Tomorrow....

tomorrow...

I LOVE YA, TOMORROW...

YOU'RE

ONLY

A

DAY

AWAYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[I can't get it to crop any better, so click on the comic to read it properly.]

To misquote C.S. Lewis:

The [nightmare] is ended: this is the morning.

Actually, if they arrived today or tomorrow, it would be fine, especially if they're into garbage disposal/recycling, they can take the old leader and his cronies away...

[H/T to a facebook friend - she knows who she is :)]

And how appropriate is it that today we celebrate Martin Luther King's birthday (it's actually on 15 Jan).

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

Though that dream is not yet a reality, Dr King, tomorrow at noon EST, 5pm GMT/UTC, we will take one giant step towards making it so.

And despite the rolling back of our civil liberties, and the contempt for the rule of law in the last administration -

We shall overcome,
We shall overcome,
We shall overcome someday:

Oh deep in my heart,
I do believe
we shall overcome some day.

The whole wide world around.

Letter to Israel

Dear President, Prime Minister, people and unconditional supporters of Israeli policy,

I started writing this ten days ago, long before a ceasefire was in sight. That tells you how difficult it was to write.

On the subject of how you maintain security, I can no longer keep silent.

I have tried, and tried desperately, not least because many of the people I love support you and your policies ardently, and I have tried to respect that. I don't want to lose friendships, lose the precious ties that bound me to my ex-students, some of whom have found me again via Facebook and all of whom I am loath to lose. I love you all. Remember that challenge is a form of that love.

I have also kept silent out of my passionate love for Judaism. I came so close to entering your fold, but one of the things that held me back was the unspoken rule of unquestioning support for Israeli policies. I loved Judaism because I was allowed to discuss faith passionately and question it, but I was troubled by the fact that I couldn't question the politics of its homeland.

Israel as a homeland for the Jewish people and as a representative of God's kingdom on Earth, absolutely.

Current Israeli actions? Never.

I have had serious questions about Israeli motivations ever since I can remember, beginning with Sabra and Shatila. I could never quite believe, even when I was young, that it was about defence. It was...too much, too aggressive, too angry. Surrounding the camps whilst the Phalangists massacred people? Indiscriminate bulldozing, firing and bombing? The rage with which you respond is the rage of extermination and revenge, not the righteous anger of those protecting their own.

If you were truly protecting your own, you would respond with surgical and precise force, not that of Goliath.

What HAS been surgical and precise is the dismantling of the Palestinians' hope, leaving them nothing but inhuman ways to respond. I can understand why THEY respond with reptilian attacks - they have no prospects of a good education, a good job, of ever escaping the hell that is the huge, 60-year-old refugee camp of Gaza. In a misguided attempt to keep the Palestinians from being a threat, you made them one. You took away everything that could have given them hope: access to the lives that every human being aspires to. In dismantling - or preventing - an infrastructure of education and economy, you created the monsters you feared.

Had you come in and built Israel together with Ishmael's children, made them full Israeli citizens with the opportunities that every person deserves, Israel and the world would be a very different place. A better one, I suspect.

So why not?

I've thought about this long and hard, and the answer that keeps recurring is a troubling one. It starts in Egypt at the time of Moshe, during the first Pesach.

Your God killed the firstborn of every Egyptian to set you free. He killed *every first-born child* of people who *were also His creation* so YOU could go free. Parents lost their first-born children so you could go free: people who didn't know you were slaves, didn't necessarily have anything to do with your being slaves, lost children to pay for your freedom. Parents grieved the greatest loss because your God valued you more than He valued them. I'd like to think that I'd have told my Egyptian neighbours to put blood on their lintels.

That story has always bothered me - the idea that some lives are worth more than others to a God who created them all. Why murder innocent children? Why not completely freak Pharaoh out in some other way? Surely the God who created him knew what his weak spot was.

Then, I'd hear snippets that would be dropped in conversation - snippets about how charity was 'towards another Jew', leaving me to wonder where there that left the rest of us. And though this next argument is only discussed in the narrowest band of Judaism, I was horrified to discover that the question of whether or not it is appropriate to save a non-Jewish life on Shabbat was even entertained.

Yes, I understand the desire to protect your own, especially when you're a small group of tribes/nation. But there's a fine line between protecting your own and believing that those outside your tribe/nation are somehow less human than you are, and therefore their lives don't have the same value as yours. We all do it to some extent with those who are 'other'. It's not right, but it's human.

I just want one of you to stand up and tell the truth:

"Honestly, we view the Gazans as cockroaches, not human, and we're trying to exterminate them."

It's the only explanation I can come up with for why it is possible to imprison 1.5 million people in a small square of land, blockade them into near starvation, then bombard them relentlessly from the air, then prevent humanitarian aid from reaching them as much as possible.

It's the only explanation I have for why the country with the *best* surgical strike team in the world didn't use that to grab several hundred Hamas members you'd been keeping an eye on, rather than using a broadbrush ground and air assault.

It's the only explanation I have for bizarre excuses for large numbers of casualties, such as 'they dug up bodies from graves to pad out numbers of casualties.' Sorry, but decomposition and erm, empty graves would be obvious markers of that.

It's the only explanation I have for the lack of remorse at over 1,000 deaths. They're simply collateral damage.

It's the only explanation I have for the angry defensiveness at any kind of criticism from anyone, including the indiscriminate use of 'Holocaust denier'.

Every last one of which is a sign that you need to take a good, long hard look in the mirror.

It's the only way that I can make sense of the fact that people who are amongst the most thoughtful, humane, caring people I have EVER met can do what has happened in Gaza.

It's the only way to explain why people who are amongst the best at nuanced thinking can suddenly only think in black and white when it comes to the issue of Israeli security, and lose sight of creative solutions that might actually work, rather than repeating the same heavy-handed force that fails time after time. Your security and the security of the Palestinians are intertwined. They are NOT mutually exclusive.

To quote one of your own: "Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

It's time to grow up as a nation and accept responsibility, admitting that whilst your intentions were good, the end does not justify the means, and that the abused has come perilously close to becoming the abuser.

Look into your enemies' eyes. I think you may find that they are just like yours. One day at a time, one friendship at a time, this must end. And know that every goy's life is worth just as much as one of yours in God's eyes. Then, I think, it will all fall into place. And all those wonderful qualities you bring to bear in discussing your faith will come into your politics.

Surely sixty years of this is enough. Shalom.

Remember that every time you dehumanise another human being, you dehumanise yourself. And it breaks my heart to see that happen to children I have taught and people - a people - that I love.

But don't just listen to me...read two excellent analyses, Robert Fisk and your own Avi Shlaim, who fought with the IDF in the 60s, offer food for thought.


And know that as tough as my criticism is, I love you dearly. I wouldn't have bothered if I didn't care.

G-d bless,
Irim

How to tell when an Oratorian has had a hell of a day...

[read: the liturgy went terribly wrong...]

1. Uses the wrong glass for a G & T.
2. Uses the wrong method for getting to the bottom of said glass for the last few inches of the G&T...

And justice...

...has a chance of being served.

First of all, a huge thank you to those of you who brought it to our attention by recording it on your phones and taking pictures of it on your cameras, then posted it on youtube and various sites around the world.

Well done, everyone who spoke out, emailing, phoning, blogging and through peaceful protest.

When we pull together and speak as one, things happen.

Next stop: Gaza. I've been writing that entry for a week, but have found it very painful going. But it has to be said.

Silence costs too much.

Cynical consortium

From the British Retail Consortium:

"Many hard-pressed customers couldn't be seduced into spending."

Wow. That is just so...breathtakingly, callously self-absorbed, even Narcissus would be hard-put to beat it. A true statement of the core values of our economy.

Newsflash, BRC: If hard-pressed customers are holding their ground and NOT spending money they don't have, maybe the economy is going in the right direction. We need to learn that everything moves in cycles, up and down, and if we'd allowed for the smaller economic downturns, rather than trying to keep the economy artificially inflated by encouraging - oops, sorry, seducing - people to spend money they don't have, we wouldn't be here.

After all, how much meaning can there be in a medium of exchange whose value is determined by the words:

Fiat, fiat voluntas mea?

Oscar Grant and BART

Oscar Grant, a 22-year-old black father of a 4-year-old, was shot by Bay Area Rapid Transit police on New Year's Day. The video is here, warning, *trigger*:

New Video of Bart Shooting Is Clearest Yet
Posted using ShareThis

the story is here.

Possibilities for action are here.

And here is my letter to the BART board of directors, Chief Gee of the Oakland police and Sergeant Chlebowski of BART:

Dear Director Ward Allen, Board of Directors at BART, Sergeant Chlebowski and Chief Gee,

As an American citizen living abroad, I was horrified to hear about the shooting of Oscar Grant on New Year's Day. Unfortunately, having been born and raised in the States (near Washington, D.C.), despite having been born years after the Civil Rights Act was passed, I was not surprised.

