I should preface this by telling you that I majored in English Literature at University... and that the single hardest class I ever took was English grammar. I should tell you also that the best students in our class were those who had English as a second (or third, etc.) language.
Flash minorly forward in the background of the heart of today's post: my favorite mistake that native Persian speakers make when speaking English is that are often wont to confuse their he/she pronouns - in Persian there is no distinction of gender in the second person pronoun....
This is why, when I read prayers in the Bahá’í Faith specifically dedicated to women, prayers that have often been translated from the original Persian, I realize the profound importance given to the station of women by Bahá'u'lláh. The soul is genderless - gender is merely a phenomenon of physical existence - but this does not mean that men and women do not contribute uniquely, yet equally, to the beauty, wonder, betterment and advancement of humanity.
The following prayer, penned by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá (the eldest son of Bahá'u'lláh), touched - nay, rather sang to - my heart last night. Whether you are a man or a woman, I hope you feel equally inspired:

"O Thou kind Lord! Bestow heavenly confirmation upon this daughter of the kingdom, and graciously aid her that she may remain firm and steadfast in Thy Cause and that she may, even as a nightingale of the rose garden of mysteries, warble melodies in the Abhá Kingdom in the most wondrous tones, thereby bringing happiness to everyone. Make her exalted among the daughters of the kingdom and enable her to attain life eternal.
Thou art the Bestower, the All-Loving."

Think About It...

My mom and my grandma tell this story of my great-grandmother 'Granny' who, due to circumstances beyond her control, only finished the third grade. But she never quenched her thirst for knowledge. In fact, she would sit and read each night - with a dictionary by her side so that she could always be learning new things. Although she passed away when I was 10 - and I never knew her so well in person as I've come to by (not so) secretely hoarding stories of my family's history - I was and am profoundly awed, inspired, and influenced by this story.
My favorite book is my OED (specifically the Oxford Dictionary of Current English, third edition). It's well worn - and not half as fancy as the one Ione Sky immortalized in Say Anything - but I love it. I really like to go through it at random and look up words that are sure to have an "origin". Well, all words do - but origin in the sense that the dictionary tells you the root or etymology (from the Greek) of a word. So today at lunch - I've been reading Paradise Lost at lunch (sigh. I know...) and I keep my OED handy.
Anyhow, I was reminded of a word I absolutely love today. Not because I use it overmuch, mind - but because the origin is literally so cool.
Ahem. genial /jee-ni-uhl/ adj. Friendly and cheerful. ORIGIN Latin genialis 'productive'.
...I'm just saying.

A Love Letter In Photos...

Dear Fall,
Welcome back - you have been sorely missed, but this makes reunion (if we ever get out of this Indian Summer...) that much sweeter, right?

There's a rumor of rain in H-Town this weekend, and while I'm minorly concerned that my tea party on the balcony guests might not love it - I mostly don't care. Because I.love.the.rain.


Ps. If you decide to rock up on the tea party - all unexpected style... note the dress code. This might be the only exception Yasmin & I will accept to fancy dress....

...such a fan of irony - and of pretty fridays. Enjoy!

Oriental Night in an Occidental Age

The Inspiration: (images of Seville, Spain & Old Jaffa, Israel)
The Invitation:

The Soundtrack - ok, so part of it....

Fancy dress tea party doubles as a dance party doubles as an excuse to gather a bunch of people who maybe don't know each other so well so we can all make new friends....

I'm super excited!

...Si, Solo los Domingos

Some friends (the K's) and I went to Tel Aviv this weekend. Excepting the airport, I'd never been there before - and I really loved 'adventuring' around the city. Such a fantastic atmosphere. (Hopefully, I'll be able to post pictures from it soon)
I felt that we were in perfect harmony with summer that day.... Like we weren't quite ready for summer to be gone - and summer wasn't quite ready to loose it's hold on the world.

... in fair New York, where we lay our scene, my friend Amy of Montague fame (I told you about my nerd factor, yes?) took this picture at the Coney Island boardwalk. I actually saw this picture earlier last week - and I was totally won over by the beauty in it. But I had no idea how completely it would capture the feeling of my experience with the beauty of summer's end. Enjoy!

I Need Therapy...

So did any of you used to watch Friends back in the day? (Is it weird to think that there will be a day when people you're talking to won't know who Ross & Rachel are?) Anyhow, do you remember when Ross married the Brittish girl (sorry - I don't remember her name...), and Ross was having this melt down about how the girl had all of these elaborate plans, and he would have been happy with a JOP (Justice of the Peace) ceremony.... And how Monica had to step in and remind Ross to let her have her day because she's probably been planning it since she was a little girl?
Well, I kind of have a similar issue. I regularly put the cart before the horse - I call it Cart before the Horse Syndrome (CHS).
It's no surprise that I love looking at pretty things, right? Well, many of those pretty things just happen to be wedding related.... and I'm not even in like.
Yeah, it's like that.
Anyhow, I ran into this picture this week - and I think it's hilarious! I especially love the lady in the back with the hat - she's just along for the ride.


p.s. I think I could hear the collective sigh of relief all the way from OC.... Oh, hey Mom.

...In the Lines

Have you ever looked at pictures of yourself as a kid - or even as a baby - and been able to see the person you are now? I think sometimes we can look at habits we had as children and see the people we are now....

When I was a kid (like last year... or yesterday) I would usually only color the main characters on the coloring page - unless I was feeling really artistic.

My life is mostly like that - the finer details aren't so filled in....

Image credit.