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December 22nd. It
seems besides work and spiritual matters I have been
hourly scouting out great sales at
redflagdeals.com which provides a forum to
discuss great deals around Canada. For example, a
few hours ago it posted the
Future Shop and Best Buy Boxing Day Advertisements.
(For those of you who don't know, I'm pouring my
life savings into these sales.) Here is an MQ
xclusive, download the
Futureshop and
Best Buy Flyer PDF version all ready for
printing! December 11th. See the world map redrawn (JPG) based on population - one square equals 1 million people. I can't seem to find Canada however :) December 11th. Article: Will computer animated humans ever look real on the big screen. Also, very interesting fact that these full-length animations like Shrek or Madagascar take a room of computers 1-2 years to render (convert from instructions for movement and light into a series of movie frames) Note also that my new computer will be able to render the movie in under 2 hours. ;) December 10th. Community Note: The next joint Feast on December 30th will be held at 3320 Paul Anka Drive (the Hunt Club - Riverside Community Centre) not 3310 McCarthy Road as mentioned in the newsletter. The doors open at 7:00 p.m. December 8th.
Official Misagh Going Away Group Picture
Come to his going away party! Its at my house on Friday at 7:30pm (2047 Rolling Brook Dr) with 20-40 people expected! EVERYONE IS INVITED. Come and show love to a gem of gems. Call, 295-4565, or email me for more info. December 8th. Blackburn Outreach is exploding with success. December 5th. Holy proud. Justin's photography which on previous occasions I had mislabeled as a waste-of-time has gotten picked up by a major news site. Props! December 5th. From what I hear the U2 concert here in Ottawa was incredible. Read the commentary (and watch the multimedia) on Phil and Amelia's brand new website. December 3rd. 10
days! Ten! 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10! The longest
break in posts since the early 2003 period of my
website. Thanks for staying with me as I
identify ways to make posts more abundant despite an
acute paucity of time and complete absence of energy.
:) The cause of
all of this is my new job contract at the
Conference Board. Now I expect no pity from the
working folks, in fact smug indignation would be
more anticipated, but for everyone else let me
bewail my plight.
Dan Jones was kind
enough to suggest me for this job and this job to
me. I rewarded him by scoring a 96% on the
competency test and doing well at the interview. As
a Web Publisher I am responsible for ensuring
that the web properties of the Conference Board's
publications, research, social networks, and
conferences remains up to date and aligned with
their corporate style. One of the most exciting developments is that The
Conference Board has
December 2nd. Here is a dazzling display of house lights (WMV - 5MB 3-minutes with SOUND!) that will surely get you more into the Christmas spirit should that be your proclivity. Enjoy. November 23rd. Last Sunday, the Suzanne Sabih Baha'i School hosted a well-attended and indeed well-received commemoration for the Day of the Child at Ecoles Elémentaires Publiques Francojeunesse. A local Jewish congregation was warmly invited to attend and perform during this wonderful celebration. To appreciate the ambiance one can read through these telling words: Smiles, Dancing, Clapping, Laughter, Skits, Children, Songs, Joy, Radiance. Overall, as we affirmed the UN Declaration of the Day of the Child, it was a great chance to affirm our belief that, "Children are the most precious treasure a community can possess," while further practicing Baha'u'llah's counsel to "Consort with the followers of all religions in a spirit of friendliness and fellowship."
November 20th. A few weeks ago a few of us went to a Carleton CABS One Common Faith discussion, Quizno's for dinner, and then to see Jarhead. See the picture.
November 17th. I have a job interview today at 8:30am.
November 14th. Brian while at medical school in Mayo somehow still makes time to enjoy himself. See this pic of him and some of his boys at the recent prom.
November 14th. Justin while at University in Toronto somehow still makes time to enjoy himself. See this pic of him taken by one of his boys snapping photos of birds.
November 13th.
Whew...so the calendar is back online and
better than ever. See the
monthly view and feel free to add your birthday
and as many people's as you can by clicking the
little plus sign on each date. Works well in IE
and best in Firefox Cool new feature: How often have you wanted to attach a document or flyer to the posting? Now you can. Type some text, highlight the portion you want to make into a link, click the 'insert link' button (under 'source') and go to the upload tab where you can upload a file from your computer onto my site and have it linked to automatically. Note(s): I don't know about y'all but I felt lost without my web calendar. Also, do not be afraid to make mistakes with the calendar--try it out, have fun. :) November 12th. For the Birth of Baha'u'llah celebration I changed my home page into this, which is link to here simply for reference. For pics of the Ottawa city-wide event, see Brian Lema's collection, an event I might add could verily have been the best in the last decade--perfectly done. November 10th. Another entrant for this year's costumes. November 10th.
I will be traveling with all of my brothers to visit my folks in Florida from December 23 - Jan 3rd. November 10th. Tomorrow night is the citywide Birth of Baha'u'llah celebration at 7:30pm in Centurion Conference and Event Centre, 170 Colonnade Rd. With 500-600 people attending it should be really fun (and spiritual). November 9th. My mom never ceases to amaze me. In the span of a month she has moved from working at the Dutch store on Merivale, to being an independent juice distributor, to now working as a scheduling coordinator at Para Med for personal support workers in Orleans. Go Mom! (see pic)
November 9th.
On October 30th the Universal House of
Justice announced the appointments of the 81
Continental Counsellors serving the world. In
Canada, Dr. Abdu'l-Missagh Ghadirian and Dr. David
Smith were 'relieved of the duties of membership,'
and two new Counsellors were appointed to serve a
five year term in this path of service: Dr. Ann
Boyles and Mr. Daniel Scott. November 6th. So Vaf didn't have his usual Halloween party in Kanata this year--amply replaced by one in the East end that I was not able to attend due to work--yet I managed to resourcefully acquire pictures of some of our friends donning costumes. October 31st. Small feature addition to my site. Since many of you check out Vaf's, Arash's, and Dan's sites by clicking on the heads, I've made it now one step easier! Just hover your mouse over their heads and be informed when their last update was. Neat.
October 30th. A few of us went to the super scary movie Saw II. See the Photo-shopped composite image. October 29th. Watch a short, irreverent take on the state of the world by our friend, a wombat.
October 25th. A few of you thought that I had exhausted my friends list additions with my last batch, but I got one word, 'immigration!' I'd like to proudly present Tamara, Pinki, and Hoda...welcome to Ottawa!!
October 25th. Every
3-4 months the Baha'is in Ottawa have a reflection meeting
where we And for everyone, here is a video of an incredible artist, creating live art, (20MB - requires sound) with just an overhead projector, sand, and his fingers! (the subject is 'creation' and the clip is just...wow) October 25th. I want to welcome visitors from bahaiworld.com who recently hosted a few videos but had their website explode from too many people downloading it at the same time. The solution? Yes, I helped them out with their traffic overflow - here is a link to their 404 page with the links to the files at the bottom.
"Slip on your scariest or
most outrageous costume for an evening that promises to
be full of fun and frightening times! Dance the night
away while our DJ plays your favourite tracks." Admission of $6 will include pizza and a soft drink. Prize for the best costume! Saturday October 29,
2005 Doors open at 8:00 pm.
October 21st.
Interesting perspective on how we internalize
religion. Read it and then take the new, anonymous
poll (on the right):
October 19th. A brief animation commemorating the upcoming Birth of the Bab celebration. Also, be sure to see the pictures from today's celebration on my smugmug page. Holy turn-around time!
October 19th.
See the informational flyer and invite those of your friends who may be interested. October 17th. Even though you won't believe it, I was doing this naturally when a friend saw and took a picture. Good catch!
