half past nomad

Dear HPN-

I just renewed your domain for the 3rd time in my life. Year 3 starts. I remember Year 2 when a generous benefactor stepped in and paid you up whilst I was stuck in limbo land. But now, Year 3 starts. You’re growing up HPN. I’m proud of you.

Year 1 was excellent. I wrote like crazy and blogged tiny tiny words and the audience loved it and I loved it in return even more. Yes, that’s what happens sometimes. By the end of Year 1 though, my work had started, school was over and all of a sudden, I had bills. Not B.I.L.’s (Brother In Law’s), just bills. Pieces of paper proclaiming how much I owed to the some typist somewhere in Ohio or Kentucky or even Nebraska but wait! There’s more! If I didn’t pay up soon, I would be reported to somebody in Wisconsin! And you know how mean those folks are.
Life turned from simple pudding into a whirlpool of 2, then 3, then 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 flavors thrown into a blender running just below maximum speed.

Year 2 was a blur. Of sorts. OK, it wasn’t really a blur. I know exactly what happened when it happened. I broke hearts, I made people cry, I saw people cry, I saw hearts cruelly tortured and I was helpless. Also, I had lassi again. I switched jobs, I moved, I packed, I barely unpacked, I met people, I learnt new languages, I re-learnt old languages, I observed, I learnt, I grew. Also, I used gel in my hair regularly except for the times I didn’t use it regularly. And it caused much confusion amongst the idiots who really really wanted to stereotype me, label me, categorize me and then eagerly tell the next loud mouthed desi idiot that Jameel sahab ka beta has come back with a beard but wait! He also gels! Holy Mother of Magical Cow! Is that gel sharia compliant?

And I saw more death then I had any other year of my life.

Year 3 has descended upon you and me, HPN, very quietly. I half forgot to check your expiration date. You didn’t even flinch and kept on doing yo’thang. Akds has treated you better then me and has had very positive feedback. If only the genius idiot would keep still and let me quickly take ownership of his posts; aaah, that sneaky little kid is growing up and boy, do they grow up fast. Hey, you remember when I first met him and he looked exactly the same as he does today. Kinda weird if you think about it HPN.

But what’s next. Where do you and I go from here? How do we do this? I’m as sure as I was a year ago. That you were a risk worth taking and now, well, now I know what I want to do. I’m going to change you and in turn, be changed. You, you shall be my dumb wet clay pot and I, shall be your lousy sculptor. Also, owner.

I already have a list of things we’re going to be involved in. With blogathon05 coming up in July this year, I think we owe it to each other to kick some serious keyboard ass. I also think it’s about time we accepted that invitation to be a contributing member of the Muslim Writers Society (ps: this should totally help score points with wifey who heads that organization). After all, did the internet not help me learn how to tie my tie last year? It sure as heck did buddy boy! So all this is the least I can so. Oh and email back the dozens of people who are dying to kill me. I’m not sure how to implicate you in that HPN but I have some very very creative ideas. Let me tease you a bit: “Oh man, I lost your email address! See, I synchronized my address book on HPN, who decided to corrupt all Microsoft data files and translate the code into pig-Latin”. Like I said HPN, insha-allah this will be a fruitful year to come.

Lastly, there’s the entire how frequently to update you. I need to implement Matt’s Asides so I won’t be hindered into writing giant entries for each giant titles. Instead, like Kottke, I too will able to throw in tiny little entries effortlessly. I’m currently thinking of scheduling two entries a week on you though. That’s as far as my thought process goes because I keep getting distra- oooh! Shiny Ferrari watch!

It’s a miracle I got married. Hey, did I tell you that I got interviewed by the local paper for the way I totally hooked up? I did! And now I’m we’re UAE’s first blog couple (according to the article and that stuff never lies)! Sonofagun! Wait till my nani finds out! Heeeyyy Nannniiii…

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 1st, 2005 at 3:41 pm and is filed under General Lee.