I love Islam and cream soda

I actually cropped this to spare you her thong shot... So I am at work at my wonderful new job with my old market research firm and we are talking about crazy websites - so I mention "hotghettomess.com" to my co-worker Julie - telling her it's one of the craziest in terms of crazy pics of people's absurd "ghetto-fab" imagery. You know, baby pictures with infants with big gold chains, cars with Louis Vutton paint jobs, etc. As Julie pulled up the site and brought up the pictures listed under "Just Sad", I was shocked to see one of the first pics being of a young lady in what seems to be a Muslim headscarf, posing half naked (with a thong strategically pulled halfway down) with her little kid. I told Julie to maximize the picture (don't ask why) and got an even bigger shock: I knew the young lady in the picture and yes, she's a Muslim. I knew her and her sister from a couple years ago when we worked together at a dire...

Man...I have had a million and one ideas that I need to write about...and for some reason, I can't seem to sit long enough to write...Ugh

This past February, our Community hosted Imam Siraj Wahaj, a prolific Muslim activist and Imam from New York. It was a good time for me personally, because I know Siraj and have been able to hang out with him a bit whenever he comes to town. Whenever I go to New York I visit his masjid and always catch him in town for Jumuah Salat and or to be kidnapped by him for a few hours to chew the fat, trash talk about hoops or to be treated for lunch. He came this time to CO in order to host a fundraiser for the Fort Collins New Masjid project - a worthy cause and a successful event that raised about $100k. During his keynote speech, Siraj asked, "Does anyone know what month this is?" It was a question that made me both smile at where Siraj was going in his speech and cringe at knowing what the answers would - and would not - be. On cue, Muslims shouted, "February!" "No!", was Siraj's reply. "Ashura!", came another reply. It was wrong since the day...

On Saturday (3/15) I competed in the Pancrase World Submission Wrestling Championship held in lovely Broomfield Colorado. I have been training pretty steady since my last tourney (where I gold medaled in the Masters beginners division) and really wanted to do good since I was moving up a division and in a big time tourney. I went in feeling great and even better knowing that one of my jiu-jitsu idols was actually joining our team: Ricky Lundell . Dude is an amazing practioner and the youngest American black belt. It was very cool to meet him and right off the bat we hit it off - Ricky’s personality is great, very humble but very personable - he’s a world champion for Team USA, of which a couple of our guys/gal from the Edge are too... In my first match, I got a great take down - at 6’4 people hardly think I am going to drop level and shoot but I been training at Grapplers Edge homie!!! hahahahaha The coaches and fellas there know a little bit of everything, and I am like a sponge... ...

Wow...time really flies don't it? I have been busy with work - working as a polling director for the Obama campaign (read: busy as heck)...training for a submission grappling/jiu jitsu and boxing tournament in March...taking over operations of my company after a promotion... so... not a lotta time for writing (ugh)

I promise that I will post/update my blog more regularly...lol

A talk with The Rev By Taj Ashaheed The Denver Post - May 2006 I called my grandfather in Florida a couple weeks ago, just after his 90th birthday. I told him I would be down to see him soon. "Great!" he said, "And we can have that talk." I chuckled in agreement, despite the silent "Uh-oh" in my mind. "That talk" has been promised for quite some time. It is going to be about religion; more specifically, my religion. I am a Muslim convert and my grandfather, who we call "The Reverend" (or simply, "The Rev"), has spent much of his nine decades of life as a Baptist minister. My apprehension isn't so much from thinking that we will have a confrontation or that he will make some last-ditch effort to "save" me, as much as it is the challenge I face balancing respect for my elder and confronting misconceptions about my faith. I will have to share with him my own experiences with anti-Muslim anger, prejudice and bigotr...