October 16th. Normally not a fan of environment stuff, at the recent Feast Diana Cartright (Jay's wife) gave a convincing presentation in support of the one-ton challenge. For the ignorant like myself it urges us to reduce our CO2 emissions by 1 ton (from approx. 6). In the booklet it gives suggestions which are coded A-B-C depending on how effective they are. Interestingly almost all ideas directly benefit the user in lower fuel and operating costs, making compliance a no-brainer. These are some lines of action that I've adopted:
I urge all of you to take a look at this program: Watch the funny video | Tip sheet (15MBPDF) | View website October 14th. Two exciting talks this weekend by Dr. Janet Khan are going on tonight (Friday and Saturday). Read Dan's site for details. click here October 14th. Thanks to Linda Ottawa CABS now has an online presence. (and that essay contest is still up for grabs!) See OttawaCABS.org
See our public website at OttawaOutreach.com October 13th. My friend Brian Lema has been in the middle east recently. Have a safe trip Brian and continue keeping us informed. October 13th. Busy. <- That's how I've been. October 8th. Got some'ore friends! (added to my friends page)
October 8th. Cool picture of a bridge in the Millau Bridge in France. This 1.6 mile long bridge spans the Tarn River valley and is the tallest vehicular bridge in the world. October 7th. Just came back from Aram + Natalia's wedding which was exquisitely done and flawlessly executed. Natalia looked so beautiful!!! I can't wait until the time comes for me to settle down. Pictures coming! Also, I met this cool guy called Farshid--he even has a website, Pharshid.com--that is staying at my house for the night.
October 5th. I struggled to find an appropriate heading for this entry. Options ranged from "Match made in heaven," to Eminem's, "sometimes you gotta stop living up here..." Personally, and Psychology has my back, I feel that when you start spending a lot of time, feelings will develop. As many of you may know my recent obsession has led to a full blown relationship. read details October 5th. You know you like the memory game. This one is auto-generated from Flikr pics using the keyword Baha'i. October 2nd. Exclusive future floor plans for the new Baha'i Centre in Ottawa. The building used to be a restaurant and will be undergoing renovations in the next 6 months.
September 30th. It is still not too late to purchase tickets for the Ahdieh concert. I will be an usher. Support the new center and buy your ticket today! (Alternatively the Howden fireside is also going on, so have fun on your Saturday!)
Walking through the Rideau Centre, on my way home, I ran into Setareh and caught up for about an hour - good times!
September 28th.
September 28th. The biggest treasure in history was located yesterday on Robinson Crusoe Island in the Pacific by a robot created by a Chilean company. To put the US$10 billion dollar find in perspective, the GDP of Chile is US$169.1 billion! September 27th. The Reflection Meeting was, as promised, an overwhelming success. We missed our Board Members Jinous (at another Reflection Meeting) and Andy (no longer serving) but members of our wonderful National Assembly were present to see our the smoothly oiled reflection machine. If you are interested in what you missed, or wondering about the small text on the top of this page that will be there for the next 8 weeks, read more.
September 27th. Here is an interesting collection of super-slow motion videos.
September 25th. Some family updates:
September 24th. On my way home Friday, from a Ruhi Book 1 study circle where I was substituting for Andisheh, I crossed paths with Elham and decided to do something revolutionary--dine at Quizno's.
September 21st. I got this weird call today from a group called the MacAuthur Foundation. In checking them out online they appear to be legit. Evidently 24 others, “selected for their creativity, originality, and potential,” received a phone call from the Foundation this week informing us that we will be given $500,000 in “no strings attached” support over the next five years. Neat huh?!. ;) By the way, in case some of you haven't got around to it yet, an application is currently available on my marriage site, conveniently located at www.HowToMarryMartin.com .
September 18th. Nearly a dozen of us participated in the bi-annual highway cleanup along the 174 near Cumberland. Pictures on martinsquest.smugmug.com. September 18th. Here's a picture of the goodbye party for Milook Aqiqi who has recently moved overseas from Ottawa. photo courtesy of Adib, click to enlarge.
September 17th. The pictures from the Nakhjavani talk are now available as is an extended summary.
September 17th. Poignant quote on forgiveness.
September 16th. I wanted to also announce the return of Ottawa's favourite, highly acclaimed, impossibly irreplaceable, fulcrum of fascination, nexus of niceness, laurel of lineal lustre, everyone's envy, Misagh Ziaei! [try to out-superlative that misagh!! - we have an ongoing battle] September 16th. I come across dozens of funny video clips in my daily routine but few that I feel fully comfortable posting as they should strive to "redound to the exaltation and upliftment of the viewers." This video is fun and about soccer - if you have some I should post please send them to me using yousendit.com.
September 15th. Here's a
difficult question for the intelligent visitors
of MartinsQuest. What is more salubrious (healthful)
for you, regular soda, or the same soda that has been
shaken until it is flat? Answer 'Regular' or 'Flat' in
the shoutbox with keywords in parenthesis (no
pontificating!),
September 12th. September 12th. I think that everyone enjoyed yesterday's Nakhjavani talk - being moved by Violette's moving account of the life of Mary Maxwell and Ruhiyyah Khanum. The members of my mailing list already have access to these photos, which begs the question--why haven't you signed up yet? :) [Scroll down a few entries to the crazy guy holding the card to sign up to receive sneak peaks at content]
September 10th. Breaking News - A MartinsQuest.com Exclusive. The wires have just lit up with the news that everyone's favourite couple, Amelia and Phil Nguyen have just entered the second cycle of their Intensive Program of Growth and will be expanding their family with a beautiful baby shortly. A big congrats to them on this momentous occasion.
September 9th. The last few days have not been particularly fruitful productivity wise. Thanks for your sympathy - so here is a picture update: I posted 150+ captioned pictures from Summer School on Smugmug. This service is still in beta so the fancy MQ.com customization is not complete.
There are a few questions to answer that allow me to target the messages so as not to burden folks with unrelated things. Sign up now or risk missing the next big announcement.
September 9th. The Aqiqi's are looking for a roommate for Leroy (20) while they are away. Subletting rates are reasonable and they live near the Carlingwood Mall. September 9th. Usually I don't promote products on my site, but come on! How 'bout the iPod Nano!
I got a 63% in math and 87% in verbal - when historically for me those numbers have been reversed! (see actual scan of my GMAT results - PDF) My highest score was in Reading Comprehension when that has always been my absolute worst area. I attribute my math drop in forgetting how to factor polynomials and take logarithms and the upward verbal shift to reading primary Bahá'í texts which are as challenging literarily as they are spiritually. For example:
September 5th.
Most of you know how much I enjoy deep and
meaningful interactions with others.
Hollering at events or in a large social group,
while it has its rightful place, can never supplant
the need for more private and sincere conversations.
During the last Jr. Youth Animator Training Session Jaleh and I planned for and ended up meeting to do exactly this. I had a great time and hope that others can naturally and profoundly experience this otherwise unattained level of social authenticity. See the 4 minute kinetic video of the day. (20MB - WMV) Lac Philippe pics posted on martinsquest.smugmug.com
September 3rd. Two quick reminders. The youth fireside at the Howden's this Sat at 7pm promises to be "musical and fun" one to bring friends to even if they are not the fireside type. more info... Also, Sunday 'da youth will be going back to Lac Philippe (see pics from last time). Details:
August 29th. Payam was felled 6-2, 6-2 in tennis after beating my brother Justin 4-0, 5-1. I would have savoured the victory more had I not been overwhelmed with guilt when he started to sob uncontrollably afterward. Note: He lost at Roake as well later that same evening. :( August 27th. A few things:
Here he admitted he had been
'J' with (had a crush on) the young lady to the
right. He knew I had a popular website so I'm not sure
why he would divulge that little secret. Oh well ;) August 25th. Yesterday my family and I went to Lac Philippe to enjoy one of the last days of summer. See these picnic pictures. Update: See the 360 degree panorama.