I tried to believe it was an accident. I WANTED to believe it was an accident and that, as Linton Johnson told CNN, the officer was devastated. I tried to picture a scenario where the accused was unrestrained, fighting, trying to run away - was in some way posing a threat.

Then I saw the video. And my horror and rage went incandescent. It is painfully clear that he was sitting against the wall, first pleading his case with a police officer - as is clear from his body language. Then, a police officer comes from off camera, apparently telling him to stand up, which he does. At which point, his standing up becomes an excuse for TWO OFFICERS to put him on the ground, one restraining him at his head in some way.

The second officer, *WITH MR GRANT FACE DOWN ON THE GROUND*, pulls his weapon - and please don't pretend that he confused it with a Taser, because, as any many police officers with a district or state have publicly stated, they feel VERY different - and calmly removes the safety and pulls the trigger (thus negating any theory that he thought it WAS a taser).

It was obvious to me that Mr Grant didn't pose a threat. Officer Mehserle needs to be tried for first degree murder. As TwoStrayDogs says over at Shakesville:

"I watched the train-window video several times with several of my colleagues; we're all members of a major northern CA PD. No, we don't know what was being said, or what closeup details were missed in this incident. However, all of us looked at each other and said, "Oh, Jesus." Suspect was down, under reasonable control, two officers pinning him by his arms and shoulders with the third officer near his lower back. There was no "Taser mixup." You don't draw and fire a 50,000 volt device at danger-close proximity to other officers involved in a melee. The chances of hitting your partner(s) are too great. He drew his weapon deliberately, took aim, and discharged that weapon. You can also see the surprise in his partners when they jump up after having the round slam into the suspect inches from their faces and torsos. I have no idea what that shooter was thinking, but the video sure looks like an execution."

Not only he, but also his colleagues, none of whom said, "WTF are you DOING?" need to be tried for murder and as accomplices to murder. Nothing else would qualify as justice.

I would also like to see police officers getting more than *72* hours of training in when to draw their weapons and how to use them. They should get 100s, if not 1000s of hours of training in how to cope in a crisis situation. It MUST become second nature, like breathing. This is what they deal with ALL THE TIME. In addition to trying them, you MUST examine their training.

Clearly, in standard police procedure, all the suspects would have been patted down for weapons. What I don't understand is, if they were seen as threats, WHY OFFICER MEHSERLE DIDN'T DRAW...

HIS HANDCUFFS.

There's nothing here to exonerate him, and the officers are further damned by their attempts to confiscate all cameras and mobile phones to hide the evidence.

After eight years of wanting to burn my passport, I finally felt proud to be an American again after we elected an African-American as president in November.

Please do the right thing here. Please, let me continue to be proud to be an American again.

I've spent too long being ashamed.

Thank you.

Kind regards,
Irim Sarwar

Dream journal, 04/01/09

As part of my New Year's resolution to read signs and patterns more clearly, here's the first big dream of 2009.

I dreamt that I'd just had a baby girl, and was bringing her to be...baptised? Named? Dedicated? The reason I hesitate is that it wasn't a proper Catholic baptism - there was no font, I couldn't see a priest, etc. I couldn't see myself and my husband, though I could hear our conversation.

What I COULD see was the baby (and she WAS gorgeous, if I do say so myself ;D) in her disposable diaper (sorry, folks) and naught else; a white background - which I later worked out was an altar covered in altar linen; and the most beautiful wrought iron candelabra with short, fat, white candles, already lit. The altar seemed to be divided into thirds:

1. On (my) the right third of the altar was a moving picture of night scenes and constellations, a glimpse of the Aurora Borealis/Australis.

2. The centre was where the candelabra was.

3. To the left was a circle with symbols around it; I think it was in red and blue. It looked similar to an astrological circle, but I don't think that's quite right. There were also objects at various intervals around the circle.

I placed the little one on the centre of the altar, behind the candelabra. It looked like the candelabra was up against her physically, and I freaked out briefly, as any good mother would, but that turned out not to be the case. She was very content there, kicking happily, and I watched the right hand side of the altar, the stars wheeling past, and one scene that looked like "Song of the Sky" from Digital Blasphemy. I wish I could remember what my husband and I were saying, but I think it was mostly inconsequential.

Then I picked her up and placed her in the circle on the left hand side and her right hand reached out for one of the objects - interestingly, a golden candlestick with a white candle in it. I must have known what it symbolised in the dream, because I turned to my husband and said with deep amusement and affection, "Looks like she [takes after your side of the family]," then gently disengaged her hand from the candlestick and picked her up.

I woke up, as I do after all big dreams, committing it to memory and musing on its meaning. As it was only 04.20, I fell asleep again and had another dream, but all I remember is having to go underground to teach, standing at a blackboard with someone else and some recalcitrant students, trying to get them to commit something essential to memory. The irony is, of course, I can't remember what it was...

Any and all thoughts welcome. Over to you.

Pause for thought

From one of my favourite worst films ever, "The Prophecy" (1995).

It's the first time I've seen it in 13 years, when it was in general cinematic release. I had just become a Catholic then, and I couldn't resist when it popped up on Sky tonight. Thirteen years a Catholic, what would I think?

The film opens with an ordination, during which Thomas Daggett (Elias Koteas) is plagued by visions of an angelic war in heaven as he prostrates himself during the ceremony. We fast forward at least a decade, and Thomas is a police inspector, soon to be caught up in the angelic war he envisioned.

What surprised me, 13 years on?

*My unease at the archangel Gabriel being unabashedly evil. It was a film. Why did the concept of an archangel being evil, lacking in mercy cause such a visceral reaction? I know what angels DO. Why the shock?

*I ADORED Lucifer. Menacing, evil to the core, funny as hell. Pun intended. Someone I'd want to cross verbal swords with. His redeeming quality was being utterly honest about who he was and what he was about. Wouldn't want to spend eternity with him, though.

*Something below the awful execution of the film resonated. Really resonated. Part of it was needing to test my faith by turning it upside down, by really pushing it. Something about looking into the abyss. But there's more to be explored - something that attracts me to Hinduism, something about the dark, violent side of God that Christianity always denies and/or splits off from God, something that must be present in God, or it wouldn't be present in His creation. It creates a fragmented, weak God, just as the shattering of the Dark Crystal created two weak races, rather than one whole, powerful, vibrant one.

Acknowledging that, bringing it back, would make Christianity whole, robust and finally, real.

To that end, here are the quotes I want to play with:

Simon: Oh, Gabriel. When was it that you lost your grace?

Thomas Daggett: Some people lose their faith because Heaven shows them too little. But how many people lose their faith because Heaven showed them too much?

Gabriel: I'm an angel. I kill firstborns while their mamas watch. I turn cities into salt. I even, when I feel like it, rip the souls from little girls, and from now till kingdom come, the only thing you can count on in your existence is never understanding why.

Thomas Daggett: Did you ever notice how in the Bible, when ever God needed to punish someone, or make an example, or whenever God needed a killing, he sent an angel? Did you ever wonder what a creature like that must be like? A whole existence spent praising your God, but always with one wing dipped in blood. Would you ever really want to see an angel?

Lucifer: Y'see, I'm not here to help you and the little bitch because I love you or because I care for you, but because two hells is one hell too many, and I can't have that.

Gabriel: This war is mine!
Lucifer: Your war is arrogance. That makes it evil. And that's mine.
Gabriel: Lucifer. Sitting in your basement. Sulking about your break-up with the boss. You're nothing.
Lucifer: Time to come home, Gabriel.

And perhaps the most oddly touching moment of the film:

Thomas Daggett: If you wanted to prove your side was right, Gabriel, so badly, why didn't you just ask Him? Why didn't you ask God?
Gabriel: Because He doesn't talk to me any more.

No, Gabriel. And to think you once spoke for Him.

Lucifer is right.

Time to come home. But only you can decide where.

Facebook status update

Sometimes, facebook status updates and the follow-up comments just need to be put here for my non-facebook friends' amusement. Enjoy.

My facebook status this morning: Irim can't believe someone is going to name their child 'Tron'. She's looking up 'mandatory sterilisation for idiots' in the Catholic catechism, to no avail.

Follow-up comments:

ER: Erm, did you see what Bristol Palin called her son?

JL: Ha, ha, ha, ha...Irim, you make me laugh. I love you!

Irim: Oh my god, no, El. Please tell me. xx

ER: Tripp.
Not only is it a stupid name, but she can't even spell it correctly.
My vicious mind is contemplating all sorts of cynical potential comments...

Irim: Honey, you start. I'll follow. Damn, I don't have any food in. Looks like takeaway - but Domino's or Indian? xx

ER: Well, I am wondering somewhat if she's giving us a hint as to the circumstances surrounding his naming- was she tripping at the time?

