going up...

time to get up the terraces and see the fireworks... hopefully there'll be something to see. it's a bit windy, but it should be okay with a scarf. pics perhaps coming up tomorrow. no guarantee ;)

my room still smells a bit of smoke

last saturday we had a barbeque. it was huge. it was massive.
there was meat:


there was more meat:


on top of this, there was a bit more that was brought later on. this is what we had in our fridge/freeze in the morning. it would make the most ardent meat-lover proud.

there were people:



there was music:


(there were also lots of desserts, but I have no pic of them - they were eaten up too quickly!)

I think pretty much everyone enjoyed it. we had a total of 65 (+/- 2) people showing up, and I think no one left feeling hungry at least. there were a lot of people playing the drums, with a lot of singing and laughter - videos of that will be coming up later.

a big thank you to everyone that helped out, that showed up, that made this barbeque something to remember for a long time. it will probably take a while until next time, but that one will be even bigger, if possible. stick around and find out!

update: I forgot to mention that you can see all the other pictures here.

bedroom quotations!

remember my kitchen quotes from back home? I continued here, but put them in my bedroom, since my closet is so huge. it's a really good way of reading some Writings in the morning, or in the evening, or when just dropping by my room. I'd say it looks quite good:


and here they are, top to bottom, left to right (you can also click the pic...):

The recital each day of one of the Obligatory Prayers with pure-hearted devotion.

The regular reading of the Sacred Scriptures, specifically at least each morning and evening, with reverence, attention and thought.

Prayerful meditation on the teachings, so that we may understand them more deeply, fulfil them more faithfully, and convey them more accurately to others.

Striving every day to bring our behaviour more into accordance with the high standards that are set forth in the Teachings.

Teaching the Cause of God.

Selfless service in the work of the Cause and in the carrying on of our trade or profession.
(six steps towards spirituality)

The friends of God must so live and conduct themselves, and evince such excellence of character and conduct, as to make others astonished.

Rely upon God, thy God and the Lord of thy fathers.

And if thou art overtaken by affliction in My path, or degradation for My sake, be not thou troubled thereby.

Strive that your actions day by day may be beautiful prayers.

How couldst thou forget thine own faults and busy thyself with the faults of others?

Be anxiously concerned with the needs of the age ye live in, and center your deliberations on its exigencies and requirements.

True loss is for him whose days have been spent in utter ignorance of his self.

One endowed with the gift of hearing gets the mysteries of God from all things and all creation conveys to him the divine message.

Consider the past.

The past is the mirror of the future.

Armed with the power of Thy name nothing can ever hurt me, and with Thy love in my heart all the world's afflictions can in no wise alarm me.

Make whosoever arises to serve Thy Cause as a sea moving by Thy desire, as one ablaze with the fire of Thy Sacred Tree, shining from the horizon of the heaven of Thy will.

The time is come when naught but the purest motive, supported by deeds of stainless purity, can ascend to the throne of the Most High and be acceptable unto Him.

True peace and tranquillity will only be realized when every soul will have become the well-wisher of all mankind.

Let deeds, not words, be your adorning.

O thou who art turning thy face towards God! Close thine eyes to all things else, and open them to the realm of the All-Glorious. Ask whatsoever thou wishest of Him alone; seek whatsoever thou seekest from Him alone. With a look He granteth a hundred thousand hopes, with a glance He healeth a hundred thousand incurable ills, with a nod He layeth balm on every wound, with a glimpse He freeth the hearts from the shackles of grief. He doeth as He doeth, and what recourse have we? He carrieth out His Will, He ordaineth what He pleaseth. Then better for thee to bow down thy head in submission, and put thy trust in the All-Merciful Lord.

By faith is meant, first, conscious knowledge, and second, the practice of good deeds. (not up yet)


thank you to everyone who contributed with the quotations. my way of putting them up was entirely random except for the six steps; I had them upside down, and then just picked one and decided where it went without reading it. this way I know I'm not biased :)
and what I really like about this is that people find it inspiring, and many say they're going to do it themselves. yay!

the advantage of ironing your clothes in the morning

you know they won't get wrinkled until you wear them

they're just a little bit warmer when you put them on :)

disadvantage: it takes a bit more time in the morning... :-/

this is why I need to fix my hair in the morning

no words needed.

no more chocolate

we're out for now, but there's probably more coming. it was very much liked!

more chocolate

it never ends. here's the latest addition:

farewells...

even though I've only been here for two months, there've already been a lot of dear friends leaving. and there are a couple of more leaving in a short time too, and another batch leaving a little bit later, etc... unfortunately, that's how life is here, people coming and going all the time, and one just has to get used to it...

so on saturday there was a farewell for arman, with a black/white-theme, and surprisingly many that showed up actually abided by the theme. here's arman and I:



more pictures here. he's back in australia now... :(

ani lomed ivrit!

that's right, I'm learning hebrew! got a few classes, to be able to communicate a little bit. it's going to be interesting to see how it goes; don't really have too high expectations of being a fluent speaker of any sorts, but it should be good. two classes a week, two hours each, for five weeks. maybe I'll post my notes here as a good reminder... will help you readers learn as well ;)

Merry Christmas?

it's quite a difference here from previous years, when everything everywhere reminds you of Christmas... and everyone hoping it'll be white and snowing. well, it's not like that here. first of all, there's almost nothing here to remind you that it's Christmas - barely any decorations at all (I think I've seen 2-3 places with some lights), no snow (yay!), no huge ads, no santa claus, etc etc.