August 21st. My mom, Justin, myself and 70 others just got back from the Baha'i Summer School in Morrisburg. Did we fail one of our Bahai classes?! No :) Held once or twice a year these weekend events are like youth conferences except with more of a family feel and absent match-making fever. The talks on the equality of men and women, the Most Holy Book, and the World Order were on point and thought-provoking.
Since the social point
was not to be devalued, I have no qualms sharing my
favourite moment of the weekend. Justin and I were
down 3-1 in to three fellas in tackle-football. After I
made an interception we scored on Justin's second hail
mary
Wahoo! I screamed! Wahoo! Woo Woo! Stripping off my tattered shirt I danced around in the heat of moment--jubilant. Woo Woo! Respect for Justin exploded. Yeeeaaaahhhhhh !!!! :)
Yesterday as I'm getting into my
always disheveled bed I decide that it is just too messy
so I lift up the comforter to straighten it. So what
greets me? Yes, a quarter-sized spider. I quickly
diffuse the situation while wondering just how many
spiders I've slept with before.
Today my mom bought 45 packages
of hard wood floor material tipping the scales at
60lbs each. The Stephens helped bring it to our garage,
but it was me who spent over an hour bringing them
upstairs.
August 12th. Yes I have been remiss in posting picture sets of late. Here are some of my joy-inducing Ruhi Book 6 study circle.
Game variants include who would you be roommates with and whom would you take on Amazing Race. There is usually little explanation for choices between the howls of laughter in this light-hearted game. August 12th. Last weekend a few youth took part in a very illuminiating training for Jr. Youth Animators. Previously the training was the hasty cobbling of units from other Ruhi Books, but this time we had a 'super secret' draft version of the Columbian-Ruhi-prepared Official-training-materials that looked a lot like the FUNDAEC curriculum. Designed to come after Book 5 I can assure you that these materials were 100x more difficult than anything I've ever seen in Ruhi. True/False questions like:
(Think about these questions) These and other exercises, beyond going over Baha'i concepts (crisis vs. victory, teaching vs. proclamation) helped establish in me and the others (Mona and Tassnim in my group) a more accurate 'world view'. By having this orientation we can better help the jr. youth in our circles to understand the world around them and make informed decisions as to how they can render effective service in their personal and professional lives. This helps us in the same way of course! (The answer to all of the true-false above was mind-bogglingly false, owing to the dynamic synergistic interplay between individuals and society in co-transformation. Interesting indeed)
I have been planning a secretive marriage project for some time now and since T. has such disparate views than I do on the subject I decided to probe further perchance I was ignoring a tempering view on my own strong and off-centre views on the subject. In the end we didn't completely resolve our conflicting theories but managed to fully enjoy our meals and the spirited exchange.
August 9th. Still BBQ'ing your meat? Read this article. Bored at work and want to learn how to make great B/W pictures from your digital camera then read about the 10 biggest dot com flops. August 8th. Ultra-Talented Baha'i rapper Tallis Newkirk has an upcoming appearance in Ottawa and was surely hoping that some Bahai youth would come and support his performance--and have a phat time. Thursday Aug 11th, 7-9pm at Frank Clair Stadium in Lansdowne Park. Free Admission. Click for details.
Strong beats, serious lyrics, crazy flow. That’s the
rhythm of Tallis Newkirk, a Saskatchewan rapper with
energy and spirit.
Tallis' odyssey begins in the early 80's when he heard the eternal words of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five's "the Message", which consecrated a young rapper's love for the art form. Hip to the power and the potential of this new music, Tallisman began his quest for the microphone supremacy—sights locked on honing skills and elevating the artform. Tallisman began to write prolifically. Lyrics and ideas filled mounds of scrap paper and notebooks. During recess, crowds would gather to listen to him rhyme and freestyle about everything under the sun. When he was 17, he won a radio contest for a song he'd written. He moved to Halifax, where he became part of the underground hip hop scene. Tallis toured and performed in England , Ireland and Germany . He spent a year in Israel learning more about his Baha'i faith, something that influences his work. He has lived and worked in Halifax, Toronto and currently lives with his wife and three children in Regina. Tallisman has performed and produced tracks with groups from Reggae legends Aswad, to Nelly Furtado and Canadian hip hop icon Michie Me. Tallis released his first solo CD "80 Million Isms" in 2002, to much acclaim. Read more about performers August 6th. To normalize my income stream I recently applied for a very part-time job. Dunno if I got it, but I sure looked... August 6th. There are some amazing, dynamite events that are taking place soon that I wanted to mention.
August 5th. With Vaf busy I had the dreaded chore of escorting Ottawa's finest to lunch on the recent civic holiday. The sacrifice.
August 5th. In love or getting there? You may enjoy this 3 minute Flash animation made by the MTP.
The Marriage Transformation Project is a global social development project committed to marriage education and marriage skill building for people at all stages of relationships. A key focus of the project is developing materials that assist people before marriage to know one another's characters and couples after marriage to encourage development of their character qualities. August 2nd. Encouraging quote I just came across.
July 31st. Well, I'm baaaack! What did I miss? Only the Intensive Teaching Phase, the engagement of some of my best friends in Ottawa (Elham and Ayafor), and the happiness that comes from living in this great city. As fun as my cruise was, in terms of recreation and meeting family, being away from Ottawa (a veritable spiritual oasis) was unexpectedly jarring. The first night I couldn't get to sleep and even penned this way-too-strong diatribe against materialism (and then promptly fell asleep)
In general when I am asked how my trip was I reply with 'good'. Leaving out of Miami we spent a day at sea both ways and visited Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, St. Marteen, and the Bahamas in between. We played Risk 4 times with my brothers and cousin—which if there was any doubt—is the most divisive (and fun) game in the history of mankind. :) We spent a good amount of time on the beach and eating in the all-you-can-shovel-in-your-mouth dining halls. I went on a jet-ski twice with Justin and also raced him in on-the-ship rock climbing. My cousins, aunts and uncles were cool to hang with amidst the unity cause by the fusion of all four brothers together at last. 'twas 'goud. July 24th. Before even my family gets a chance to view it, here is the official video I made of our family cruise. It is 55MB and will take a while to download. July 24th. What is all this intrigue over my head? Hmm...must have been photoshopped or something...Or was it? Hmm...
July 20th. St. Maarten was, as you'd expect, incredible! A full day lounging on the beach surpassed only by hitting 80 clicks on a jet ski and jumping off the back at this ludicrous speed! Best $45 for a half hour I've ever spent. :) July 18th. Puerto Rico was a'ite. We went on a historical tour and I ventured into a treacherous restricted area atop the ancient castle--snapping breathtaking photographs. At the beach I flirted (with diving off a local 10-foot bridge) while Justin took the opportunity to better acquaint himself with the indigenous sea-urchins. The ship doctor carved the barbs out in what was described as a painful and bloody procedure. He, like Shayda (who is not on this trip) is quickly recovering and is in good spirits. July 16th. The cruise is going well! Enjoy the circulating pictures and come back each day for a new set. July 11th. Two new words in Ottawa have recently made the transition from esoteric to exoteric. As you know probably, the Bahá'í youth in Ottawa have always been active in adopting new words and phrases and have officially expanded the lexicon yet again. Numbers. n.