Indian.

Irim: We are truly kindred spirits. I've pulled out the Indian menu.

LOL. I just assumed they were on a trip from Wasilla to...Anchorage? I was thinking...back seat of the car on the hard shoulder? Or in the diner car park?

BTW - thank you, just got it today. It was gorgeous :).

xx

ER: Who doesn't love a good road tripp? ;)

You're very welcome. I saw it and thought of you.

JB: Course, their other choices were Sark, Clu, and Yori. So maybe the kid got off lightly...

Irim: Fair point, hon, fair point. I'd vote for R2D2 or C3PO myself.
My fave, though? Darth. A little darkness is good.
xx

ER: My vote's for Chewbacca

Irim: Oooh, yes. For some reason, that name gives me a warm fuzzy feeling...

LIKE A SLANKET!

xx [Yes, the slanket addiction lives]

ER: "Ah, yes, those mad, bad and dangerous kids are Irim's twins: Chewbacca and Darth. I suppose they can be forgiven for behaving like that... y'know, given what she called them. That's why you shouldn't name your children in a drug induced haze...."

Can you imagine the parent-teacher conferences???

Irim:

LOL! I was a teacher - I SO can.

Erm, Mrs. [my married name], hello.

Hello, Mrs Poinsettia, how are you?

Fine, thank you. So, Chewie and Darth.

Chewbacca. We call him Chewbacca.

Erm, yes. Yes. Chewbacca and Darth.

So, how are the boys doing?

Well, I'm glad you came in. Darth seems to, erm, keep trying to cut his classmate Luke's arm off with a torch that he claims is something he calls a 'light-sabre' and saying, "Luke, I am your father." Chewie - sorry, Chewbacca - keeps hanging out with this kid named Hans, and we're worried about his speech development. And they're both...terribly stubborn and given to pranks.

I see. And, how are they doing academically?

Well, very well, indeed. We have no complaints there.

Excellent, well, they're like this in first communion class, except Darth keeps trying to cut the priest's arm off instead...the apple doesn't fall far. Thank you very much, Mrs Poinsettia. They are very fond of you.

Thank you, ma'am.

[This blog entry will be edited as further comments come in. Watch this space.]

Happy New Year...

I must confess, there's nothing like seeing the softest expression and gentle behaviour from a man who is usually tough. It's even more likely to make me melt if he's in uniform.

All I have to add to this is that I hope 2009 means No fite and just rubs for hoominz too. We might be amazed to find that listening and trying to understand, rather than trying to destroy what we refuse to understand, may find our way through where guns won't.

So, again, in the words of a late 20th century bard:

"...a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear -

War is over, if you want it
War is over NOW."

Happy New Year...

one and all, and may 2009 be a wonderful one for all of you. May each year be better than the last.

I would also like to take this opportunity to publicly thank Fr Richard Conrad, OP, for the *best Christmas pudding I have EVER had*. I mean that - I'm going to admit that I usually can't abide the stuff - it's too heavy, too dry, no matter HOW much cream you pour over it. This was...a little slice of heaven. I think you may have converted me, Padre, but possibly only to yours.

I've always...

...leaned towards reincarnation as a viable theory. Blame my Hindu ancestors or my mystical bent, or the fact that I've always felt that babies have this, "Oh shit, what am I doing here again?" look or can even appear incredibly wise.

There are also so many people that I mentally qualify as old souls, young souls, on their umpteenth go-round with THAT issue, that it's probably REALLY part of my conceptual framework already.

Of course, it also comes up in my own life with people with whom I think, "We've been here before, this is feeling REALLY familiar," or places that feel familiar that shouldn't.

I have a theory - one that was generated with my friend Anni late one night on the phone, years ago - that the afterlife is a bar with an infinite number of pool tables. Close groups that are to reincarnate together end up playing around the same pool table, discussing their most recent past lives, working out future relationships and issues, and saying things like..."OH GOD, NO. PLEASE LET HIM PASS. I CAN'T POSSIBLY DATE. HIM. ONE. MORE. TIME." or "OI, babe, you coming? You SO have to hear what I'm planning to get up to this time. What do you MEAN you're still pissed off about the time I was your mum and wouldn't let you go out with that jerk? Worked out for you, did it? Yeah, I SO did you a favour. Right hand pocket." *click*

A lot of times, these groups cluster in time and space: friendships from school, work, and so on. They just fall into place where you are. Other conversations probably sound like this: "Ok, ok, wait, let me get this straight: you're going to be born when??? TEN years after me. WHERE? Bora Bora? And I'm stuck in New Hampshire? How the hell is THAT supposed to work? FFS. Right, with whom do you overlap here? Ok, I can make it to Sydney in 2005. You? Hmmm." Somehow, it all falls into place.

Varying bond strengths, from weak hydrogen to powerful ionic bonds (that, as Ari once said, 'make it seem as if there are magnets attached to your heads') exist between members of groups. Of course, there are probably several other pool tables involved. Charlie Epps of Numb3rs would have a field day.

99.99% of the time, I have a good giggle and consider turning it into a book.

Then I run into that extraordinary someone who makes it seem very real - one who bypasses all the personality crap and hits the soul stuff. Someone who just...knows. And I can hear the conversation at the pool table:

"You've got to be kidding me. There's NO. WAY. this is going to happen."
"Of course it is. We ALWAYS manage."
"No, LOOK AT WHAT WE'VE DECIDED. I'm here in time and space. You're THERE. No. fucking. way."
"Excuse me, but yes. fucking. way."
"No. Every other time was easier. Closer times, closer space. How do you expect us, once we're human, to make the decisions that get us there? Too many variables. And look. There's so much that should, by rights, mean we won't exchange more than two sentences."
"Irim - that's what you're going by this time, right? - we will. When have we not?"
*Sigh*
"Listen, even if I were at the pool table furthest from here, you KNOW we'd find eachother. Because it's what we do."
*Defeated sigh* "Ok. Do you want to plan it?"
"No. I'll see you there and then. Trust me." *Wicked grin*
*Inarticulate irimtated growl of rage*

Then, after a myriad of decisions on both parts, one day, you turn a corner, and there you both are. And before there is even a flicker of conscious recognition, you know what's happening at soul level:

"Well, hello. You won't mind if I say, 'I told you so.'"
*Rolls eyes* "Yes, dear. So this is there and then, eh? Ready for another ride on this roller coaster?"
"Yup."
"Then get your ass in that front car and scooch over."

En la noche oscura...

I do tend to underestimate my clerical friends, especially the number of them that read this blog.

One sent me a quick note that made me want to smile and cry at the same time:

clerical friends are not 'just to be supported' - well not this one anyway. [snip] Take care you...

Ps. John of the Cross in Spanish? oh yes - I think you would love it. He is not about depression at all... the dark night when read in spanish is electric and passionate... it's very you. just read the poem, forget the rest. x

*Hug*, hon, and thank you - you know who you are.

I've only ever read the poem in translation, or heard Loreena McKennitt's song adapted from it. It has always struck me as beautiful, but...electric? I could see the passion, but it felt sanitised; it didn't grab me. I loved the idea of being guided by the night more surely than by day, because I have always preferred moonlight to sunlight; the night's darkness and being guided by intuition to the day's bright glare and the guidance of logic and the outer senses. So despite my doubts, I always have had an affinity for it.

Oh. my. God. I had forgotten how much gets lost in translation. 'Electric and passionate' was the perfect description of the original. The sense of breathless movement, passionate searching for the beloved, and the joy of finding the beloved is just...incredible.

Lines like these just took my breath away:

¡Oh noche que guiaste!
¡oh noche amable más que la alborada!;
¡oh noche que juntaste,
Amado con amada,
amada en el Amado transformada!

[Oh night that guided me!
Oh night more lovely than the dawn!
Oh night that united
beloved with the lover,
the lover transformed in the Beloved!]

[note the use of the second person informal throughout, making the night familiar, a friend, not a feared stranger; also, please note that I have reservations re: amable = lovely, as it usually translates to 'kind', but I chose to keep the classic translation, unsure of older meanings.]

I was swept away - home. And so I leave you with the original Spanish version of San Juan de la Cruz. You know where to get a translation if you need one; what I want you to feel is the sweeping passion and breathless movement of the original.

Hang on tight. Or rather, don't.

San Juan de la Cruz
En una noche oscura

En una noche oscura,
con ansias, en amores inflamada,
¡oh dichosa ventura!,
salí sin ser notada,
estando ya mi casa sosegada;

a escuras y segura
por la secreta escala, disfrazada,
¡oh dichosa ventura!,
a escuras y encelada,
estando ya mi casa sosegada;

en la noche dichosa,
en secreto, que nadie me veía
ni yo miraba cisa,
sin otra luz y guía
sino la que en el corazón ardía.

