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September 20 A new chapter for my best friendFor all my globe trotting, sometimes i can't make it the places i most want to be.
My best friend got hitched this weekend. Here's the photo she sent.
So ladies and gents, presenting the happy couple, straight from NZ, Nadi and Saia. May you always grow together, love one another and keep your focus on service and faith. September 14 Happy 31st birthday....hey you,
happy 31st birthday. no, i didn't forget...i've known the date for 6 years now, so while i'm not telling you directly--I really do wish you all the best today. There's a lot of things i want to say...i've been mulling over this post for weeks. I hope this coming year brings you happiness and success. I was in Alaska this past week. There were a couple of times when i thought about how much you would like it there....to visit, not live....so i'm sticking some pictures here for you and the rest in an album for everyone else (not that you will see them). Once, i was in a totem pole park in Sitka. There was a bench that looked out over the water as a storm was coming in. It was a totally cold and wet kinda day. But it was quiet, with just the sound of the water....like that time before i moved to israel on the Outer Banks. The silence was deafening. The other was at the Glacier near Juneau....just because it was so lovely and wild.
Happy Birthday, wherever you are. September 07 Moclips and the Kelpers Day "parade"
According to wiki, Moclips WA had a population of 615 in 2000 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moclips,_WA). I don't think so. I think its probably 250 with the other 400 owning stuff and only coming here on weekends. It has two streets and i think my mother would retire here if she could....its a rainy dark sand beach.
we came down with a bunch of Adam's friends for "Kelpers Day" weekend. i have no clue what a kelper is--if you know or have a funny guess feel free to leave a comment--but there isn't much kelp on this beach either. Anyways, there are two main points about all this...first, we went for a walk on the beach---there were these broken white shells. As i got closer, i realized it wasn't a shell beach, it was thousands of broken sand dollars. When we were kids on family vacations to the NC Outer Banks or southern beaches--Topsail Island, et al, we used to go for early morning walks with our Mom. It was her thing...get up hella early and go for walks to find the best shells before everyone else did. Invariably there was a huge bucket of shells that came home at the end of the weekend. A sand dollar was a totally rare rare find. Here, in the graveyard of sand dollars, i just kept walking and picking up whole ones. After the sixth one, while wandering in circles, adam finally looked at me and was like, you can't help yourself---this collecting is totally compulsive isn't it? i gave him a sheepish look---yes, collecting shells is totally compulsive, but i come by it honestly!! (i only got 7 in the end ;) )
second, we participated in the Moclips Kelpers day parade....first came the kiddie parade the day before ours...
oh yeah, everyone with the pickup trucks and floats driving the two miles down the road to Pacific Beach. Okay...i know i know, it sounds a little lame when i say it like that...but i think all 615 people turn out for it (Adam swears there were more)....everyone lines the road for two miles---even through a couple torrential squalls today, collecting candy and cheering on the floats. It was pretty fun!! We were the "Moclips Nightclub" and spent most of our time blasting MJ--kids danced and adults grinned. it was sweet!
 The Guy under the Kayak owned our inn.
 Clips Night Club before the deluge....love being the driver :)
 Ahead of us
 and behind...
 And right at the end, during another deluge---i got passed by pirates!!!
Wednesday---off to SE Alaska! September 02 Southeast....yeah, WashingtonQuddus came up last weekend as a vacation from his vacation. I heard a rumor John Legend was going to be down south (wow are things relative) and so we scooped up some camping supplies and headed southeast to Goldendale, WA. This is Goldendale:
I'm pretty sure they call it Goldendale because everything around it is plains color golden right now.
yeah, seriously, that's about it....oh except for this tractor and windmill with a sign naming it Sod Busters:
But, the windmill had bigger cousins nearby...the man at the everything you could ever want store said they were helping supplement the income of the farmers who had lost a lot of their crops along with the folks who had worked at various factories or for the timber industry and are now out of work:
We camped along the Columbia:
and saw John Legend at the Maryhill Winery---which beautiful does not even start to describe. The concert was really really good. India Aire opened for him--and she as always was a fount of radiant energy, spirituality and positivity. Right behind the stage area is a big gorge that the Columbia runs through.
This weekend is camping on the coast---where it is supposed to rain and be 50 degrees. Thank god for REI's Labor Day sale today. August 24 Finger Zapping and other stupid things boys doA lot of my friends and acquaintances these days are soon-to-be-lawyers. These are people who technically are really smart...who can figure out your tax law question and probably get you out of your DUI or at least your speeding ticket by warning you that the cops listen to your conversation in your car while they pull you over (so yelling, hide the liquor or damn i was going hella fast is not a good plan). For the record, yes that's legal and yes they really do use some kinda listening device when they pull you over.
