A New Tradition

Those close to me know I love to start traditions. Omelette Saturdays, pancake Sundays, 4th of July at Shoreline Park, New Year's in San Francisco are important memory-making events I have introduced to my family.
I have been thinking, no day dreaming, about crepes for a while now (notice the extra-large picture of the crepe). I first fell in love with them in college but my crepe intake has definitely fell since then. So I have decided I want to incorporate crepe in a new tradition.
I looked online for crepe recipes and found a basic one that can mold to my liking. So on the twenty first day in the third month of the year, I hearby inaugurate every Wednesday Crepe day.

*This recipe yields 8 crepes.
Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and the eggs. Gradually add in the milk and water, stirring to combine. Add the salt and butter; beat until smooth.
2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each crepe. Tilt the pan with a circular motion so that the batter coats the surface evenly.
3. Cook the crepe for about 2 minutes, until the bottom is light brown. Loosen with a spatula, turn and cook the other side. Serve hot.

Time: Friend or Foe?

Time is a concept, a value we assign to something. It flows through space like a gentle stream and all we can do is live it.
As my birthday edges nearer and nearer, I can't help, but think morbid and depressing thoughts of aging and death. Thirty. That's relatively young. Age is just a number; what matters is how you feel inside. These are thoughts that have raced through my head with hope to provide some sort of comfort in this inner turmoil.
But the fact is, in the search of meaning of life, I focus on the events, moments, that have passed. A chat with a friend. School. A song from my past. Me as a child. These recollections rush back buckets worth of memories too precious to spill and forget. I think about going back in time and doing things differently. Would that change the way I feel? The answer is no. I don't have many regrets. I just want to go back a few years and live it again-feel a much younger sense of self.
That's the truth about the past. You remember only the happy moments. I recall some negatives aspects of my past just for balance . Still the picture is rosy. Problems with parents, worrying about school, knowing what to do with life were just some parts of my younger life too. Why do I want to go back to that?
I am pretty happy. Things haven't gone the way I pictured (they never do, do they?), but I feel satisfied. In fact, I get  anxious over the possibility that I will do something differently and miss out on important experiences. Maybe that's it. The more we focus and ponder on time moving on a conveyor belt, the more we fear it. My mother tells me "to enjoy the moments rather than focus on time". Maybe that's how time should be measured. By moments. The beauty in them. The laughter, the sadness, the simple joy in surprises culminating into what we call life. Life does not wait for us. It continues like gentle stream and all we can do it live it. Time is just math assigned to it. And although age may just be a number, it holds meaning. We don't fear aging, we fear loosing what we love. People just hold time responsible.
         The truth is no matter how hard we try, we cannot stop time. It is ever present and in motion. Sometimes in broad daylight and sometimes in the dark alleys of night. When one focuses on time as a runaway bride, fast, capricious, and unwilling to stop to think its effect on others, we can't help but feel the every looming clock ticking towards our end. But when we focus on the moments. The tiny moments that are scattered like sands in the wind and land on the beach of our lives, then we can accept time. Appreciate it. We can not choose to stop time, but we can choose how to spend it.

Wordless Wednesday: Tuesday's Breakfast

Happy Birthday Sameeha!

Birthdays are a wonderful tradition. They signify a completion of a year and the commencement of something new. Each birthday represents growth through the year. It represents wisdom. New experiences. Addition of new blessings in our lives. Birthdays tell us we are a year older. They tell us we are loved. They bring people together. One can't help, but feel special on the day they were brought into this world.

 Sameeha turned three yesterday. Her birthday was celebrated with much enthusiasm from Sameeha and the adults alike. Birthdays have that effect on people. They bring laughter and joy.

 The night started with a delicious display of cookies baked by Sameeha's grandmother. They were adorable and bear, elephant, and mushroom shaped. They were a sweet addition to the event.

 The main course of the night was pizza from Round Table Pizza. Sameeha had requested that be part of her birthday meal. It tasted just as scrumptious as it looks.

 The cake was baked and decorated by the very talented mother-of-the-birthday-girl, Hina. Sameeha couldn't help but lick the frosting of it. If I was three I would be doing the same thing. The delectable cake was chocolate flavored and screamed happy seconds . I didn't resist. I obliged.

 The night was also filled with fun activities such as a game of Duck-Duck-Goose and the perennial favorite, adult conversations. We ended the night with a slide show of Sameeha and Amani.