•Prounounced 'numbuuhz'
•Etymology: Came from
being dealt a low hand in cards without any royalty,
(2's-10's) •Common usage:
'I got numbers' has moved from just meaning that you
have a bad hand in cards to situations when someone does
not have the answer/skills for something,
Scissors. n.
•Prounounced 'scizuhhz'
•Etymology: Entered
circulation as an mirror alternative to saying 'peace'
when passing in cards owing to its resemblance to a
peace sign made with the middle and index finger.
•Synonyms: Peace, No, No way!, Goodbye. "A'ite I'll talk to you later." July 11th. One of the reasons that America is disliked around the world is that is seen as this huge exporter of culture: MTV, Baywatch, gross materialism, etc. Well the tide is already changing.
July 9th. Martyrdom of the Báb. If you have about 15 minutes you may want to view this animated feature. Also be sure to see the pictures from today's event in the East end of Ottawa. July 7th. After my bi-annual chore I feel that I am 100% prepared for my upcoming cruise/vacation. July 7th. Dum da dum dum dum. So I just learned a few things. First, not everyone wears contacts/glasses. I've been living my life under the erroneous perception that virtually everyone had some sort of vision correction due perhaps to my family's large reliance upon it and my weak faculty of physical observation.
Secondly, and I learned this a few weeks ago that 'make up' had a a negative connotation toward foundation and powder and away from lipstick, lip gloss, rouge, mascara, eyeliner, eye shadow, and nail polish. Last time I say, 'Nice makeup!'
July 5th. Sometimes I would best describe myself as being a reluctant hero. Today was no exception.
After the Teaching Committee Meeting I talked with Sham until 4:00am. only to audibly gasp remembering that Gordon had a Florida flight to catch at 6:30am! I rushed out of the door mid-sentence, expecting to be rebuked--yet arrived home to discover a slumbering family. Perplexed, I woke up Gordon and my mom who came to realize that the torrential storm had knocked out their alarm clocks! They were able to get dressed quickly and leave 45 minutes later than expected. So, had I been responsible and come home at a more reasonable hour, Gordon would have missed his flight. Ahh...da tings. July 3rd. In the news. Toyota is building a new plant in Ontario despite massive subsidy offers from American states. Reason: southern 'mericans are not all too smart and are difficult to train; some even need directions in pictorial form. (Gotta love America!)
[ Conference Flyer ] [ Application ] [ Directions ] [E-mail Lua ]
June 27th. With summer here Vafa and
I have decided that the time was right to have a youth picnic and
games day at Lake Philippe in Gatineau. Those especially over 15
are invited to swimming, volleyball, football, petaunk, soccer,
dodge ball and other great games. Details:
[see panorama of this beach: small | large ]
June 20th. At Sunday's Reflection Meeting Ottawa launched its second cycle of its Intensive Program of Growth. If you not from a Baha'i background then this video may be the only thing in this post that you will find interesting. (The music is done by my friends from New Creation)
Goals:
Here is also a
PDF file
that contains more details of the Cycle plus the meeting times for
Teaching Teams and Refresher Courses. If you would like any additional
information please
e-mail me directly and I
will gladly point you to additional resources.
June 19th. Vafa and I, in an increasingly popular trend, made Misagh a 'birthday picture quote page' (PDF). Luv ya Mees! June 18th. Because so
many of you were curious about my pet dragon (see
original video)
June 18th. Random, unoriginal thought: "If people are saying bad things about you, live so that no one will believe them."
June 16th. Today at midnight I had the privilege of eating Quizno's with Sahba - a dear friend. These pure, authentic interactions are innervating as they allow one to discuss the more profound matters of the human heart and mind, wholly sanctified from superficial social confabulation and societal expectations.
June 15th. My new pet dragon. Details to come in a few days fueled by popular request. :) Research Study. A friend of mine who works in this department wanted me to let people know of a research project that pays cash money for participation.
June 14th. Where have I been? Well my hard drive crashed, but I'll get into that more later. I've also been to a number of midnight Teaching Committee Meetings culminating with invigorating early-morning jogs afterward, more on that later as well. Here are a few posts of those eager for some fresh content.
June 7th. Here is a surprise for those of you who saw Nicole Kidman's movie 'The Interpreter.' Earl Cameron who plays Edmund Zuwanie--the unsavory president of a fictional African country--I have just learned is actually a Baha'i from England. This former National Spiritual Assembly member was all but retired from movies when that fateful call came from his agent. > read more. June 7th. This may be of benefit to business owners out there but research indicates that working for long hours can actually reduce productivity to the point that after 8 weeks total output is the same at 40 hours a week or 60!
► The Total Unravel Experience™ has arrived.  June 2nd. Art in the
Park with everyone's favourite Jessica is this weekend. Look for her booth, "Neckline Jewellery," at Central Park in the Glebe
 (Bank St. and Patterson Ave. Just south of the
Queensway) It will be on June 4th and June 5th from 10am-5pm (see
www.artinfoboy.org for more info about the event) Look at the pictures. Can you resist? (the
jewellery)
June 1st. So instead of loading all of the pictures and insightful commentary how did I spend my day? On a Persian
Excursion of course--with the proverbial just-a-friend Elham.
May 30th. I'd like to extend a big welcome to everyone visiting from the Unravel the Mysteries conference. I'm working day and night to get the official unofficial pictures and commentary up.
Status:
May 25th. This is a special invitation for Star Wars fans. There are many movies created by amateurs that have their own Star Wars stories and plot lines. The most ambitious is Revelations which I had available for download. :) Bonus: Catherine provided me with a link to a spoof called Store Wars which comically pushes the whole organic thing. Funny and Entertaining.
May 25th. What am I doing to get ready for the marriage conference? Working out | Growing the burns | Getting a tan | Watching my weight | Perfecting the new pose | and trying on contacts May 24th. Martin's random thought: "Isn't it a peculiar paradox that under the allure of attractiveness most of us will quickly overlook personality flaws in others yet we have all but brainwashed ourselves into thinking that our superb character should rightly compensate for all our physical shortcomings?"
Another update! - now, I don't want to compare it to other Ottawa websites... May 23rd. Some of the tech-savvy amongst us may appreciate these viral marketing ads for the oft-hyped Firefox browser that I created. (riiiiight). May 22nd. The Declaration of the Báb celebration last night was incredible. Here is a colourful and poignant video presentation, courtesy of the Bahá'ís of NewYork, in case you missed it. Complete pictures will be available shortly!
May 20th. With the weekend upon us and few cool events going down (see calendar upper left), here are some more ways to relax.
May 17th. After a 4 day lapse in posts and I have received 100s of e-mails from people asking if I was
ok. I appreciate your concern and let me assure you that I am doing fine and working hard for Resultant Marketing and Design. Justin sadly just left for Toronto and sent me an orange picture of that city. The first thing I thought about was, yes you guessed it, giving it the full MartinsQuest treatment! Today I am going with Tazz to MTL to visit our friend Rhetta. I'll be back on Wednesday. If you need me my cell will be off, so email works. Picture one [Tazz and Rhetta] and two [In front of Baha'i Shrine in Montreal].
May 13th As most of you know Afshun left Ottawa and is visiting his mom in China. Shervin will be leaving on Tuesday for Florida and my friend Nathan Miller from Gainesville/Florida will be staying with me for a week after the conference.
May 10th. I'm not a big fan of conspiracies, but after I took this picture and had it developed something didn't seem right. After closer inspection it revealed something more disturbing.
May 9th. Per usual, MQ will be serving as a hub of logistical support for those going to the Unravel the Mysteries conference. If you need a ride, a place to stay, or anything at all, let me know and I will try to arrange something for you.
