an Old Letter

Dear Reader,

News Bulletin: I've recently updated my 2011 Reading Challenge page. So check it out. Despite my lack of reading during the exam period, I still seem to be on target :-). If you, dear reader, think my cause is worthy and would like make a safe and secure donation online, then there is a link to it in the side bar. --->   Please help me complete this challenge, it is all for a good cause. 

Anyway, now on to the main topic of this post: The Letter. If you've been following my blog for some times then you'll remember that around this time last year, I thought up an idea for a historical novel set in the early 1800's England. (If you don't remember, click here - it begins in the second paragraph of that post.) I've fully fleshed out the plot of this story and I've realised that it's actually not much of a romance at all. It's more like a Victorian story about the acceptance of change with a little tea spoon of romance to sweeten it up. ;-) Aside: by the way this ISN'T the " top-secret-novel-idea" that I spoke about in my last post.          

So yesterday, I was gazing at my calligraphy set when I got the idea that I should write a letter. I've always loved the dying art of letter-writing-for-pleasure, and this sort of correspondence features heavily in the historical story that I was talking about above. So, obviously, my mind put two and two together and I decided that I should write one of those letters that my main character Rosalind, would have written to my other main character, Lionel. And you, dear reader, are incredibly lucky as I present to you a 192 year old letter:     

The pen in the picture is the one I used to write the letter. 

The back of the letter, complete with fake wax seal. 

Those unfortunate fingers are mine!

And, finally, the letter itself.

Confession: At this early stage I didn't really know exactly what they would write to each other, so what is actually written here are the lyrics of a song that I felt fit a certain point of the story quite well. The song is called Taboo by Jonas and Plunkett. I can't seem to find those lyrics online now but if you're really interested , let me know and I'll add them to my next post. 

Anyway, I was quite upset to the lack of response to my Question of the Week, last week. but I'll try again today. If it doesn't work out then I'll stop. So this weeks Question: if you had to write a 'old style' letter, who would you write it to? If you think that's too personal then what would you write in your letter? Leave your response in the comments section below.   

That's all I have to say for now. I can't wait to read you're responses.

Nida 

Exhibition

Dear Reader,

On the 29th of March (the day I had a few essay deadlines), I took part in the Islamic Expo, that my university was hosting on behalf of Discover Islam. The aim of this campaign is to basically enlighten people from the misconceptions and prejudices, held by much of the western world, and increase Islamic Awareness amongst Muslims and non-Muslims.

I had gone to the venue straight after my lectures that morning, to help set up. That's was half the fun. The stalls had been arranged on the outskirts of the room to allow people plenty of space to mingle and talk in the middle. As Islam is not just a religion or belief, but rather a way of life, the stalls also encompassed almost every aspect of life:

• The stall closest to the door was about the basics - God and His Messengers (may the peace of Allah be upon them), the Five Pillars and the Islamic Creed (and Aqidah) - with beautifully handwritten Qur'ans, resting on top of velvet cloth, and goodie-bags for all who enter. 
• Opposite to this was the Food stall. They were mainly serving the sort of food that the Prophet (SAW) would have eaten, like olives, dried figs and dates etc... (the also had jam donuts which is all I ate there, not that I don't like olives and dates, which I definately do, it's just well ... donuts are my guilty pleasure *drool* - Krispe Kreme here I come).
• There was also an Islamic clothing stalls (for Bros and Sistas) run by my Poetical Friend. Other than meandering around with goodie-bags she also took charge of the hijab stall. I'm entitled now to say that all the clothes and hijabs were provided by Lebaas. 

My pretty pins display, to wear on even prettier hijabs :-)

• I was mainly incharge of the stall that sold things like Attar - non-alcoholic perfumes that were tradionally made from the essential oils of flower petals. I admit it was a some-what minor role, but I didn't mind much because my area just smelled absolutely wonderful and drew in customers quite well.
• There was also an area at the back dedicated to Islamic history, with a gigantic time-line and photos of the relics of Fatima Al-Zarha (may Allah be pleased with her), the Prophet's (SAW) youngest daughter. Those artifacts are currently in the Topkapi Palace Museum, Istanbul. 
• But the favourite part of the Exhibtion was the section of the wall that displayed Islamic Art, with contribution from students at my uni.

