last post of 2008

it's been a bit of a slow last few months here... but if I make a post tomorrow, it means I at least made it into 2009. this is the first year in a really, really long time (at least 15+) that I've been in the same country the whole year. quite an interesting experience I must say :)

there is someone there

took this picture a while ago... I really like it, with someone praying in the corner, the focus on the flowers, though dark, and the Shrine lit up.

nice quotation

I read this quotation yesterday and really liked it. thought I'd share it here:

How can I claim to have known Thee, when the entire creation is bewildered by Thy mystery, and how can I confess not to have known Thee, when, lo, the whole universe proclaimeth Thy Presence and testifieth to Thy truth?

(Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 62)

it's been almost a month...

... since I wrote something, and I actually don't miss it all that much. there's just been too much else on my mind, so writing here has not really been too much of a priority. I'll see if I'll pick it up again or not. until then, here's someone that finally made it:

;-)

we hope you love it and share it

I sure did, and I sure will:


Devon Gundry - "Armed" from Justin Baldoni on Vimeo.

the words:

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.

while we're at it...

... check out csszengarden.com, a site that beautifully visualizes just what is possible to do with only css.

html: tables, divs and css

this is funny:

from giveupandusetables.com

this is also funny. should I use tables for layout?

go to shouldiusetablesforlayout.com and make sure to check out the source code!

here is another example, throwing out tables.

I've been working quite hard to try to figure it all out when I'm designing my new stuff. it's hard, but I'm learning, and it seems quite simple as long as the design isn't too massive. examples to come later, promise :)

unity makes people happy!

a friend sent this to me:



and I started wondering - do people get the point? this guy is going all around the world, "dancing" with kids and adults regardless of their background, regardless of who they are, where they're from or what they do in life. the point is clear - he doesn't care who you are, as long as you come and dance and have fun!

click here to then read the comments - it's making people happy, they're crying and enjoying it a lot.

what is it that makes us so happy to see something as simple as this? there're no words (except for the lyrics to the song which we don't understand), there's no real story, there's nothing more. I think it has to do with the fact that it's reflecting a very underlying spiritual principle - unity in diversity. we are all members of one human race, and seeing this guy dance all around shows just exactly that. continent, country, class, creed, gender - we are all one.

The world of humanity is like a garden and the various races are the flowers which constitute its adornment and decoration. ('Abdu'l-Bahá)

beautiful post

this post is well worth reading. twice.

it's been so long...

... I don't even know where to begin. a few days ago I passed a year of being here, and I can't be more amazed by how fast it has gone and how much has happened. I thought I wouldn't change much, but looking back at myself I just marvel and how different my life is now than it was when I got here; how differently I'm looking at things; and how much my goals and focus have changed in life.

my parents came and left, and it was a beautiful experience to have them here. a little bit strange, as I'd gone almost a year without them, and have pretty much gotten used to it... but it was really nice, most of the evenings I got to see them, had some lunches at times, and of course went to the Shrines and so on. having one's parents here really is a blessing :)

life has gotten quite busy over the last month or so... there's not so much free time available to just sit around and chill, which has become rather apparent looking at the infrequency of my blog posts. this also has led me to not have all that much time to post any useful stuff, but it's basically just random updates as to what's going on. I wish I could get back to the old days with that...

we'll see if I can be bothered continuing or if I'll just let this slowly fade out...

sliver of silver

managed to capture this just as I was heading out of the office... a lucky shot? perhaps, but it's still all about being there :)

blog action day: poverty

see more statistics at gapminder.org and click here for more information on blog action day.

in memory of shamim

today would've been shamim's 31st birthday (see my post from last year). since I couldn't make it to the one in sweden, yesterday evening we had a small devotional for him at home. it was really nice to be able to be here and say prayers for him. later on in the evening I also went up to the Shrine to say a few prayers for him there too.

this is me and him, almost four years ago now:


shamim, you will always be with us.

world art collective

check out worldartcollective.org, and the video on the front page.

does anyone read this anymore?

- knock, knock
- who's there?
- ...
- who's there?
- ...

yeah, that pretty much sums up my blog in the past week or two... there's been a hectic amount of things going on at the same time, and there's not really all that much time to sum it all up. I turned 25 (!) last tuesday, my parents came the same evening, and there hasn't really been all that much spare time since. I've been here and there, doing this and that, and I think there's going to be even more coming up.

in true borna-style though, here's a picture from last monday evening. I took this picture after a small birthday dinner we had, and then walked down the terraces and chatted for about an hour:

pilgrims finally coming tomorrow! yay!

catching up!

it's been a long time since I was able to update anything... things have been hectic, and there's been a lot going on. here's an attempt at summarizing the past 4 weeks or so:

eilat
almost four weeks ago, we went to eilat over the weekend. it was a very relaxing weekend, where we basically didn't do much at all. we arrived at around 1 am on thursday night (or well, friday morning), and it was somewhere around 40 degrees. ridiculous :)
I got to go on a camel ride and it was quite an exciting thing. first time I've actually gone riding (never done horses), and it was a cool experience. and driving home through the desert watching the sunset was really nice. took a lot of pictures, they'll come up later.

tiberias, sea of galilee and around
two weekends ago, we went to a small camping trip as a kind of farewell for one of my friends who's leaving soon. we went to places around the sea of galilee, which has its historical importance, especially from the time of Jesus. we brought some excellent food (ribs, chicken, etc etc) for a lovely bbq, had a beautiful night, and took something like 1500+ shots. in about 24h. we were 10 people in 4 tents (3 + 2 + 1 + 1), and me and a friend slept outside under bare skies. it was the first time I'd ever done it (it's too cold to do it in sweden - even during summer!) so it was a really nice experience :)
we also coined a new phrase: someone having high "hopes and dreams and aspirations", said in a very indian accent :) it just turned into something that was constantly repeated... with a lot of laughter following.
we also made some visits to historical sites such as bethsaida (at least the one of galilee, didn't know there were two); the jordan river, where Jesus was baptized; and also a Baha'i cemetary where Mirza Muhammad-Quli, Bahá'u'lláh's half-brother, is buried with his family. it was a really beautiful end to a really fun camping trip.

maintenance of the Holy Places
well back here, there was a presentation on how the Holy Places are maintained and restored. it was a really amazing presentation, that showed what amounts of care and effort go into taking care of our Holy Places. there were some beautiful pictures, and a lot of "before and after"-shots, and definitely not fake! I think all of us present got a completely new idea and connection to the Holy Places, just the understanding of what really goes into it all was absolutely breathtaking.