tell you the truth, I don't miss it, even though there is something special about this time of year (Jesus Christ was born!). it's a positive sign that people do remember each other a little bit more, and are a tad bit nicer - it would be great if everyone was like that all the time though.

another thing that bothers me is when people call it "x-mas" - what's up with that? removing Christ from the whole thing? *shakes head*

every day is a photo day

it's absolutely incredible how every day is a day where it's possible to take some lovely photos, regardless of if it's sunny, cloudy, rainy, or whatever. there's always something beautiful to take pictures of. I'll choose this one for this week, because I really like the clouds, but be sure to check out the entire album - there are some quite lovely shots there:

guiding at the Shrine

so I "got volunteered" to guide at the Shrine of the Báb earlier today for an hour. it's a great blessing to be there, and a good time for silent meditation. the actual task is not too daunting, but mostly to make sure that people are behaving the way they should; not talking aloud, taking off their shoes, etc. I got to take a few shots of the Shrine and surroundings after I was done, will put them up tomorrow. for now, here's a pic of the comb I used when closing the Shrine:

know your cleaning crew!

I read some story about a HRM exam that had a 90-point question (out of 100) asking "what's the name of our cleaner?" not sure how true it is, might be just an urban legend, but it's well worth thinking of.

anyways, our cleaning crew came over and cleaned our windows yesterday. what better for me to do than to take a couple of pictures?



we had a lot of fun, and took a lot of pictures. check the album here. there are also updated shots from the CST over here, check out the latest ones - some are really, really nice!

it happened again!

more coincidences, all the time. funny!

(yes, I'm flooding my blog with short posts.)

we have contact

server back up. yay!

get it?

einstein riddle

I got it.

server down :(

my server at home is down, hence why so many pictures here are missing. kinda difficult to troubleshoot from over here, hopefully it'll be up and running tomorrow. if not... dunno.

diversity

a quick reflection on the diversity of the Baha'i Faith: serving here in the Baha'i World Centre means daily getting exposed to and interacting with people from a countless of countries, ethnic and cultural backgrounds. just the other day, sitting in a taxi on our way to football, the four of us were from canada, singapore, vanuatu and sweden - the driver obviously a local israeli. in just about 160 years, the Faith has spread literally all over the world:

The Bahá'í Faith is an independent monotheistic religion with a worldwide population of some 5 million people. They come from more than 2,000 different tribal, racial, and ethnic groups and live in 235 countries and dependent territories. The Britannica Book of the Year (1992) referred to the Bahá'í Faith as the second-most geographically widespread religion in the world, after Christianity. (source)

if you remember this post, about the 16 countries in our 29-person big group (this time they are 23 from 12 countries), you'll realize that almost every country you can think of is represented here. I wish I knew exactly how many countries we had represented here, but I'd say we're easily from at least 70-80 different countries here. I think it's an amazing feat, and to also see everyone so united and full of love, despite the differences among us. it really gives hope for the future.


in other, quite unrelated, news, I had to suffer from some food experimenting the other day. pouring up cereal and only afterwards noticing that we were out of milk, I was left wondering what to do. after some dividing, I decided to try orange juice instead.
I won't do it again. it wasn't absolutely horrible, but it sorta left a kind of taste that you didn't expect. asked a couple of people here in the office, and they said they'd go for water. maybe I'll do that next time, but it feels kinda boring. hopefully there won't be a next time though.


I got challenged to list my seven wishes and challenge seven other bloggers to do it as well. I don't know what to think of it... I can only be content with what I have here, my experiences and challenges. as Bahá'u'lláh says: "Be generous in prosperity, and thankful in adversity" I think I will just try to live by that. I'm going to do my best in all I do, and hope for the best. whatever happens to me is in God's hands:

O thou who art turning thy face towards God! Close thine eyes to all things else, and open them to the realm of the All-Glorious. Ask whatsoever thou wishest of Him alone; seek whatsoever thou seekest from Him alone. With a look He granteth a hundred thousand hopes, with a glance He healeth a hundred thousand incurable ills, with a nod He layeth balm on every wound, with a glimpse He freeth the hearts from the shackles of grief. He doeth as He doeth, and what recourse have we? He carrieth out His Will, He ordaineth what He pleaseth. Then better for thee to bow down thy head in submission, and put thy trust in the All-Merciful Lord.

- 'Abdu'l-Bahá -

I can see snow

that's what my flatmate told me, calling at 6.50 (and obviously waking me up). it's a beautiful morning, so apparently he could see the snow in the mountains. I took a few shots as I got to work, not so much snow, but a nice fog. check it out here. I think this one is my favorite:

me now

here's a very recent pic (earlier today):

chocolate update

remember this post about the chocolate?

well, here's the update to it:


the chocolate and spot remained for a while, long enough so that another guy working here in the office came, cleaned the spot, and claimed the chocolate. I'm not sure what to think of it... but it will obviously be the picture of the week at least.

either way, I set up a new note and more chocolate, so there was at least something for our dear cleaners to have. good fun :)

kitchen poetry!

we got quite a lot of kitchen magnets (see here for an example), so last night I spent a few minutes making up some "poems":

remember the delirious search
some want to manipulate their friend
I will free you and part
live then here and head to eternity


and the second:

fiddle elaborate and design
beneath next rock
there our essential language
wind water forest storm
beauty in rose petal
vision of night
gift of dream
always think
light


kinda fun to do these, as you never know which words you end up with... :)

it's been 50 days

... and what a beautiful day to "celebrate" that. no clouds, beautiful sunshine, and about 20 degrees. could walk outside without a jacket or coat or anything, and I even took a couple of pictures. here's one taken from inside my office:



some highlights of being here so far:

helping out closing the Shrine - I was walking home one evening and saw one of my orientation people cleaning up and closing the Shrine. I asked him if he needed help, and got to comb the fringes of the carpets inside the Shrine of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. I was smiling like an idiot all the time :)

sounds of the world - read the post.