Aquesta me guiaba
más cierto que la luz del mediodía
adonde me esperaba
quien yo bien me sabía
en parte donde naide parecía.

¡Oh noche que guiaste!
¡oh noche amable más que la alborada!;
¡oh noche que juntaste,
Amado con amada,
amada en el Amado transformada!

En mi pecho florido,
que entero para él solo se guardaba,
allí quedó dormido,
y yo le regalaba,
y el ventalle de cedros aire daba.

El aire del almena,
cuando yo sus cabellos esparcía,
con su mano serena
en mi cuello hería,
y todos mis sentidos suspendía.

Quedéme y olvidéme,
el rostro recliné sobre el Amado;
cesó todo y dejéme,
dejando mi cuidado
entre las azucenas olvidado.

I can't help...

...searching for favourite songs on Youtube on Boxing Day. Today, this one was the one I wanted to listen to over and over again.

I fell in love with this version when I first heard it. At the risk of being sacrilegious, I think it's 10x better than Elvis'. There's something about the quality of Corey Hart's voice - the tentativeness, the tenderness, as well as Corey's range - that suits this song infinitely better than Elvis' did.

The simple, unadulterated vocals give it the aching vulnerability that is the essence of the song, lost in UB40's version.

The way he sings my favourite line of the song, the question:

Shall I stay - or would it be a sin?

brings tears to my eyes. You can see him reaching for her cheek, the tips of his fingers brushing her hair.

Perfect. (Yes, I'm a hopeless romantic. But you should have known that already.)

Christmas void

I'm not feeling the love. Or the magick.

When I was growing up in the States, long before I converted, I'd stay up in bed till after midnight Christmas morning with the sense that something special was happening, and I had to be awake for it. Shortly after midnight, I'd fall asleep, cradled, safe in the knowledge that the magick surrounded me.

Christmas always had that feeling, and after I converted, it was even better, because now, I was part of it.

But for the last two years, nothing. 25 December has been just another day. Part of me is terrified that what has happened is akin to what happens with me in relationships or situations where I've been unhappy/accommodating for too long: one day, I wake up and something has snapped. There's no feeling, no desire to keep trying, nothing. Whatever it was is broken.

It's known as the INFJ doorslam. It takes a long time to get me there, but once I'm there, it's not that the door is permanently shut. It's that there is no longer a door.

Not Christmas, please.

It used to be that I'd get excited about buying cards and presents in October/early November. I'd have my cards by 15 November; they'd be posted out by 1 December. The real anticipation began with "Carols from Kings", getting ready, followed by walking down to Midnight Mass/carols at 10pm Christmas Eve night. The beauty of the church, the carols, the first strains of 'O come all ye faithful'. (Note: those who wish to petition the O to have Midnight Mass in sung LATIN rather than English, let me know.) All of it used to help me reach kairos, where I could be in the manger at the Christ Child's bedside.

The last two years, I've been stuck firmly in chronos. To quote people suffering burnout speaking to Rachel Remen, "I don't know what's wrong with me. Terrible [and in my case, great] things happen in front of me and I feel nothing."

For someone for whom reading and picking up emotional resonances is easier than reading a book in her native language, it's like being stripped of a sense...of an ability you've always had. It's not the most comfortable feeling in the world.

I take comfort in Rachel Remen's explanation: we burn out because we don't grieve. We're so full of emotion, we can't hold anything else. As she points out, psychopaths don't burn out.

So she's reassuring me that I'm not a psychopath. *Phew*

But she is telling me that I need to unload. A lot.

As one of my friends said to me a week ago, "Irim, you've worked through a lot of emotional stuff lately, you've been working, learning and still supporting every person who needs you. And you're surprised because you're exhausted, cranky and you don't give a toss about Christmas. I'm not. You haven't stopped to process ANY OF IT. You HAVE to do it. Stop processing for everyone else."

Fair point. Now that I've stopped, it's all caught up with me. So, what to do?

I've heard the suggestion that I should talk to one of my numerous clerical friends. Reasonable suggestion. But, well, no.

"???????" I hear.

I can't. I just...can't. For me, clerical friends are to *be supported*. They get enough emotional drama crap from every Catholic who thinks they need a priest to sort out their lives; they don't need it from me. And whilst I love to challenge my men in black, I wouldn't DREAM of asking them to deal with my challenges. Many clerics are seriously uncomfortable with dealing with negative emotions: anger, conflict, sadness, doubt. Bring up a crisis of faith? Youch. That goes to the heart of their identity...no, can't mess with that.

And the ones who can deal? Well, every emotionally psychic vampire in the church (and the conservative wing has more than their share, as a lot of people here are using traddiness to fill a void) has already latched onto them. They need a shoulder; they don't need to BE a shoulder.

No, my spiritual conversations and support come from an eclectic spiritual community outside the church, which include the likes of Ari, Christine, Vera, and so on. The heart-to-hearts and long discussions on the nature of God and the directions in which our faith is taking us are blessed oases on my spiritual path. Often, they are huge pushes forward. But still, not the place to deal with this emptiness, because it's not about my faith in God; that's still there peeking out from behind the faces of my friends and events in my life.

So...where to?

For me, music.

Advent, Christmas and Epiphany have carols with some of the most wonderful and salient lyrics. I find these lyrics recurring at odd moments, so maybe I need to stop and listen:

Fear not to enter His courts in the slenderness
Of the poor wealth thou wouldst reckon as thine
Truth in its beauty, and love in its tenderness
These are the offerings to lay on His shrine

Ah. Maybe that's it. Maybe it's...about what I think I owe God.

Maybe it's about thinking that I have to BE something or FEEL something to earn God's grace. I'm very given to that way of thinking because I'm very given to the idea that one needs to make a difference, that one needs to DO to prove that they have any real faith at all. One of my favourite quotes is Gibran's "Your daily life is your temple and your religion", but perhaps I have been using it the wrong way: your faith should permeate your life, both being and doing; you shouldn't use your faith as a rod to drive yourself to exhaustion, doing what you feel needs to be done.

Let your actions FLOW from your faith rather than drive yourself to PROVE your faith.

Big difference, not least because the second framework means you judge others harshly for not living up to a standard of perfection you expect of yourself. It leaves no room for humanity.

Hmmmm.

I don't mind entering God's courts without material wealth. That doesn't bother me in the least. I fear entering God's courts in the slenderness of not having been there enough, listened enough, offered enough, tried to change enough, made my corner of the world better enough. Even tonight, I sat with my Christmas dinner balanced on my lap, counselling a friend online.

Enough. It may be my gift, but it doesn't need to be on tap all the time. Occasionally, it needs to be shut off at the mains. Or maybe, I need to let it flow through me rather than *do* it. My gift is to be a vessel for it and remember from whence it cometh.

And how does that tie into Christmas? Expectation. The insistence that I CAN'T be tired, that I HAVE to feel it every year, or I've failed.

The child in the manger wants ME, not the person *I* think I should be. It is, as Rachel Remen reminds us, about wholeness, not perfection.

And there's a glimmer of a star in the East of the void.

Meanwhile, I'm wrapping up in my slanket, processing, having the odd good cry, letting go of the need to BE in a Christmas mood, and entering the Lord's courts in the beauty of truth and love in its tenderness:

I am that I am.

Jossela, Miriam...

Ok, I'm changing font size. We'll see how this works.

H/T to Reiza, who put this up on her blog as a superb explanation of the differences between Chanukkah and Christmas. I'm particularly appreciating it as a Jewish couple came into work today, and my blood pressure plummeted the moment I heard the man say, "Baruch Hashem" [loosely, "Thank God"]. They nearly gave themselves whiplash when I wished them "Chanukkah sameach", and we had a lovely chat about the school where I taught. I felt a warm glow as they left, as if from...a menorah and latkes frying gently in the kitchen.

*Shakes head*

Having said that, I know this is irreverent, and even more so on Christmas Eve, but raise your hand if you can imagine me saying this to Joseph just before he travels off to Bethlehem (preferably in my new, beautiful, Limoges blue slanket):

12. Many Christians believe in the virgin birth. Jews think, “Yossela, Bubela, snap out of it. Your woman is pregnant, you didn’t sleep with her, and now you want to blame G-d? Here’s the number of my shrink”.

*Raises hand abashedly* Yeah, me too.

See you at Midnight Mass.

[ETA: Please read the comment section and join in. It's better than the entry.]

Cattiness

more animals

The first comment under this, made by Attila, was "I, for one, welcome our feline overlords."

I would just like to add that I particularly welcome our new feline priesthood, particularly the pope.

Finally,*appropriate* cattiness in the Catholic hierarchy. Which, interestingly, would also be banished by a healthy, liberal influx, as observation shows that on the whole, it's a narrow band of younger, more orthodox, repressed men sweeping in the innuendo and perpetual nastiness in the name of 'saving the church from evil liberals'.