Ruhi
with a group of friends, we decided to go through the entire sequence of Ruhi courses. the concepts in book 1 are fairly simple, understanding the Bahá'í writings, prayer and life and death, and despite having been through the book a number of times, there are always things that strike a chord in my mind. this time around it's specifically been two quotations that have sort of caught my mind and attention. the first one is one that I've had up before, and again it's made me think of what I say:

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...

the second one:

Intone, O My servant, the verses of God that have been received by thee, as intoned by them who have drawn nigh unto Him, that the sweetness of thy melody may kindle thine own soul, and attract the hearts of all men.

here's how I explained this thought to a friend:
"it just hit a note with me that even though we are saying our prayers late at night and are just really, really tired and want to get over with it, we should still say our prayers in a way that will attract their hearts! to me it made me focus a lot more on what I say, even though I'm just by myself in my room at night and no one is really hearing what I'm saying. I should *still* say it in a way as if there are people around, and also that there will be others who can be affected by my prayers. interesting note..."

besides that, the group is utterly hilarious to be with. we talk a lot, we have a lot of fun, but we're still quite efficient and learning a lot.

tropic thunder
I saw the trailer of tropic thunder, and wasn't too impressed. nevertheless, a bunch of friends said they were going to watch it, and I decided to tag along. and I don't regret it at all! I was laughing so much during pretty much the entire movie, and just loved it so much! unfortunately there was quite a fair amount of foul language and dirty jokes, but it was still sooooo much fun!


I think that'll be it for my summary of recent events. I will try to post a bit more thoughtful stuff soon, and a bit more pictures. there're a few thoughts and ideas more that I want to share...

and my parents are coming in a week! :)

got an idea to help the world?

check out project 10 to the 100th, a project sponsored by google for ideas that will benefit mankind. if you have an idea, it might be worth submitting it.

kabuki quantum fighter

bye nine five two

about a month ago, we got up early in the morning, to walk up the terraces. one of us was leaving, two of us wanted to say a last good bye. we met up at terrace 15 at 5.30, walked up to the top, said prayers and enjoyed each other's company. watching the sunset was really amazing, and we took some really beautiful pictures. this is not the most beautiful one, but it is still a favorite:

and here's a really beautiful picture of her:

we miss you maryam...

click here for the album.

notes on leadership and management

I recently read a magazine from harvard business review about leadership and management. since I didn't have all that much time to properly read it through (pretty much just an evening), I wrote down a few quick notes. thought I'd share them here. not the best of formatting, I might change it later on...

manager's roles:
- formal
authority and status

- interpersonal roles
figurehead: ceremonial duties
leader: responsible for the work of the unit (hiring, training, motivate, encourage)
liaison: contacts outside the vertical chain of command

- informational role
monitor: scanning for information
disseminator: pass privileged information to subordinate
spokesperson: send information to outside the unit

- decisional role
entrepreneur: improve unit/adapt to change
disturbance handler: involuntarily responding to pressures
resource allocator: who gets what
negotiator: commit resources based on information



five components of emotional intelligence at work:
self-awareness
definition:
the ability to recognize and understand your moods, emotions, and drives, as well as their effect on others
hallmarks:
self-confidence
realistic self-assessment
self-deprecating sense of humor
"self-aware candidates will be frank in admitting to failure - and will often tell their tales with a smile."

self-regulation
definition:
the ability to control or redirect disruptive impulses and moods
the propensity to suspend judgment - to think before acting
hallmarks:
trustworthiness and integrity
comfort with ambiguity
openness to change
"people who have mastered their emotions are able to roll with the changes. they don't panic."

motivation
definition:
a passion to work for reasons that go beyond money or status
a propensity to pursue goals with energy and persistence
hallmarks:
strong drive to achieve
optimism, even in the face of failure
organizational commitment
"driven to achieve beyond expectations."

empathy
definition:
the ability to understand the emotional makeup of other people
skill in treating people according to their emotional reactions
hallmarks:
expertise in building and retaining talent
cross-cultural sensitivity
service to clients and customers
"the very word empathy seems unbusinesslike, out of place amid the tough realities of the marketplace."

social skill
definition:
proficiency in managing relationships and building networks
an ability to find common ground and build rapport
hallmarks:
effectiveness in leading change
persuasiveness
expertise in building and leading teams
"social skill is friendliness with a purpose: moving people in the direction you desire."

"emotional intelligence can be learned. the process is not easy. it takes time and commitment."


inspirational leaders:
- selectively show their weaknesses
by exposing some vulnerability, they reveal their approachibility and humanity
- rely heavily on intuition to gauge the appropriate timing and course of their actions
their ability to collect and interpret soft data helps them know just when and how to act
- manage employees with something we call tough empathy
inspirational leaders empathize passionately - and realistically - with people, and they care intensely about the work employees do
- they reveal their differences
they capitalize on what's unique about themselves


four popular myths about leaders:
1. everyone can be a leader - not true
2. leaders deliver business results - not always
3. people who get to the top are leaders - not necessarily
4. leaders are great coaches - rarely


operation instructions in ethical problems
put things off till tomorrow - buy yourself time, let the turbulent waters calm
pick your battles - political capital is the hard currency of organizational life, hard to accumulate and devilishly easy to dissipate
bend the rules, don't break them - own up to the deeper responsibilites, bend the rules imaginatively
find a (responsible, workable) compromise - find the uncovered middle that is "good enough", both responsible enough and workable enough, to satisfy the customer, company and yourself

sneaking up behind the trees

procrastination flowchart

how to avoid work in the best way:

and I'm off to eilat

wwwwwooooooohhhhhhhhhhoooooooooo!!!!!!!!!

