We're live!

Greetings, all!

After much groaning, gnashing of teeth and thanks to Farida's help, the sparkling new website is live and on the air at

www.beautybreadsierra.com

All the old posts are there along with some new features, as well. It'll always be a work-in-progress, but it's got its party dress on and is ready for company.

Please redirect your bookmark to the new site, and you can sign up for the RSS feed there, too.

Welcome aboard!

Ask AnswerWoman

Some of you have left questions and comments after recent posts. Some answers I tried to email to you, but I honestly haven’t figured out a good way to respond. This post is an attempt to answer a few of those items. For those who might be curious, I’ve inserted links to the original posts which provoked the comments/questions.

• No, Golda hasn’t arrived yet, but we did look last weekend. Farida decided that Mohammed, Jesus, Krishna and Buddha would eat Golda, and that wouldn’t be a good thing. But I guess that’s actually not too far from reality, is it?  The Druze, the Jain and the Bahai are probably going to take even longer.

• Yes, I admit I could have vacuumed in the time it took to write the post. But I had fun writing. I wouldn’t have had fun schlepping the Rainbow all over the house.

• The only reason I know this part of the English language is because I have children and a grandchild who are technologically savvy.

• Yes, you really can transfer Tivo recordings to your iPhone or iTouch, take them with you and watch them anywhere. And the only reason I know this is because I have children who are technologically savvy.

• You really can’t expect me to feel sorry for you, now can you? You who are not gainfully employed at the moment should revel in the opportunity to read all these outstanding blogs that I have scouted out for you. I did all the work. You get to have all the fun.

• Yes, it’s surprising how much Abid looks like his mother, but what would really surprise you is how much Nasreen looks like the aunt she was named after. At Christmas she complained about a photo that made her look “too ethnic,” and we thought she was joking–until she brought out the photo of Auntie Safia. The resemblance is uncanny.

• I am amazed and thrilled that you would try out the recipe. I will bring you the garam masala on Tuesday.

• Definitely yes to the cuppa once the big storm which is supposed to pound us this week gets over with and there are no chain restrictions to get to the valley. I don’t do chains.

• I have been too cheap to buy Grey Eagle an automatic feeder until now. But at 20 he definitely deserves it.

• Call me slow or naive or whatever. You are right that in many areas (Afghanistan particularly comes to mind) women are considered second-class citizens. To Abid’s family’s credit (or my ignorance), I never got the feeling that the men in his family looked down on the women of the family at all. Quite the contrary. Many are quite well educated, highly-respected physicians, which is a tribute to the men who encouraged their education and careers. This does not imply that this is necessarily the norm with other families. Yet at the time I was in Pakistan, all of the women of Abid's family still observed the custom of segregating the sexes at social gatherings. The women would also wear burqa when prudence dictated, although it was not the norm for them. They did it by choice, not by obligation. Abid’s family also nominally observed the “arranged marriage” custom although I know of several cases where the couple knew each other and wanted to marry but had the families make the arrangements.

• Yes, I noticed this endearing trait of your son-in-law and grandson at your birthday party.

• Getting published was the result of having a great writing teacher, fantastic co-authors, perserverence, several years of classes–and a certain amount of luck.

• I miss you, too. Yes, Arkansas is a lot closer than the Jordan Valley.

Whew! I thought this would be a quick post, but it’s now an hour and a half in the writing. But I think I’ve caught up with everybody.

Open Letter to Betty F.S.H. in Israel

Dearest Betty!

You just made my day.

You can’t imagine how happy your comment to my post of January 17 made me. For a variety of reasons.

First off, I’ve been trying to figure out a way to urge, coerce, wheedle, whine, and beg you to start a blog. But I felt guilty about doing so because writing is not everyone’s thing, even though you and shared the inspiring words of Mrs. Ohlsen lo! those many years ago in the hallowed halls of Cal State L.A. And that, my friend, is a run-on sentence the likes of which Mrs. Ohlsen would be appalled at. Also ending a sentence with a preposition. Also sentence fragments.

But consider this:

* How many of us have abandoned the ideal job as an insurance adjuster in Southern California for the wilds of a kibbutz at the tail-end of the Sea of Galilee just three miles from the Golan Heights?

* How many of us spent six months as a volunteer on said kibbutz willingly mucking out cow stalls and peeling bushels of potatoes (not at the same time, of course).

* How many of us then came back to the states and converted to Judaism (even though she has a Jewish father) so she could make Aliyah?

* How many of us hid in the bathroom as Saddam rained scud missiles overhead?

* How many of us have photos of ourselves wearing gas masks in said bathroom?

* Who among us spent years working as an administrative assistant in a valve factory in said kibbutz?

* Who else is married to a lovable Bear?

You have tales to tell, my dearest pal, and little enough time to tell them. Please get started now.

And those are just the bare-bones stories I know. I, for one, want to hear those stories again from you and all the rest that I haven’t heard.

Think of all the adventures we had before you left for Israel? I’d like to hear your side of those.

So, pal of mine, by now you should have received an email in which I’ve told you how to get started on your blogging career. From there it’s up to you.

I can’t wait!

Love, meeeeeeeee

Almost At A Crossroads of Sorts

Hello, World!

It's getting close to the time the brand-spanking-new website will be revealed. It's been quite a learning experience, experimenting with themes, widgets, FTP protocols, domain hosting and all that stuff I swore I'd never learn. But I love it, after all.

It's got a ways to go, and the target date is still February 1, although the switchover may well happen before that date at the rate we're progressing. The thing is, although the blog will always be a work-in-progress, I want it to be as close to my ideal as I can make it at this point--and I keep finding pages to add or delete, widgets to tweak, modifications to make. Of course, when it goes public, your comments will be taken very seriously, as to what you like and what you'd prefer to see changed.

To say the least I'm excited about the new look and the new possibilities. It'll be much more user-friendly, and you'll be able to easily find entries on subjects of interest as well as following along with each day's posting as usual.

We are getting close to the end of the story on Khyber Dreams, with probably 5 more chapters to go. As Elnora has always urged, I've just "slammed it down" with very little editing. When it's all over, I'm going to give it its very own page on the new website. If all goes as planned, I'll do some serious editing to make the story flow better, expanding details where I can, and have it posted so that anyone foolish enough to want to read it cover-to-cover can do so.

I've set a personal goal of a post a day for the month of January, and so far that goal has been met. As I spend time developing the new website, there's a possibility of a missed day or two. It makes me upset when one of my preferred bloggers doesn't post, so I'm just tellin' ya it's temporary. Especially once the new site goes public, I'm gonna go for it big-time.

An Alternative to TIVO

In a prior post I lamented that among many other things, I'm addicted to Tivo, thanks to younger daughter Nasreen.

I'm pleased to say that I've conquered the Tivo addiction.

Because . . . now I'm tethered to my newest toy, my iTouch, also thanks to Nasreen. She's had hers for years, loves it and has shared it with me on occasion. I've craved one for years but was able to resist the impulse until she told me about its "Kindle app," which I'll tell you about in a minute.

What is an iTouch, you ask? It's just like an iPhone, except without the phone service. You can play music, watch videos, play games (which I don't but could) and access the web through it.

You can even read books on it, with an application that allows you to download books in Kindle format. All in a device that's the same size as an iPhone. You'd think that an apparatus that small would not be comfortable to watch, but it is. In fact, since it's purse- or pocket-size, you can take it with you anywhere and have a good book at your fingertips. In additional fact, if you have Wi-fi access and you finish a book, you can download another instantaneously. But as Nas quickly found out, if you're an avid reader, as we are in our family, you can also rack up a big bill very quickly. I have yet to break down and actually purchase a book to read on my iTouch, but the important thing is, I could. I downloaded the sample of Vince Flynn's Pursuit of Honor and found myself almost ready to buy.

What I have really come to love is the Pandora music service. It's Internet based, so you have to have Wi-fi, but it allows you to create your own "radio station" with artists and music you love. For example, if you like Vince Gill's music, you can tell Pandora that. It will supply you with Vince's music--as well as other artists that Pandora deems similar. I have found myself turning the TV off because I enjoy the music so much. I have a Vince Gill "station," a Bonnie Raitt "station," a U2 "station," and a Celtic Woman "station." Because of Pandora, I discovered Susan Tedeschi, a previously unknown-to-me blues singer who sounds amazingly like Bonnie Raitt. Unfortunately Pandora is not free. After 40 hours of listening, they charge you .99 for the balance of the month. I think I can spring for that.

