So yesterday, my lovely L-lady finally returned from her THREE MONTHS in Washington DC, and I’m so gleeful about this, you don’t even understand. I hugged the crazy child nonstop, and told her that from now on she goes where I go, to which she made some smartass comment about keeping her on a leash. […]

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and it’s the way that we will forgive ourselves
and it’s the way that we will for no one else
- Josh Kelly, Amen
I call my friend Z one morning to tell her that I am skipping all my classes and instead studying at the cafe of her favorite Borders bookstore here in the East Bay, and […]

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Part 2
of the same
(Listen to Part 1 first, otherwise you won’t get it)

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For Arshad, who must not have known what sort of insanity he was asking for:
Part 1
brought to you by yazthespazz & mayyamonster
in conjunction with endless laughter and torrents of rain

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excuse me, america, you mispronounce my pain
Spoken word performances, oh how I love thee.
And I love that I introduced my friend H (this is a different H; let’s call him the confoozid boy who scrunches up his face at any mention of mint ‘n’ chip ice cream and salmon and I don’t understand why I’m […]

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the economics of scale (and kids who are way too easily amused)
H: guess how much gas was at the gas station here tonight
Me: umm
Me: $1.95?
Me: $1.89?
H: nope
H: lower
H: try again
Me: FOR REALS?
Me: $1.75
H: haha, i pumped around 1.79 at this same gas station this morning, but nope. try lower
Me: holy freakin smoley, man
Me: $1.70
H: try […]

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L stands for Love
L: so i mean, i gotta get ready for some major discipliningMe: dudeMe: i need to work on that end tooL: let’s make a deal, yasminayMe: such as?L: this year we have graduation to look forward toL: so we need to start off well and do brilliantMe: oh lordMe: graduationMe: dangL: when […]

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good things
- L buying me a Carribean Passion fruit smoothie from Jamba Juice
- Sarah McLachlan’s Afterglow album
- The expression on Seher’s face when she walked into her “surprise birthday party,” held about a month-and-a-half before her real birthday
- Wandering down Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley, watching Seher pick out her bajillionth pair of dangly earrings. “Stop […]

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the problem lies elsewhere, always, of course
My friend, H, is a Cuban-American convert to Islam. His roommate is an international student from Saudi Arabia. They’re both good-natured and funny, and most of the time they get along really well, but once in a while they’ll burst out with the arguing and aggravate each other to […]

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nerd boy extraordinaire
H is devastated to hear I didn’t get a job I recently applied for, one where we would have been working together, thus ensuring that I could stop calling him and leaving threatening voicemails asking where he is and why he hides from his friends. He takes the news personally, even though I’m […]

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Highlight from Tuesday: Spending two hours of our break between classes at the public park.
We sat on a dry patch of green grass, in the wan afternoon sunshine, discussing witticisms and woes, primarily academic-related, because, let’s face it, our life has been consumed by nothing but university courses for the last three-and-a-half years. Somayya […]

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step back from the ledge, my friend
What freak of nature decided that an AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) buddy list can only hold a maximum of 200 screen names? I’m constantly thwarted in my attempts to add the 201st person with the appearance of a box stating, No more buddies can be added to your buddy […]

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forget the village, it takes a halaqa
I’ve figured out a great way to form lasting friendships: Go ice skating. This is especially successful if you don’t know how to ice skate in the first place. After all, it’s practically impossible to remain dignified or reserved if you have little or no skating experience. After the […]

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I helped pick out a bouquet of flowers today.
As a single, random act in and of itself, buying flowers really isn’t all that hard. “Ooh, look, these are so pretty,” we said, and grabbed an armful of three different types. As the lady took apart the bunches of flowers and skillfully re-did them as one […]

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break time, naptime
Seeing as how I’ve recently been accused of doing nothing more than “pulling all nighters or driving around or munching munchies,” I’ve decided to consider that a point well taken and therefore do nothing more than spend this weekend sleeping as much of my life away as possible. I know y’all must be […]

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