people leaving

yesterday the first person from my orientation left, and another one is leaving tonight. I must say it feels really strange, especially as there will be more people leaving quite soon.

to make ourselves happy about it, we arranged a barbeque:


it was a little bit last minute, so not everyone was able to show up. but we had a lot of fun, the food was delicious, and I think we all at least went home happy and full! :)

to see the rest of the album, click here.

atonement

I recently finished another book, atonement (don't read too far if you haven't read the book or seen the movie):


I had only heard about the movie, never seen it, and so luckily again I had no expectations. because it was really, really good. from wikipedia: "It is widely regarded as one of McEwan's best works and was shortlisted for the 2001 Booker Prize for fiction... In addition, Time magazine named it the best fiction novel of the year and included it in its All-TIME 100 Greatest Novels, and The Observer cites it as one of the 100 best novels written, calling it 'a contemporary classic of mesmerising narrative conviction.'"

the book poses a very interesting question: how much can the actions of one person affect the lives of people close to them? briony, a young girl at the age of 13 accuses the son of their housekeeper for rape, an act that leads to quite changes in the life of the both of them, as well as their entire family and also their cousins who are visiting. we get to follow the story from the perspectives of each of the characters. it's a really interesting piece of writing, where we get to read what's going on in their heads all the time, which is also how the book progresses.

I'm not going to write more about it, you should read the book. but reading the review got me to these links:
time top 100: the complete list in alphabetical order
guardian top 100: greatest novels of all time
new classics top 100: the 100 best reads from 1983 to 2008

interesting stuff!

not everything looks better in black and white

beautiful prayer

last thursday I was asked to say a prayer in class. thinking it would be a nice idea to say a prayer in swedish. last thing before going, I printed the paper out and folded it, and put it in my bag...

I thought. when the class was almost over, 5-10 minutes before it was time for me to say the prayer, I looked into my bag to take out the paper and prepare myself. to my great surprise, it wasn't there. the very last thing I had done before leaving was to print it, and somehow I managed to forget to put it down in my bag. (later on I found it neatly folded on my desk...)

luckily I was given a prayer book in due time, and managed to find a prayer that not only was suitable, but also very beautiful. I had never heard or seen it before:

O Thou beloved of my heart and soul! I have no refuge save Thee. I raise no voice at dawn save in Thy commemoration and praise. Thy love encompasseth me and Thy grace is perfect. My hope is in Thee.
O God, give me a new life at every instant and bestow upon me the breaths of the Holy Spirit at every moment, in order that I may remain steadfast in Thy love, attain unto great felicity, perceive the manifest light and be in the state of utmost tranquillity and submissiveness.
Verily, Thou art the Giver, the Forgiver, the Compassionate.

'Abdu'l-Bahá

I guess it all worked out well in the end!

olympic achievements

so if any of you missed it, the olympic games were on for a while, ~2 weeks actually. it was a little bit strange to be here and not following it as intensely as I used to, but there was still time and opportunity to enjoy some of the amazing achievements made. my top 3, in no particular order:

michael phelps - eight (yes, eight) gold medals, of which three were relays and five individuals. in all but one he beat the world record, although he did set a new olympic record there. two of them were absolutely amazing comebacks - 100m butterfly where he won with literally his last stroke; and the 4x100m free where jason lezak came back from behind to beat alain bernard by 0.08 seconds. alain bernard happened to win the individual 100m later on...

usain bolt - lightning bolt struck not once, not twice, but three times during the olympics. although again, in the last race, 4x100m, he obviously got help from the rest of his team. world record on 100m (9.69), with his seven last steps already stopped running; world record on 200m (19.30), beating michael johnson's old record by 0.02 seconds - with a headwind of -0.9! this record was deemed to be "impossible to beat", as it stood for 12 years. just while they were at it, the jamaican team also set a new world record for 4x100m by 37.10. amazing to watch this guy run, and he's only 22 years old, so there's plenty more to go.

with a bit of swedish patriotism, jörgen persson - who finished 4th in individual table tennis competition. what's so amazing about this feat? well, first of all, he's 42 years old... in 2000 he finished 4th, and the same thing here again. china usually subscribes to these medals, and the same thing happened this year again. in 4 years he's 46, will he make it?

how her shadow falls

interesting post on the hockey stick

here's an interesting post on the hockey stick often referred to in climate discussions, about how the temperature is going up. also check out the comments on page 5, specifically the ones by david holland and jpj.

300!

no, not the horrible movie, but the number of days I've been here. almost been 10 months now, which is one third of my total service time here. wow! I'm not going to do a summary or reflection or anything of that kind, simply because I can't be bothered, but to put it briefly, it's been absolutely amazing. and recently I've gotten a few more things to think about, so I think it will only get better from here. I'm excited about the future!

lighting leads the way

mercy, justice and the golden rule...

... in a new format:

If thou lookest toward mercy, regard not that which benefits thyself, and look to that which benefits all mankind. If thou lookest toward Justice, choose thou for others what thou choosest for thyself.

- Bahá'u'lláh -

persecution of Bahá'ís in iran

two videos on the persecution of the Bahá'ís in iran... one from the united states congress, where it's called "the crime of the century":



the other from the The Muslim Network for Baha’i Rights:

Christ returns

last week I picked up thief in the night:


the author, william sears, finds himself in the largest quest of his life - the case of the missing millennium. in the first half of the 1800s, people were convinced that the return of Christ would take place, and everyone was expecting it. 100 years later, "Christ returns" was also deemed to be one of the most exciting newspaper headlines ever. but what happened to it?

thief in the night describes william sears' ten year long journey in his search for proofs, evidence, prophesies, questions and answers. did the return of Christ happen? if so, when was it? and why did so many miss it?

it's a very interesting personal and revealing story, and well worth reading, regardless of your beliefs. will it change your life? possibly...

flickr

so here we go... I got around to it, created an account, and uploaded my first picture yesterday:


the title? flowers make me tingle. I think I'll be keeping it up with weird titles. this is from the sunrise on tuesday morning at terrace 19. I absolutely love it. more pics will be coming up, but here is the link at least!

