Checklist

Most of my recent days can be categorized into (A) My Life is Awesome or (B) My Life is Ridiculous.  Nothing bad has happened yet, just a lot of ridiculous.

So here's a checklist of things I have recently completed. Feel free to categorize them as you see fit:

[x] Attend a dinner party at the home of a Duke

[x] Perform 'oud in public, at said dinner party (including recently learned "Dixie," which, I should note, is a way better song than the star-spangled banner.)

[x] Bat above .500 for Ramadan fasting (with a current streak of 4 days)

[x] See a mirage in the desert

[x] See a sandstorm in the desert

[x] Wear a dishdash (now I get it, they're really comfortable)

[x] Get called "animal" then punched by a crazy person (about which I will go into further detail in a later post)

[x] Make guacamole for Iftar

[x] Sit in the room at Qasr al-Azraq where T.E. Lawrence planned out how he would ruin the Middle East for a century

[x] See a Umayyad fresco of a bear playing a banjo, cheered on by a monkey

[ ] See an Oryx, which is possibly the origin of the Biblical idea of the unicorn.  Sanctuary was closed for renovation.  Jordan fail.

That's all for now.  After fasting, four desert castles/palaces, and a bipolar driver, I'm exhausted.  I'm awfully proud that this post isn't about food, because during Ramadan, everything is about food at least for me.  While I was taking an I'm-so-hungry-but-sunset-isn't-for-four-hours nap the other day, I had a dream about mashed potatoes and mac & cheese.  When I woke up, I was really disappointed.  But damn, water tastes delicious after a long day without it.