walking in massive rain... - not so much for the enjoyment of it, but it was definitely an experience.

lunch room - besides the excellent food (and desserts!) there's always someone fun to talk to :)

my flatmates - absolutely love them!

sounds of the world

sounds of the world is an annual event here at the world centre. it is the show where everyone from all over the world show their artistic/musical talents. we had performances from literally all around the world, and most left me absolutely speechless. here's a pic from the end:



it was so amazing to see the diversity and talents among those who performed. some were beautiful, some were really funny, and some managed to combine both. thank you all for your contributions! check out the rest of the album here, I will hopefully have some videos coming up too, but then you'll have to join up on facebook.

I must say I'm already looking forward to next year :)

project update

so my project is going forward, have basically spent the last week and a half in the office working on it. asked a couple of friends back home for help, and now we'll see how far we can get together... it's going to take time, but it's going to be interesting. and no hints yet, although there's a link somewhere to it (need google to index)...

there is always a choice

in our interactions with people, we always have a choice of what to say. often the choice is between a sarcastic or nice/encouraging response. sarcasm might be fun for the person saying it, but might not always be taken well by the recipient (or the others around). and it is also important to remember these words:

"Verily I say, the tongue is for mentioning what is good, defile it not with unseemly talk."

- Bahá'u'lláh -

"A kindly tongue is the lodestone of the hearts of men. It is the bread of the spirit, it clotheth the words with meaning, it is the fountain of the light of wisdom and understanding."

- Bahá'u'lláh -

I have personally not been the best person at this, but I'm trying to make myself aware of it more, so hopefully I'll be a bit nicer in the future... :)

technology for country folk

this is funny (click to see larger version):

evaluation session

so yes, the chocolate is indeed very, very dangerous. I opened it today, and my officemate and I took one piece:


I think we both agreed it was absolutely great. at least we'll have something good to look forward to for a couple of days, but I wonder what'll happen once we run out... need more pilgrims! ;)

then we also decided to have a bit of fun with our lovely cleaning crew, so we put up this little post-it:


it's a bit hard to see, but it's a remnant of someone leaning back with a bit of greasy hair. the post-it says "you missed a spot ;)" with an arrow pointing to the left, and then "REWARD!" with an arrow pointing down. and what's down there? this:


another piece of chocolate! :)

ideas

we all have ideas. some are good, some are bad. the others are mine...

I managed to have two horrible ideas in one week, and I kinda hope it's over now. first bad idea concerns my laundry. wednesday is my laundry day, and since I hadn't done any laundry the week before, I had a bit more than usual. I asked my flatmate if he had anything he wanted me to wash for him, so I got a little bit extra there too. and mind you, I don't do laundry close to home, I do it at my workplace. so, it's a 15 minute walk up-hill, with a lot of laundry, and then another 15 minute walk back down. quite heavy, and quite tiring.

now mind you, that's nothing compared to what happened on friday. my officemate had told me the day before about her experience of walking in pouring rain in akka, I kinda laughed at her experience and we both found it funny. little did I know I was going to experience it myself...
I stayed the night there (thank you p diddy!), got up to get going to the Shrine. it's pretty much the middle of the day, and it's a bit cloudy and windy. I stop up to look at the sea, because it's so beautiful:


(yeah, this picture doesn't really capture it...)

so I start walking, it's a 40-minute walk to go meet up a friend and then together go to the Shrine in Bahji. it starts dripping a bit, I get my umbrella, and think that it's all good. rain picks up, wind picks up, and next thing I know I'm beginning to 1. regret walking, 2. remember my officemate's story. I didn't catch a cab, which I probably should've, so in the end I'm left with
1. completely soaked pants, shoes and socks (felt like walking in a puddle)
2. a slightly chilling feeling
3. a laughing officemate
4. a funny story (maybe? you decide.)

unfortunately I didn't take a pic of myself, but luckily I got to borrow a pair of shoes and socks, and then felt at least decent enough to go to the Shrine. and then of course it also rained pretty much whenever I was outside while there... God has a funny sense of humor :)

what can I say? this will naturally be pic of the week, as it reminds me of my little experience :)

oh, dangerous!

more pilgrims, more chocolate... it seems to be a trend, and I can't really say I'm complaining. this time it's from one of the friends that we were on pilgrimage with 6 months ago, who sent it through a friend to another friend who sent it to me. you follow?

well, this one is belgian, and smells so good. I'm sure it's absolutely dangerous, but I want to try it out first and then find out ;)

borna, you're yoda!

You are wise beyond your years — a sage for the ages, the master's master. That's why your Star Wars type is Yoda. Sure, you might not look too much like the little green Jedi Master, but you have a quiet contemplative way about you that commands respect.


People trust you, especially your friends who are constantly coming to you for advice and sometimes predictions. While you may not be able to tell them who's going to win the big game, you do possess the rare ability to see the big picture. You never lose sight of the fact that we're all part of a greater whole. It keeps you grounded and balanced, and it's the perfect cover for a mischievous sense of humor that always catches others off-guard. This mix of wisdom and impish delight promises to bring you long life...another thousand years or so anyway.