At any rate....the little boy geniuses discovered two bug zapper rackets at a BBQ this weekend. Here's the crucial difference between male and female psyche. When i got the racket, i went around zapping different bugs to see which one worked better and which kinds of bugs die fastest. The boys went....i wonder if that hurts...and proceeded to test them both out by taking turns zapping themselves and yelling four letter words that were not "ouch".
Someone explain this to me: you watch your friend get zapped, see him yelp and nurse his fingers and then proceed to do the same thing?? Where's Darwin when i need him?? August 03 IA in MIAIn action in Miami.
Back from a whirlwind trip to Miami....a place i had never been before and am now basically in love with. It was so refershing to hear spanish constantly....to realize i really can still understand after not being around it in so long. I got in super late Thurs night Fri morning and spent the day Friday at the pool. My friends have hurricane shutters on the apt--which makes it PITCH BLACK..so i finally got some much needed rest and relaxation and am not contemplating how to have them installed here. Anyways, Friday included a walk around Brickell Key...where i found these guys:
I think i pissed this one off.
They were sooo cute i could hardly stand it!! Friday night after super yummy Mexican steak tacos....we went to see Fuerza Bruta...its a 360 degree stage (like De La Guarda which was done by one of the same guys)...where you stand the whole time...its about creative search and imagination and the set pieces move...as well as interact--for example, they were hitting people over teh head with confetti filled boxes and there was a water pool that came down over your head. Hella dope.
I had been whining the whole time about wanting a proper storm...the deluge kind. Saturday i got my wish. We had gone to The Standard for the Hamam (turkish bath) and pool...when about 20 minutes after we have camped out on pool chairs the sky went black.... a 30 minute downpour ensued...which i LOVED. went swimming in the middle of it while people hid out under umbrellas.....
then as it passed there was a cool moment for fotos
I saw South Beach and then went to dinner at Georges in the Grove (mouth watering filet mignon):
 Sunday was adventures in the Everglades, where we ran into some folks from my Baha'i community in NC....small world syndrome yet again. We also saw a CHICA alligator wrangler:
  July 29 recentnessSo i'm getting ready to go into summer break, Seattle just had two record setting HOT days--over 100 baby!! (which makes me immensely happy and everyone else very miserable, and my apartment was a stifling 91 at 10:30 last night. But so far summer's great!!
July 4th done right--Layli and Baki's wedding. Most important thing about this was how convinced i was that both families got the better end of the deal....it was like two puzzle pieces finally coming together and finishing the puzzle perfectly---i know lame analogy, but i don't know how better to explain the really unique feel of the two families totally uniting. I'm stealing these pictures from her blog (there's a link on the side) because it makes me so happy!! Remember i was all on abotu Ry coming---well he bought her a hot pink Holgaroid (yeah, holga and polaroid spawn) for her wedding....which takes funky pics like this:
Samimi Moore clan: Then two weeks later, Tizzy and I headed out to Chelan for our boss, Suzanne's wedding. (yeah, seriously i know it sounds like i'm wedding hopping (and there is ANOTHER ONE in two weeks---BUT i missed three weddings i was dying to be at because they were out of the country and fairy godmother of law school tuition hasn't made an appearance this year). Anyways, Suzanne's story is cute because she married her high school sweetheart about 35 years and two kids each later. It was at a vineyard in Lake Chelan---which is this dope teal blue glacial lake east of the cascades. It's beautiful (read: warm) out there and we were all spoilt by the cherry pie in lieu of cake. Obviously, i am jacking this photo from her photographer (who took some beautiful snaps).
I'm escaping for the weekend in search of cooler temps and air conditioning in Miami! Whoo-hoo going back to the east coast...how i've missed you!! June 24 slackers.so on a near daily basis i click the links of about 15 different friend's (and friends' kiddos) blogs...wondering when they are going to get their act together and realize the world is waiting with baited breath to hear the newest antics of their little ones or themselves. today managed to get really mifffed at about 10 of you for having not updated your blogs since June 10th----until i realized that i haven't updated mine since June 10th. And, while i am fairly certain that my readership may be limited to my parents, Dus and Mona...nevertheless it seemed hypocritical. point is, i updated mine---you go do yours.
the new first year law students started this week. they were wooed with bbq and their shiny innocent little faces radiated the kind of passion i think i might have had before i got jaded about grading curves and the uselessness of the rule against perpetuities (kill everyone---could anyone then own (by will or deed) whatever it was within 21 years of when you committed the massacre??). Maybe Dus will find that as amusing as i do. I AM an almost 3L and i think i shall embody the way the 3Ls i met my first week were--cynical and amused at how naive i was about law school.