May 9th. There are a few linguaphiles out there who may be interested, or already know about, the 'wh' vs. 'hw' pronunciation fracas. I found it interesting to learn that 'Which' and 'Witch' are not necessarily homophones. May 8th. I am planning on spending 6 hours posting over 500 pictures this Tuesday on Martin's Quest. What pics can you likely expect?
May 8th. Find information on almost anyone in the US. May 6th. If you like beautiful pictures, this for you; meticulously culled from a gallery of fine photographs taken at the 12th day of Ridvan celebrations in east Ottawa. May 4th. I came across this quote recently and thought I would share it—I found it inspiring.
May 3rd. Some pictures from the 9th day of Ridvan celebrations in Orleans. May 2nd. I filled out my 2004 Canadian taxes today. Whew.
April 30th. Congratulations to my Florida friends Shirin and Vahid for getting consent today. I wish you both the absolute best as I am still at the stage of looking for love at singles marriage workshops. ;) April 30th. A bunch of us saw Nicole Kidman's The Interpreter at SilverCity as I had advertised on my site the day before. My highlight was giving Kamran the credit card receipt instead of the real ticket. He looked at his 'ticket' no less than three times before handing it over to the guy and getting shot down! haha. Update: See who attended
April 24th. See pictures from the Elections at Ridván and the results.
Happy Ridván! Be sure to visit the new Bahai.org. April 21st. At this auspicious moment I would like announce the long overdue inclusion of 26 more people to my friends page! It's probably worth mentioning that I add people periodically if I have a good picture of them in my digital library. If you are a friend and have been mindlessly omitted, kindly e-mail me a picture.
April 15th. Sometimes you get unlikely pairings in pictures, other times it's just the usual monkeys (1, 2, 3). Others may be interested in seeing a youth Ruhi Book 1 study circle in action or an exclusive peek into the meeting of Ottawa's teaching committee. April 14th. One of my favorite moments in University was during a presentation for my psychology class. I knew the professor would ask three tough questions and although I would have no problem answering them ;) I decided to have some fun with it. I pre-scripted a generic answer to any question he could possibly ask. So my partner and I answer the first two questions and then he hits us with a really tough final one. I glanced over to my co-presenter and motioned to her that I would take this one.
I proceeded to spew a paragraph of mind-numbing nonsense, including such gems as "I'm not sure if what you implied is what
you inferred," When I was finished, there was a collective gasp from my classmates who were confounded by my deliberate obfuscation. The trembling professor only managed to utter, "Can you put that in simpler terms," to which I casually replied, "Yes, it makes a difference." I rode this intellectual victory for days. Along those lines, when I saw these links to automatically generated research papers and essays I had to pass them along.
April 14. Here are some overdue pictures:
April 12th. For those of you who missed Tiger Wood's amazing shot at the Masters it is presented here in full goodness. April 11th. I think that we should follow Hitachi's advice and 'Get Perpendicular'. April 11th. Some updates:
April 7th. Before the New Year celebration last month a bunch of us marked the last day of the spiritual fast with material bliss: an all-you-can-eat-Persian-buffet opened just for us!
April 5th. Google Maps now has satellite view. Check out the frikkin' zoom! April 5th. In my hours of trolling the internet I often times come across quality sites that deserve linkage from this growing repository. Here are a few.
Note: Because personal blogs have so much diverse content, at this time I can only vouch for and link to those based out of Ottawa. :(See bobbing heads above this post.) April 1st. On Saturday my brother will be giving a fireside at the Howden's on releasing your potential. A week later on Friday I will be leading a CABS discussion on 'What is Faith?' Consider attending both! Also, on April 30th/May 1st there are all-day marriage workshops for couples and singles led by renowned experts Susanne Alexander & Craig Farnsworth. See the PDF or the calendar entry. here. I will be attending both and am looking for a nice young lady to attend the 30th/couples session since the exercises will be done in pairs. Owing to fairness, and ever-encouraging people to check my site with regularity, I'll attend with the first person that asks :). April 1st. Yet another quotation from my pen:
April 1st. Happy April fools. I must say I was a little disappointed at not seeing Payam's baby picture on Vaf's site.
March 30th. Great news! InMotionHosting, the company that hosts my website just upgraded their plans for free. Instead of 1.2 GB of space I now have 3.0 GB! This means that I will be able to have more content on my site - more pictures, videos, and media...wahoo! Here is a cool picture I took when walking down Elgin street downtown; it was quite poignant for a governmentally endorsed plaque. March 28th. A few updates.
March 27th. Newest Marty quote:
Only four more days to register for the Unravel the Mysteries Young Adult Forum to save $15. Mathematics dictates that if you are over 80% sure you're going you should register now - the explanation of which is beyond the scope of this post.
Friday May 27th to Sunday May 29th This is one conference that I can really vouch for, and will certainly be attending. Here are the 2004 pictures and analysis, the 2003 pictures and analysis, and the Official 2005 Forum Website. March 26th. A few cool videos
March 25th. With my brothers in MIA and mom in YUL I'll have the house to myself until Monday morning. Call or visit whenever. Also, my Faja just invited me to join him and my brothers on a Caribbean cruise in July. The only reason I accepted was to maintain family unity. <wink> See pics from my last cruise
Hey Hadi: No frontrunners means no frontrunners.
For those of you interested, two new Universal House of Justice members were elected. Read more. Sector 1 had their first planning party today. If you don't know what that is then I'm not sayin'! Talk to someone about having your own! My uncle and family just came back from a one-week vacation in the Dominican. We were looking through the pictures and I wasn't sure if it was harder to see the pictures of warm, rolling beaches or stand in front of luscious strawberries on the last day of the Fast!
Lastly, ....oh the scandal that I will expose about my friend Khalil! :) Details to come...
March 20th. Happy Naw-Rúz from all of us here at Martin's Quest. Pictures of citywide celebration coming within 2 weeks. March 20th. I would like to take this opportunity to proudly announce the recent engagement of Aram and Natalia! Consider congratulating this amazing couple in the shout box on their life-altering commitment.
March 17th. If you are planning on coming to the All-You-Can-Eat Persian Buffet this Sunday at 6pm, please let me know so that we can make sure that enough food is on hand. (see Details)
March 14th. I'm addicted; I bought 3 more books today :)
March 14th. Great News: My cell phone has been recovered! You can reach me on it (295-4565) any time (24hrs!). March 14th. Request from Far East. A viewer of this website, would like some help in thinking of creative things she can do with the upcoming Declaration of the Báb celebration since "after 12 years your creativity starts to suffer...we really wanted to describe the Declaration in some special way. Some interesting story/play scripts would be ideal." If you have any ideas - even things you liked in past years at events you've been to, just type them below and hit enter! March 13th. Some updates:
March 12th. For those of you that still use AOL Instant Messenger, this is taken from their new terms of service ("Content you post") :
March 12th. Today I purchased 1,950 pages of books for $130 from Chapters. As many of you know I am a very slow reader, but I get inspired sometimes and this is no exception. I'll try to write reports about the books as I complete them.
March 11th. I will be house-sitting for my uncle (who lives in Blackburn 3 minutes from my current house) for the next 8 days. You can call me there 24 hours a day (Note: my cell phone was recently misplaced.) There will be no wild parties but I am open to behaved visitors and will have car access for the duration.
March 10th. It doesn't make much sense to reveal my love life status ("No Front-Runners") without also mentioning my professional circumstances - especially since news of the later could lead to developments in the former ;). I am 70% done writing a business plan to begin an international marketing/website development firm. I am putting key people and practices in place and will make huge announcements in this regard in the coming weeks. If you wish to help me realize my vision urge me at every occasion to maintain focus and discipline and kindly refrain from hurling the Ottawa-famous pejorative: "MIA" :) March 10th. For the die hard tech fans out there: a 7-megapixel camera phone! But for me 6.2 is plenty!
