I am taking an Instagram Recess but admit that did an Instagram peek. Did not scroll through looking to see what was happening to other people, rather looked to see what was happening with me. Counting the Likes to my responses which brings great feelings of satisfaction because it feels like I am being heard and my voice is expressing the viewpoint of like-minded people.
Three, for different reasons, are uplifting and have special meaning. I update the number of likes to my Responses several times as the numbers keep growing.
1. The reel speaking of the education opportunities for women at King Saud University in Riyadh was so informative. I received 737 likes to this Response.
Me: Makes me want to go back to school. But I am 80 and already have four university degrees. Alhamdullah I now live in Saudi Arabia. A recent revert.
The link to that informative, uplifting reel.. https://www.instagram.com/reel/C2o3_L2gzno/?igsh=MW01ZmFpY2FocjYzeg==
2. The Muslim Readers posted a reel of Shahid Bolsen, a brilliant man. He spoke of the sexual objectification of women in the West. Here is the link to his wisdom: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C4OdTQDNBTH/?igsh=M20zMXg2anh2Nzdn
I wrote
Me: I love that! I am dignified and not decoration. I am a recent revert and love the freedom of abayas and hijabs. No worries about so many things. Such self confidence. I recommend it!!!
My response received. 176 Likes
3. There was a reel marking the reappointment of a man to be wielding enormous power over the two holy sites. It appeared a few days ago. The Return of Sheikh Yasir Ad Dawsary. He led Shuhr Ash in Majid Al Haram today following his reappointment. He is pictured surrounded by guards. The link: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C4TJNTNMptn/?igsh=eTZwdGMxeno2ZWds
Me: Most impressive the respect shown to his authority. Mecca is doing an excellent job with crowd control and respect etc. Not so Medina. Lived in Medina for almost three months next to the Propher’s Mosque. This was liked by the author.
That Response has earned 60 likes.
I am amazed and elated for different reasons. . My speaking of the conditions in Medina has not been at all popular or well received. I had given up. This was perhaps a sign – that I am not alone and that I should express my concerns publicly. Come to think of it, I have a forum
I do admit that one post caught my eye. Saudi Crown Prince arrived in Medinah early Wednesday to receive well-wishers in the blessed month of Ramadan. I wrote a Response.
Me: I do wish he would come to Kohbar. I would join the ranks of well-wishers, I could do it at Ithra as the huge edifice would accommodate many people and honor the magnificent building and its use. Just an idea Your Highness.
Suggestion to all gentle readers. Go to the link and Like my Response. It would make me every so happy. https://www.instagram.com/reel/C4c7YumIA6r/?igsh=M2FhejAxdzlxMzRn
Onward and downward. One could never say this is upward. Hahaha Now onto an entirely different aspect of Instagram The gentle readers who have never met me, moreover cannot never WhatsApp with me with me. You people do not know that I am actually VERY funny. Do realize that recently, particularly during these Ramadan times, I have been extremely serious.
I decided it was time for little humour and, totally by accident, I discovered some in an old New Yorker email. It is decidedly on topic as it is all about Instagram. It is also decidedly funny. The catchy title: Welcome to Instagram Club written by Lauren Bans October 8, 2019.
This is how it begins.
“A new study has alarming findings. . . . 1 in 3 U.S. high school seniors did not read a book for pleasure in 2016. In the same time period, 82 percent of 12th-graders visited sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram every day.” —Washington Post.
“No one reads books anymore. Everyone is too busy on their phones looking at that Instagram.” —My mom.
Dear Ladies and Rick, Maybel’s husband,
This month’s Instagram club is right around the corner! Our last meeting, at which we took on @iamcardib, had a lot of positives, but I do want to remind everyone to please, pleeease come prepared. I know you all think of Instagram clubs as just an excuse for us gals to drink red wine and gossip (there will be wine!), but this club is really about in-depth and stimulating conversation, expanding our minds, etc. So, yes, it is actually a requirement that, before we meet, you scroll through the Instagram account we’re discussing. No just glancing at the top picture and pretending you saw the whole account, O.K.? We’re better than that.
Without further ado, this month’s Instagram pick is @GiveEmHelen, the wife of the married guy at work I have a crush on. Some of you may have already heard me talking about this one at the office—I’m kinda obsessed. I stumbled upon it the other week and literally could not put my phone down. Seriously, I stayed up past 3 a.m. devouring it, and it is not a short account. She’s been posting since 2013! (But, really, it goes fast.) To help focus our conversation, I jotted down some discussion questions for you all to keep in mind as you’re going through @GiveEmHelen:
Here are two or three of the discussion questions.