I like that. it's me. take the test yourself

living in the office

as I don't have any computer at home (thank God!), any computer-related activities/projects will have to be done after hours (or during lunch). I recently started a project that'll probably take me some time to complete, so the past 3-4 days I've been "hanging out" in the office until about 9 or so working on it. arriving here at 8 (*cough, cough*) in the morning means that I practically spend more time in the office than back home. I should consider bringing pillow and sheets here... hmmm...

and no, I won't say anything about my project here. it'll come when it's done, close to done, or at least a bit further than it is now.

language questions

program/programme - when should which one be used?

why does everyone refer to persian as "farsi"? wouldn't that be the same as starting to say "svenska" instead of swedish?

help me!

things I don't do anymore

here's a small list of things I don't do anymore since coming here:

go to the gym
it's a bit too tedious, especially as I finish work at around 5.30-6, would have to go up the mountain, and then come back down again at around 8, all tired. not worth it.
do I miss it? not really, even though it is nice to keep fit and in shape.

watch tv
we don't have a tv!
do I miss it? not at all.

watch football
can't really stream the games while at work, can I...
do I miss it? a little bit of the excitement and the beauty of the game. but then again, there's so much else to enjoy here...

sit by the computer evening/night
got no computer at home...
do I miss it? not really, it's mostly waste of time, better to read and be social. and if I really have something I need to do, I always have my computer at work, can stay a bit extra.

freeze
first of december, we play football. it's around 10-15 degrees here right now.
do I miss it? not at all! I love it!

I love my flatmates!

there are so many stories to share from our flat, but I think being with us is something that simply has to be experienced. all I can say is that whoever's come to steve (the official name of our flat), has not been disappointed. here's a pic of the three of us, on our first day of orientation:


(obviously this will be pic of the week now.) the guy on my right (camera left) is robert taylor, from california, on my left I have naseem ma'ani-hessari from northern ireland/south africa for the past four years. (in the background we have the Seat of the Universal House of Justice.) we are all so incredibly different, but get along so perfectly great together. it's amazing, and I love it. we do pretty much everything together, hang out together, etc etc. wouldn't wanna trade these guys for any other in the world. I hope we'll be able to stick around together for a long time, even though you never know what might happen here. but for now, I'll appreciate what I've got :)

the picture is from my orientation album. also check out some pics of my room!

the purpose of life

quite a good thing to think about, right? well, read here. I really like this part, about the "true seeker":

"That seeker must, at all times, put his trust in God, must renounce the peoples of the earth, must detach himself from the world of dust, and cleave unto Him Who is the Lord of Lords. He must never seek to exalt himself above any one, must wash away from the tablet of his heart every trace of pride and vain-glory, must cling unto patience and resignation, observe silence and refrain from idle talk. For the tongue is a smoldering fire, and excess of speech a deadly poison. Material fire consumeth the body, whereas the fire of the tongue devoureth both heart and soul. The force of the former lasteth but for a time, whilst the effects of the latter endureth a century.

That seeker should, also, regard backbiting as grievous error, and keep himself aloof from its dominion, inasmuch as backbiting quencheth the light of the heart, and extinguisheth the life of the soul. He should be content with little, and be freed from all inordinate desire. He should treasure the companionship of them that have renounced the world, and regard avoidance of boastful and worldly people a precious benefit. At the dawn of every day he should commune with God, and with all his soul, persevere in the quest of his Beloved.... He should not wish for others that which he doth not wish for himself, nor promise that which he doth not fulfill.... He should forgive the sinful, and never despise his low estate, for none knoweth what his own end shall be. How often hath a sinner attained, at the hour of death, to the essence of faith, and quaffing the immortal draught, hath taken his flight unto the Concourse on high! And how often hath a devout believer, at the hour of his soul's ascension, been so changed as to fall into the nethermost fire!

Our purpose in revealing these convincing and weighty utterances is to impress upon the seeker that he should regard all else beside God as transient, and count all things save Him, Who is the Object of all adoration, as utter nothingness.

These are among the attributes of the exalted, and constitute the hallmark of the spiritually-minded.... When the detached wayfarer and sincere seeker hath fulfilled these essential conditions, then and only then can he be called a true seeker."

(from Kitáb-i-Íqán, by Bahá'u'lláh)

something to strive for...

bahistory.net

bahistory.net is a site that shouldn't be missed by anyone that's interested in Baha'i history. it's a beautifully designed site that provides information in a very readable way. you can browse by categories (persons, places, tablets, events, and misc), or just let the random pages on the right hand side take you somewhere. it's still in its infant phase, so not all info is there, but it's a good start, and if you're interested - you can always help out :)

it all started with a rabbit...

... and I brought a smurf and a ladybug...
... and then we got a kiwi...
... and then a koala...
... and then a rabbit and a tiger...

this is what the window in my office looks like:


my officemate and I just decided to gather up what we had, and then I had a few of the pilgrims coming from sweden bring whatever I had left at home. and now we have our own collection, and it's fun! who knows what's coming next? :)

the joke that never works

someone: are you really from sweden?
me: yeah, you can't tell by my blonde hair and blue eyes?
*person looks confused and gives a sympathy "heh"*

incredible coincidences

in this past week, there have been some weird coincidences happening. I can recall at least three times when I have thought about one of my friends whom I haven't heard from in a while, and suddenly the next day or even the very same day, I somehow hear from them. either msn, facebook, sms, or something... kinda funny :)

so different, yet so alike...

