sheik speare encounters a fellow sheikh.

assalamu alaikum :)
bismillah.

as i was walking through the mall today, i noticed a new shoe store that wasnt there the last time i visited. i decided to turn back and do some window shopping, and perhaps even go in and browse the clearance section if, by chance, i happened to see anything pleasing to the eye. upon entering i saw a rotund desi uncle -mustache, belly and all - sitting behind the register, ringing up customers and eating, while simultaneously barking orders at his employees. the shirts these employees wore displayed the word "sheikh" and rested atop a nike swoosh. yes, it was quite strange. the in-store set up was actually pretty good though. unlike your typical desi business, it had a nice, welcoming, professional feel. as i slowly made my way around, picking up shoe after shoe, only to set them right back down after discreetly seeing the costly price-tag, i noticed that mariah carey's "shake it off" had been playing the whole time. the chorus went a little something like this:

I gotta shake it off
Gotta make that move
Boy I gotta shake, shake it off
Gotta do what's best for me Baby
and that means I gotta Shake it off

by this time i realized that a pattern was developing. certaintly, something was up. the sherlock in me begged to ask if there could possibly be a connection between all that i had witnessed: desi uncle, "sheikh" shirts, and mariah carey's "shake it off" playing on repeat. baffled, confused, and upset, i walked out of the store (without shoes of course), proving to be a failure in my quest to to connect the dots and unravel the problem. then, in a moment of epiphany, i realized that the final piece of the puzzle lay in the store name. slowly, i turned, almost afraid to look up. "sheikh shoes" read the sign. uncle sure knew how to do business. my prediction? the "sheikh shoes" experiment will turn out to be a success.




and Allah Almighty knows best.

masalama, your brother in islam
sheik speare

its that time of year, the holiday season is here (haram!*) *sarcasm

assalamu alaikum :)

bismillah.

this past thursday i took my last final and with that the fall '05 semester came to an end, alhamdulillah. in retrospect i feel i did well grade-wise, but it vexes me to know that with a little extra time i could have done better in a couple classes. i also would have liked to post my thoughts on some particularly significant events which took place this past semester, such as the earthquake in asia, eid, the situation in iraq, and so forth, but likewise due to time constraints i was unable to. but whats done is done, and with this month off of school i hope to catch up on a lot of things, especially my reading. and perhaps even update this ol' blog o'mine on a consistent basis. it may seem like an unrealistic goal, but inshallah ill be able to.

now, i, along with this unbelieveably painful canker sore which lingers along and refuses to go away, will sign off.

and Allah Almighty knows best.

masalama, your brother in islam
sheik speare