March 9th. Official status report on my marriage quest: March 8th. Recently my family from Montreal came by the crib to chill during their March break.
March 6th. A few days ago a bunch of us gathered to celebrate Brian Lema's birthday. It was good times all around.
March 4th. I need not remind folks that Vafa is having a phat 80's Devotional this Saturday. If you haven't voted yet you still have a day or so. It's down to Indiana Jones and Ghostbusters, both quality movies so I need not sway the votes as in the past ;). March 4th. Aware that I start most of the trends in Ottawa, I was nonetheless surprised that my sphere of influence permeated even the highest strata of elite public life. Is he doing The Martin Point?
March 3rd. Few notes: The Ayyam-i-Ha pics from Kanata Idol will be posted shortly. Also, my cell phone is lost so calls will not go through. My family from MTL visited for a few days and let me just say that they are coooool.
March 2nd. With the Bahá'í Fast starting today I thought I would 'invest' 4+ hours creating to the PHP
dynamic scripting that powers the 'Fast Time Info box' above. It displays today's and tomorrow's fast times, plus a picture of me that changes depending on whether we can eat or not. Be sure to check it both at work and at home to see the difference.
Bahá'u'lláh called on Bahá'ís to refrain from eating or drinking from sunrise to sunset for nineteen consecutive days each year from 2 March to 20 March. This period, known simply as "the Fast," is considered a time for deep reflection on one's own spiritual progress. Efforts are made to detach oneself from material desires. Bahá'ís rise before dawn to eat breakfast and to pray. Those who are ill are exempt from fasting, as are pregnant and nursing women, people under 15 or over 70 years old, travelers, and those engaged in arduous physical labor.
Let me leave you with a poignant reminder from the Bible.
February 27th. Here are pictures from Shahin's latest music devotional in Kanata.
I must say that for a while around age 12 I was terrified of death and knowing that the planet would only last x trillion more years. It wasn't until I became a Baha'i and read quotes like this, written by Bahá'u'lláh, did this fear vanish.
February 24th. Here I go again with the impossible: attempting to describe the Universe in less than 200
words:
February 19th. I'm baaaaaaaaaaack! Here are some pictures of what I was greeted to upon my return, but I'm in good spirits. I have a lot of work and many projects on my plate, not the least of which is the Reflection Meeting tomorrow and the construction of my international e-marketing conglomerate. Details, per usual, to come...
February 15th. Primarily for you Gainesville folks who want to reach me, this is my temporary number from 11am
Tuesday until 5pm Wednesday.
(305) 785-2541. February 14th. Owing to it being Valentine's day, MartinsQuest will help the love process along and reveal secret crushes in the community. Check back throughout the day as I'll progressively reveal more and more instances of 'J-ness' (Ottawa Baha'i parlance for crushes)
(Back by popular demand from last year - Enjoy!) *(All matches are randomly generated)
February 13th. I had the opportunity to sit down with an insurance agent who explained how the system works and the
large sums of money I'll have if I start buying Here is my recommendation: run, don't walk away from whole life insurance unless specific conditions exist. E-mail me with your situation if you are unsure what to do, and be sure to check out and play with this life insurance spreadsheet model (Excel file) I created which takes all of the figures and puts them in today's dollars. (A single penny will be worth well over a million dollars in less than 700 years.) February 12. Here are pictures and a short write-up from a Ruhi Book 6 that just started in Weston. Big ups for study circles...Wahoo!
February 11th. In a move sure to bring joy to the saddened masses, I'm planning an excursion to Gainesville from Tue to Wed, arriving and leaving around midday. I'll be bringing Justin along for the ride. See pics from our last road tip to Florida and I hope that everyone I saw will make the same effort to show love. Details to come.
Be sure to also see the pictures from Gordon Naylor's thought-provoking talk.
February 1st. I arrived safely in Florida and begin work tomorrow. Today I attended a Book 6 study circle with the folks that was very relaxing. Pics to come.
January 29th. In an announcement sure to cause a wave of mourning, I just booked a plane ticket to Florida from Feb 2nd-18th to design an e-commerce website and conduct post-merger analysis and offer financial consulting for a franchisee of a multinational firm. There was a VH1-top video made by Canadian crooner Doug Cameron [now of Smith and Dragoman] entitled "Mona with the Children," that I am pleased to be able to offer for download. (20MB - 6 mins)
January 27th. Looking over the pictures from Dr. Ghadirian's talk I noticed that there were many people that were ostensibly absent from my friends page. Welcome!
January 27th. There is a cool new feature [how it works] in select cities in the US (surprise!) that allows you to stroll along city blocks thanks to 20 million pictures of different cities. A9, the amazon search engine, is moving in on Google! January 27th. Here are some pics from days in my life.
January 22nd. Mees is coming back in less than two weeks, so to save yourself from having to listen to endless stories of his when he returns just read Mees's Updates here first! January 17th. You knew that there had to be a good reason why there were no updates for a while ... I freshened up the layout of the site. Gone are the Google ads, the people finder, and the world countries modules and instead you have a bigger shoutbox--for more uplifting content, and I'm very proud to announce, a new calendar!
Soon, I'll have to ok anonymous posts before they appear on the site, but for now, have fun! Make up events, try it out, get a feel of it. Don't worry about messing anything up! (Click 'view all' in the upcoming events module to see it.)
January 16th. I was asked to give a 5-minute talk on the Bahá'í Faith at the recent 'World Religions Day' in Kanata. I broke from my normal mode and had over 2 minutes of, gasp, music! I decided to use a more conversational and narrative approach over one full of facts and information. It seemed to be warmly received and thanks to Delta's steady hand, I have it available for download. (Intro - 25MB - WMV)
January 8th. Pictures from the
Blackburn Hamlet Social are now posted. Comment: Would anyone be up for a 2-day road trip (between Jan 28 and Feb 15) to the Carnival of Quebec? I've never been and it sounds like the coolest thing since sliced bread, but perhaps for some of you true Canadians its not quite as riveting. Either way I'm open to suggestions for a trip. January 5th. Many of you know that despite having a business degree I appear to just while away my days
creating websites occasionally. Well, I've devoted a lot of resources to create
my first invention which will go on sale in Q2, 2005. Tell me what you think in my shoutbox.
January 1st. There are 2 youth events going on today: one at the Howden's (842-7363) and one at Leroy's (722-0991) (organized by the youth committee)
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December 8th. As
most of you know Misagh is leaving us
mid-December for two years to pursue a Master's
degree in Edmonton. How can you give meaning to this
tragic event besides petitioning the government to
raise the flags half mast? (they are already doing
this)
Waking up at 7am and arriving home eleven hours
later, even at a job I thoroughly enjoy, while
having events every evening until 10:30pm coupled
with my mandatory TV show a night which I've
already pared down from the three CSIs and Numbers
(into
I am not a judgmental person, but I will
admit that my current responsibilities have given me
a penetrating perspective into the practical
intersection of the spiritual with the physical
and social, beyond the simplistic 'spiritual
comes first' into a dynamic and fluid balance
that while coloured with and leaning toward
spiritual duties cannot afford it absolute supremacy
in a world that involves real and tengeable physical
exigencies. 
I interact with co-workers mostly through e-mail
and have a typical turn-around time of 35
minutes in a position that must guarantee a response
of 2400 minutes. This is on account of my comfort
with the software like FrontPage which I've been
using on my website for over four years, Photoshop,
and the Microsoft Office Suite.
