PhilAsify 101

A famous and often quoted line from  Tom Hanks' movie Forrest Gump   is when the title character is sitting on a bench with a box of chocolates on his lap. He declares, "My momma always said, "Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get."  When it comes to the Muslim community and the religious obligation of Muslims to attend Jummah (Friday) prayers, this quote can be modified a bit to summarize what it's like listening to some of the weekly Khutbahs (sermons) conducted by the knowledgeable in the community:  "Khutbah's are like a box of chocolates...not enough of the delicious caramel kind, too many crappy ones with the orange filling."

Daddy can I show you how to do a one-hit-kill? 30,000 Points! Holy Mecca! Now there's no question that their's a major issue with the kiddos these days. Their sense of entitlement is so out of whack, it's enough to make you go on a back-of-the-head slapping rampage. In these days of excess and instant gratification, people are impatient when they don't get what they want, when they want it. And this is especially the case with children. And looking at this news tidbit, it transcends race, nationality and culture.

Now before you guys go and label this is the "Asif is lazy so he's letting a YouTube video do all the work", here me out! PhilAsify101 is not just about me blogging my thoughts on the universe. In this world of consumerism, ignorance and the desire to impress just for the sake of your own ego, there are bits and pieces left that people can still marvel at. Sometimes it's just the phenomenon of God's creations around us, other times man-made. And just sometimes it's those little things that make you go "WOW!". Things that restore your faith in humanity. This post is about the latter. I present to you a video that has captivated the internet world because of the creativity of a child. If you haven't seen it yet, check it out: Caine's Arcade.

Note: The following is a classic blog I wrote a couple years back on Facebook. Yeah blogging isn't a primary focus on Facebook but I still gave it a honest attempt but naturally, things would get lost in the shuffle and the benefit wouldn't reach as many folks. So I just dusted the cobwebs off of this one and am presenting it now. As relevant today as it was when I wrote it. What? Were you expecting Will Smith?  In my Sophomore year of college at the University of St. Thomas, I took an ethics course and learned about Happiness being not only a Proximate goal but an Ultimate goal. What does that mean? That's the reason for this blog. It's quite apparent that happiness is the greatest objective for all of mankind. Everyone spends his or her entire life and utilizes their utmost energy to reach a high level of happiness. Everything we do--the hobbies we engage in, the people we associate with and what we prioritize in life--we do because we think we will at...

Yikes! In my morning internet screwaround before work, I stumbled upon an interesting article on MSN.com's frontpage that immediately caught my attention. The teaser stated "Study: Beards intimidate". What was I, a card carrying member of the Muslim Beard Society, to think? Would this be an article lambasting me and my sunnah (a practice of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) ) following bretheren? Would this study declare that men should be discouraged from growing beards for fear of societal disapproval and disgust, calling for us to assimilate into clean shavery? I WILL NOT HAVE IT!

Me in a nutshell.  Cot Damn! Good Lord have mercy. It's been already an entire month since I last wrote a blog. I have no one to blame but myself and my deplorable organizational and time-prioritizing skills. The whole point of PhilAsify101 was to break my dryspell of literature generation with an outlet for creative content. Epic FAIL.