Belly Rings, Betty Crocker and Big Buissness on a Rainy Day.



The rain laps up on my draging overgarment making my ankels moist as I walk across the busy Walmart parking lot. I see her glance at me with a look of fear,confusion, and intrigue melting together like the dripping candle wax I use to watch on the well appointed alter dressed with communion wine and pointsettia plants during christmas time. She doesnt think I'm from here. She does'nt know that my formative years consisted of birthday parties, new years hangovers, and pork chop dinners. She doesnt know that I've been where she is. Dressed how she's dressed. Thought what she's thinking. Until I fell in love with Allah...and this thing called Islam.

The Reading Revolution

My search for a kindle for my daughter, coupled with a late night conversation with my husband about eight tracks has forced me to envision a world without books.  The Nook e-reader by Barnes and Noble has a platform allowing you to borrow library books and Amazon has recently announced that the Kindle will link to the national library system from their very own platform as well.  Libraries  have been experiencing massive budget cuts and closures for years and the reading revolution isn't helping. Turning real pages will become nostalgic and we'll be telling our grandchildren stories about field trips to "the library". The minimalist in me rejoices at the possibility of world without shelves upon shelves of dusty books. The traditionalist in me wonders if I'll miss that new book smell or the resistance under your index finger when you press along the inside binding, breaking in the book. 3,000 books on one little device. Who would have thought!