This evening I have the opportunity to lead our koan meditation group, and I spent some time yesterday selecting a koan for us to consider. After reading several, I decided upon Jizo’s “Not Knowing is Most Intimate” as translated in The Book of Equanimity by Gerry Shishin Wick: Attention! Master…
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Blog 5.20.24
Being ‘mid’ is supposed to be an insult, or so I’m told. This kind of hierarchical bullshit rating system has plagued me for my entire life. I remember when I was a teenager, the boys would refer to girls as numbers (between 1-10). Then the internet came along and we…
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Blog 5.17.24
I miss the internet. This isn’t some “old person” rant where I’m shaking my first at the cloud (digital or otherwise). This is about something bigger and more important to me. It’s about the loss of diversity. Back in the day, people had websites. They weren’t “branded” and they were…
The Qreative Life Podcast
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The Qreative Life Podcast | S2E9 | Tanzila “Taz” Ahmed
Tanzila “Taz” Ahmed is a political strategist, storyteller, and artist based in Los Angeles. She creates at the intersection of counternarratives and culture-shifting as a South Asian American Muslim 2nd-gen woman. She’s turned out over 500,000 Asian American voters, recorded five years of the award winning Good Muslim Bad Muslim…
Books
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Q Review | American Queen | Sierra Simone
I rarely read books like this, but one of my writing partners is a romance novelist and her books feature a lot of s-e-x. She recommended it, and I figured, why not? First, let me say that this book doesn’t just have “sex” in it. This book is basically a…
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Blog 5.14.24
Yesterday was rainy and dark. Today it looks like the world is in Technicolor. Sun is out, birds are chirping. The greens are greening and the blue is bluing. I’ve been working all morning on my author website, and I think I’m going to take a walk before I start…
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Blog 5.13.24
I gave myself a couple days “off” this weekend. Which is to say, I laid around quite a bit and watched TV. I’m glad I did, because I feel a lot more chilled out. On Friday I rewatched the documentary “Love Has Won: The Cult of Mother God” which is,…
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Blog 5.6.24
Last night before bed I read a short story that reminded me of a time in my life where I was very much alone in the world. So of course, I had terrible dreams. And by terrible, I mean emotionally fraught. They were the kind of dreams that brought back…
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Blog 5.5.24
I’m watching American institutions actively demonize young people whose only sin appears to be protesting a literal genocide. I’m watching grown adults I’ve worked alongside for years – who have given lip service to the ideas of justice, equality, and courage with their goddamned MLK quotes and solidarity marches –…
Books
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Q Review | The Devil in the White City | Erik Larson
One of the best parts about writing these little reviews on my personal blog is that I am under no obligation to be objective or fair. So let me begin by saying this is one of the best books I’ve ever read and if you don’t read it you’re a…