Long Time Gone

I haven't blogged regularly in so long, I hardly know what to do. I have all these political opinions buzzing through my mind as I watch MSNBC's "Morning Joe" and others. I do think the GOP needs to re-brand itself, but on the inside, not as a superficial veneer. They need real values and principles that resonate with the real world, rather than the empty rhetoric that has become increasingly obsolete and skeletal. Interestingly, and perhaps ironically, given her father's recent political performance, Megan McCain has an interesting voice from the GOP side.

As my friend Jenny would say. I attended her beautiful wedding picnic today to celebrate her union with Khalid. It filled me with peace and happiness for her, and encouragement for my summer at the Qasid Institute in Amman. Khalid knows of the school and has wonderful things to say about the owners. It was nostalgic to be back in the East Bay, driving through my old haunts and thinking how odd it is that college seems so far away, yet I hardly experienced it, it seems. I was in such a fog of re-entry that much of it feels like a halfway space between worlds. I'm studying Arabic to prepare for the summer, which I know will be intensive and really hard. The more I can get under my belt now, the better off I'll be in June. I took a four-week crash course at Pacific Arabic Resources in SF, which I couldn't recommend more highly.