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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 8th.
Official Misagh Going Away Group Picture
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 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 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 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 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.
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 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. 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 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 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. 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 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.
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. 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)
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. :(
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 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.
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 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 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 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.
[ 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.
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 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 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. 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
|
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)
Come to the party...
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
.
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 19th. My brother Brian is going
to be a doctor one day, and a fine one at that. Read
this article however about some
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
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 attachment 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!
under
the impregnable fortress of the webmaster code (a
bond of trust between the webmasters that enables the
sharing of sensitive information).
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
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.
May 31st. 