Frankly, we liberals are sick of getting knocked for taking on the Church directly - where you can hit us back - and watching the Grima Wormtongues run rampant, destroying the church with their rumours and perpetual subtle digs at everyone around them.

Grow up, get some therapy, and work out who you really are. And remember:

The more you claim morality as yours and yours alone, the more amoral you are likely to be.

And your particular version of right-wing Catholicism is almost as amoral as it gets.

Be warned: I, and others like me, will fight you all the way. Before you destroy the Church we criticise because we *know* and *are invested in* its capability to become what God meant it to be.

Obsession v Secret Obsession - and the winner is...

...Obsession, the 80s classic. By a landslide.

Let's compare:

Obsession
Top notes: Mandarin, bergamot, greens
Heart notes: Orange blossom, Jasmine, Sandalwood, coriander, rose and spices
Base notes: Vetiver, Amber, Frankincense, Oakmoss, vanilla, civet

(Interesting note: a friend once gave me vanilla musk from Body Shop, saying it reminded her of me)

Secret Obsession

Top: exotic plum, mace, rose Damascena
Heart: French orange blossom, Egyptian jasmine, tuberose, plum, woods
Base: cashmere woods*, burnt amber, Australian sandalwood

When I first went looking for a signature scent in September 2004, I didn't want to like Obsession. Really, I didn't. I wanted something warm and woody, for sure. But 1985's Obsession by CK??? WAY too tacky.

Hunt I did, at Boots and Debenhams. The women's scents were all too floral, too light. And anything with grapefruit will smell like cat piss on me after about an hour. Most citruses were right out.

But I kept spraying Obsession in the air and sniffing it. No, I insisted, I wanted mostly sandalwood, patchouli, ylang-ylang. But...I was falling in love. With THAT perfume.

Determined not to fold, I went to the men's section. Nothing. Stuff that might make grab the lapels of my male friends and go, "Don't worry, I'm not going to jump you, I just want to inhale (read: Obsession for Men - do we sense a theme?) for a few minutes." But none of it smelled quite right.

Finally, I took the plunge. I sprayed some Obsession on my wrist and continued shopping.

Game over. Rich, warm, spicy with the smell of vanilla lingering at the end...I was hooked. There are many kinds of sensual and sexy, and this scent dovetailed with my definition perfectly: more sultry, mysterious and dark than light and playful. More reminiscent of kohl-lined eyes, colourful, sensual fabrics and heat than the lighter Marilyn Monroe/Audrey Hepburn version of sexiness in fashion now. Perfect.

Last time I ran out, a few months ago, I remembered I had some Body Shop sandalwood perfume oil, so I decided to take a break and use it for a while. Secret Obsession came out whilst I was on a break, so when the time came to decide last weekend, I re-sprayed Obsession on one wrist, but without thinking, rubbed it against the other, as is my wont.

Damn. Secret Obsession on back of right hand. Boy, was I sorry. Despite the promise of the ingredients, the top notes smelled like Aquanet. Unfortunately, I didn't need my hair to hold position in a hurricane-force wind.

"Ok," I thought. "It's a top note, give it a chance." I thought I might be prejudiced because several reviewers have had issues with its top and heart notes. Despite claiming sandalwood, jasmine, woods and amber as heart and base notes, Secret Obsession - which by its name should have been richer and deeper than the original - petered out into a light, floral scent that belonged on someone like Miley Cyrus, lacking the depth and edge of the original.

Which smelled as beautiful as ever on my wrists.

Secret Obsession an adolescent/very young adult fragrance, whereas Obsession's more complex fragrance belongs on a grown woman.

So I washed my hands.

President Obama, repeal the global gag rule

...on 21 January 2009.

More on what the global gag rule actually is here.

It is unbelievable that a country so rich in opportunity and resources would tie such horrific strings to money that means the difference between life and death. Abortion is LEGAL in the States, how DARE you insist that any aid money you give be tied to condemning it elsewhere? How DARE you kill people in the name of your own personal, rigid, black and white belief? This is relief money, and you have NO idea of the complexities and depth of their need. You have no idea what it means to force a woman raped by soldiers to carry a child to term, nor do you have any right to deny a mother whose life is endangered by her pregnancy the right to terminate it. Let the people who do know use the money unfettered, in the best ways they know how.

Charity should never have strings attached.

And as in the case of all things one tries to ban - the example of alcohol during Prohibition comes to mind - the consequences are never what you expect them to be. The impact on women's health has been catastrophic, and as is always the case, when women's health is damaged, there aren't just ripples, there are tidal waves. Read the executive summary of the report Access Denied here.

Lives over ideology, every time.

So, President Obama, welcome, and may your historic inauguration on 20 January go down as one of the most memorable in history. But on 21 January, whip out that pen and let's give women - and thus, everyone - in the developing world a fighting chance. Repeal the global gag rule.

Watch the video below and add your signature to the petition here.

Am I worried about excommunication latae sententiae for signing the petition and publicly asking others to join me in signing it? About priests/clerics who will tell me I should abstain from communion - or that they won't give it to me - the way the Bishop of Scranton warned Joe Biden he would be refused communion if he showed up at a Scranton communion rail?

Am I, f***.

In the first place, my priests have the wonderfully good sense to leave it to my conscience as to whether or not I receive communion.

Second, my conscience is absolutely clear on this - it won't even enter the confessional. Repealing the global gag rule is about saving lives. Women and children are dying - the global gag rule's impact on prenatal and maternal care, on HIV/AIDS, etc. is tremendous. Even if all I can do is sign a petition and donate a bit of money, it's what I HAVE to do.

To quote a favourite poster: Stand up for what is right, even if you're standing alone.

In my church, I most certainly will be alone on this.

But that's ok, because in my spiritual community and my world, I'm linked arm in arm with many others.

And I know that even if the Church excommunicates me, God most certainly won't.

(H/T Melissa at Shakesville)

An addition to the funny Nativity play stable

Pun intended.

My friend and I were chatting, as you do when you need to catalogue a book titled Civil society and international development and are desperately trying to avoid correcting the somewhat crap record.

She told me a story passed on by a friend whose colleague had been to his child's Nativity play:

There was a child with autism playing the innkeeper. During Monday afternoon's dress rehearsal, Mary & Joseph knocked on the door and asked if there was any room at the inn. The innkeeper repeated his line perfectly, saying, "No I'm sorry."

On the Tuesday night, which was the actual performance, Mary & Joseph duly went up to the inn and knocked on the door, which was then opened by the innkeeper:

Joseph: Is there any room at the inn?

Innkeeper: No there isn't, and I told you that last night, so fuck off!

Now, I couldn't stop laughing, and am still having trouble keeping a straight face. After all, one can hear so many children saying that after far too many rehearsals. One can also hear the actual innkeeper saying that, after trooping down to the door to answer the gazillionth knock, thinking, "Bloody !"£$%^&*()(*&^%$£ census!"

But here, there's a point to be made. We often forget that things we take for granted need to be explained. In this case, it's obvious: autistic children take things *literally*, so the concept of a play and having to repeat the same line over because it's 'make-believe' needed to be explained clearly to the young lad playing the innkeeper. He did nothing wrong; he was just living his role.

Albeit less obviously than the young innkeeper, we all live our roles - those we choose for ourselves and those placed on us by others. And in our lives, the need to be clear can be equally obscure. We need to remember that others don't live in our heads, don't think the same way we do, and that needing to explain things outside the normal societal consensus (e.g., what we're upset about, what's going on in our heads) is *natural* and doesn't mean that someone else doesn't care. Then we need to remember to listen when others are trying to explain to us.

That's the power of love.

Fitting lesson from a Nativity play, non?

The best re-write of Deck the Halls...evah...

Must...try...to...breathe...aka Manhunters

This week, it's "Manhunters: Meet the Gigolo".

Clare and I haven't stopped laughing and squirming yet, and it's 23 minutes in. My chest hurts.

Since my computer was on (obviously), we decided to check out the male escort site that hired the Italian, Rico, who had come to London from Milan, hoping to see if we could find someone we'd put our money together and hire for the 'boyfriend' experience.

As we scrolled through, we discovered a couple of interesting things. For example, we're both traditionalists when it comes to men's hair - we prefer short back and sides. I wouldn't have thought she was, and I thought I was over my traditional male hair phase - I thought I was a bit more open than that.

And I have to confess, to my shame, ZZ Top is describing me when they sing:

Clean shirt, new shoes
And I don't know where I am going to.
Silk suit, black tie,
I don't need a reason why.
They come runnin' just as fast as they can
Coz every girl crazy 'bout a sharp dressed man.

Gold watch, diamond ring,
I ain't missin' a single thing.
Cufflinks, stick pin,
When I step out, I'm gonna do you in.