Seattle is cool...i mean temperature cool. it feels like fall and i am anxiously anticipating the arrival of Layli, Leili and Ryan this coming week (in addition to the rawkous crowd L and B have assembled for their wedding). it should be about a week and a half of total bedlam...the kind that fills your heart and soul with warm fuzzys to last you through the cold seattle nights, or at least satiates my longing for shesh-besh, weird photoshoots and shit talking. my goal next week is not to curse Ryan's camera like at Bita and Pabs wedding.
hah. as you can plainly see, the camera remains more interesting than me ;)
June 09 if i click my heels three times---where will my teal shoes get me??HOME!!!
I ran away for three weeks--went back to see my fam in Haifa and go on pilgrimage. In case you aren't familiar with Baha'i pilgrimage click here.
I love being back there, the warm sun on my skin, not being able to understand what everyone around me is saying--its almost as good as silence! Plus, i got to do all the things i love....
i laid on the beach with Devin and Emi:
 Stalked unsuspecting Hyrex at Nimrod's fortress (after driving by blown up tanks and land mine signs ;) ) and rode the "cable car" which looks an awful lot like a chair lift to the top of Mt. Hermon on the Syrian border. There was snow at the top which was pretty great to see. Granted i was hiking with a sprained ankle--missed a curb on the way to the beach with the boys--but it was my first time up there and it was really dope.
We fed the catfish in the Sea of Gailiee:
and wandered in the Bahai gardens and :
 spent the day watching kids play king of the algae rock in akka while the older ones did flips off the sea wall.
 Then we spent nine days on pilgrimage....
 mr. Arjomandi was not impressed with my mad portrait skills.
 the stairs leading to the roof from which Mirza Mihdi fell,  the view from the prison and the Seat of the Universal House of Justice.
 April 27 San Juan Island, Puget Sound, WAso i got this free night at a nice place out on San Juan Island---so we took off for a mini-vacation after Adam's neice's t-ball game. Let me tell you, there is NOTHING funnier than a bunch of preschoolers trying to figure out how to play t-ball. 3 innings is about half an inning too long for them to track....the ball comes and they watch it roll between their feet and then run after it. Her team was playing a bunch of kindergarteners who could actually hit the ball. I feared for the little one's noggins and the ball would come out of the air towards them!!!
So the San Juans were beautiful. We saw deer, fox, sheep, alpaca, and lots of beautiful homes.
Here are a few of the highlights: This alpaca looked at me like i was crazy when i stuck my head through the fence to take its picture. for a moment, i thought maybe i was going to be eaten by the cute, furry, will you be my pet?, oh wait--but you probably spit, alpaca. Second, this light house at Lime Kiln State park was beautiful...
Also, what's the point of going to a sculpture garden if you aren't going to play with the sculptures....we thought the sculpture park would be kinda lame---but it wove through the woods and was pretty snazzy in the end!!
April 22 was it just a dream?Okay, i am starting to develop a theme---and yes, i realize it's a whiny one about wanting warm.
PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT
It was over 70 F here yesterday.
yes really.
and the sun was out.
But today the high will be 52 with rain.
So, seeing as how the sun had appeared i went to go sit in it for about 20 minutes while i read over a legal document for work. i think 20 minutes should get me lik 5,000 of the whatevers of Vitamin D (see previous post) i am supposed to get a day. While i was sitting there doing my best imitation of a lizard in teal blue stillettos, it occurred to me that its less than a month until i go home to visit the parentals. I was staring at my shoes, contemplating how much i love them when i realized i can't wear them in Haifa because the meandering on rocks and uneven pavement will shred the heels of my Precioussssss. Anyways, Bob and Lis are working the first few days i am there--so i have a plan to overcome jetlag and make the most of the vacation.
The PLAN
1. Take my evidence books (even if i am not going to read them, they still must accompany me for a false sense of productiveness)
2. Go bask on the sandy shores of the Mediterranean until i have brown-ified or at least de-whitenessed myself. Really, this is a pre-emptive strike on my younger and tanner sister who arrives DAYS after me---giving me a chance to get ahead in the "who's going to be more burnt after living too far from the equator for tooo long" contest.
