Getting Old

Something has been happening with me and I finally put my finger on it - I am in a mid life crisis. For those of you who know me and start to laugh - I'm serious this time! Sometime in the next 10 days I will turn 37. hmm. 37! What kind of age is that? You are neither celebrating 40 (which is now the new 20) or moaning about turning 30 (which is now a very hip age to be)- you are there in the middle - limbo- just falling apart and going grey.

Ever since I turned 30, my body has slowly been falling apart. At age 31 you start to feel your joints, at age 32 your knees, 33 started back problems, at 34 I fell in love so the problems seem to not bother me. At age 35 with a new born baby- along with extreme sleep deprivation, my body started to rebel. And now, at 37 it's already telling me- Hasta la vista Baby - nice knowing you.

There are so many things I would like to accomplish. I feel most unaccomplished - I mean, at age 37 Napolean was well on his way to being King of France. Having said that, I do not wish to be King (or Queen, Princess or Royal Consort) of France or any other country. But it does keep things in perspective about how much you can accomplish by age 37. But on the other hand, I have accomplished a lot more than I thought I would have - I mean, I actually managed to find a nice guy and convinced him to marry a ranting-political activist-plus part time artist-plus part time chef-plus compulsive planner (a feat I often find unbelievable at times), and I am even more surprised that I have a child who at age 2 is still pretty normal given that I had no exposure or interest in actually taking care of children before mine was born.

But the sands of time are showing. I have wrinkles on my face, my hair is grey and added to my list of ailments is tendinitis. The one thing I wish I had and really miss are spectacles. I had them from the time I was 16 and all of a sudden when I was 35 and pregnant they said I don't need them anymore. While it was liberating at first, soon I started to miss them, and now I am downright lonely without those wonderful things that rest on your nose and make you look ever so sexy.

I guess I could always fix my hair and get rid of my ponytail, buy a pair of fake glasses and invest in some anti-wrinkle cream (Emy had one which seems to be working well). But then I would be all fake - which is exactly what women suffering from a mid life crisis become!

A sad ending

I heard some news today that seems to have really shaken me. It's a story of courage, of faith, love and pure grit and yet even though there is a lot of success, in the end it looses.

This is a story of a young woman called Jane. She had just given birth to a little boy and while breastfeeding found a lump on her breast. Sadly, this turned out to be breast cancer. They removed the lump and did a mastectomy. Presumably she got the all clear because she ran the Toronto marathon and spent Christmas in the Dominican. Unfortunately, Mrs H just emailed to say she had passed away - of a brain tumor. How can someone so determined to lead a normal life and be there for her children not make it? What happened to those divine creatures that were supposed to be there for those who really tried? Why didn't she get a second chance?

I do not know this young lady. Have never met her. Yet for some reason her life seems to resound with me. Maybe it's the way she also never seems to quit or maybe it's because she was also just trying to get on with her life like all the rest of us. Nonetheless it feels wrong.

Over the past hour I have questioned how it is even possible that a cancer patient who is being checked continuously for relapses would not be checked for a brain tumour? On the other hand, even if she had known she had a tumour - what can they do?

It just seems like a completely wrong ending to life that had so much to offer this world.

Terrorism

I would like to define what I call a terrorist - A terrorist is anyone who for an ideological reason kills innocent people.

Here is a list of some organisations I call "terrorist organisations"
1. The Israeli Defense Force and it's activities since inception.
2. The Indian Army with it's activities in Kashmir.
3. Al-Qaida and all its activites (I equate them with the IDF).
4. The US Army with their activities in Iraq.
5. Militant wings of Hamas, Hezbollah and all the other Islamic organisations that seem to think killing civilians furthers their ideology.
6. Stern Gang and Irgun
7. The militant wing of IRA and all it's activities in Ireland and London
8. Babar Khalsa and Khalistan groups
9. The Order
10. Suicide bombers all over the world

Boycott Made in Israel and my New Years resolution

My New Years resolution this year is quite simple -stay stress free. For all those who have been following my life, last year was a very challenging one. This one I hope to keep fairly uneventful and full of fond memories.