I've also had the chance to streamline a
few things in my spare time at work which required
me to learn ASP and VBScript which is now
added to my PHP, HTML, CSS repertoire. Overall, I am
doing very well here with the welcome struggle of staying busy and
identifying tasks to complete.
signed up for
the
November 20th. With the strong referral
of Dan Jones I recently got a job at the
Conference Board of Canada working with him on a
6-month, full-time web publishing contract. I am
thrilled and will continue to do independent
webdesign on the side. 
November
17th. Baha'is are asked to read from the
Writings both in the morning and in the evening and
strive to align their thoughts and actions with
these lofty ideals and rectitudinous counsels.
Currently I subscribe to two Baha'i mailing lists
that I'll share here perchance you too might benefit
from having these soul-stirring words conveniently
sent to your inbox each day.
November 17th. Here are the
November 16th. There was a recent
announcement that I am proud to make very public,
the engagement of Hania and Keldeagh! Knowing
them both well, I'm so happy for them both and look
forward to this fortress for well being providing
them mutual support and encouragement for their
collective lives. All the best!
November 16th. As most of you probably
know Brian Lema recently returned from a scenic
journey to the Middle East. He took lots of
pictures and compiled information which is available
on
.
Some travel updates. From Nov 23-27th my
brother Brian, aka BriBri, aka, mochacholatte, aka
dr. love will be visiting Ottawa. Justin will
hopefully be there as well during this time. 
October 26th. Our Outreach Team has
so far visited 60 homes in Blackburn and had 10 people
show interest with 10 people show potential interest. To
be able to meet our goal of 40 children and jr. youth we
estimate that we will have to meet 200 more people
today, before our first event on Thursday. See
October 26th. A recent
article in the Toronto Star described the
creation of the first new University in Ontario in
over 50 years! Mr. Gordon Naylor and his
team, whose last collaboration, the Nancy Campbell
Collegiate Institute is now ranked one in Ontario,
is planning to build the main campus in Stratford.
To read more about this incredible development see
are encouraged to explain the Faith to others who show
interest. At the last one we watched
October 24th. My next digital camera will be
likely be a Kodak after their recent press release
touting a
October 22nd. Lots of people have
been asking for it, and this year it appears as this
will be the Halloween Party:
October 19th. My brother Brian is going
to be a doctor one day, and a fine one at that. Read
this article however about some
It
is really a shame that my calendar is getting fixed.
Sarah, Tamara and Delara (ok not Delara -- added
only for rhyming delight) would like to meet new
people who may be interested in attending a
devotional, fireside, or study circle this
weekend, October 21-23 at Sarah's (3607 Trappers
Rd.)
October 14th. You know
those banner ads for Smile.y
Central that you see all the time. They have
cool animations, but since there is no company in
the world that pays money to advertise a free
product, there must be a catch. It installs over ten
programs on your computer that interact in different
ways - from annoying to pernicious. Do not download
from them, shoot me an email if you want me to send
them to you without the accompanying 'junk.'
October 5th. A huge proponent of the SPAM
is SCAM dictum, finding
September
30th. Last night saw Tassnim, Mona, Nagin, and
I finish the new and improved Jr. Youth
Animator Training. What really struck me was the
centrality of the service project as we read potential
examples of the first few sessions of the course.
September 30th. Yesterday I had my second and
final interview with TD Canada Trust - I'll know
on Tuesday whether or not they liked what I had to
offer.
During my daily reading of Global Black News, I stumbled
across an article about
September 27th.
September 21st. At Monday's Teaching
Committee we set a new record for ourselves by
meeting until 1:37am, over
6 hours from the 7:30 start time without any
breaks to mention in our indefatigable planning for the
I had the privilege of attending a
September 12th. Quizno's has truly the most
incredible subs anywhere. That is why I am proud to be
able to offer you another
CABS is having an essay contest where
applicants from the University of Ottawa must “Propose
a practical, detailed plan to eliminate the extremes of
wealth and poverty." The winner of this 1,000-2,000
word contest will win $500 and a chance to present their
thoughts at a CABS discussion. Sounds like a great
opportunity to me, and from my sources the competition
is yours to be won!.
September 10th. News has also just streamed
in that my cousin's family's pet, Ruffles, is no
longer with us after acute liver failure. Seeing my
mom's attachement to Sparky helps me understand and
appreciate their grief. RIP Ruffles.
September 9th. MartinsQuest.com now
officially has
September
6th.
Delara recommended that I take the practice GMAT
and suggested that if I scored in above 90 percentile
(hereinafter '%') that I'd be able to be a tutor at
Kaplan making a few mil a year. So I took the 3 hour
test cold and got 83% overall, which was very respectable, but a
breakdown is even more illuminating.
September 6th. Cool new CSI-type
technology of Smartwater, which digitally marks
valuables and can be used on intruders as well. Read
about it
September 3rd. I have an
interesting problem: over 20 un-posted picture sets (over
1000 pictures) that would take a few full days to
post. As such, I'm experimenting with
September 2nd. Yesterday I was able to
briefly check out Amelia Brunet's wedding while
providing some logistical support and snapped a few
pictures. As you'll recall, it was this website back on
May 10th who broke the news of Amelia's engagement to
the world. I wish both her and Rocco the very best!
Sept 1st. The
estate of Dizzy Gilespie is
under
the impregnable fortress of the webmaster code (a
bond of trust between the webmasters that enables the
sharing of sensitive information).
August 19th.
August 18th. So some interesting
things of a personal nature.
August 15th. There is something in the air this
summer! I want to extend my congratulations on the
recent marriage of friend Ramin Karimi. The bride,
whom he met in Iran, will be joining him to live out
their blissful days in the spiritual warmth of Ottawa.
Congrats!
August 12th. Unabashedly triffling
amidst other weightier posts, I have heard of a game
played by some of the youth that usually involves three
people where one will give the other person(s) two
choices for a marriage partner and they have to
answer which one they would choose. The fun comes in
picking the most outrageous combinations possible yet
ones that are as equal as possible so that the person
takes a while to answer.
August
11th. Trivia: What would cause me to
get up early, travel over an hour in both directions by
bus, and yet be worth every nugatory discomfort? If you
guessed a lunch sit-down with Tahirih you are right!
August 9th. MartinsQuest.com would
like to warmly welcome Jeff Menzies to Ottawa.
For those that don't know, I met Jeff at ROBSI camp in
2003, then at summer school, and then when Payam and I
served as his CIT trainer last year. He lives with his
mom near Bayshore so give him a shout: (721-6443) and
August 9th. Even though my website serves
as the epicenter for meaning and upliftment there are
some things that come to my attention that are just
cool and amusing. Take for example this
August 6th. I was shocked to see
this when I went to
"If
only the friends could
realize it, the glory of our Faith is not
that people with unique abilities
do the work of the Cause, but that it is done by the sacrifice
of loving and devoted souls who arise selflessly to undertake
work they feel themselves incompetent, sometimes, to achieve.
God works through them and endows them with gifts they did not
dream they could ever possess."
August 1st. It is with great sadness that I
must remove Hania from the
The valiant webmasters of Ottawa are spewing goodness
and upliftment to the corners of the world. Proof
you ask?
July 6th. Until recently history has been my
most challenging subject, since I prefer conceptual discussions and
the sciences. However, I just stumbled upon a cool 10-minute
animated video of
July 2nd. It has just come to the attention of Martin's
Quest that Shayda aka Monica was
June 29th. Lua Farnoush alerted me to a “My
Moral Identity” Youth Conference in Orono (near Oshawa/Couburg)
on July 8th - 10th for those aged 16-19. Knowing of Lua's talents
from ROBSI, I can boldly assert that this will turn be a fun and
meaningful event. Here are the forms if you are interested in
learning more.