... and then so different again. watching everyone's behaviour around the Shrines is a really interesting experience. everyone is being reverent, but showing it in so many different ways, that it's almost an experience to just watch that. I can't explain what it is, but regardless of who you are outside the Shrines, once you enter, the submission before God is number one. makes me think of this Hidden Word: "Know ye not why We created you all from the same dust? That no one should exalt himself over the other."

the butterfly effect!

here's a cool picture I took one morning walking up to work:


I really like how the shadow forms...

animator vs animation

this is a really cool flash movie, the animation comes to life and tries to get rid of its animator... it's hard to explain, but just click here and enjoy it :)

clean your keyboard

for your own sake, try to clean it regularly. both the keys themselves, as well as under and in between. otherwise it risks getting kinda nasty, trust me on this one...

I just love this picture

took it one night while walking home:


amazing thing is I took it with my phone...

helping and learning

not often that these two phenomena are combined, but freerice.com is a very good exception. you learn english words, and for every correct answer donate 10 grains of rice through the united nations world food programme. cool, huh?

try it out and improve your vocabulary. their "warning" is kinda funny:
"WARNING: This game may make you smarter. It may improve your speaking, writing, thinking, grades, job performance..."

it's raining...

glad I got my... UMBRELLA!


it's the first time in four weeks it's been raining during the day. we had a small rain period at night, but other than that it's been pretty much sun all the time. seems "winter" (if you can all it that) is still waiting a bit to show up. can't say I'm complaining though...

interesting also that during these four weeks I haven't watched football or even tv. and what's funny is that I haven't missed it at all... plenty of things to do around here, and people to hang out with :)

orientation pic!

here's a pic of my orientation group - Thine Ardent Lovers:


it was quite amazing to see such a united group, 29 people from 16 different countries all over the world - jamaica, uganda, kenya, new zealand, india, germany, south africa, us, canada, belize, peru, sweden, belgium/france/kongo (he couldn't really make up his mind ;)), italy, cameroon, and malawi. this of course is the picture of the week, even though it was taken a while ago :)

yay! got "published"! (sorta)

every week there's a list of top10 sports bloopers on aftonbladet's sports pages. people submit them and they get published. here's the one from last week:


it's obviously in swedish, and I'm not going to translate it, but #5 was my submission, and you can see my name in the thank you in the bottom left... cool! :)

here is the original link...

inspiring quotations

"... make whosoever arises to serve Thy Cause as a sea moving by Thy desire, as one ablaze with the fire of Thy Sacred Thee, shining from the horizon of the heaven of Thy will."

- Bahá'u'lláh -

"The friends of God must so live and conduct themselves, and evince such excellence of character and conduct, as to make others astonished."

- 'Abdu'l-Bahá -

affordance

today we will talk about affordance, in relation to the gardens surrounding the Holy Places here. an object's affordance is basically what you perceive that you can do with it by observing it - ie sit on a chair, throw a ball, etc. (if you come into a room and see a chair/ball, you don't consider sitting on the ball and throwing the chair...)

now, in what way does this relate to being here? looking at the ground, they invite to different ways of walking, depending on the surface. we start out with the first three pictures:





easy to walk on, you can walk quickly. these kinds of pathways are usually situated rather far away from the Shrines. another look as you get closer...



these tiles and pebbles are used closer to and in the immediate surrounding of the Shrines, and they really help with the reverent attitude as you're approaching. it simply invites to walking slower and getting into a prayerful, meditative mood. it is possible to walk fast (I've done it), but there's exactly that affordance that exists, you feel that the only possible way to walk there is slowly...

picture of the week

as you may have noticed, I have put up a small section on the right that I call picture of the week. I'm going to try to put up an interesting, special, beautiful or something else kind of picture every sunday or monday, and then make a small post about it. hope you'll like it :)

israel is a good country

I mean, any place that has oreos must be good, right? ;)



been out at a few cafés here and there in the evenings with pilgrims and other people who serve here, and I have a couple of pictures from lovely designs in the chocolates and coffees that we've had. we start out with my hot chocolate:



next we have a tree and an apple:




and then there's this thing about fireworks... I don't have any pictures of them, but I think in my three weeks here, there's literally not been one single day that there haven't been fireworks shooting somewhere in the city. it is quite funny actually... there's not too much at one time, but there's still stuff.

delivery!

a family is here from sweden on pilgrimage, and as any other family coming from sweden will discover, they had stuff for me. since they were the first ones from sweden to come, this time it was a lot of stuff. here's how my bed looked this morning after unpacking it all:


I even got my keyboard now - yay! feels a lot better, I'm obviously more used to my own than the ones here. and I also brought my own mousepad and mouse, so it should be all good. I'll get a picture of my office up soon, and then I also have my room and flat to show and tell about. but that's for later...

luckily there won't be so much in the future, I might even get to send home a few stuff...

it feels weird to wake up at 6.30...

... and realize your two flatmates have already left.

prayer and meditation

someone said this a while ago: prayer is like climbing up the ladder on to the roof - meditation is enjoying the view.

prayer books on display

remember this? I sent my prayer book to new zealand for an exhibition display involving prayer books from all around the world. last weekend it was on show, and today I got a mail with some pictures of the exhibition, and a very positive note: "I have been notified in the past several days that the work I exhibited (prayer book suitcase) has been nominated as a candidate to be exhibited in the New Zealand national Art Gallery in Auckland."

so cool!

first picture is from the entire exhibition:


you can see the Shrine of the Báb, the terraces, and a display of a prayer book.

the second picture shows the actual case with the prayer books from around the world. "my" book is the one that is covered with a light brown leather thing, top left on the bottom. and my envelope is the white one in the front, a bit to the left of the middle. five huge stamps and a small blue etiquette on it:


it's an incredibly cool project that he managed to pull off, I am amazed and so happy that I was able to support and help it.