it's been a while

a lot has happened in the past week, and it's been a bit too much other stuff going on at the same time as well, so I haven't really had time to write about it.

first of all, I finally cut my hair:


it had been almost exactly a year since I cut it last (august 21st 2007, the day before seeing the love of my life), and now it finally happened. I'm really happy about the results, and it's also really funny to see the reactions of other people when they see my hair. some even say that I look good! ;)

I finally also managed to go to the beach last weekend, after being here for almost 10 months. there'd been many times when a lot of people had gone, but I had just had other plans that constantly kept me from being able to go. well, I finally went and it was very much worth it. quite heavy waves (it was windy), and so nice.

we also made it out to Bahji afterwards, and it was a very special experience. since the Shrine and Mansion are closed for summer cleaning, we couldn't go inside. but it was still really nice to go in the evening and say prayers. and since not too many people were out there, it was quite a calm and relaxed setting. I took a shot which I really like:



in other news, there've been a few people leaving as of recently, so there's been a few activities with them, and also a few sad farewells. but that's how life is here, it goes on, and you eventually get used to it. but I'll definitely miss those people...

I also got convinced to get my own flickr page. will update with more of that later on...

cooking

I have decided people should be cooking more. it is a really relaxing exercise, and you'll also practice your culinary skills. besides that, there's also the added benefit of cooking for more than one meal. or one person... ;)

it is also an excellent ice breaker when you're in a group of people where not everyone knows everyone else. get something simple going, and suddenly you have people talking back and forth, asking for this and that, and sharing their tips on how to go about with their cooking. it works perfectly, every single time!

besides that, you also know (more or less) what ends up in your stomach, which is not always the case when you go out to eat. and it's also cheaper...

at least once or twice a week, try it out!

this is still funny

I don't know how many times I've seen this, but it's still funny. so they're doing some roadwork on one of the streets here, and usually at night. and if you're not really careful, this could happen to you too:


only in israel...

talents, movie and piano

that's a pretty good summary of my weekend, which turned out into a really good one.

friday evening sported an open mic. with around 30-35 appearances, it was bound to be long. but it was good. and fun. there was everything to enjoy, from singing and dancing to poetry recital, story reading and the random talk. it's an amazing amount of talent here, and I'm sure there were a couple of people more who could've wowed the crowd. maybe for next time.

afterwards we went to have some pizza and watch troy, but that's not the movie I'm thinking about. no, something better was to come...

much better indeed. we went to see batman the dark knight after having it recommended to me by quite a fair amount of people, and I found it to be as good as it was made out to be. I really enjoyed the characters, the plot and the action. one thing I also really enjoyed was the level of sacrifice among many of the characters. I don't want to spoil the plot if you haven't seen it already, but it's really encouraging to see how many that are wiling to sacrifice themselves for the greater good. something really inspiring actually.

in the evening we went to a piano recital, which was just absolutely amazing. two of the youth here decided to share some of their talents with us, and it was really breathtaking. they started off with this quotation from Bahá'u'lláh:

We have made it lawful for you to listen to music and singing. Take heed, however, lest listening thereto should cause you to overstep the bounds of propriety and dignity. Let your joy be the joy born of My Most Great Name, a Name that bringeth rapture to the heart, and filleth with ecstasy the minds of all who have drawn nigh unto God. We, verily, have made music as a ladder for your souls, a means whereby they may be lifted up unto the realm on high; make it not, therefore, as wings to self and passion.

watching them play made me wish that I hadn't stopped playing piano some 10 years ago or so. there's something soothing about being able to sit down by a piano, just play something and relax. beyond the beauty and enjoyment of the music (there's also something special about listening to piano being played live), what made me enjoy this recital even more was how they themselves were so into the music they were playing, the facial expressions (we got to sit quite close), and just their engagement into their playing. it was a really nice ending to the weekend, and I think we all left there feeling happy, relaxed, and uplifted. thank you guys!

pilgrims are gone

this group was the last pilgrim group for this season. now it will again be a bit empty over the summer (although it's been very hot for two months or so). it's special to have pilgrims coming here, they bring so much joy and happiness, and I'm really looking forward to them coming back, as I have quite many close friends in the first few groups coming.

here's a picture from sunday morning. a friend of mine was on his last shift, so I got up a bit earlier to hang out with him for a while:


I really like the bright blue colors of the sky early in the morning. it was a really beautiful sunset as well, but unfortunately I wasn't able to take any good shots, was busy eating breakfast :)

"software is too frustrating"

that's the first thing written on humanized.com. and then you have "But not all of it." and "We're here to help."

I've been trying out Enso (view video demo), and I like it.


it allows for quick jumping between windows, easily opening programs, and as you could see in the video, some text manipulation. uppercase/lowercase, spellcheck, etc, quite handy to have it available regardless of which program you're using.

check out their about page, and be sure to read their philosophy. it's a sane, human goal they have - I just hope they succeed with it!

One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs

And the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls.

that's a part of the poem by Saib-e-Tabrizi, a tribute to kabul, that inspired the name of the book, a thousand splendid suns, by khaled hosseini. now you might remember me recommending the kite runner, which I absolutely loved. this meant that I had very high hopes for a thousand splendid suns, and I was not disappointed...


the story is very similar to the kite runner in many ways. the set is in afghanistan, and describes the story of two girls with vastly yet similar lives whose fortunes get intertwined. it deals with losing close and loved ones, about the terrors of the war, and the situation there. it's ultimately a sad, sad story, but there's so much joy, love and hope in between. I found it a bit hard at first to connect with the characters, but from halfways through the book, it just grips you all the way to the end.

I really suggest reading this one too, khaled hosseini is an amazing author. obviously you should read the kite runner first, but definitely pick this one up after.

I am the terror that flaps in the night...

I am the wrong number that wakes you at 3 am...
I am Darkwing Duck!!!


just check out these lovely entrance lines - they're guaranteed to make you laugh. also check out some other great quotes - enjoy!

marvellous pictures

I can't help but marvel at the pictures one can take... my recent favorites are from the fountains on terrace 9:




it's almost impossible to fail... see the new album here.

you can run, but you can't hide...