June 23rd. At 8:15am this morning our friend
Parvaneh was in the news teaching belly dancing to a news
anchor. By 8:45am
here is an
June 17th. Have you discovered a way to
make
a million dollars by Christmas? A fool-proof method to early
retirement? Upon the request of someone else I compiled
June 16th. A recent
June 16th. My cousin Nicolas whom some of
you know is having a soccer game in Gatineau on Sunday at 2 and is
looking for a ride. If you are not going to the 1:30
Reflection Meeting he is even willing to chip in say $8 for gas!
Here is the 
service that can
pinpoint the cheapest places to fill up near you. 
"...there is
no physics theory that explains the nature of, or even the existence of,
football matches, teapots, or jumbo-jet aircraft...Even if we had a
satisfactory fundamental physics 'theory of everything', this situation
would remain unchanged: physics would still fail to explain the outcomes
of human purpose, and so would provide an incomplete description of the
real world around us.
June 6th. Nathan was
supposed to leave today but his flight was cancelled. I'm trying as hard as I can to convince him to come here for a few months, fall in love, and
never leave. Let him know what you think in the shoutbox..
May 31st. 
May 25th. On Thursday
Delta, Delara, and Tazz are going to go shopping for clothes (having nothing to do with the upcoming conference) and if you would like
to join them give'em a shout.
May 24th. We're all familiar with the hippie movement and the youth movement, but who among us has heard of
the 
May 22nd. Last night's Movie Devotional
at Vafa's was really amazing. It surpassed my CARDevotional attendance record of about 50 with a whopping 61 participants! The games were
exciting, the devotional stirring, and the movie engaging. - Download the 
May 13th. Just in time for
the Unravel the Mysteries conference I am glad to introduce to Ottawa it's 
May 10th. Breaking News: Amelia Brunet and Rocque just received consent and
will be getting married. Congrats! I wish you both the absolute best as I am still at the stage of unraveling the mysteries of
love at young adult forums. ;)
May 2nd. Fox
news recently won the right to hold the US Colledge Football BCS game. Fox, you'll remember, is the one responsible for the 1st down lines in
football and the glowing puck in hockey. Well I was thinking of the next big innovation they would come up with and had two ideas.
April 29th.
There is a new conference coming up for singles to battle all of the marriage ones. 
April 28th. Today Afshun is flying in for just
over a week and staying at my house along with Shervin. Let me know if you would like to hang with me and these two fine gentlemen during their brief stay. 
April 24th. Do you have a digital camera? If you do you need this program. Every time you edit a picture
and resave it you lose quality. 
and "I think you're
looking at it from a linear instead of a transformational perspective," and "I'm not sure if I fail to disagree with you or not." These convoluted
statements shut down your brain, the hard you think about them, and the smarter you are, the more it confuses you!
March 25th. It is
regrettable that many people remember the passage in the Bible to just read "money is the root of all evil," failing to recall the
all-important preceding "the love of," warping it from a quote advocating material detachment to one demonizing wealth. Well, I almost
fell off my seat recently when I stumbled upon this incredible quote which confirmed my recent plans to detachedly attain monetary excellence.
March 23rd. My friend Ala in Florida recently passed his dental boards and has a (gasp)
real job! Props!
On the subject of Fasting, I find it
curious that my poll was tied 9-9 querying "How does the 19-Day Fast spiritually touch you?" between, 'TRANSFORMATIVE X 10^100" and "It is
good and uplifting" before the Fast, but just 19 days later it was 9-15 for the second choice! Ideals are forged with tests!
Also, as most of you know I lost my phone
recently and am consequently looking to acquire a replacement. If you have an old Bell phone, or are looking to upgrade your current one, get in
touch with me to work out some sort of arrangement. 
You waive any right to privacy. You waive any right to inspect or approve uses
of the Content or to be compensated for any such uses."
March 9th. The much-hyped 
March 7th. Here is a video of a guy singing a 
March 4th. 
March 3rd. Craig
Angus, a shining star from Carlton Place, organized a day-long, Human Rights Day in Almonte and his home town. I had the pleasure of
co-presenting with 35 others in 13 schools to 60 classes and over 3,000 children (grades 1-8). Jessica S. and I played two games and had lively
discussion as the kids discussed their human rights. The day was brilliant in both design and execution, which leads me to one incontrovertible
conclusion - Craig rocks! 
and helium
production. Density perturbations. Recombination. Blackbody radiation. Local contraction. Cluster formation. Reionization? Violent
relaxation. Virialization. Biased galaxy formation? Turbulent fragmentation. Contraction. Ionization. Compression. Opaque hydrogen.
Massive star formation. Deuterium ignition. Hydrogen fusion. Hydrogen depletion. Core contraction. Envelope expansion. Helium fusion.
Carbon, oxygen, and silicon fusion. Iron production. Implosion. Supernova explosion. Metals injection. Star
formation. Supernova explosions. Star formation. Condensation. Planetesimal accretion. Planetary differentiation. Crust solidification.
Volatile gas expulsion. Water condensation. Water dissociation. Ozone production. Ultraviolet absorption. Photosynthetic unicellular
organisms. Oxidation. Mutation. Natural selection and evolution. Respiration. Cell differentiation. Sexual reproduction. Fossilization.
Land exploration. Dinosaur extinction. Mammal expansion. Glaciation.
Homo sapiens manifestation. Religion. Animal domestication. Food surplus production. Civilization!
Innovation. Exploration. Warring nations. Empire creation and destruction. Exploration. Colonization. Taxation without
representation. Revolution. Constitution. Election. Expansion. Industrialization. Rebellion. Bahá'í Revelation. Emancipation Proclamation. Invention. Mass
production. Urbanization. Immigration. World conflagration. League of Nations. Suffrage extension. Depression.
World conflagration. Fission explosions. United Nations. Space exploration. Assassinations. Lunar excursions.
Resignation. Computerization. World Trade Organization. Terrorism. Internet expansion. Reunification. Dissolution. World-Wide Web
creation. Disintegration. Integration. 
February 22nd.
I will be starting a Ruhi Book 1 study circle in Orleans (East End of Ottawa) with mostly youth this Thursday, where we'll
decided where, when, and how often to meet. If you are interested in attending, or know someone who is,
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whole life insurance now. Besides sharp criticism from my business-savvy
family in this regard, my background in business, especially finance, placed me in a position to transcend the numbers and dispassionately evaluate
this proposition..jpg)
February 2nd. In a historic moment for our family, past and present, Brian was accepted today to Mayo Medical
School near Cleveland. (To put this in perspective, over 2,500 people apply for just 34 spots. In addition to being Brian's clear top choice, he also
received a--get this--full scholarship!!)
January 27th. Gordon Naylor, a distinguished member of the National Spiritual
Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Canada is giving a talk sponsored by CABS this Monday. I met him in person when I was helping 
January 27th. I am
glad to be on Lester's mailing list since I get such incredible shots of the Lotus Temple (where he is serving) like these ones
This automated community calendar (code name: 'event horizon')
allows you to add events (one time or recurring) and have the whole world see it! It is configured now to allow anonymous posts without
approval.
January 8th, Dr. Abdu’l-Missagh Ghadirian, a distinguished Professor at McGill University Faculty of Medicine, is going to be in Ottawa
soon to give a talk on Medicine and
Spirituality--in an event planned by the Cabs at U of O.
January 1st. Some updates:
