An American Muslim Journal

A strong and consistent new year of blogging!

It's been five years since I started blogging (January 2005)!  I can hardly believe it.

Over the years my writing on the blog has been on again, off again.  Even in those years where I was writing quite regularly my blog sometimes suffered.

I've got a feeling 2010 is going to be a very good year for this blog and for my writing.  There is a lot going on and I am looking forward to sharing my thoughts and reflections right here at An American Muslim Journal!

Please share my blog with others, like it to your own, comment frequently and visit often.  I would really love to hear from you!

Thanks and Happy New Year!

Sincerely,

Junaid

Working normal hours, doing normal things

Last night I sat in bed, laptop on my lap and my little 19 inch TV tuned into Monday Night Football (yes, that’s right, I don’t have a cool flat screen 1080 DLP 50 inch in my bedroom).  It was about 8:45pm.  I watched the Broncos-Chargers game until the final seconds.  I checked my email, sent a few text messages, visited Facebook and read Google News.  I did some writing too.  It was a relaxing way to end the day (hopefully I’ll do a little more of the same tonight!).

Earlier in the day I wrapped up at the office at 4:30pm and quickly headed off to catch a train home.  I wanted to see my kids.  Throughout the day I thought about each of them – something unique from the past weekend.  For example, for one it was the excitement of new presents from a birthday.  For another it was a 5 year old child’s rendition of Top 40 song from the radio.

Unlike the very recent past, I was home by 6:15pm, I was in the kitchen as dinner was prepared, I ate dinner with my family, helped (ever so slightly) with the clean up and with getting the kids to bed (again, ever so slightly).  Not bad (or at least not as bad as not being around at all)!

I am grateful to God for all of it.  So, why am I thinking about all of this now?

Mainly, I am thinking about it because a lot of it is new.  It has been a long time since I was last able to sit in bed at the end of the day and just relax.  Eating dinner with my family every night is a new thing.  Being home while dinner is being prepared was, heretofore, unheard of (actually preparing dinner may be asking a for too much) and having the luxury to daydream about my kids is a treat I haven’t indulged in for a very long time.

Why am I able to enjoy all of these new luxuries?

I recently changed jobs.  My previous position in the nonprofit sector was a 24/7 gig with a lot of stress.  I loved my work, but on balance it was time to move on.  So move on I did and land a new gig.  My new position has a more manageable schedule.  Again, thank you God!

One thing I’ve noticed about the change is how protective I’ve become of my time.  Before, it was a foregone conclusion that I’d have little time for recreation, for family and for sleep.  Now, I find myself guarding these things zealously!

In just the past few weeks I’ve passed on many events and meetings involving everything from politics to interfaith relations to social services within the Muslim community.  The next several weeks are filled with events as well.  Will I attend any of them?  I may but right now there are no guarantees.

It’s not that I do not care about the issues and topics being discussed and worked on in these meetings.  I do care about most of them.  However, going forward I want to be more thoughtful about my religious and civic engagement.  Whatever I choose to become involved with cannot take away from my time from the things that matter most – my kids.  That is one benchmark. 

Another benchmark is that my volunteerism has to be more thoughtful.  Because I value my time and have a much greater appreciation for its value, I want my volunteerism to be more constructive.  I want it to be focused and I want it to be used to build something meaningful.

Over the last decade and a half I’ve been a serial volunteer without focus.  I’ve volunteered in so many different endeavors but many of them are unrelated to one another.  For example, back on New Year’s Day 2007 I got a call from someone at the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago (CIOGC).  This person wanted me to come to the office that evening for “a very important dinner meeting of key community leaders to discuss strategies for increasing civic engagement  by American Muslims.”

On that particular new year’s day I dropped the bowl games to head downtown for the meeting.  Looking back, I know that meeting was called simply because the CIOGC had to fulfill a grant requirement by a date certain and they needed to have a quota of people who served on mosque or Muslim service organization boards!  I was not invited to the meeting so much as I was invited to be meat (i.e., meeting filler).  What a waste of time! 

Appreciating the value of my time more now, I want to be sure that I spend my volunteer hours more wisely.