When I was young(er), I always swore he'd have to be a man in a suit. Again, I thought I'd outgrown that...but if I examine it more closely, that particular 'requirement', as it were, has changed. Now, if you do understated elegance - lose the diamond ring, show me 1/4-1/2 inch of cuff, wear *real* cologne (e.g., Trumper's Sandalwood rather than Lynx) - you ARE going to do me in: my head will turn so fast, I'll get whiplash. It's not the money; it's the...self-assurance, the alpha-maleness that often comes with it. There's nothing as sexy as a man who knows who he is and isn't afraid to be that person. And yes, I'm aware that there's an irony in saying that about what's essentially a uniform, but it's HOW it's worn that matters - you can tell by his bearing, by how he moves. It's only truly sexy if a man wears it like it's his second skin. If he's just trying to ape the image, it's as unsexy as it gets. That's true about anything.

Therein lies the rub (*snort*, hahahaha) with these male escorts - they're flashy, insecure and just...slimy. Honestly? Because they're set up by men, they're far better as *gay* sites, because these men are setting up sites for what they want. Women don't want (to quote one of the sites) a 'dildo on legs'. I, like most other women, will stick to the Rabbit, thanks.

To be honest, this is really beginning to sound like a lot of male projection to me. Let's take a look at part of Rico's personal statement, shall we?

Let him prepare for you every time a different juicy recipe to slowly taste and remember, to enjoy and open your centre of pleasure.

Is he really thinking about my pleasure?

Sounds to me like the most elaborate request for a blow job ever.

Not a single woman I know - I suspect not even Samantha from SATC - would go down after that. We'd all be too busy collapsed in a heap of giggles on the bed or the floor.

Yeah, this is sounding like a masturbatory (not mutual) exercise.

The conclusion of the presenter that "Women lining up to pay for sex? That sounds like a male fantasy, not a female one"?

Finally, someone on this programme has hit the G-spot.

I want this...

Ok, this is now JUST behind the slanket in the Christmas stakes. I want this t-shirt so badly I can taste it. And I have a number of candidates for the collared one...

Bizarrely sweet

This week has been one for odd conversations.

Today, I'd just settled into an afternoon of church reception when a clerical friend passed by to enter church, but the wedding that had started over an hour earlier still hadn't finished.

"How long do [these] weddings last?"
"Well, it's been over an hour, usually they'd be done by now."

And at the point where the conversation would stray into rubrics/liturgical discussions/etc., he nearly left me speechless:

"So, how long will your wedding be, then?"
"Depends on how many of you are on the sanctuary."
"We would love to see you wedded."
[Language note: I would use 'wed', as I think of 'wedded' as more...modern? Also more specifically for the phrase 'wedded to (an idea, plan, etc.)'. Interesting. His language is usually so precise, I'd have expected 'wed' from him as well.]
"Well, so would I. Then there would be the fight about who would baptise the kids."
"There's going to be a fight? So, is there a man?"
"Well, I need to find a man who can handle me."
"Ah yes, a man who can handle Irim. We want to know what he's like."
"Me too. I'd like to meet him."
"So would the rest of Oxford, Irim. We all think he'll be tall, dark, butch and brutal." That last adjective, spoken with emphasis, made me flinch - though he didn't mean ill by it, brutal is a hard word, it's...an *angry* word. I know he meant a man who could tell me, "Irim, you're out of line," not someone who would slap me around, and not someone who could deliberately inflict suffering on others. He'd never put up with a person who could do that.

I laughed and responded, "I think you're possibly right with the first three."

OK, so far, you get the bizarre, ja?

But the sweet? Well, it's hard to explain. I once had a similar conversation with another cleric who said to me, with feeling, "We think you'd be incredible in a relationship and an *amazing* mother."

These are moments when they let me know that they see me as something other than the angry, liberal Catholic woman or the sensible person you can ask to do just about anything that needs doing. It's their way of saying they'd like to see me happy. It's their way of saying, "Ok, we treat you like an angry bitch, but we really do see you as a woman." Yes, I know the feminist in me should be angry/offended/whatever, according to some.

Instead, it just makes me go "Awwwwwwwwwwww" and melt. It's a slip of the tough mask usually worn with me, and I find that very endearing.

And in the case of today's cleric, I was taken aback because this is someone who usually gives me no quarter - he's almost always unrelentingly tough with me, though ever polite and kind. Today, there was an undercurrent of gentleness and affection in his voice that was as heartwarming and welcome as it was unexpected - and something I never expected to hear till the day he gave me extreme unction.

Feminist I may be, but that doesn't preclude me wanting to be a wife and mother - and I find it very moving when others tell me they wish that for me. After all, feminism was always about opportunity and CHOICE, not contempt for those who don't make the same choices we do.

Oh, and...my collared friend - you've been rumbled, you big softie. :-)

Letter to a friend

Hey,

It's just me.

I wanted to let you know that I was thinking of you Sunday as I wandered along South Bank next to the London Eye, looking out at the the most beautiful part of London's skyline in the glorious winter light. My heart should have been full to bursting with joy at the sight of the first city I ever really fell in love with. Instead, I gazed out with nearly unseeing eyes, pretending it was the breeze off the river making my eyes water. My heart was heavy and I was desperately trying to put on a happy face before meeting Ali and David.

But all I could do was reflect on our friendship, from the moment (or half an hour) of mutual understanding when we first met, through long emails, long evenings and lots of laughter. I remember being able to talk to you about anything and everything; you being able to laugh at yourself; hours spent laughing till we cried; being able to say, "Hey, I need to talk," and having you be right there.

Inch by inch, over the years, I've watched that - and you - slip away. I've heard the lies become more elaborate and more frequent (and yes, I know) ; I've taken the brunt of inexplicable snaps of anger that you forget about, but I don't; I've watched you lose interest in things you used to be passionate about; I've watched you stop laughing - both at yourself and at life.

Before I say to you what I need to say, let me apologise. I need to apologise for not having the integrity to do this face-to-face and deal with the consequences, though I've touched on it in the all-too-brief windows where you've brought it up. I apologise for every time I've put my hand on a wine bottle to pour for you. For every time I didn't say, "You don't look well." For every time I didn't challenge you. No, no one else is, true, but challenge is what I DO, and for me not to have done it in our friendship is unforgivable. Now it is a matter of life and death, I think, and you deserved far better from me.

If it is at all possible, hear this and know that I do not hate you, though I know that's what it will feel like. Know that I see in you immense potential and many gifts, and that above all, you are incredibly lovable and loved by more people than you know, even at your darkest. Maybe if you could feel that, if you could know that you are loved when you are angry, depressed, hurt, vulnerable, you wouldn't be here. I know no other way of letting you know that but through words and by being here.

I'm afraid it's not enough.

And now, here is what I have to say, what I should have said to you face-to-face, but this is the only way I know to really speak to you anymore:

You are an addict and despite the fact that you appear to be functioning normally, you are in deep trouble.

I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier.

How do I know, you ask defensively? Your paleness, the sweating, the fact that you're not eating properly - and yes, I know you lied. But what scared me most was that when I went to hug you, your stomach didn't give. That means we're not talking fat; I suspect we're talking ascites, which means that you're in some stage of cirrhosis, and I'm guessing later rather than earlier. I'm guessing you're not eating because you *can't* - it makes you feel ill, because you can no longer process your food properly. To put it simply and starkly:

Cirrhosis is a serious condition. Only 30 per cent of patients with this problem will survive five years after diagnosis and the outlook is worse if the cause is alcohol and the patient continues to drink.

That means you need to face this. Not after Christmas, not tomorrow. NOW.

Know that this doesn't mean I'm going to say it and walk away. If you want help, I'll be here to help move mountains to make sure you get it.

Yes, I know you may think it sounds judgmental or pompous or hateful. You may well think I've betrayed you. I think I'm ready for that, though I'd really rather not be.

But before you snap at me about how it's your life and doesn't affect anyone else's, let me tell you only a few ways in which you're wrong.

The tightness of your friends' voices when we talk about you, the masks we wear, the worry beneath them - even the smartass comments of some - would speak volumes, as would those words we don't say. Your name gets mentioned and whatever ease was in the room flows out faster than sh** downhill. Masks get put on; words are guarded. When you come up, we can't even talk to each other.

I heard echoes of us in the voice of a woman who was looking for help for her husband, a cocaine addict. He had used coke almost every day, gone into rehab, and was now slipping about once every eight weeks or so. I gently suggested AA or NA, but she said that he felt he was beyond that and that he didn't want to be with people in the full grip of addiction and be reminded of how he had been at his lowest. I heard our voices in her attempt to deny that he was still addicted; her weariness; her desperation.

It was a bit too close to home for comfort.