Part of keeping my life stress free is to remove any items which constantly cause me to question my ethics. This is where the Boycott Israel comes in. I have always found Israel's use of brutality and it's flagrant disregard for not only International Law but also disregard for judgements by Israel's own Supreme Court extremely unpalatable. Married to a Jew (Not a practicing one, but one that has been nonetheless brainwashed into believing that the IDF is a legitimate body and the pitiful Jewish excuse to their nazi like behaviour which is "all Palestinians are terrorists") has made it a bit difficult to avoid getting "Made in Israel" goods in the house. However, every time I tasted those jams and juices (which I have to admit are tasty) it felt like I was perpetuating the mindless murder of more innocent civilians at the hands of the most organise terrorist organisation there is - the IDF.

I don't know what other goods Israel produces other than jams, cookies and juices (and of course illegal nuclear bombs and other items to perform genocide), but I am going to save myself from going through this moral dilemma every time I want to enjoy my toast.

I have seen and heard enough of Israel and it's apartheid policies. Indiscriminate killings of innocent Palestinian children has got to stop. Israel needs to understand that there are real repercussions when they kill civilians who simply want to live their lives. And as for my beloved brainwashed husband who believes "All Palestinians are terrorists" - I would like him and the rest of his brainwashed fascist Israeli supporters to explain to me how a child of 2 years is a terrorist.

I ask all people to join me in boycotting all goods "Made in Israel" - boycotting South Africa forced them to stop their inhuman policies towards blacks and maybe together we can make a difference and bring rights to the people of Palestine and liberation from the brutal occupiers.

Christmas 2008

Something is just not right this year and I can't put a finger on it. We have a real Christmas tree that miraculously smells like pines (out last two trees did not), we have snow all over and really the makings of a perfect Christmas. But still, it just did not feel like Christmas. Something was missing and for the life of me I cannot figure out what.

Maybe it's the gloom and doom that is prevalent everywhere - I mean, how depressing is it to know that Woolworths is closing down after 100 years - or maybe it's more depressing to know that our stupid govt is going to spend more money we do not have to bail out an auto industry whose cars no one wants to buy - at the expense of my daughters future. Everywhere I go things are just not Christmassy. Christmas is a time of laughter and happiness, yet I feel burdened. I just don't see the spirit this year.

And it's not like we haven't tried. I mean, my dear friends came over on Christmas and we cooked up quite a feast with a goose and all the sides - the goose took far too long to cook, and it was way to tough (I realised I had bought a Mennonite Free Range one - apparently the ones cooped up in cages would have made better meals). But in spite of the trials and tribulations of one ex-chef (my friend Ed) and another ex-sous chef (me) and a support team of 2 ambitious home cooks (my friends Gab and Cat) - and a meal that after 6 hours gave us a proper meal and over which we did laugh - I still did not find the Christmas spirit.

It was probably me. I am way too tired these days. The burden of the path ahead looks even more heavy and under all this strain I find I have sadly totally lost my sense of humour. My friend Emy is correct when she says I need to learn to say "No "more often and stop trying to accommodate everyone. The toll of doing that is costing me the season's spirit.

Mumbai and the terrorists

As most of the world knows, Mumbai has been under a mindless terror attack for the past 4 days. All terrorist attacks are inhuman and cruel, most don't make any sense and the overall loss to all is far greater the attack itself. But this is not what this blog is all about - for an analysis on the Mumbai attack - watch CNN.

My blog is about the terrorists themselves. These young men and women who chose to do this very cowardly act and destroy thousands of lives in the bargain. Let it be very clear - ALL TERRORISTS ARE COWARDS- THEY HAVE NO RELIGION , NO FAITH AND NO GOD. To link any of these terror attacks to a particular religion is wrong, biased and unfair.