I will end this post with the "artist statement", a bit long, but well worth reading:


I want to develop in my own practice a language of expression that is different to the norms of what art is in this present time we live in. I want to create a body of artworks that when we look at it, we experience something symbolizing a spiritual concern and thereby tapping into one's subconscious. My practice is a tribute to a universal force, offering a glimpse to a concept greater than the artwork itself. "In every Atom he finds traces of a Sun." [1] As artists using the creative thought we have the capability within us to discover and express the reality of things, and penetrate the mysteries of existence through the arts.

The world is evolving into a world community and so are its cultures and spiritual beliefs. As mankind evolves throughout the ages, so does its art. It is certain that with the spread of the spirit and teachings of The Bahai Faith a new era will dawn in the arts, reflecting the spiritual nature of the world becoming an ever evolving global civilization. Every Religion has brought with it some form of art. Such a glorious new faith should give birth to a glorious art that resembles the spirit of its truth. When the spirit of the Bahai teachings is reflected within an artists work, it will touch the hearts of men.

No matter what work of art and of what culture, it is a living teacher forever of mankind's evolutionary development.

"In this wonderful new age art is worship. The more thou strives to perfect it, the closer thou wilt come to God. What bestowal could be greater than this, that one's art should be even as the act of worshipping the Lord? That is to say, when thy fingers grasp the paintbrush, it is as if thou wert at prayer in the temples." [2]

I embarked on a grand scale work that is based around the theme of universal unity in prayer and Bahai Pilgrimage. My work represents the diversity of the Bahai faith globally and the spiritual power this faith resembles, about 55 people participated, from 35 countries in 20 languages, it is truly a global collective collaboration of cultures around the world and sends a spiritual message of the collective unity that the Bahai's are capable of.

It is an installation styled work, containing a briefcase filled with Bahai prayer books. The postal envelopes themselves containing the prayer books sent from different continents embarked on a journey that was in itself a pilgrimage to New Zealand. Using found objects or materials that already carry significance and a history of its own before it is put into the context of a new work fascinates me - it adds more flavor and meaning. I also took into account the nature of what a prayer book is, what prayer means to people and its power. The prayer books themselves have so many personal stories within them from the individuals that sent them. These books have been held so many times and have been used for so many reasons when praying, they contain so many memories. I like the concept that the suitcase contains all these prayer books and memories from people all over the world. Each prayer book is a part of its owner and in most cases have been with them their whole lives. The participants have shown detachment departing with something that is so personal and precious to them. My placing their prayer books in the suitcase makes them part of the work on a personal level. They have shown that regardless of where they are from and regardless of how different their backgrounds and cultures are, they share one unifying force – their spiritual belief that mankind is one.

We live in a time when there are constant advances in communication technologies that open broad avenues of interaction among the planet's diverse populations. Artists should use this global communication and diversity of the world's people as a tool to express the arts. I have used the power of the Internet and e-mail to create a global network for this art collective. The communication back and forward between me and the participants is an artwork within itself, renewing old friendships and coming into contact with people I have never met. Thus new relationships were created through global communication and networking involving people all over the world. I have used modern age technologies to communicate an idea of spirituality through the arts.


Shahriar Asdollah-zadeh

--------------------------------------------------------------

[1] Writings from the Bahai Faith
[2] Ibid

call to helpdesk

a customer calls in to helpdesk:

- hey, my outlook isn't working!
*helpdesk person stands up, looks out the window for 15 seconds*
- mine looks just great.
- no no, I mean in windows!
- so do I...

;)

morning view

this is where I work:


not too bad, eh? :)

the life of Baha'u'llah - a photographic narrative

the site www.bahaullah.org was launched just earlier today. it looks really nice, and is a very beautiful narrative of the life of Baha'u'llah, the Founder of the Baha'i Faith.

do check it out!

news story here

encouragement to self

"If only the friends could realize it, the glory of our Faith is not that people with unique abilities do the work of the Cause, but that it is done by the sacrifice of loving and devoted souls who arise selflessly to undertake work they feel themselves incompetent, sometimes, to achieve. God works through them and endows them with gifts they did not dream they could ever possess."

- Shoghi Effendi -
(Guardian of the Baha'i Faith)

first day...

... and first miscalculation!

the week here starts on sunday, yesterday, so naturally I managed to do my first miscalculation of remaining days until wednesday. not just one day, but two... hmmm, I guess it'll take a while until I get used to it.

there are lots of things to share, but I have to try and get into things here first and then I'll post. patience, thank you :)

I LOVE this place!

no real computer access until next week or so, but things here are good, I'm alive and well and enjoying everything here. I'll hopefully get more things written here later on :)

and I'm off

flight's in two hours. next time I write, I'm in israel :)

I hope I didn't forget anything

in some strange, bizarre way, we (read: mom) managed to pack everything into one suitcase. I do have a backpack and a small bag with me too as carry-ons, but that suitcase is massive. it weighs 31kgs (limit is 20kg...), but I hope it'll be okay. it's almost my whole life there, so hopefully they'll be kind and realize that I'll be gone for quite some time. otherwise I guess I'll have to empty a bit of stuff... we'll see.

I'm gonna hit the bed, at least get a little bit of sleep.

I'm a collector

ok, I've started packing, and I've realized that I'm very bad at this kinda stuff. going away somewhere for just a week or so is no problem, because then I only need to bring clothes and some extra things. but going away for a long time...

