Posted in Islam, USA, fun, gender, religion, social science on April 7, 2008 | 6 Comments »
Enjoy my new (satirical! satirical!) post at Religion Dispatches.
“We have to liberate them. We have to let them know that their way of life is evil at its core. Years of subjugation and conditioning have rendered them incapable of desiring something better. We have to empower them to hate their civilization, their culture, their people, [...]
Posted in desi, fun on February 28, 2008 | 37 Comments »
I thought I’d do what I thought might be a “witty” take on Stuff White People Like and adapt it to what Pakistani Americans like. With the many caveats that are necessary - these are stereotypes, they are not universally applicable, they have a class bias (I don’t fit them either - well, okay, not [...]
Posted in academic, fun on February 24, 2008 | 15 Comments »
Tis the season for academic interviews! From my personal experience, allow me to offer a bit of advice on what to do when invited for a campus interview:
Read carefully your brand new “free” business cards ordered off the internet. Do so especially before you hand one to a head of department and to all the [...]
Posted in Pakistan, USA, desi, fun, gender, religion on January 21, 2008 | 9 Comments »
I have a paternal uncle who arrived in the deep South 50-some years ago. He was the only foreigner the area. His face was splashed all over the newspapers as “Mo” the tennis star from Pakistan, who had a tennis scholarship at Clemson. Wherever he went, he was recognized: “You’re Mo, aren’t you!”
So 50 years [...]
Posted in USA, fun, political on November 28, 2007 | 1 Comment »
Lawrence has a delightfully spicy post here: it combines the historical foundations of Thanksgiving with a pecan pie recipe that will kill you in case genocide doesn’t succeed in that purpose.
Posted in Islam, USA, fun, gender on November 5, 2007 | 14 Comments »
Here is a re-run of one of my most popular pieces, all the way from 2003: Jahandost reminded me of it by referring to it as a classic. I used to write for Muslimwakeup.com: for ProgressiveMuslimsWhoValueTradition MWU! and PMU were the latest hopes of the day. Neither lived up to our hopes - few things [...]
Posted in Pakistan, fun, religion on September 30, 2007 | 1 Comment »
This was posted on August 27, 2006 at the old Koonj.
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On shab-e-meraj, all three of us brother and sisters would pray 100 nafil rakaat on the kottha because that was the thing to do on shab-e-meraj. Yes, indeed, 10-year old Koonj hammered away on her jainamaz. And no, no reflecting on the meaning of namaz [...]
Posted in blogging, fun on September 21, 2007 | 8 Comments »
Generally, I hold perfectly snooty, starchy principles about trivial things - such as refraining from watching reality shows, using terms like LOL and ROFL, - and until now, about facebook.
I still refrain from LOL and ROFL because we use them when we are NOT laughing out loud or rolling on the floor (usually they are [...]
Posted in fun on September 13, 2007 | 8 Comments »
The other day we shelled out a bunch of somewhat non-existent money to buy halaal meat at the only remaining desi shop in Athens. It was meant as preparation for a well-stocked kitchen in Ramadan.
Sadly, on our return, the person who is supposed to unload the car forgot a bag full of chicken and goat [...]
Posted in fun on September 6, 2007 | 3 Comments »
Shakespeare’s Sister asks the question: If you could become a human-animal hybrid, with what animal would you be crossed?
I should respond crane, but my real aesthetic love is of the feline kind. I’d like to have the grace, the stunning beauty, and the power of a panther or a tiger. Maybe simple hybridization will solve the [...]