3. See Nimrod's Castle in the Golan Heights.
 April 10 why i was meant to live somewhere warm and sunny...Once upon a time, in a land called Laurelhurst, i went to visit a man my roommate has affecionately named "Crazy" and the rest of the world calls Dr. Thomas. He is a funny man, who i like because he says whatever he wants in a less than formal manner most times--i also think he might have a tad bit of ADHD. Anyways, Crazy says to me, you look kinda pale to me, like paler than normal, do you look pale to you? To which i responded--you realize there is no sun here, right. He paused, gave me a quizzical look and decided we would run my blood to make sure i'm not anemic or something else.
Results in: i'm not anemic. I am however, something else.
Crazy calls today (bad sign by the way when your doctor and not his assistant calls) and says, so Martha, you aren't anemic, but did you know the average person's Vitamin D levels are between 40 and 65 whatevers? Noooo, i respond, waiting for him to tell me mine is like 25. Yours, however, he continues, is in the basement, its an 8. yeah, not a typo. Just 8. So, unless you are able to make your insurance pay for you to go Hawaii so you can lie in the sun for a few weeks---its time to get some supplements and take about 3000whatevers a day of it.
what are these 'whatevers' of which i speak?? WebMD says:
The Vitamin D Council recommends that 25(OH)D levels be between 40 and 65 ng/mL. The U.S. National Institutes of health notes that 25(OH)D levels over 30 ng/mL are optimal, and that there is "insufficient data" to support recommendations for higher levels. [Obviously the only agreement is that over 30 is a good starting point]According to the National Institutes of Health, the maximum upper limit for vitamin D is 25 micrograms (1,000 IU) for children up to age 12 months and 50 micrograms (2,000 IU) for everyone else. But some recent studies suggest that healthy adults can tolerate more than 10,000 IU of vitamin D per day. John Jacob Cannell, MD, executive director of The Vitamin D Council, notes that the skin makes 10,000 IU of vitamin D after 30 minutes of full-body sun exposure. Point is, ladies and gents, that i was destined to live somewhere sunny!! My body was just not built for the shade! I kinda think sometimes we subconsciously know what we we need---so lately, i've been craving eggs---which it turns out are a good source of Vitamin D. Interesting!! And Thank God i am going home to my folks soon and get some real sun!!
March 19 adult DisneylandWhen i was younger spring break was an adventure....it was long, and i could rest. Now, unfortunately, its like, how many days can i take off work so that i can enjoy the couple days of not having to read. Well, honestly its more like how long can i procrastinate reading. 4 days seems to be it. But, since spring break and since i live on the west coast i decided a trip to Vegas was in order. So, off we went....to Sin City. Vegas is ridiculous. Everything is huge and expensive and everyone carrys cups the size of my whole body filled with strange colored drinks.
we saw a couple of Cirque shows, lounged by the pool and watched the Bellagio fountains. After 3 days it was definitely time to come back to my apartment. So here are some pics:
  March 03 Oh Caffiene withdrawl--how i hate thee.Date: Fast Day 2
Location: Seattle Municpal Tower--40th Floor
State: my head hurts.
Maybe its an elevation issue. doubtful, but i would love to find some reason other than that i really need a strong cup of coffee or 5 advil to get rid of this annoying headache. It could also be the man droning on in the background. I'm taking notes on what he's saying, but i'm growing increasingly certain that he's just talking to hear himself talk and drag out this process longer.
The humdrum slow pace of the holidays came and went and its full speed ahead cousin turned up. I'm holding my breath to see how long i can go without breathing. It seems like a good game--so far, no breakdown, just an IV of bubbletea (in the dark of course) and a longing for snowboarding. For a while we were able to go up every weekend---but that got derailed by papers and now i have to wistfully think of snowboarding and pout that i was just starting to get the hang of it again when school reared its ugly head.
In other news, more important news, I'm quite concerned about the impending trial/decision regarding the Baha'is in Iran. This is yet another excuse for the government to stir up national pride and sentiment by attacking their favorite internal "other" which trumped up charges of espionage and apostasy. Like everything i am learning in law school, there is always the way the facts are versus the way the facts can be construed to acheive whatever policy goal you want. This would be the latter. The policy goal is the extermination of the Baha'i community and the rallying of nationalistic sentiment to rout out the evil within. The reality is that 7 people who have lived their lives in service to their countrymen are facing a dire situation. check out news.bahai.org for more information if you want.
