Tuesday, December 12, 2006
  I'm still alive...
...which is somewhat of a miracle!

My oldest got her learner's permit today.

As we were driving back from the BMV, I told her we'd go to a big parking lot, learn the basics, and practice where there was nothing she could hit. She then said she already knew how to drive as her father would let her drive home from the neighbors back in Indianapolis. That drive wasn't very long, but it involved threading down a fairly narrow street that often had cars parked along one or both sides, making a ninety degree turn, and crossing a small bridge before turning into our driveway.

Ok, I thought, she's figured out steering and how to manage the gas and brake. She can handle the drive down our wide, not very curvy street.

Wrong.

In the half mile the mosque and our house, she nearly ran over a mailbox and then almost crashed into a street light, and pissed off at least three other drivers for driving erratically. Thankfully, she pulled into the driveway without running down the mailbox or hitting our old van which was parked there.

Ironically, after she told me she had been driving home from the neighbors, she also said that she wasn't very good. I thought she was being modest, as she usually is very self-effacing about her abilities and talents... she claims not to be very smart, even though she has excellent grades and is in all honors classes. She says she's not so great at karate, even though every one of her instructors says she is excellent, and she has placed in national competitions. She says she's not that good at flute, though she was first chair of the junior band as a sophmore, and one of only two flutes to make it into the swing band. Naturally, I assumed she was being modest about her driving skills too.

Hah! Turns out to be sort of a reverse crying wolf situation... the boy kept crying out that a wolf was coming, but it wasn't, and then when the wolf finally did come, none of the villagers believed him. Tasneem keeps assuring me that she's NOT so talented, but she is, and then I didn't believe her when her assessment that she wasn't so hot was actually right.

Ah well, lesson learned. Next time we're heading to the parking lot.
 
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Progressive Muslim, feminist, mom, writer, mystic, lover of the universe and Doug Schmidt, cellist, theologian and imam.


What I'm reading now



Cane River
An interesting exploration of the gradual whiting of a family through slavery to modern days.

To see an archive of all the books I've read (well the ones I've read and review since I started the blog) with comments, please click here

Causes Worth Supporting

This is just a short list -- a few of my favorites.

English Language Islamic Fiction. We need more of it. Lots more.
Pay a Teacher's Salary in Afghanistan. The Hunger site actually has a lot of worthwhile programs. You can find them all here .
Muslims for Progressive Values. My organization. We can always use donations, of time or money!
Human Rights Campaign for the glbt community
National Religious Campaign Against Torture
The ACLU I'm a card carrying member. Hope you'll become one too.
MoveOn.org. The organization that has done the most, as far as I can tell, to pull the countries progressive side together.
Network of Spiritual Progressives. Working to reclaim religion and morality for the religious left.

Blogs Worth Reading

Wanda Campbell also known as Nochipa A very gifted poet and a gentle, compassionate soul. Nochipa and I are on the same page on sooooo many things
Writeous Sister Aminah Hernandez, she's got some excellent latino pieces and always has good writing info on her blog.
Sister Scorpion aka Leila Montour - Leila is a fount of energy, quirky humor, and bad attitude. She's also a talented poet.
Muhajabah Very interesting commentary here. I don't always agree with her, but her pieces are always thought-provoking.
Georgie Dowdell Georgie is a great writer and a good friend.
Louise Marley Another great writer. I think Louise is one of the best sf writers exploring faith themes.
Ink in My Coffee Devon Ellington (who has numerous aliases) who is also the editor of Circadian Poems. A truly inspiring woman with a seemingly endless supply of energy.
Ethnically Incorrect With a name like that, isn't a given I'm going to enjoy this writer?
Freedom from the Mundane Colin Galbraith, another excellent writer, from Scotland.
The Scruffy Dog Review This is a new e-zine with an ecclectic mix of fiction, poetry, and non-fic, some really enjoyable pieces here.
Ramblings of a Suburban Soccer Mom Lara, another gentle soul, very thoughtful.
Circadian Poems A journal of poetry, new stuff up all the time.
Ye Olde Inkwell Michelle writes romance and is one of my writing buddies.
Muhammad Michael Knight The original punk Muslim writer. Like him or love him, Mike is always coming up with the unexpected.

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