If the number of hours I have to volunteer are less plentiful now, then where do I want to spend them?  I’m still working this out in my mind.  I am leaning towards interreligious dialogue and interreligious advocacy and action for the common good.  I’ll give my mosque a fair amount of time but beyond the mosque my commitments will be given sparingly.

I realize that I may be becoming the kind of person I recently held in contempt.  I used to bristle when friends declined invitations to “important meetings” because of some social engagement or another. 

I still think some of those meetings were important and some of the reasons for declining my invitations were lame (but I’m not naming names!).  At the same time I also realize that many of my friends were probably not sold on why I wanted them to come out and spend their precious free time on one of these “important meetings.”

For now I will still go to “important meetings” from time to time even when I’m not planning on taking an active role in the effort or cause for which the “important meeting” is being convened.  I know that sometimes (perhaps many times) I’m being invited as “meeting meat” and not as a “meeting participant” and that’s just fine!  I’ll go, fill some space, maybe learn a bit and then leave guilt-free and obligation-free!

In the absence of a lot of extraneous obligations I will hang out with my kids, watch my two favorite football teams – the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Chicago Bears – and maybe read some interesting books and do a lot more writing!

"In the Loop" is a very funny, cynical movie!

 

I watched "In the Loop" last night on Comcast On Demand.  It was hilarious!

I'm not sure who the protagonist was in this movie.  I for one was not really pulling for any of the characters.  But this is not to say that I did not like (or at least like watching) the characters, because I thought most (if not all) of the movie's characters were entertaining.

The movie definitely takes a very dim view of politicians, bureaucrats, Americans, the British, the media and the general public.

The movie is full of profanity so if that offends you then do not watch this movie.  If you are okay with it, then do see it! 

I'm really enjoying my Iowa Hawkeyes football!

 

I'm grinning from ear to ear tonight!  My Iowa Hawkeyes football team is 6-0 for the season after tonight's win over the Michigan Wolverines!

Tonight's game is extra special for me because my lovely wife is a UM alum.  It's true that I have to do most of the trash talking on both sides but, as you can see from this picture, she plays along just enough to humor me!

I was pleasantly surprised this morning when, even before I could really get the smack talk started, I found my youngest child decked out in the maize and blue.  That's about the only way I'm ever going to warm up to those colors!

 It was to the point that the clips in her hair and her jacket were all maize and blue too!

No worries though.  By game time my brother and niece were over and by kick-off we had nearly all the kids cheering on the Hawkeyes!

The cheering worked and we pulled it off - 30 - 28!  It was a nailbiter for sure.  I hate saying this but as a longstanding college football fan and a 22 year Iowa Hawkeye football fan I've come to have a begrudging respect for Michigan football.  That is to say, we don't start celebrating until the game is officially over!

In tonight's game I broke that rule just a bit.  With just under a minute in the 4th quarter Michigan's back up QB tossed an INT and all Iowa had to do was run out the clock.  The trash texting and trash emailing began!

Also, I was really excited to see one of our new neighbors flying the Black & Gold colors outside of their house today.  I stopped by to say hello but it looked like they may have been out of town.  Perhaps in Iowa City, IA for homecoming?  I'm definitely reaching out to them after the weekend!  I'm also going to have to get my own outdoor Iowa flag ASAP!

Next up are the Wisconsin Badgers!  I've got some good friends who are Badgers so there should be some good banter this coming week!  And again, our football team's going to have to be ready because Wisconsin's coming off of its first loss (to Ohio State) and it's a good football team that's going to be fired up!

I am really having a lot of fun with Iowa Hawkeye football this season!  We're 6-0 for the first time since 1985 (which, by the way, was the season I visited the U of Iowa campus to check it out while in high school).  We've got Wisconsin, Michigan State, Indiana, Northwestern, Ohio State and Minnesota left on the schedule and all of these games are going to be battles!

My hunch is that we're now bowl eligible.  While that's all fine and good, I confess to seeing roses in my daydreams...