Do you think Helen looked better as a blonde or as a redhead? Do you think I look better as a blonde or as a redhead? Who do you think is prettier—me or Helen? Why?
- Helen’s captions are usually devoid of humor and instead rely on earnestness. Does this mean that she’s boring in bed? Probably, right? She also frequently hashtags photos of her children with “#lovethem.” Is Helen suggesting that mothers who don’t use “#lovethem” don’t love their children as much as Helen loves hers? Is Helen a bad feminist? Yes, but why?
• Do you think an Instagram post of me holding a glass of wine and laughing in the low-cut shirt I’m wearing will get a like from Marcus? Will someone take the picture? Ooh, that’s not a good angle. Here, I’ll sit and lean forward. Will someone try again?
Can’t wait to see you all on Thursday!”
I found it most amusing – the sheer meanness and triviality of this in contrast with the mess of this world at the moment. It was written pre corona virus, pre Gaza. It seems like a lifetime ago with all that has happened – we were rather innocent and naive back then. Caught up in trivialities, things that did not really matter. The Good Old Days.
The Good Old Days is a period of time in the past that a person thinks were pleasant and better than the present time. In the 1960s, everything seemed possible. The 60s were the good old days, I remember them well. I left Canada for San Francisco in 1967, the Summer of Love. Everything seemed possible then. 2024 finds San Francisco totally unlivable – that knowledge hidden and repressed by traditional media, even social media.
OOPs, this is sounding serious again. We shall return to my favorite topic – ME. I am about to share a secret, A most amusing secret.
Recently met a man over breakfast, We fell into an interesting conversation. He had lived in Canada for twenty years. We shared our viewpoint on the status of Canada today that sparked out original speaking. I do admit we ended up talking about my blog.
He: Tell me what it is about and how you write it.
Me: Well, it is a mixture of many viewpoints, speaking of my life and many other serious matters which I research thoroughly. This is what has evolved. If a person is serious all the time, it is boring. If a person is funny all of the time, it is trivial. I am both serious and funny. I do both. It is like a roller coster, who never know what you are going to get. It is unpredictable, so rather addictive. My numbers show it.
He: (laughingly) I can understand that. I got that feeling just talking to you at breakfast.
He said he would read my blog. Gave him my blog.card, even supplying the missing digit of the telephone number.
A friend once gave me a card that said something like: To get the excitement of the roller coast you have got to get on first. I should have said that, but obviously did not.
I perhaps also should have supplied this caveat which is a a warning or proviso of specific stipulations, conditions, or limitations. Its origins are: mid 16th century: from Latin, literally ‘let a person beware’. Other caveat words are: warning, proviso. red flag, alarm bells.
This, as usual, a true story. I am often asked why I started to write a blog. Told those that asked two reasons but kept to myself a secret reason. The two reasons: !. To promote the, as yet, unwritten biography of my Uncle Dave Dryburgh. It is/was going to be an e/book 2. To get even to seek redress for wrongs committed while in England. The legal system there does not work and it was unlikely that I would be able to remain after the expiration of my student visa. Realization of goals? The book remains unwritten, so the first aim of the blog is unrealized. The second one a success. I totally got even with many who have wronged me, but particularly my main targets at the time; Julie Wheelwright and Dolphin Square, London, England. Hahaha Victory was mine (well for awhile anyway)
I did admit that there was a secret reason. My high school and Uni friend who knew all about my life, begged me to reveal my secret motivation. .
Me: All right I will tell you. We have known each other for over fifty years. But do not tell anybody, Promise??
She: I promise. Someday you will tell everyone. I know you.
Me: Well you do know me and you are perhaps right. The secret reason is to make a man fall in lobe with me.
She: Alexis you overdid it!!!
Me: That is so funny!! You always were funny!
I do shamelessly admit that the secret ploy has worked. Not necessarily to the benefit of anyone or anything, unfortunately. Perhaps an esteemed man mentioned within the words of this particular blog will read it. Hahaha
The photographs attached to this blog were taken on a recent trip to the Ithra Children’s Museum. I shall write about the tour provided my an amazing young volunteer (whom I met accidentally at Sephora) at a later time, One photograph shows she, me, our excellent teacher and the dolls we made. My doll has a special place in my hotel room. Her name is Fatima, my former Muslim name. The others show different aspects of this enormous Children’s Museum, only a portion of Ithra.