Back to listening to the monotonous guy. January 22 one year closer to 30A couple of the fabulous e-cards i got today---there's obviously a theme going:
December 28 moving in slow motionTraditionally, i move at a hundred miles an hour. i speed, constantly, whether i am in the car, or just in my life. Slow has never appealed to me. There have to be MANY things going on, all at once. In school, i prefer intensive classes---the faster and more information the better. I read books very quickly, solve sodoku quickly. go go go go go.... So, this break from class, combined with crummy weather and enough random things that have to get done preventing me from going snowboarding for a day, has created what is starting to be a painful experience---forced doing nothing.
I have watched at least 20 episodes of House, 10 of NCIS, and about 10 movies. I cooked. Yeah, read that again---I COOKED. That's like a giant blinking light that there's nothing else to do!!! It is driving me absolutely crazy. Perhaps its time to acquire some new hobbies---preferably ones that don't include the kitchen. Suggestions are welcome.
Luckily, i have work for the next two days and then fly to Oahu to hang with Logan, Pam, Kyle and the kiddos for two weeks. Bring on the SUN!! (or at least the warm) December 26 Satire my ass---its racist bullshit.The RNC is busy trying to defend a song one of the idiots running for Chair sent as a Christmas card....
If this doesn't show racism is alive and well in America, I don't know what else could be more blatant.
December 25 white christmas in SeattleI've been trying to remember all morning. I think that this might be my first white Christmas--hopefully my parents will remind me if i am wrong and some strange weather conundrum gave us one when i was young and we lived in NC. It's been slushing off and on all morning. The streets are empty--deep trenches forming alternating slush/ice piles with little streams of water that isn't freezing since it is 36 degrees. If you squint it looks sort of like an uneven zebra.
Courtney said that the other night on Queen Anne, the hill I used to live on, people were sliding anything they could think of, including a couch, down the very steep road bearing the hill's name. Since she didn't have a couch she went and bought an inflateable alligator (who would ususally reside in a pool) and slid down on that instead. The couch idea sounded like a lot of fun, until i thought about how not fun lugging it back up the hill would be or how not fun waiting for it to dry off would be. I think the alligator was the better bet. (i think this might be the couch) December 18 Oh silly Seattle drivers....
I'm adding a whole album of pics about the snow...but i want to tell a story. So in the picture below of the cars, the first gray one got hit by the bus, that slid out even with chains on. The second gray car got hit by Metro's bus-rescue vehicle. The white car got hit by the SUV that tried to go around the bus. And how do i know this you ask?? As i was supposed to be in the house working from home---well, as heidi and i ventured out at lunch, we met the girl who owned the SUV who told us the whole story. HAHAHAH. The black car in the album got hit by a car (that too went around the bus) and then had to swerve to avoid a pedestrian standing around in the middle of the road!! Needless to say, Metro promptly closed our street.
December 04 On sleeping through ambulance sirens and insomnia.So, on the rare occasion that i am actually asleep--i am really asleep.
It happened for about 2 hrs a couple days ago---i was awake at 4, so i must have dozed off around 2 b/c at 2:30am there was apparently all kinds of chaos outside the apartment when this woman had some convulsions, collapsed, and the paramedics had to be called (i'm not sure if this is the same woman who hugged and kissed me the cheeks 4 times the other day because i gave her cigarettes and acknowledged her instead of cowering in fear and hiding while she berated the imaginary friend she didn't seem to like very much). Anyways, back to the middle of the night thing, the noise of it was apparently loud enough to wake Heidi, who sleeps with ear plugs in b/c the street noise is loud. I, on the other hand, in a manner reminiscent of sleeping through the air raid sirens and bombings a couple years ago--missed the shebang!!
In other news:
Congrats are due to both Layli and Baktash (hijacked photo from her flickr) and to Neda and John (have to upload that photo later) on their engagements--which i got news of exactly 5 minutes apart.
Thanksgiving was DELICIOUS (southern style and wonderful at the Abeos :) I pulled off a green bean casserole and earned what i think might be ryan's nicest compliment to me ever---hey, maybe you are more southern than i thought!! (the table, pashsa "interviewing" parham who flew out from MN to surprise Ryan(sounded like, who are you, where did you come from and what do you do--GO!), and Maddy making some delicious crab dip!!
   Love to you all from the start of two weeks of finals.
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