Still, we need to focus on one game at a time so now all of my college football time is dedicated to the Iowa vs. Wisconsing game.  I'm going to be in Wisconsin this coming week - let's see if I can pick up some cheap badgers stuff that can be torn apart as part of the pre-game rituals!

Go Hawkeyes!

Dinner with another brother...

 

It's been almost 12 years since I saw Mark McDonald last.  It's amazing how time zips by.  We first met and became friends in 1987 - 22 years ago.  Actually, its scary how fast time zips by!

In 1987 we were freshman at the University of Iowa.  Here's what we looked like 22 years ago:

 

Although its been 12 years since I saw him last, Mark and I were able to pick up just where we left off.  I believe it is a testament to the strength of the bonds we forged years earlier.

Mark sent me an email on Wednesday saying he was coming to Chicago for a conference.  Over the phone he asked me if he'd be able to recognize me.

"I think so.  I look the same as before but I've added 100 pounds, did away with a lot of the hair on the top my head and added a bushy gray beard spotted with black on my face" I told him.

"100 pounds, huh?" he laughed.

Wednesday night we went out to Reza's Restaurant on Ontario near downtown Chicago.  After dinner we drove around Chicago as I confirmed just how out-of-touch I am as we drove around trying to find a place where we could hang out, maybe smoke a cigar and talk some more.

I drove to Al-Hambra on western Randolph thinking I we might be able to get a hookah.  No luck - because of Illinois' smoking ban this supposed middle eastern hot spot had no hookahs.  I drove down Division Street and had flash backs of the 1980s and 1990s as we drove by innumerable watering holes that appeared to still be frequented by 20-something yuppies.  It didn't seem worth the hassle of trying to find parking.

I found a hookah lounge on Belmont and in the process of trying to get onto northbound Lakeshore Drive I ended up southbound on Michigan Avenue.  Don't ask me how that happened.

As we looked right and left on Michigan Avenue we found nothing appealing so I kept driving south.  We ended up a t Bar Louie's.  It's a bar/restaurant I went to last August with a bunch of folks from United Power for Action and Justice to watch Senator Obama speak at the DNC convention.

We spent a solid 5 hours from the time I picked up Mark at his hotel in Rosemont to the time I dropped him off at the evening's end.  It was a great 5 hour conversation that criss-crossed 22 years, marriages, engagements, children, friends, careers, football, family and probably quite a few other topics as well.

I am grateful to God for all His blessings and among them are friendships that have endured the test of time.  Over the last 15 years I've been increasingly focused on my career and my family.

I hope to re-connect with many friends I've neglected heretofore as I look ahead.

A great night out with my brother & great friends

I recently turnedthe big 4-0.  The birthday was in Ramadan so we held off on any really celebrations until afterwards.  This past Saturday (10/3) my brother Tariq and my good friend Faiyaz took me out.

Tariq, Faiyaz and I went to Morton's Steakhouse (Schaumburg) for dinner.  The bread, the butter, the salad!  The chocolate lava cake ala mode!  Oh my!  It was all good**.

We took our time at dinner.  The conversation was excellent.  It was a lot more relaxed than anything I can recall as of late.  We talked politics and there may have been some religion too but there were healthy portions of football and a bunch of quick trips down memory lane to the more carefree days.

We left Morton's and headed over to Fumare (a hookah lounge in Schaumburg)(I highly recommend this place - the people there are great and the atmosphere is excellent). Tariq stopped off to grab some cigars so Faiyaz and I met up with him at Fumare.

When Faiyaz and I arrived at Fumare we were pleasantly surprised to see our fellow lawyer buddy Nizam Arain at Fumare.  He was setting up to perform later in the evening.  Nizam is in a band called The Major Majors.

 

The band has three members.  I know the drummer - Imran Husain - as well.  I can't remember the name of the guy who is lead vocals for the band.

My childhood friend Khalid joined us shortly after we got to Fumare.  Khalid couldn't handle the 5pm dinner time - he's just a few weeks younger than me chronologically but he's much more hip and cool and can't begin a night quite so early.  He called it "grandparents time".  Whatever dude.  I call it "I've got 4 kids and I get tired by 10 time" (although this night I was able to stay alert until past 11pm).