... from yourself. let me explain.

a lot of people try to pack up and move, leave for another city or even country, when they feel that they're standing still in their life. or perhaps they've gotten into a routine or pattern that they're not happy with and want to change it. moving to a new place will allow them to start all over again, and this time "do it right".

here's a reason why it won't work: wherever you go, you'll always bring yourself with you. as einstein is attributed to have said: "we cannot solve our problems with the same mind that created them."

what is needed is a change of self, a personal transformation. this can be done regardless of where you are, but usually comes with some great effort and possibly. you will need to change some inherent parts of yourself that perhaps have grown accustomed to and sometimes even partly enjoy, but in the long run will not be good for you.

so what is it that can help? here are a few quotations from the Bahá'í Writings:

... the Divine Elixir that can, alone, transmute into purest gold the dross of the world, and have been empowered to administer the infallible remedy for all the ills that afflict the children of men. No man can obtain everlasting life, unless he embraceth the truth of this inestimable, this wondrous, and sublime Revelation.

Bahá'u'lláh

Such is the potency of the Divine Elixir, which, swift as the twinkling of an eye, transmuteth the souls of men!

Bahá'u'lláh

Without the intermediary of the Holy Spirit, man would remain dull, helpless and deprived of attainment. But touched by that Divine Elixir he becomes tender, loving, responsive, and capable of every perfection of existence.

'Abdu'l-Bahá

the Divine Elixir is nothing other than the Word of God: "Every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God is endowed with such potency as can instill new life into every human frame..."

it is just for us to read, ponder and meditate upon them.

my jani's gone

another of our lovely janis leaving to go back, and I'll miss this one too. she was the one that cleaned my desk, and left sweet notes in the mornings. on her last day, I left my camera and asked her to take a picture. here's one of my favorites:


the last weeks or so, we also started having some nice, random conversations on the white board. we'd write something, she'd reply back, etc:


another jani's gone... :(

"for you a thousand times over"

I just finished the kite runner by khaled hosseini. in three days. it is one of the most amazing books I have ever read, easily top10. it's a mixture of emotions - joy and happiness, anxiety and sadness - and everything in between. it's a really gripping story, and there's no excuse whatsoever to not read it. go find it, now. and don't put it down until you're done with it.


and yes, I'll admit, I cried in the end.

9 Reasons Not to Date a Tyrannosaurus Rex

this is so stupid, but still so funny. how anyone would ever come up with the idea of dating a T-Rex is way beyond me, but here are at least 9 reasons not to.


read and enjoy!

serving at a world heritage site!

I am officially serving at a UNESCO world heritage site! here is the unesco news post, with a bit more information here:

The Bahá’i Holy Places in Haifa and Western Galilee are inscribed for the testimony they provide to the Bahá’i’s strong tradition of pilgrimage and for their profound meaning for the faith. The property numbers 26 buildings, monuments and sites at 11 locations in Acre and Haifa, associated with the founders of the faith, among them the Shrine of the Bahá’u’lláh in Acre and the Mausoleum of the Báb in Haifa. It also includes houses, gardens, a cemetery and a large group of modern buildings in the neoclassical style that serve for administration, archives and a research centre.

and the Bahá'í World News site. doesn't make much of a change about serving here, but it's nice that it gets official and worldwide recognition. this place is not only absolutely beautiful but obviously carries a lot of historic weight with it.

typing speed gone

I realized I haven't done any serious typing for quite some time. I just started typing a few things up now that I have to get sent out, and it's disappointing how slow I feel. I used to be easily consistent around 90-100 wpm (words per minute), peaking about 10-15 higher up than that, but now I'm down at a measly 70-75 wpm. it's annoying, think I need to practice a bit more.

I just played rock, paper, scissors...

... about who would hold up the door for who.

I won. I got to hold up the door.

quadruple-Bahji, chill evening, finished book

it's been a while since I wrote anything here... mostly because there hasn't been much interesting to share, and I'm not really in the mood to do too much thinking either, it seems.

but the weekend produced a series of experiences in Bahji that I will remember for a long time. on friday afternoon I got to go out there and spend some time in the Shrine, something that I very much needed. since most people work on thursday afternoons, I got to be more or less by myself. it is quite amazing to be able to experience that, and a memory that will stay with me for a long time. here's a shot from that afternoon:



the next day we had youth prayers out there. this is a time when nine people are selected to say prayers out loud in the Shrines, with all the youth inside too. just as there's a special feeling of being alone inside, there's also something special about being so many youth inside, all praying together and it's a great bounty to be able to be a part of it.

a few hours later, I volunteered in security, out in Bahji again. being around the Shrines at night, with absolutely no one else around is indescribable. standing just outside at 1.30 taking pictures is... quite something else:


the shift was nice and calm, which felt kinda nice. nothing too much to worry about :) and here's a shot from quite early in the morning:


after the shift, I took a shower and went for dawn prayers. although I didn't have much time, it was another special moment. and the end to a weekend that I will long remember.


although that wasn't it, I also managed to get my hair done:


finally got the corn rows I wanted. soon it's time to cut ;)


with such a hectic weekend coming to a close, and the other evenings being quite filled up, I decided to take a very chill evening yesterday. I went home after work, my flatmates were just on their way out, so no one else was home. as I had gotten a few books, I decided to finish one of them, in praise of slowness. somewhere in between I cooked and ate, while reading about 150 pages or so. the book in itself presents an interesting concept, slowing down in a society of ever-increasing speed, but in my opinion doesn't present too good of a case for it. I found it to be a bit too much general stuff and facts for each section (food, work, studying, sex, raising children, etc) with a bit of a personal story, but that's it. some of the suggestions and tips require way too much money, whereas others are more or less common sense. I like the concept in itself, and have taken a bit of a more control of how much and what I do, the book left a bit more to wish for.