 It was a joyous occasion for everyone in the family. May Sameeha grow and prosper in the coming year. I can't help but think of birthdays having a special relationship with families. If there were no families, birthdays would not be a celebration as they are today. Can anyone imagine a birthday without parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts and/or uncles, not being present to sing the worn-out, but beloved birthday song as the cake gets cut? That's the thing. Birthdays are also opportunities to recognize and be grateful for all the blessings in life.

Dr. Suess: The Lorax

There are handful of family movies that demand the description "also suitable for adults". It is rare to find children entertainment that engages adults on an intellectual level. Dr. Seuss' The Lorax is a film production based on a book of by Dr. Seuss of the same name. Having never read it, I can't make any comparisons between the two genres with validity.
In summary, the movie is about a 12-year boy in search for a tree to win the affection of his beloved, Audrey. His grandmother suggests he meets Once-ler, who could help him in his quest. Ted discovers that Once-ler lives outside the walls of Thweed-ville, a barren and empty wasteland. The Once-ler agrees to help Ted on the condition he listens to his story about the Lorax over multiple visits. Ted agrees, even thought the nature-hating mayor of Thweed-ville, Aloysius O'Hare, who is also the CEO of a bottled oxygen company, pressures him to stay in town.
In Once-ler's recollections, the viewers realize that Once-ler was a young and idealistic businessman with big dreams for his product, the thweed. He packs his belongings and leaves home and his unsupportive family to fight for his dream. He reaches a valley abundant with trees and decides to set camp and start his business there. After chopping one tree he meets an angry, yet sweet creature, the Lorax, who being the guardian of the land objects to any logging in the land. The young business man agrees. He introduces a revolutionary new invention made from the tufts of the Truffula Trees, the thneed. It becomes a major success and Once-ler's family is brought in to help with the business.
The Once-ler keeps his promise at first, but due to the demand and the greed and laziness of his relatives, he resumes logging much to Lorax's dismay. As a result, the forest is completely depleted. All the creatures relocate, leaving the once prosperous Once-ler poor and in agony.
The story ends with Once-ler's gift of the last Truffula Seed to be planted in town. O'Hare finds out Ted's intentions and chases with the intent of destroying the last seed, but he fails. With much encouragement from the townsmen, the single tree is planted. The message being is to care.
I couldn't help, but draw some parallels to today's world. The movie had an obvious "love nature" paradigm, but it was also made not -so-subtle and pointed remarks on the culture of cooperations and mass production. In the age of rising costs of gas, we think about the true nature of supply and demand and whether the gas prices truly reflect  the geo-political tensions in today's world or just a game for the oil companies.

Anderson Cooper: Dispatches from the Edge

There are few books that prompt the response "wow" from its readers. Anderson Cooper's "Anderson Cooper: Dispatches from the Edge" does just that. I finished the book in four days making my relationship with the book even more significant. It's that good. Some of my favorite parts were stories about his personal tragedies, mainly the early deaths of his father and brother. At the same time he is able to really hone in on the true feelings of the victims of natural disasters and wars without having his feelings and personal biases murk the waters.

After reading his book, I feel I have learned a lot about what kind of person he is. He has carefully chosen words to express his opinions over matters that are clearly pertinent in today's world. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who needs to get in touch with the politics of the world and understand the power of nature over mankind. If you want to learn more, click here.

Some of my favorite part of the book were:

1. His beautiful use of language to describe death, especially by drowning. It is morbid, haunting, and sad at the same time.
2. The way he makes personal connections with the disasters he witnesses first-hand.
3. His story telling.

Rainy Day Blues?

The view from our place

There is something about rainy days in the Bay Area that remind me of monsoon season in Karachi. The clean look of the ground, the smell of wet soil, the sounds of birds chirping and the gray skies harold new beginnings. I like to welcome spring with all the pomp and circumstance it deserves. The following are a few traditions I hold dear to my heart and some new activities I like to be part of during rainy season. Enjoy!

1. Eat pakoras

2. Plant pots

3. Watch T.V. or listen to music

4. Put on a face mask and walk around in my living room

5. Park my car outside so it can get washed

6. Surf online

7. Read or write (especially on my blog!) 

... and if you want to go outside and play in the rain, go ahead, grab your rain boots and raincoat and jump in the puddles till you feel like young like a child.

But before you go, what are your favorite rainy day activities?