 

Anyhow, what was originally going to be a private gathering among a few close friends turned into a bigger party.  Over the course of the evening we ran into a lot of people - some were real "blast from the past" types including one guy whom I remember from MCC summer camp in the mid-1980s.  That's nearly a quarter of a century ago.

One guy who showed up way late - too late to be considered a part of the birthday celebration - was my buddy Haroon.  He's an old friend and a neighbor and our kids are friends now but I'm going to call him out - he blew me off so he could go to a lame eid party with his wife.  The only reason he made it to Fumare at 11pm was to see Nizam's band.  The fact that we were there gave him a reason to claim he was part of the birthday celebration.  Thanks man!

 

We enjoyed Nizam and Imran's band performance.  The cigars were good.  the double apple hookah was good too.  The company was the best.

We talked about plans for hanging out more often, catching some Bulls and Bears games and maybe taking a trip somewhere to celebration the next man up for the big 4-0.  And of course we took a bunch of goofy pictures so that I could have proof that I was actually out and about and that I still had a few friends!

Thanks guys!

 

 

 

 

The evening was organized and planned by my younger brother Tariq.  As always, Tariq came through to make sure I had fun.  Thanks T!

And thanks to everyone else who came out and made it a lot of fun!

____

**The steak was outstanding too.

"The Happening" & "The Incredible Hulk" were good flicks

This weekend was unprecedented in that I saw two movies in the theater and I enjoyed both. I rarely get to see movies at the theater these days. And when I do there is no certainty that they'll be good.

Both "The Happening" and "The Incredible Hulk" were very entertaining.

I'm not sure why "The Happening" was so poorly received by movie critics. I thought it was very creepy and suspenseful and the story/plot was great. What I particularly enjoyed was the ending - this is partly due to the fact that M. Night's ending in his films "Signs" and the other one about a village were really pathetic, and therefore my expectations for the ending was very low.

"The Incredible Hulk" was great. I love Marvel Comics. I also saw "Iron Man" several weeks ago and love it too. Norton is a really good choice for Bruce Banner. Eric Bana was too cool for the role. He did not seem like the wimpy, nerdy scientist type. Norton did.

I don't remember seeing Nick Fury in "Iron Man" - there was supposed to be a cameo. I did see his name at the beginning of "The Incredible Hulk" along with Stark Enterprises but again, I don't remember seeing Nick Fury in the movie.

Citizen Journalism - Great Org & Great Seminar!

I attended a great seminar last Thursday (6/12/08) called Making Media Connections 2008! I highly recommend it to anyone interested in getting involved in citizen journalism, promoting his/her non-profit's issues to the media and making connections with all kinds of journalists!

 

I missed the first day of the seminar which featured various workshops. After attending the second day's events I knew I really missed out.

 

The workshops included:

1. Spin 101: Media Boot Camp
2. MySpace, YouTube, Facebook and Change.org Training for Non-profit Organizations
3. Nonprofit Blogging 101
4. Writing to Make News
5. Social Media Game for Nonprofits
6. Incorporating Video into Nonprofit Messaging
7. Nonprofit Podcasting

On the second day (the day I attended) there were many interesting sounding sessions. I'll share some info about the one's I attended. Most of the sessions featured journalists and editors from the Chicago Tribune, Sun Times, Daily Herald and several local and special interest newspapers.

The biggest bit of news that I walked away with was this: newspapers will cover stories when the conflict angle is emphasized. Renee Ferguson, Anchor for WMAQ-TV News, made it very clear that conflict gets coverage.

I know this is well known but I've never heard it from journalists and I've never heard it articulated with such matter-of-factness.

That does not mean that good news can't get ink too. If there is good news that we want covered, we need to convey the issue differently.

The three sessions I attended covered: (i) editorial boards and getting their support, (ii) using technology (facebook, myspace, linkedin, etc) for non-profit success and (iii) pitching stories to journalists - how to do it and what they look for.

I highly recommend this seminar. Visit the websites associated with it: (i) http://www.communitymediaworkshop.org/ and http://www.newstips.org/ .