Oh, and to give credit where it's due, it's Farida who originally introduced me to Pandora.

Lest you fear that I've abandoned Tivo for my new love, not to worry. I now take my Tivo recordings with me, because I can transfer recordings I want to watch from my Tivo to my iTouch and have them available anywhere, anytime. (No worries about Wi-fi once they've been transferred.)

And with 32 gb of space, I should be able to have plenty of space for books, music and video. I hope.

Even Hunter loves the iTouch and knows how to use it.

What electronic devices or services are you addicted to and why?

Growing Up Cricket

In response to one of my earlier posts, friend Betty took exception to my description of Farida as "ecumenical."

Sorry but I have to take exception to her exception. I'm proud to proclaim that Farida and Nas were brought up with a very wide spectrum of acquaintances from all sides of the planet. For much of that we have cricket to thank.


Cricket is the second-most popular sport in the world, after football (soccer), and is played anywhere in the world where the British had influence. I guess they had influence here in the U. S., too, but cricket hasn't caught on in a huge way here. But among the U.K. expats stateside it has quite a following.

During their younger years, Farida and Nasreen spent many a Sunday afternoon out at the Griffith Park equestrian area, which transformed itself into a cricket pitch for the day. The sport enjoys a rather illustrious history in the Los Angeles region, with actor British C Aubrey Smith taking the lead in establishing the sport in the area. If you've ever seen the old George Burns movie, "Oh, God," much of it was filmed at the equestrian center and in the neighborhood. Besides being a pretty cute movie with George playing God, I always enjoyed observing the places we used to hang out.

Unfortunately the Griffith Park site is no more, at least as a cricket venue. The fields were moved out to another San Fernando Valley location, called the Leo Magnus Cricket Complex, after one of Abid's Jamaican teammates who, besides being a great cricketer, spent a lot of his later years introducing the game to disadvantaged men in south central Los Angeles.

Although British accents abound, Aussie, West Indian and southeast Asia accents are commonplace, too, so Farida and Nas grew up well-schooled in foreign cultures (not to mention their father's Pakistani roots). Believe it or not, Ms. Betty, there was even a Jew or two or three.

Cricket bears a slight resemblance to baseball in that it's played with bats and balls, but there the resemblance ends. And if you thought baseball boring (sorry, Frank, Deb and Laurie--there are those out there who are not the passionate fans you are), you ain't seen nothing till you've endured a cricket match. A short game lasts a full day. Test matches can drag on for five days. Luckily ours were "only" of the one-day variety.

Abid is such an avid cricketer that he has played all over the world--Mexico, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, China, British Columbia and probably many others that I don't know about, both for the United States Cricket Team as well as the Golden Oldies, made up of well-seasoned gentlemen who still have a love of swinging the bat and bowling the ball. On one occasion, which shall be chronicled in an upcoming post, one of the gentlemen actually made his final appearance on a Mexico City pitch.

To his great credit, Abid to this day continues to participate in cricket activities, even coaching youth games in Southern California.

Khyber Dreams Chapter 16: Next Stop, Lahore

From Multan we traveled to another city in the Punjab:  Lahore. This is the second-largest city in Pakistan, and perhaps the richest in heritage. It is home to the Badshahi Mosque and the Shalimar Gardens, among its treasures. Much of Pakistan's most impressive art and literature has come from within its borders.

At left, we explored the Shalimar Gardens in company with my sister- and brother-in-law Jamilah and Iqbal, and SiL and BiL Safia and Nayyir.

Bhai Iqbal was the first of Abid's family ever met, when he came to the United States for a visit. In fact, it could well be that Iqbal's visit propelled us into making the trip to Pakistan. Abid was decidedly ambivalent about returning to Pakistan, especially not knowing how he would be received with an American wife. After his brother-in-law assured us that we would be quite welcome, we went ahead with our plans.

Needless to say, Iqbal was right.

Abid's mother, sister Safia and husband Nayyir went with us to Lahore, and I'm sure his mom felt that she was returning to her roots. She had the opportunity to visit with Iqbal's mother (seated next to her in the bottom photo) and others of her generation that she didn't often get to see.

One of the most delightful memories I have of our Lahore visit was observing Iqbal's mother smoking the hookah, a common-enough practice in the "provinces," but I hadn't seen it in the city.

Photo at left:  me, Jamilah, her daughter Shahida, and Safia