What about me? Let me lay it on the line: you are one of my inner circle friends. That means that to me, you are one of the people who really knows me: one of the people who can handle me when I'm angry, depressed, stressed out, sad, unable to be the supportive friend to everyone and everything. I'll never forget times like the one where you said to me, "That's the second time tonight you've been really down on yourself. What's going on? You ok?" You were always one of the people who could take care of me, not just be taken care of by me. Those moments were always worth so much more than they might have seemed to you, because I knew I was absolutely safe. No more. Now I'm always on eggshells, trying to avoid the next moment of unpredictable lashing out, grateful for the eggshell walking practice I had growing up.

What you've done for me in those moments and beyond is incalculable. It has opened so many possibilities and made me a far better person. Thank you, more than you will ever know. Even if, God forbid, we were never to speak again, there is a place in the inner circle that will ever be yours. If you can't *feel* that because of what else I'm saying, *know* it.

Dealing with your addiction has made it harder for me to let people into my inner circle. It always was, true, but I had reached a balance. I knew I was less trusting than most, that I threw up a lot of tests, but I'd learned to recognise that and accomodate it. When you, someone already on the inner circle, became unpredictable and hurtful, difficult to trust, that created an imbalance. I'm getting balance back, but it hasn't been easy. I expect angry friends to act like you; I can't quite trust friends who want to catch me when I need support, because I expect them to use it against me. Yes, it's feeding on something already there and it's my responsibility to sort it, but it doesn't mean that the effect of others is negligible.

Then, there is the fear.

The fear that one day, I will answer my phone to the news that will shatter my world the way a rifle shot shatters the air around it, never to be the same again.

I'm not afraid every day or every minute. Every so often, I wonder. When your STD code shows up on my phone, I freeze, briefly, afraid it's one of your friends or colleagues going through your phone, making the phone call none of us ever want to have to make.

Those are only a few of the ways in which your addiction affects some of those who care about you. I can't speak for anyone else, I can only speak for myself. And it boils down to this:

I miss you so much, it feels like I'm grieving already. Like I've grieved over and over again.

What do I want from you, I can hear you asking. Above all else, I want you to be happy. I don't know what that means for you or where it will take you, but I do know that it means that you have to be whole, that you can't be hiding from yourself and trying to amputate parts of yourself that you don't think you should have. I know it means you have to face the demons you've been numbing with drink, and all I have to offer is that the shadows are often much bigger than the demons themselves, of whom it could be said:

Everywhere I see bliss, from which I alone am irrevocably excluded. I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend. Make me happy, and I shall again be virtuous.

You've seen them as evil, imprisoned them, tried to kill them...let them in, face them, and I think you'll find that they are born of pain and grief that you've never let yourself feel. Those feelings are nothing to fear. Trust me, you'll find more gifts and more wholeness in them than you could imagine. Let yourself become whole.

I'm not promising you that it will be easy or that it will feel good. There will be times it will hurt like hell, times you'd rather be dead or with a bottle in your hand. Finding yourself is hard enough if you've been committed to it your whole life; it's a hundred times harder if you've been running.

But I can promise you friends who love you, who will cheer for you, who will stretch out their hands to you. We can't walk the darkness for you, but we can walk WITH you and be there for you. I promise you, if you put ONE fingertip within reach on the edge of that abyss, someone will have your hand. Please, give us a chance. Please.

Because watching you die is killing me.

Love,
Irim

Flash of insight

Ari and I tend to have three conversations going at once on MSN: the normal one, one in square brackets [] and one in curvy brackets {}...of course, they cross over quite a lot. Below is a square bracket conversation that gave me a huge amount of insight. I don't think any commentary from me is needed, but comments are most welcome:

Irim says (23:08):
[is Maahi ve addictive, or is it just me?]
Ari says (23:08):
[Not as much as the songs from K3G, but I can see how it could be.]
Ari says (23:09):
[I'm not addicted to it because all the videos I can find are jerky, and I haven't seen the film.]
Ari says (23:09):
[It's different if you've seen the film, no?]
Irim says (23:09):
[oh yeah. Agreed. SRK's sacrifice...SOB]
Irim says (23:11):
[weirdly, I'm finding Maahi ve...SOOTHING]
Ari says (23:11):
[Interesting.]
Ari says (23:11):
[What does it have that you need?]
Irim says (23:11):
[It's like being with my cousins and aunts and uncles when they were around and young and happy]
Irim says (23:11):
[it's like the summers in Pakistan]
Irim says (23:12):
[it's...Punjabi]
Ari says (23:12):
[You were meant for that kind of dynamic really, weren't you?]
Irim says (23:12):
[???]
Irim says (23:13):
[the culture fusion? Or the SRKajol dynamic/SRK and verbal sparring female?]
Ari says (23:13):
[The close large family with lots of colour and music.]
Irim says (23:13):
[OH GOD, YES]
Ari says (23:13):
[All of it, really, but that in particular.]
Irim says (23:14):
[it's why I'm so jealous of friends with big families who are really close]
Irim says (23:14):
[I was meant for an extended family
Irim says (23:14):
and the person who said they could see my husband and me coming down the steps on a Saturday morning with 20 kids on the family room floor
Ari says (23:15):
[LOL ]
Irim says (23:15):
and looking at eachother and going 'Erm, did we have this many?'
Ari says (23:15):
[LOL ]
Irim says (23:15):
'Erm, no'
Irim says (23:15):
'Are all of ours here?'
Irim says (23:15):
'1...2...3...4...' yup
Irim says (23:16):
Ok that's fine. Let's go back to bed, they're asleep, we'll deal with breakfast later'
Irim says (23:16):
That's me.
Ari says (23:16):
Yes.
Irim says (23:16):
I was told I would be the neighbourhood mum. I believe that.
Irim says (23:16):
And that's the kind of man I would marry.
Irim says (23:19):
it's that kind of man I need to be with.
Ari says (23:20):
It is the only kind of man you could be with.

An Oratorian Christmas Carol

It's Ellen's fault. She started it.

My Facebook status mentioned the MC at mass last night, and she asked why the Oratory couldn't say mass with less than a heavenly host.

I responded with the standard Oratorian light bulb joke:

You know the light bulb joke? How many Oratorians does it take to change a light bulb?

Answer 1: None. Why change?
Answer 2: A celebrant, deacon, subdeacon, thurifer, two acolytes, MC....

El then said, "And a partridge in a pear tree?"

That was it. It had to be done. El, I've changed three (again) so it scans (French hens gives us only two syllables) and ten to 'lace-albed' - hope that's ok. So, sharing credit with Miss Ellen Robertson, I present you with...the Oratorian Christmas carol:

On the first day of Xmas my true love gave to me: a thurifer in a pear tree.
On the second day of Xmas, my true love gave to me: two acolytes and a thurifer in a pear tree.
On the third day of Xmas, my true love gave to me: three subdeacons, two acolytes and a thurifer...
On the fourth day of Xmas, my true love gave to me: Four candelabras, ... three subdeacons….
On the fifth day of Xmas, my true love gave to me: FIVE GOLDEN COPES!!!!!!, four candelabras….
On the sixth day of Xmas, my true love gave to me: Six altar candles, FIVE GOLDEN COPES!!!!, four candelabras….
On the seventh day of Xmas, my true love gave to me: Seven servers serving, six altar candles…..
On the eighth day of Xmas, my true love gave to me: eight tri-peak birettas, seven servers serving, six altar candles….
On the ninth day of Xmas, my true love gave to me: nine lace-albed priests [one was a bishop so he was wearing a mitre rather than a biretta], eight tri-peak birettas….
On the tenth day of Xmas, my true love gave to me: ten silken maniples, nine lace-albed priests [one was a bishop so he was wearing a mitre rather than a biretta], eight tri-peak birettas….
On the eleventh day of Xmas, my true love gave to me: eleven Latin masses, ten silken maniples, nine lace-albed priests [one was a bishop so he was wearing a mitre rather than a biretta], eight tri-peak birettas….
On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me: twelve St Philip statues, eleven Latin masses, ten silken maniples, nine lace-albed priests [one was a bishop so he was wearing a mitre rather than a biretta], eight tri-peak birettas….

Modifications/suggestions welcome, not least from the Oratorians themselves - this is a dynamic work :).

Kal ho naa ho (Whether tomorrow comes or not/Tomorrow may never come)

I'm loving the juxtaposition of this entry with Baghdad St. and the fact that they happened on the same day.

Last night, I kicked back in front of white boy's computer to watch a film he's been bugging me to watch for years. Even though I was reintroduced to Bollywood about five years ago, I have to say, I've only seen Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham in full, IIRC, though CJ and others can correct me. Not out of any wish to avoid them, but because there are only a few people with whom I can watch them - white boy, as stated above; CJ, who's in the States; Almut, who's in London. Yaq is a possibility.

So, when I told white boy that I was coming to the big city, he asked what I wanted to do. I said that I still hadn't seen Kal ho naa ho (he'd shown me a snippet ages ago), so he suggested we watch that.