From Classic to Graffiti-style - click on the picture to see all those lovely details

my favourite Painting,
(I would have a brought it too if it hadn't already been sold or if I had had £350 cash on me!)

• Next to my stall was the Calligraphy Stall in which my friend, Codename: Kingston, made beautiful pictures on demand, using a few simple pens. Here are some pictures of pieces that were donated by an anonymous artist:  

This one says MashAllah (it is as God wills)
The shadowy hands are mine.

I'm not exactly sure what that says - my Arabic is sort of rusty *blush*

I was so inspired by all the art and calligraphy that I decided to re-utilize my old skills and make one as a Mother's Day present (which is on the 3rd of April here in the UK, so ssshhhhh don't tell my mum).  

It says 'I love you, Mum' and then my mum's name, in Arabic.
There's also a little SubhanAllah (Glory be to God) in green.  

Aside: sorry about the bad angle of the last photo, I was trying not to get my reflection in the glass of the frame. Also I wanted a gold frame but I could only find this one which was big enough, and even then I've had to shrink the design by quite a bit. But it doesn't look to bad, does it?

And that's pretty much all I wanted to share this time round.

Nida

Life: as I See it - my Drawings edition

Dear Reader,

As I was rummaging through the stack of folders under my desk, I found my little black portfolio with all my good sketches in it. Then it occured to me that though I write about all sorts of things on this blog, I've never mentioned my drawings. So I decided to take photos of them and put up here for your pleasure and scrutiny.  Mind you, I've never taken a single drawing lesson in my life (any ability I have to draw, I've inherited from my father), so don't expect to find anything of great artistic genious or with any proffessional quality. 

Of course, given my obvious obsession, almost all my sketches feature characters from my own written/planned novels or stories written by my friend, Codename: Pixie. By the way, this is only a small selection of my drawings. I still have many more tucked away between the plastic pages of my display-file. (Make sure you click on the pictures to see all the minute details.)

1) Meet Nabiha, the main character in Life in Conversations (previously known as 'the Big One'):

2) The following drawings are characters from a quartet of fantasy/fiction novels that have been thoroughly planned but not yet written. Essentially, my drawings are of one model who's trying on the different out-fits that I would imagine my characters dressed up in at some point of the book. They're really just to help me get a feel of the characters and help me when it comes to the more descriptive pieces (which I'm not all that good at writing, in my opinion):

Chronicles by Anamika  Book 1: The Legend of Sharon

Chronicles by Anamika  Book 2: The Legend of Eadah

Chronicles by Anamika  Book 3: The Legend of  Buckles

Chronicles by Anamika  Book 4: The Legend of Sirene

3) the next picture is of drawings I'd originally done for my friend Pixie, some 6 years ago now. She was writing a trilogy about these three witches. She had described her characters to me and asked my to make some sketches. I think that after months of planning, she gave up on the project. But I still like her concept and the pictures:

   

4) Here are some more characters, portrayed by the same one-eyed model (Aside: I always seemed to get the second eye wrong so I gave up in trying to draw it right and from then on gave everyone side-poses) 

Imaan Saeed, from a book that does not have a title yet. Ironically, I've also written quite a lot of this story too.

A few more random assortment of characters from different novels/stories

5) The last thing I'm going to add here are some doodles I use to make at the back of my note-books, while sitting in exceptionally boring classes (during Sixth Form) or lectures (during my 1st year). I haven't made any new doodles in years now. I guess it was a phase I grew out of. (Aside: I also had a phase of writing any song lyrics or poetry that I could remember off the top of my head in to the back of my class-work books. And I always wrote them up-side down):

If I were ever to give a title to my doodles, this one would have been called 'Thoughts that Flow' 

These two are pieces from a much bigger drawing but I couldn't get the whole thing to fit into a single picture in my camera without compromising the detail. And with this piece, it really is about the detail rather than the bigger picture. So I decided to just photograph my favourite bits.




















Well I hope you enjoyed this not-so-impressive display of my meagre skills. Let me know what you think and if you want more 'Life: as I see it...' blog posts.

Nida