When the siege started in Mumbai, I thought that if we moderates do not do something about the extremists who have high jacked our religion then we have lost our collective conscience. I don't agree with that anymore. We have nothing in common with these guys. Yes they claim to follow "Islam" but their "Islam" and mine have nothing in common. Mine believes in peace, charity and justice. Theirs is war, bloodshed and murder. We do not follow the same set of beliefs and as far as I am concerned just because they want to take AK47s and say they are Muslim does not make them any part of it. I have as much in common with their ideology as I have with a Haitian voodoo priest.

Muslims around the world should not have to apologise every time some Islamic nut decided to commit a heinous act. It is unfair to the 1 billion people who follow the religion and the law of the land if they had to apologise for actions of few who in no way represent their thoughts. So linking this and other terror attacks to "Islam - a religion of terror", or to the "Muslim community"is a practice that hurts more than it helps. It marginalizes people and does not lead towards a more peaceful and cooperative world.

Muslims are like any other people. We work hard to bring home food and pay the rent, we wonder how to pay for university for our kids, we watch bad sitcoms on TV, shop at Walmart and eat at Tim Hortons. We also have other very similar traits with the rest of the population, some of us fight with our spouses, some cheat on them, some don't pay taxes, some sleep at work and some don't recycle. In effect we are no different from any other segment of population in the western world. Most of us are only "Muslim" because we were born into a Muslim family. A large portion of us cannot (or do not) read the Quran and an equally large portion of us have never been to a mosque. In this respect, we are probably more lax about our religion than our Christian counterparts. It does not mean we do not follow the religion - we do, but like the evolution of cultures, our way of religion has evolved as well.

However, among those who follow Islam, a very small population(probably less than 0.0o1%) follow an ideology that has nothing to do with foundlings of Islam - it is purely a political extension of someones own desires. These are the fundamentalists and their crazy "jihad".

While there is no doubt that the Muslim community needs to do more to put out the ever growing extremism in the religion - it should be noted that Muslims can do about as much as Catholics could do when the IRA was bombing London in the 70s, 80s and 90s. There is still a big gap between what is reasonable to achieve and what needs to be done.

For starters, most fundamentalist thought is brought about in isolated comm unites that live within other non-Islamic general populations - like the large Muslim community in the Brampton suburb of Toronto. It is not uncommon to see girls here wearing "hijabs" or men with beards (both visible signs of religion in Islam) - what is common is the communal lack of integration. They attend private Islamic schools, live, socialize and work mainly among themselves and for all general purposes are separated from mainstream society. It is within these communities that a very small line defines orthodoxy and fundamentalism. When you have not been given the right to individual thought and expression from cradle, you take the word of the "smartest" in the community - sadly in these cases, it is the Mullah.

I know there is a huge out cry for Muslims to cure the disease within the religion, bring back these rogue elements and end the fundamentalism that exists - but this is totally unreasonable. What can an average Muslim chap who works in an office do that would remove Uber-nut bin Laden from his path - not much! What can an average Muslim do to prevent others from joining his path - maybe a very little something- and this is help with integration. Integration dispels some of the prejudices and hatred. Integration brings about an understanding that is core to future peace.
.

Japanese Inspired Barbeque Chicken

Serves 4 as a main course.

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken (5 lbs / 2 kgs)
2 tablespoons OKONOMI sauce
2 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons mustard
freshly ground pepper
1 bulb of garlic
1/4 onion

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 380F
2. Wash the chicken and pat dry with a paper towel. Place in a baking dish so that the chicken fits comfortably.
3. Cut the bulb of garlic in half and stuff both halves in the chicken cavity. Cut 1/4 onion and place that in the chicken cavity as well.
4. Mix together the Okonomi, Honey and Mustard. Spread evenly on top of the chicken.
5. Sprinkle some freshly ground black pepper on the top.
6. Cover loosely with aluminium foil and place in the middle of a heated oven for about 40- 45 minutes. Remove foil and allow to finish cooking for another 40 minutes. If it looks like the skin is burning - cover loosely with foil again.
7. It's done when the thermometer inserted in the thigh (don't let it touch the bone) measures 185F.
8. Remove from oven and let it rest -loosely covered for about 15- 20 minutes. Cut up and serve with the sauce from the bottom of the pan. Best served with mashed potatoes.