He insisted on using the English subtitles (which he finally found under 'Dutch' or something), which I tend to find distracting, and quite often, missing the sense of what was said. I was surprised, since his Urdu is miles better than mine, as he taught in Pakistan for several years.

So, when we were partway through the film, I asked him, "Erm, white boy, do you need the subtitles?"

"Yes."

"Oh," I said, trying not to sound surprised.

"It's Hindi and it's too colloquial."

My eyebrows nearly hit the ceiling. *I* don't need them, why should he? He lived there, colloquial would have been what he spoke; and Hindi and Urdu are like nearly identical twins, except for the script.

He carried on, "See, like right there. He said, 'paanj saal kilia'. It should be 'panj saal se' - He said 'for five years' and they always say 'since five years'."

Now, I could be wrong, but 'paanj saal kilia' didn't jar me - I'm sure I've heard it used more than once. I think it's valid. Yaq, if you have a thought on this, post a comment, homeboy. And lose the Lucknowi Urdu, ja? Of Pathan descent you may be, but you're a Lahori boy. Speak like one. ;)

I was also chuffed to realise how naturally I translated - my parents only spoke English to us, so none of my mental processes are in Punjabi/Urdu, but for the most part, I translate into English effortlessly, unless the vocab is unusual (obviously). I'm better than white boy, proving the truth, I guess, of his comment, "I may have lived there, but it will never be my culture like it is yours."

The second thing that interested me was his comment on the hand gestures as choreography. I said, "No, white boy, *I* move like that when I'm gesturing and talking to a Pakistani. My hands do that naturally."

[Ari, you may want to look away now. Spoilers below.]

Back to the movie, which was brilliant. The story revolves around a young woman, Naina, whose father committed suicide, leaving her mother to raise their children alone, with the unfortunate addition of the mother-in-law who blames her for the suicide. Naina, angry and sensible, is driven crazy by these rows, and escapes to her MBA class and her somewhat senseless best friend Rohit (I mean, how stupid do you have to be to tell a female friend that she's not pretty and sexy??)

Enter Aman, her new neighbour, and begin the verbal sparring that always indicates fabulously explosive chemistry and the possibility of a love *and* lust relationship. To cut a long story short, Aman loves her, but is dying, and so convinces her he doesn't when she realises that she is in love with him, and sets her up with Rohit.

The song below is from Rohit's and Naina's engagement party. Rohit's Gujarati family begin the custom of competitive singing with a...short, valiant attempt. At this point, kicked back, with my legs over the arm of my chair, I turned to white boy and said with the self-assured certainty only a Punjaban could have in this situation:

"You know, the Punjabis are about to kick their ass."

"Oh yeah. You know, it was choreographed by three Sikhs, which is why it's really Punjabi/bhangra."

"Is that a problem? And Sikhs aren't the only Punjabis, you know."

"No, but they're almost a caricature."

"True."

But enough. Decide for yourselves (K3G fans, keep an eye out for the cameos):



I love this song from the moment that Aman blows the Gujaratis a kiss and gets the it going in that Punjabi accent (the actor is Pathan). For me the song REALLY becomes Punjabi (really listen to the background music here) when they start the section of lyrics that all end 'rubha rubha' (meaning, 'Lord, Lord').

The mother and daughter part, which made me tear up (though that could have been his Spanish cigarettes, honestly), translates as:

"Moon (a term of endearment), My moon,
How can I make you understand how dear you are to me,
All the happy things however many there are,
I will go out and find them all
And attach them to your doli (wedding carriage)."

*Sigh* Perfect. As the Punjabis tell the Gujaratis in the video, "That's the way..."

Fun, cheeky and passionate...enjoy. And you'll all finally realise why it took me so long to realise George Michael was gay. In my world, straight men could dance.

But my favourite moment of the movie? The end, when Aman is in his hospital bed, and he says to Rohit:

"In this lifetime, she's yours. But in every lifetime after this, she's mine. From birth. Promise."

And the camera pans back to show Naina looking in the window, tears running down her cheeks.

*SOB* If there's any cosmic justice, that's the way it will be, from here to eternity.

Don't pass go, don't collect £200. If you like Bollywood, you HAVE to see this.

Don't know if you do? Start with Khabhi Khushi, and if you love that, see all the films with SRK and Kajol.

Then decide whether or not tomorrow will come.

Baghdad Street

'Baghdad St' is the irreverent nickname of a street I'd be more likely to refer to as 'Burqa Boulevard'.

My latest adventure down it came as a result of what is usually one of the highlights of my London visits: lunch with a friend who's a priest in the capital. As always, we talked and laughed our way through our lunch - and thanks to him, I discovered that I DO like anchovies on my pizza.

After a banoffee pie with ice cream (me) and a tiramisu (him), we discussed the possibilities. He needed to be at hospital for 3pm and I was free as a bird. We decided to walk to where he needed to be, and with a wicked grin, he asked me if I wanted to walk down 'Baghdad St' and count burqas.

How could I say 'no'?

"It's not the prettiest walk," he said, offering me a way out. "That would be by the canal."

"Oh, but this is by far the most culturally interesting," I said. "Just let me know when we're coming to it and I'll let my hair down."

As I was wearing a lacy, lowcut camisole - every heterosexual male knew the colour of the bra beneath it - under a cardigan, I left my coat open despite the cold. This was going to be good.

I made one crucial error - I forgot that when we met, I had been mock horrified at the fact that he was wearing a collar for lunch with a good friend, and he had taken it off. Had I remembered, I'd have had him slip it back in before we turned the corner.

"Ok, here it is," he said under his breath. Out came the clip, I shook out my hair, and we turned into a street that could have been anywhere from the West Bank to Lahore.

"Right," he said, "this is a bit disappointing. Headscarves, but no full burqa yet. Surprising. Oh...no, 1."

"Ok," I said. "I'm going to count the 'you-betrayed-your-religion-bitch' disapproving looks. None yet. Disappointing."

He continued burqa counting. "2, 3..."

Helpfully I added, "4..."

"Nope, not a full one. It doesn't count."

I laughed, as we both did for the full three blocks of the market.

"Mmmmm. Cardamom. INCENSE."

"That's where you and I are different," said he, ruefully.

"OOOOOO!" I said. "YES! Disapproving look 1, and from a man. Ok, hon, here's what I'm going to do - I'm going to grab your sleeve so that it looks like we're together, which makes it more of a 'bitch betraying her culture', since you're white."

"That's absolutely fine," he grinned. So I did. "6...7...have you noticed the mix," he asked, referring to the heavy Asian population with the occasional older, white face.

"Ok, that was an 'I fancy you' look, so we're 1-1 now. Come on, where are those 'bitch' looks, I'm getting really disappointed. Yes, I had."

He burst out laughing and turned towards me. "Look behind you, fabulous - that full burqa, and she's using her wheelchair for the shopping. Yes, it's the Asian population mixed with the older Irish population, who were here first."

I nearly fell over in a fit of the giggles. "OOH, second disapproving look, from a woman. You know, I'm tempted to stop at the stalls where the men have shaved their heads and are wearing the prayer caps and just stand there for a little while."

"12...13..."

"14...OOO, check that one out, that's good."

And as I was looking to my right, past him, I got the grandfather of all looks. An older man standing behind his table was staring at me, his face contorted in an expression of mingled rage and desire - the "I-hate-you-traitor-bitch-whore-but-I'd-shag-a-rebel-like-you-given-half-a-chance" look - one I am all too familiar with. I tilted my chin up and stared back briefly, then turned my attention forward as we moved on.

By the end, he had counted 25+ burqas and I had at least 4 disapproving looks (that last one could have counted as two) - all in all, a productive outing.

Then as we turned towards the hospital, up came the mother of all burqas, similar to the one I'd worn when I convinced my cousin Amna to go out to the shops in Okara with me during a visit to Pakistan when I was 9.

As we turned, discussing one last stop before he became official again, I checked to see if he'd been wearing his collar, and we expressed regret that he hadn't been. Up came another one, but the headpiece was makeshift and he said it best as he shook his head and declared,

"Poor standard."

I agreed, then we nipped off for a particularly Western end to our visit.

Black coffee (him) and hot chocolate (me).

Sex and the City interlude

I didn't fall in love with "Sex and the City" until it was almost over, so I'm watching it in re-runs.

Sometimes though, it just says what you need it to say - the quintessential moment for me is "Katie girl" from The Way we were (google it), but tonight's episode, where Carrie tells Charlotte that her need for her wedding to be perfect means she's missing the experience:

Carrie: Charlotte, you have a man who will always be there to catch you.

I wish I could find a man strong enough to catch me.

Amen.

But at the end:

It wasn't the perfect catch, but I was ok, because I had a big safety net.

As do I, because I have the best friends in the world.

But I still want the man who can make me trust enough to make me let go and let him catch me.