Chai and Concerts in the New Year

Around noon today I'm going to roll over to Starbucks and buy a grande soy chai with a shot of sugar free vanilla. And then I'm going to drink it very slowly.

I know you're probably like, "Why the heck should I care if you go to Starbucks and get a chai at noon? What's the big deal about that?"

No, I'm not trying to do my patriotic duty by trying to help Starbuck's bottom line. Despite the recession, (that may or may not officially be happening depending on who you're talking to) I have a firm belief that Starbucks is still making plenty of moolah. They don't need my sympathy. So the real reason I'm so psyched about this chai in the afternoon scenario is that I'm celebrating the fact that today is Baha'i New Year (Also known as Naw Ruz) and that means it's the end of the Baha'i Fast! Yee-haw!

Yes, for the past 19 days, I haven't been eating or drinking anything between sunrise and sunset. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. No food, no water and no chai all day long. I meant to blog about fasting while I was doing it and I found I just couldn't. Every post started out with, "I'm really hungry. I'd like to eat ____ (insert ANY food) right now." And then I'd start listing out all the stuff I wanted to eat. Really, the best way for me to get through the days was to not think about it at all and to keep myself busy doing/writing about other things.

As the days went by though, it did get easier. Your stomach shrinks a lot so even though you think you're going to eat a ton of food in the morning before sunrise or in the evening after sunset, you quickly realize that you're stuffing yourself and you'll feel like you overate. Plus, it becomes apparent that the Baha'i Fast is not really about food. It's ultimately about sacrifice and spiritual development.

Our society is one where instant gratification is the norm. We can revert to that sort of childish behavior where we think we should have what we want when we want it, no matter what. And then we wonder why we have such huge problems with addictions of all kinds: food, alcohol, drugs, shopping, gossip, political bickering, and on and on. So the Fast (like Ramadan, Lent and Yom Kippur) is a time to step back from all the selfishness we surround ourselves with.

It really is a good thing to ask myself whether I can really resist the temptation of the chocolate my son is waving in front of me. Who's in control of the decisions I make about my life? Am I in control or is fleeting desire for something really in charge?

Yes, those are great questions to ponder, but today, I'll ponder while eating lunch and drinking some chai!

And, to start the Baha'i New Year off right, I'm going to a show tonight!

I'm going to go see Guy, Tony Toni Tone, Al B. Sure!, After 7 and Johnny Gill. Whoo hoo! This concert is going to be RIDICULOUS! There are going to be some folks throwing their backs out trying to get their new jack swing on again! I seriously think my husband might pass out and lose his mind during Guy's performance. As for me, I just want to see if Al B. Sure is still hot, and I am a huge fan of Tony Toni Tone. I really want to hear them perform this one:


Gosh, I love that song. If they don't sing that tonight I might throw something at the stage -- all of which just goes to show that I probably should have prayed and meditated a bit more during the Fast because clearly, I have learned nothing!

Maybe Cloning Isn't Such A Bad Idea After All

I've decided I need to clone myself.

Every year, the end of the school year rolls around and all hell breaks loose with my work schedule.

So, I figure it would be so useful to have another one of me running around doing a few things on my behalf. What would be even better though is if somehow I could still reap the benefits of the good things the clone does and have the clone do things I don't want to do or can't do.

Here are some tasks I could assign to my clone:

Exercise: I like to exercise but sometimes it's hard to find the time to do so when I get really busy. To fit it in, I find myself jumping rope in my living room at 5:30 am to hardcore techno. (Don't worry, no neighbors banged on my door because I was listening to my iPod while I was jumping.) But you see, if I had a clone, the clone could do the jumping and I could stay in bed and try to sleep a little bit longer.

Have Insomnia: Speaking of sleep, the clone can definitely be the one to suffer from chronic insomnia. Maybe then I can be free to try to catch some z's.

Laundry: The clone can be the one to sort the clothes, wash them and hang them on the clothes line, take them off the line, and then fold them or hang them up.

Get an Attitude: To be fair, I'm not sure if the woman in the parking lot down in Compton meant to hit me with her glass bottle when she threw it out of her car window a couple of hours ago. She might have just been doing some drive-by littering, and not actually trying to hit me. But, she did hit me with the bottle as I was walking from my car. The bottle still had some sort of orange drink in it. That orange drink got all over my clothes.

Now, my clone could have picked the bottle up and thrown it back at the car. My clone could have chased the car down, reached through the window, grabbed her by her multi-colored weave and let her know what I really think about her and her bottle. Alas, the real Liz can't do that because that's how people get shot and stabbed.

Enough about me and my clone. What about you? What would you have your clone do?

And a special shout out to all my Baha'i peeps today. Happy Declaration of the Bab! I hope no one threw any bottles at you!