all in all, quite some hectic times :)

always ze germans

it seems my last week has been full of activities related to germany and the germans. first of all, a very close friend left last thursday:


so I tried to spend as much time as possible with and for her - arranging for her farewell, going to the airport, etc. we prepared a nice slideshow, watched the euro semifinals (so close turkey!) together, and had quite a fair amount of fun. I was obviously (?) rooting for turkey, which didn't make her all too happy, but germany won in the end, so it was good. me and another friend also resorted to calling each other up screaming "GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!" and then instantly hanging up when turkey (me) or germany (him) scored. good fun. finally on thursday a bunch of us went to the airport with her to say good bye. she will definitely be missed.

and then there was obviously the finals last night, and once again I was on the other side of the german fence. we were quite a group of people, and there were some cheering for spain, others for germany, and it was quite a nice atmosphere. and I must say it got all the better thanks to spain winning. although a word of thought must go out to michael ballack, whom I can't feel more than sorry for. he if anyone understands what it means to be close, but not really there. just look at his 2002 and 2006:
2002: runner up in the world cup (suspended in the final due to getting his second yellow card in the semifinal), champions league, bundesliga (on the very last day), german cup.
2008: runner up in the european championships (played the final half-injured), champions league (on penalties - the last one hit the inside of the post), premier league (again, on the last day), league cup.
on top of that, he finished 3rd in the world cup 2006 (lost the semifinal in extra time) and runner up in the premier league 2007. ouch.

best conversation ever

an actual conversation that happened with a friend yesterday:

her: wow, you look so clean and shaven today, what did you do?
me: I shaved!

time

I need some extra time quite soon. not because I'm stressed (I'm not), or that I have lots of things I want to do (I do), but just because it feels like it's about time I take myself some necessary rest. right now it feels that I'm never able to be proactive, I'm always reacting to things, and that's never a good thing in the long run. there's always something to do, and there's also always something that should've been done a while ago.

we'll see how long this continues, it's been just on and on for the past few weeks, but hopefully it'll calm down soon. am now reading a book about slowness and such, but it's not exactly related to this. but it feels good.

field day for mosquitoes

today I woke up, counting to at least 8 mosquito bites over night. ouch :(

interesting connection

both these quotations are from 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Son of Bahá'u'lláh, Founder of the Bahá'í Faith:

"As ye have faith so shall your powers and blessings be."

"By faith is meant, first, conscious knowledge, and second, the practice of good deeds."

so by gathering (useful) knowledge, and then putting that knowledge into use (good deeds), that will give us powers and blessings.

random events happening again

I thought these random coincidences had stopped happening, after being almost five months since last time. this all happened the day before yesterday.

one of my friends whom I was on pilgrimage with last year, suddenly wrote to me and said "this and this person are here on pilgrimage right now". I checked up the list, and sure, they were here, but with two days to go, how would I ever be able to find them among 400 other pilgrims?

I asked her what they looked like, but went for the day before I got the reply. in the evening I went to the pilgrim talk, hoping that maybe I would be able to see them there. as the auditorium was full, I went and listened to the presentation via video link. now at the end of it, pilgrims were invited up to share experiences from their home communities. the second to last person happened to be one of the friends that I was looking for. however, since the camera was fixed upon the speaker, I couldn't see her, and when I asked another pilgrim friend that was there, he didn't remember what she looked like... after the talk, I tried looking at the pilgrims' name badges, to maybe have some major amount of luck. but no.

so I decided to go down with another group of people to just sit and chill at a café. after walking down the terraces, we join up with a group, bring a chair, and I sit down next to two pilgrims, a couple. we introduce ourselves, I ask them where they're from, and suddenly I just start shaking my head in disbelief. lo and behold, it's them! trying to look for them the whole evening didn't help, but suddenly sitting down at a random café, they're there! so I spent some time talking to them, until it was time to go home to sleep... :)

everyone deserves human rights

from the some artist that created the artshow prayer books on display, now comes the fight for human rights of Bahá'ís in iran.

the project everyone deserves human rights "... is a project that inspired 1,500+ people from around the globe to take a picture with a poster that speaks about the persecution of Baha'is in Iran. The pictures were then brought together as a symbol of collective unity and used to create a sculptural piece of body armour."


it's an incredibly cool project which I think will be able to affect a lot of people all around the world. here is the artist's statement:

It has become an unnatural reaction in this day and age to be desensitized when one watches the destruction and catastrophic daily events that take place in the world. The individual subconsciously justifies what they see by simply accepting it as the world we live in. Artists have the ability to shape our thoughts and ideologies. I think now more than ever that it is a very exciting time to be a contemporary artist and use the creative thought for the betterment of humanity. Artists can create awareness through contemporary art about the turbulent times we live in, the issues and problems that plague the world collectively.

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 of the world’s people—a demographically diverse group have thereby come together to participate in this world wide artists’ collective. I believe that Fine Art should not be coined as high art and alienate the majority of society who cannot intellectually understand it at an educated level, but instead encourage the masses that art can be used to move the hearts and change the minds of men. I believe by encouraging this project, I am giving the participants the chance to see that even though they are not artists they can all contribute to the arts and be apart of this ever evolving history of art. No matter what work of art and of what culture, it is a living teacher of mankind's evolutionary development. Art can influence society; art can spark social, intellectual and educational revolutions of thinking.

I embarked on an internet based project, via Facebook. I created a network page were I created awareness about the issue of human rights violations, injustice and persecution. I directed it to a specific minority group. The group is the Bahá’í community which is being oppressed and persecuted by the fanatical regime governing Iran.

I left it open for anyone who was on Facebook to join my world wide collective and participate in this project, in collaboration with me. To this date, nearly 1000 people have joined the group and I have received over 1500 photographs from around the world from people who are concerned about the injustice and human rights violations directed at the Persian Bahá’í community in Iran. I wanted to create an artwork and art movement that is directly addressing social change and reform—the world’s people cannot go by and just let injustice prevail in the world. We need to educate ourselves, our friends, our colleagues, co-workers, family members, and communities on the local, national and international levels about the issues and problems that plague this turbulent world, from domestic family problems to the world problems.