I've spent half the weekend looking at things, and throwing some out. (the other half was spent with sports-related stuff, most notably squash.) and no matter how much "junk" I throw (I mean, come on, boarding passes for flight tickets 5-6 years back?), there's still a whole lot of I-don't-know-what left. I would say it's quite a relief to be able to finally look at things and say "I don't think I'll ever have any use for this" and then throw it in the bin. needless to say, I haven't been good at that at all previously.

now I've pretty much put down everything that's not clothes in a suitcase. and I almost filled it up... I think it's going to be very difficult to get it all under 20kg (which is what I have), but I hope to be able to sweet talk my way into getting at least a little bit more. (and by "sweet talk" I mean telling them I'm going to be a religious volunteer and be away for 2.5 years.) we'll see how that goes...

tomorrow's going to be insane. I have badminton at 7.30 in the morning, and then I'm going to drop by work to see my mates there. afterwards I'll probably head back home, try to take care of stuff (not sure exactly what), and then I have squash again at 4.30 in the afternoon... got one, possibly two, friends coming over tomorrow evening, going to visit my 2nd mom, and then probably staying up all night with my brother to watch nfl before he takes me to the airport. that's packed!

but now, bed.

the most random drink ever

had a dinner at a friend's place yesterday, and was told to bring something to drink. figured we'd bring something normal (coke zero) and something completely random, and this is what we found:


don't know if you can see properly what it says on the bottle about the taste (quite a bad picture), but it's a mixture of chocolate and banana. now, the color doesn't help much to enhance the taste.

after a few sips and tastes, we still couldn't figure out which taste was the most dominant of the two, and it was indeed a very strange feeling. but it was a lot of fun to try it out, and definitely an odd experience.

not to mention that the dinner and evening was a lot of fun and pleasure too. have said good bye to more and more people, time is really flying by quickly!

hugs!

another half-random poem:

There's something in a simple hug
That always warms the heart;
It welcomes us back home
And makes it easier to part.

A hug's a way to share the joy
And sad times we go through,
Or just a way for friends to say
They like you 'cause you're you.

Hugs are meant for anyone
For who we really care,
From your grandma to your neighbor -
Or a cuddly teddy bear.

A hug is an amazing thing -
It's just the perfect way
To show the love we're feeling
But can't find the words to say.

It's funny how a little hug
Makes everyone feel good;
In every place and language,
It's always understood.

And hugs don't need equipment,
Special batteries or parts -
Just open up your arms
And open up your hearts.

- Jill Wolf

the day that never happened

today never happened. there. done. good.

birthdays galore!

today is the birthday of six (!) of my friends. tomorrow three more, and on friday yet another two. you might wonder what the odds are for two people to have a birthday on the same day? well, let me tell you the answer: it's enough to gather a group of 23 people, and you'll have a 50% chance that any two of them will have a birthday on the same day.

does that seem counter-intuitive? I agree. that's why it's called the birthday paradox. but the maths prove that it is actually true, and a little bit of probabibility theory will do it for you.

we start off by seeing that with 23 people, you can form 23*22/2 = 253 pairs, which is more than half the number of days in a year. (with 28 people you get 378 pairs...) so already there we might suspect something.

to attack the problem, we first start out by finding out what the probability is that for each person we add to the group, that one doesn't have a birthday in common with someone already there. the formula for that is (365 - n)/365 for n being the number of people already in the group (starts out with 0). these separate probabilities are then multiplied, for the n amount of people we want to have. despite each probability being quite high (for n = 23 it's still ~0.9397), multiplying all of these brings the number quite far down, actually all the way to 0.4927, meaning there's a 49.3% chance that our 23rd person doesn't have a birthday already taken. if we then subtract this, we see that we get a 50.7% chance of two people having the same birthdays. done!

if you have 30 people, there's a 70% chance, and with 50 people, you're up to 97% chance to have two people with the same birthday. quite amazing, huh?


in other news, going to the gym is a lot more fun nowadays. a friend of mine suggested that I change the way I do my routines, and pretty much do maximum every time. only 2 sets, and quite few reps. it's a lot more intense, and takes a lot less time. I only do about 3-4 muscle groups, so all in all it's over in about 15-20 minutes. gonna keep this up and do it every day before I leave, and then probably rest a week or so. and then I'll see how it feels, probably going to try and keep it up. it's fun!

*looks to the right*

Days left in Sweden: 7

that feels quite amazing. I told the football people today that I'm leaving, and they were quite surprised to say the least, hehe...

my days are currently spent with sports, meeting ppl, and some other stuff. I think I need to start packing soon, but that'll probably take until weekend or so. not a day too late...

and yes, I became top scorer. my competitor "only" scored three goals today, so he ended two behind me. here are the final results. yay!

capocannoniere?

yesterday was our last game of the season, and we needed a win to make it through to the playoffs. it didn't start well at all, with a 0-2 deficit in halftime, despite having about 5-10 clear goalscoring opportunities (I missed about 3-4).

the second half turned out to be pretty much the same. an abundance of missed opportunities, and spirits were sinking. however, two quick goals, one of them by me, meant that we needed only one more goal to go through. and with 5 minutes left it came, and it felt gooooood. the last few minutes we were just playing possession game, even though we did have a few more chances to score. (and yes, I missed some there too.)

my one goal of the game meant that my total tally came to 23 goals in 18 games, of which I think I missed four or so. 23/14 = 1.64, which is quite a good average. the remaining games are played today, and there's one person with 18 goals scored, which can equal me. they're playing against quite an easy team, but the rules only allow you to score 5 goals per game. which means I'll at least be shared top scorer, if not alone. the award ceremony is the 30th of october, which means I'll miss it...

shamim, we'll always remember you...

today would've been shamim's 30th birthday. unfortunately he passed away about a year and a half ago, after an epileptic seizure. he was a wonderful guy, that always made sure everyone was well and happy. you never had a dull time with him, a joke here, some seriousness there... it was always great.

