Omigosh! Today I was invited to do some entertaining at the Islamic Society of North America (Canada) conference. So I dragged myself down to Mississauga. Before my gig in the children’s program I took a breath and went through the bazaar and the weirdest thing! I met Farkhanda! I’d been thinking of her for ages! [...]

to pray that the Leafs lose. Hubby summed it up well. He said, “They’re grown men with bent sticks chasing after a piece of black rubber!” LOL. Omigosh. Why oh why do we search for these vicarious victories? Is it because real victories of a personal nature are so hard to come by? So that we [...]

A few days ago I was at a school talking to the librarian about some of the nominees for a local reader’s choice award and when I mentioned a particular author she said, “Oh he’s so arrogant.” Just like that. And it was a bit jarring for me. And it reminded me of a moment [...]

I feel like screaming everytime I hear someone describe the Boston marathon bombers as ‘devout’ Muslims. Devout Muslims don’t bomb anyone. It’s ridiculous! Just because a person attends a Friday prayer now and then, DOESN’T mean he’s devout! Omigosh, it’s like saying a guy shows up for mass so he’s a saint! And what’s with [...]

On Monday night I got sick, and I’ve been drifting in and out of a muzzy-headed haze since then, but even in my fuzzy state I still saw the news of the bombing at the Boston marathon and the first thought that struck me was, “Not again!” Geez! A marathon??? C’mon! And the second thought [...]

Drove up and oh, but the memories! I will forever associate this pretty little city with my older sister Bushra. I had planned on meeting a friend for dinner at 5 pm, none other than Sheema Khan, so I hastened to leave home at around 11 am yesterday and yet each little thing I did seemed [...]

So yesterday I presented at an event called Sister2Sister and the whole experience was fascinating and yet left me feeling a little sad. These were grade eight girls from inner city schools, coming together to receive inspiring advice from women professionals in all kinds of fields: law, police, firefighters, construction/trades, government liasion, dance, boxing, singing [...]

and the proof of that is I’m constantly saying things I come to regret later. Last night, after presenting to the librarians at the conference I met with the librarian who’s going to be hosting me, insha Allah, in Barrow.  A charming lady, she asked if there were any dietary restrictions. I said an emphatic, [...]

Read a very interesting article the other day about how apparently certain authors, especially in the business book writing field, are hiring special services that buy bulk copies of their books in such a way as to manipulate the sales figures and make these bulk sales count towards their sales figures, propelling them onto the [...]

Okay, so I’m back home, safe and sound, basking in the glow of an amazing adventure and that little refrain keeps running through my mind because it was the translation of a song one of the international storytellers sang at the end of her performance. Ana Sofia Paiva is a petite and delicate Portuguese actress turned storyteller [...]