We as individuals cannot get comfortable with our material lives but instead should be seeking to better our world. Art is a reflection of society and if society needs social change, then art should depict and inspire social change within its ideas. I have made a body armour out of the 1500 photographs that I have received, which comments at the injustices directed towards the Bahá’í community in Iran. No matter how much they are being persecuted, the entire world is protecting them and supporting them in the spirit of justice and love as symbolized by the armour. Their efforts to apply the Teachings of their Faith into actions of spiritual and social development that are conducive to the prosperity of their people and homeland are not forgotten by the peoples of the world, and in fact, we are with them in spirit, praying for them and protecting them.

The most distinctive aspect of this artwork is not necessarily the 1500 photographs of people holding up signs or the aesthetics of the armour. The artwork already took place through the conversations that have been taking place creating awareness about the persecution of Bahá’í in Iran. It is the individuals from around the world making a conscious decision to participate and thereby educating their friends, families, co-workers, associates and strangers about the persecution, injustice and oppression that plague our world. The conversation is the artwork and the photographs of them holding the sign is a documentation and acknowledgement of that event in time. It was a worldwide collaboration of hundreds and hundreds of people. The participants then sent me the documentation photographs of people holding the signs; I then made them into body armour. The body armour thereby becomes a symbol of a time based event that happened over a course of eight weeks around the entire world.

In essence, I have used modern age technology to communicate an idea of collective unity, justice and human rights through contemporary art.

Shahriar Asdollah-zadeh, 2008

when football goes a bit too far

I'm a die-hard football fan, but even I think this is a bit too much... even though it's really, really funny. the miracle of cordoba happened in 1978, when austria beat germany 3-2 in the world cup, much to the surprise of pretty much everyone. a couple of weeks ago, artist massimo furlan reenacted that game, by himself. without a ball. just imitating the movements of one player, goalscoring hero hans krankl. read more about the performance here.

the most scary part? more than 3000 people came to see it.

my new e-mail

[firstname].[lastname]@gmail.com - you should know what to fill in ;)

please start using that one from now on, as my uni e-mail will be discontinued in two weeks.

unity!

Strive with heart and soul in order to bring about union and harmony among the white and the black and prove thereby the unity of the Bahá'í world wherein distinction of colour findeth no place, but where hearts only are considered. Praise be to God, the hearts of the friends are united and linked together, whether they be from the east or the west, from north or from south, whether they be German, French, Japanese, American, and whether they pertain to the white, the black, the red, the yellow or the brown race. Variations of colour, of land and of race are of no importance in the Bahá'í Faith; on the contrary, Bahá'í unity overcometh them all and doeth away with all these fancies and imaginations.

'Abdu'l-Bahá

one of the great benefits of being here is to actually be able to interact with all the people from all over the world. it's not always flawless; different cultures and backgrounds do create different expectations on people and situations, but it works. quite well. and it's beautiful.

observation shot

took this shot last week, from the observation point, looking out at the Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh:


I like it. in other news, not a single cloud in the sky today. I like that too.

have you cut your hair?

I got asked that question *three* times yesterday. does it look like I have?

photo idea

we've all seen pictures of people jumping up and everyone being in the air while the photo is taken. those are fun and creative, but there's a bit of a feeling of "been there, seen that" now I think, even though they sometimes do create quite awesome shots.

so what would be a cool thing to do then? I think a wave-looking formation could potentially turn out really well, something along the lines of what is commonly referred to as an audience, or mexican wave:


what do you think, wouldn't that be cool?

edit: I perhaps posted it in a bit of a rush yesterday, so a bit of clarification: I obviously meant to take a wave-like shot of people jumping, so you'd have a few just starting to jump, a few further up in the air, and then at the end people already on their way down. taking a picture of a couple of people doing a mexican wave would indeed be boring and even more so along the lines of "been there, seen that"...

my brother's gone...

my brother's gone. he left early yesterday morning (ie monday night), and arrived home quickly, and I suppose rather safely. unfortunately I wasn't able to spend as much time with him as I would've liked to, which is my own fault, but I think and hope that he enjoyed his time here. it was two weeks that went by rather quickly, and I'm already looking forward to having him here again.

euro 2008 has started, and I've actually been more excited than I thought. and obviously, with a goal like this, how can I not be?



excitedly looking forward to seeing what else we'll see these upcoming 2-3 weeks...

more books!

I thought I'd stopped reading literary novels for a while, but I've recently picked it up again. am more than halfway through a swedish one, men that hate women, and so far I like it. hoping to be able to finish it soon, and then continue...


... with the three other books I got today!

I got the kite runner and a thousand splendid suns, both by khaled hosseini. I've heard some really good things about the kite runner (and I suppose the movie was quite good as well?), so we'll see how it goes.

the other one I got is called in praise of slowness, which deals with the hectic society we live in. I suppose it is sort of a revolt against the stress that we all experience, trying to do everything quickly, and preferrably five things at the same time. we'll see if it's any good or not, I just bought it based on a few reviews here and there.

and we'll also see how long it takes me to finish these books, hopefully not too long!

time for a new e-mail! :(

it came as a heavy blow, the e-mail. my e-mail account with my uni will be closed down in three weeks. it makes sense, as I haven't been studying anything for more than a year, but still unpleasant news. so now I have to start looking for somewhere else to make my default e-mail account. I currently have a hotmail (only used for msn and diverse spam), and two gmails (one for blogging with a half-unserious address, and a proper one). the way things are looking now, I'll probably go over to my gmail, but I'm just looking to see if anyone else has any other suggestions. then I'd probably also have to look into exporting everything over...

in completely unrelated matters, here's a video of some really nice freekicks. maybe something to work on:

it's been a while

things have been a bit busy here as of lately... with my brother and other visitors being here, pilgrims, and a lot of work to take care of there's been little time for much else. right now I tried to plan a few things wih another friend, and it turned out that basically the upcoming two weeks it won't be possible to meet up, which seems kind of weird. whenever one of us is available, the other one is not. and then there of course are a lot of people leaving, all the time...

