burning baghdad

A word of advice: never take water for granted. Every time you wash your hands in cold, clean water--say a prayer of thanks to whatever deity you revere. Every time you drink fresh, odorless water--say the same prayer. Never throw out the clean water remaining in your glass--water a plant, give it to the cat, throw it out into the garden...whatever. Never take it for granted.
-September 6, 2003 (50)


I must be sounding ungrateful, what with the $33 billion dollars being agreed upon, but hte idea of being financially indebted to America, the IMF and the World Bank somehow has the appeal of selling one's soul to the devil.
-October 25, 2003 (114).


These last few days have brought back memories of the same dates, last year. What were we doing in early March? We were preparing for the war...digging wells, taping up windows, stocking up on candles, matches, kerosene, rice, flour, bandages, and medicine...and what are we doing now? Using them.
-March 12, 2004 (224)


That was the beginning of the "liberation"...a liberation from sovereignty, a certain sort of peae, a certain measure of dignity. We've been liberated from our jobs, and our streets and the sanctity of our homes...some of us have even been liberated from the members of our family and friends.
-March 20, 2004 (227)


I had been looking forward to the shopping trip for at least 4 days which is how long it takes to get the routine familial permission these days. First, I have to make a declaration of intent; I have to tell the parents that I intend to go out and purchase something. Then, I have to specify the area where I intend to make the purchase, after which coes locating a free male relative with some extra time on his hands to join me in the adventure. The final step is setting the date and time and getting the final household authorization

For those of you wondering, YES, it annoys me beyond anything that, at my age, I have to get parental permission to leave the house.
-March 27, 2004 (229)




We have a saying in Arabic, "En kint tedri, fe tilk musseeba...in kint la tedri, fa il musseebatu a'adham" which means, "If you knew, then that was a catastrophe...and if you didn't know, then the catastrophe is greater."
-May 22, 2004 (267)