I remember him specifically from one of our youth conferences here in sweden, in the summer of 2003, when he was literally helping out with anything and everything, even though he wasn't one of the organizers. and he did it cheerfully, without even saying a single word about it. he was always there to help.

we have made it a tradition to meet up on the day of his birthday and say a few prayers for the progress of his soul. we know he's happy and well up there, and hope that he's thinking of us too :)

here's a picture taken almost three years ago:



"... the soul, after its separation from the body, will continue to progress until it attaineth the presence of God..."

- Bahá'u'lláh -

peace and climate change?

I know I shouldn't, but now that al gore and ipcc are awarded the nobel peace prize for 2007, I think there's something strange going on... not so much because environmental changes have nothing to do with peace, because they do (read collapse by jared diamond for more about that), but mostly because human-caused (anthropogenic) global warming is far from certain, and especially not when it comes to al gore's movie an inconvenient truth. here's a report about a high court judge in the uk that ruled that the movie can only be distributed to schools in the country together "only if it was accompanied by new guidlines [sic] to balance the former US vice-president’s “one-sided” views". they found nine inconvenient (pun intended) faults in gore's movie:

Error one

Al Gore: A sea-level rise of up to 20 feet would be caused by melting of either West Antarctica or Greenland “in the near future”.

The judge’s finding: “This is distinctly alarmist and part of Mr. Gore’s “wake-up call”. It was common ground that if Greenland melted it would release this amount of water — “but only after, and over, millennia.”

Error two

Gore: Low-lying inhabited Pacific atolls are already “being inundated because of anthropogenic global warming.”

Judge: There was no evidence of any evacuation having yet happened.

Error three

Gore: The documentary described global warming potentially “shutting down the Ocean Conveyor” — the process by which the Gulf Stream is carried over the North Atlantic to western Europe.

Judge: According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), it was “very unlikely” it would be shut down, though it might slow down.

Error four

Gore: He asserted — by ridiculing the opposite view — that two graphs, one plotting a rise in CO2 and the other the rise in temperature over a period of 650,000 years, showed “an exact fit”.

Judge: Although there was general scientific agreement that there was a connection, “the two graphs do not establish what Mr Gore asserts”.

Error five

Gore: The disappearance of snow on Mt Kilimanjaro was expressly attributable to global warming.

Judge: This “specifically impressed” David Miliband, the Environment Secretary, but the scientific consensus was that it cannot be established that the recession of snows on Mt Kilimanjaro is mainly attributable to human-induced climate change.

Error six

Gore: The drying up of Lake Chad was used in the film as a prime example of a catastrophic result of global warming, said the judge.

Judge: “It is generally accepted that the evidence remains insufficient to establish such an attribution. It is apparently considered to be far more likely to result from other factors, such as population increase and over-grazing, and regional climate variability.”

Error seven

Gore: Hurricane Katrina and the consequent devastation in New Orleans to global warming.

Judge: There is “insufficient evidence to show that”.

Error eight

Gore: Referred to a new scientific study showing that, for the first time, polar bears were being found that had actually drowned “swimming long distances — up to 60 miles — to find the ice”.

Judge: “The only scientific study that either side before me can find is one which indicates that four polar bears have recently been found drowned because of a storm.” That was not to say there might not in future be drowning-related deaths of bears if the trend of regression of pack ice continued — “but it plainly does not support Mr Gore’s description”.

Error nine

Gore: Coral reefs all over the world were bleaching because of global warming and other factors.

Judge: The IPCC had reported that, if temperatures were to rise by 1-3 degrees centigrade, there would be increased coral bleaching and mortality, unless the coral could adapt. But separating the impacts of stresses due to climate change from other stresses, such as over-fishing, and pollution was difficult.


interesting, huh? there's more about it... three links:

Al Gore told there are nine inconvenient truths in his film - the article about the court ruling

One Man Challenges the World According to Gore - a blog post commenting it

Climate Change Hysteria and Al Gore’s “Chicken Little” Scare Tactics - a long but interesting note about the whole climate change question. read especially the section entitled "Is the Science Certain? Is the Debate Over?" whether there really is global consensus among the scientists or not.


I'll leave it at that for now.

stretching

I think stretching is one of the most underrated things among people who do any sort of sport. I had a period of time where I used to stretch every night before I went to bed, and it helped me so much. thighs (back and front), calves and groin. about 20 seconds on each muscle and leg, so a procedure that takes less than 5 minutes. and what's the benefit? no pain the day after... it's so worth it.

beautiful poem

I got a lovely card with a beautiful poem from my third (or so) mom for my birthday... here's the poem:

Our lives have taken us
in so m any different directions
since we first became friends,
and yet our friendship
has always remained a lasting bond
that keeps us from drifting
too far apart.

We've been there for each other
in good times and bad,
with support and sympathy,
laughter and love.

As I think about our friendship,
I realize it is one of the things
I cherish the most about my life...

... and today, I just wanted
to be sure you knew it, too.

(by Dorothy R. Colgan)


love it!

I need to shave

check out my picture from the site of our football series:


scored three goals yesterday, and barring a miracle, I'll hopefully be the top scorer. one game to go...