last week we commemorated the Ascension of Bahá'u'lláh, and it was a very special feeling of being out there at 3 am at night, as that was when He passed away. we got the opportunity of going into the room where He passed away, and offer our prayers and supplications there. it was a very nice atmosphere and a spiritual feeling.

between the visit to His room and the commemoration, we went into town to have some food, and also took a few pictures. I think this is the one that turned out best:



in other news, euro 2008 is coming up. it's going to be slightly exciting (not exactly sure which games I'm looking forward to), and a bit of a test of my detachment. in usual cases, I'd pretty much be glued to the tv for every single game, but now I have to decide which ones are important to me, and obviously there'll be classes and other talks as well to think about and prioritize. we'll see how it turns out, but there'll obviously be some games that I will try my very best not to miss - sweden for sure, hopefully I'll be able to see spain, italy and portugal play (they usually play fun and good football), and obviously as we'll get further on in the tournament I'll see more of the games. other than that, we'll see how it goes...

bye bye penny :(

so there is obviously a downside to all the people coming here, and that is that people have to go... :(

one of my closest friends during my time of service here so far left last night, and we took her out to the airport to say good bye. also got to spend some time with her on wednesday night, and took some really awesome shots which will come up later.

life goes on, and somehow one gets used to it after a while, but it's always sad when people leave. hopefully I'll see her soon again.

here's a nice piece of poetry she left on our fridge:


I'll miss you penny.

pilgrims are here! and more people coming!

so after two months of no pilgrims and other visitors (due to the International Convention), they are finally back. to my great joy, I have close friends in this group, plus family. my uncle is here with wife and one of their "kids" (she's got children older than me...), and it's great seeing them again after five years.

and best of all, there are even more people coming! my brother is coming tomorrow on a visit for two weeks, and a few others will be here on 3-day visits as the Ascension of Bahá'u'lláh is commemorated tomorrow. it's going to be exciting to see everyone again, really looking forward to it!

and I also just found out that one of my second cousins will be coming here to serve from january! that's going to be really exciting, and I promised to take good care of her :)

it's been a long week

last week turned out to be a really long one. we basically had to set up and present what I've been working on these past 6-7 months... and the evening before the first presentation we found out some things weren't working exactly the way we thought or expected them to. turned out to be very stressful to say the least. but now in the end it seems to be going quite well, with some last-minute fixes during and over the weekend, and today too. I think we got it now.

in other news, yesterday turned out to be an interesting one-year anniversary kinda thingie. if you remember or read this post about my first night of pilgrimage, this is written there:

took a walk down to the top of the terraces, couldn't be let in since we had no pilgrimage badges, so just stood out there, took a few pictures, and talked to the security guard up there. it was a nice chat...

now, I obviously didn't expect anything to happen in relation to that at any time and place. but surprisingly, we actually had a repeat of this last night. exactly a year later, on the same saturday evening (although 24th instead of 26th), at the same place, with the same security guard, I decided to volunteer in security. we had a lot of fun together, and there were also some pilgrims we didn't let in... :)

proof: the grass *is* greener on the other side!

took this picture outside today, and I guess this is the final proof that the grass actually is greener on the other side:


;)

not a badger, not a mushroom...

... but a snake!

was walking in the hallway in our office, and just thought something seemed wrong... it looked like someone had left a leaf or something inside:


on closer inspection, I realized that it perhaps wasn't a leaf:


the curled up snake!

I'm an idealist healer!

actually describes me pretty well:

Healers present a calm and serene face to the world, and can seem shy, even distant around others. But inside they're anything but serene, having a capacity for personal caring rarely found in the other types. Healers care deeply about the inner life of a few special persons, or about a favorite cause in the world at large. And their great passion is to heal the conflicts that trouble individuals, or that divide groups, and thus to bring wholeness, or health, to themselves, their loved ones, and their community.

Healers have a profound sense of idealism that comes from a strong personal sense of right and wrong. They conceive of the world as an ethical, honorable place, full of wondrous possibilities and potential goods. In fact, to understand Healers, we must understand that their deep commitment to the positive and the good is almost boundless and selfless, inspiring them to make extraordinary sacrifices for someone or something they believe in. Set off from the rest of humanity by their privacy and scarcity (around one percent of the population), Healers can feel even more isolated in the purity of their idealism.

Also, Healers might well feel a sense of separation because of their often misunderstood childhood. Healers live a fantasy-filled childhood-they are the prince or princess of fairy tales-an attitude which, sadly, is frowned upon, or even punished, by many parents. With parents who want them to get their head out of the clouds, Healers begin to believe they are bad to be so fanciful, so dreamy, and can come to see themselves as ugly ducklings. In truth, they are quite OK just as they are, only different from most others-swans reared in a family of ducks.

At work, Healers are adaptable, welcome new ideas and new information, are patient with complicated situations, but impatient with routine details. Healers are keenly aware of people and their feelings, and relate well with most others. Because of their deep-seated reserve, however, they can work quite happily alone. When making decisions, Healers follow their heart not their head, which means they can make errors of fact, but seldom of feeling. They have a natural interest in scholarly activities and demonstrate, like the other Idealists, a remarkable facility with language. They have a gift for interpreting stories, as well as for creating them, and thus often write in lyric, poetic fashion. Frequently they hear a call to go forth into the world and help others, a call they seem ready to answer, even if they must sacrifice their own comfort.


I did my test on facebook (here is the app), you can read more here and take the test here. read more on wikipedia.

we are the champions

stretching

I have realized warming up and stretching are heavily underestimated activities - they actually help against strains and pulls! I used to do it every night before going to sleep, but stopped when I got here (probably because I don't exercise as much as I used to). but now I've decided to start it again, because it only takes so little time (less than 5 minutes) and the benefits are definitely worth it. I only do a few sets of muscles, depending on my mood: calves, hamstrings, quadriceps, and occasionally the groin. 20 seconds per leg and stretch, so it's a total of less than 3 minutes. well worth it!

speechless

Six Bahá'í leaders arrested in Iran; pattern matches deadly sweeps of early 1980s

it's not sunday...

... but here's my pic of the week anyways: