My top 2007 Scripps National Spelling Bee words:

Triticale
Abseil
Cyanophycean
Grognard
Fauchard
Oberek
Rognon
Serrafine Serrefine


Word.

Shame



Shame is a documentary about Mukhtaran Mai, a Pakistani woman publicly gang-raped by order of a tribal council, in retribution for an alleged relationship between her 12-year-old brother and a girl from a prominent family in the village of Meerwala. This is a common occurrence in her village, but she was the first woman to take her case all the way to the Supreme Court. As her story became known throughout the world, donations starting pouring in. Yet she refused to leave her village and instead put up, first, a girls' school, and then later on, a boys' school. Even when the money stopped coming, she continued to support the schools and her village, and continued to speak out against inhumane practices by her society. The government, which initially supported her, tried to keep her quiet by refusing to give her a visa to leave the country. There is an almost comical scene in the film where Mukhtaran Mai and a government official are holding a press conference together, and they are simulataneously stating contradictions: the official that Mukhtaran Mai was never kidnapped, and Mukhtaran Mai that she was, in fact, being held against her will. The film was very inspiring, and after the screening, which was part of the Tribeca Film Festival, Mukhtaran Mai herself answered questions from the audience. I was captivated by her quiet strength and self-assurance and lack of self-promotion. The director, Mohammed Naqvi, aptly concluded the meet-and-greet by explaining that he called the film "Shame", because of the many connotations of the word - the shame felt by Mukhtaran Mai and her brother, the shame inflicted by the tribal council and the rapists, the shame that the Pakistani government felt Mukhtaran Mai brought to her country, and so on.

I don't give a...

The thing about Houston is that everything is so far away. Spent half of the week-end driving, rather riding, on the freeway at 90 mph, clinging to my seatbelt, checking the rearview mirror for cops.

My cousin's wedding was beautiful. The ceremony itself was so touching. Another cousin said if everybody heard what the pastor said, the divorce rate would be much, much lower. Basically he said that when you get married, everything else becomes second priority to your spouse, except God. Your main concern is to make sure that your spouse is happy. Most marital problems stem from self-centeredness, he said. If couples would put their spouse first, then the marriage would be relatively wrinkle-free.

That's why I really can't tolerate infidelity in a marriage. For me, it's just such a serious commitment. If you were going to mess it up, then why even get into it in the first place. You shouldn't have gotten married if you're going to go behind your wife's back taking a girl half your age to seedy motels. I have even less to say to girls who go out with married men. I think that's the lowest of the low you can do, besides murder. Who do you think you are, taking this man away from his wife and kids. I know it's really judgmental of me, but I just can't stand liars and adulterers. When I'm married, even if I get attracted to other people, I hope I have the strength and decency to look away and remain true, because I promised to. Well, hopefully I've made sure before then that I'm married to the only person I want to be married to.