I wonder how many could be helped by redirecting the $25 Billion spent by American Lawn DIYers.
By the way...you may not be too far off by that aristocrat comment. The idea of a (visually) unified turf/property is derived from 'aristocratic' tradition imported by one Andrew Jackson Downing from English aristocratic practices.
Perhaps I've read too much into it.
Just thought it would be interesting
Salaams
-TWS
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said...
Salamaat B,
two selfish requests:
Can you post a reminder that the book is out, because I will forget, so that i can get it?
can you write a bit about your own experience on homeschooling and how to make it work?
five year olds are much wiser than most adults i know:)
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said...
Salamaat B,
two selfish requests:
Can you post a reminder that the book is out, because I will forget, so that i can get it?
can you write a bit about your own experience on homeschooling and how to make it work?
five year olds are much wiser than most adults i know:)
~
basit said...
i realize i'm sporadic on replies, apologies.
ahmed - the north american lawn as a carbon sink? sorry man, i don't buy it. at the least it's incidental, think of all the factors to offset that - people buy chemical fertilizers, they waste water watering, they waste fuels mowing, they waste their time trying to make it look appropriate. garden space is one thing, flowers are beautiful, but lawn space? other than that needed for children to play on? is waste.
...whenabouts was andrew jackson downing? and how in the dunya did he get the lawn so popular?
m - can do. (: also, something else i've been meaning to say something about is child-raising - i read what you wrote a little while back, changed routines and so on with a little person around, and i'm still planning on writing about it as well.
and, say, if any of you want to know something you didn't know before, you now do not need to consume a lot to be happy. there you have it. it's official now. you can believe it, because the bbc says so.
~
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