Recent Entries

Back to School Backpacks

Coming Saturday at eleven in the morning a group of volunteers will begin sorting all the supplies and packing the backpacks, so all the children will the school supplies they need for the new school year.

We could always use more volunteers, so if you have some time, please come and join us!

We can also still use supplies. If you are curious what we can use, please take a look below.

List Pre_K/KIndergarten.pdf
List Grade 1-4.pdf
List Grade 5-8.pdf
List Grade 9-12.pdf

Message from John for everyone

Hi everyone,

I was chatting with John today and he asked me to let everyone know that he won't be swinging by the mansion in the near future as he had planned to do. He didn't say much, but from what I understood he is too busy with checking upon various old contacts etc. If you need to reach him, your best bet is probably through Angelo or me.

Terry

Terry just let me know that she got a message from Médicins Sans Frontieres that they urgently needed her help and asked me to let everyone know. She had no idea yet when and if she is going to be back.

District X Clothing Drive

Now that we are in the New Year and winter is really setting in, there will be a clothing drive organised in District X.

If you have anything to spare, it would be very welcome. We are especially looking for warm winter clothes. Coats, mittens, whatever to keep your head warm is welcome.

Please drop of your clothing at the address below.

Finally done!

After we finished putting the bookcase together today and adding in all the books (not visible on the picture though), my new office is finally done!!!

I found the pottery and many of other knickknacks on that crafts fair last month. Very happy with how they look.

( See picture )

Going to Muir

I am flying out to Muir for a few weeks tomorrow. I'll be catching up with Moira, have a few meetings with Professor X and hopefully I'll be able to gather a lot of material for my project.

If anyone has any messages or items they'd like me to convey, let me know and I'll make sure they get delivered.

See you in three weeks and please don't burn the mansion down in the meantime!

Help with a college assignment

Hi everyone,

I need you help with a college assignment. We are studying Howard Gardener's theory of multiple intelligences and for this assignment I need to ask quite a few people which of the nine intelligence(s) is/are the strongest within themselves and how has that worked to their advantage.

So... from these descriptions below... which ones fit you the best?

( Overview of the 9 intelligences )

American citizenship is a go!

After a lot of paperwork and reviewing answers for my civics test, I did my interview today, along with my civics and English test and I passed!

In two weeks I will take part in my naturalisation ceremony!

First step on the way

And I just mailed of my N400 form, to officially apply to become a US citizen. Along with all the necesary documents. So now I have to wait for my appointment to be finger printed and maybe begin studying the replies to the questions on the civics test...

... which is basically memorizing the replies to 100 very basic questions that can be asked in the interview. I took American History and Civics in high school. Should that not be enough to show I know the basics? You might know the facts if you have memorized all the correct replies, but that doesn't show that you really understand it, does it...

Volunteers needed

Thanks to several generous donors I have been able to gather the necesarry school supplies. They are all boxed up in one of the rooms of the mansion...

Now comes the next part... the packages have to be made. Any volunteers who would be willing to help me with that?

School supplies for District X

About six weeks ago I interviewed two people from the homeless shelters in District X. In September the schools will be starting again, also for the children in the shelters, but there is a problem and that a great shortage of basic school supplies. Things like pen & pencils, note books, binders, a calculator for the older grades.

I have been doing some research and frankly, the school district does not really care. In Carlifornia there is a program called K to college who supplies basic school supplies to children around the state. I figured we could do something similar. We are talking about 150 children here. I have suppliers we can use.

But now I need your help. First and I hate to ask for this, but all funds would be welcome. And I will need people to put the packages together sometime in August. If we are with enough people, we can do this in an afternoon.

Open iftar

Tomorrow starts the final week of Ramadan. One of the local mosques is organizing an iftar (the festive meal after a day of fasting has ended) this for everyone who would like to join them. I am planning on going, but would anyone else like to come along with me?

Leaving for Canada

I will leaving for Canada early in the morning for a study trip along with some other people from Empire State University. I will be online regularly though in case you do have the sudden desire to reach me!

Anyone attempting an attack tomorrow morning will suffer dire consequences. It would look rather ridiculous if I arrive all multicolored.

Wise lesson learned

Full time college, part time work at X-Corps and my training as a trainee and a little time to have fun with my friends.... that is a little too much at the same time.

Next semester I will at least be taking one course less then I am now. It will probably take me longer to get my degree, especially with a double major, but I think it will be worth it though...

Current Mood: sad

Ramadan...

Ramadan started yesterday... The year of every month when Muslims fast from sunrise till sundown and this includes having no water or food at all...

I am a little sad I am not able to participate fully this year... People who have medical issues are allowed to make up for it later and I will be among them, since it is not wise for me to fast so soon after leaving the Medlab... If they cannot on the long term, people can do acts of charity.

I still want to pay to attention to the Holy Month though, so I will be visiting the mosque in NY a few times, doing charity and I will be avoiding things like cake, candy, chips and other snacks or drinks (soda's) like that from sunrise till sundown.

Thank you

He everyone,

I just wanted to thank everyone for the cards, messages, gifts and food I got while I was in the Medlab. I hope I got everyone personally since I was released last Saturday, but otherwise...

Sooraya

From the MedLab...

He everyone,

Dr. Grey let me use the laptop for a few moments, so I could give you a quick message...

I am going to be alright in a little while, so please don’t worry. I spent most of the day sleeping and resting. I am sorry I have to miss your birthday party, Molly, and I hope you have a great time.

I know many people are wondering why I am in the MebLab. The short answer is that I haven’t been taking very good care of myself and I collapsed. I have learned a wise lesson and now Dr. Grey and the Professor are helping me.

I hope to see everyone soon.

Sooraya

Back from Muir...

I just wanted to let everybody know that I am back from Muir. I am... glad is not quite the right word... I think it's good I went. Nathan and Dr. Moira seemed to be... dealing for now, but I am still worried...

Anyways... I saw that we have two new people in the mansion? Welcome and I hope to meet you in person soon.

Away for a while

I will be leaving tomorrow for Muir Island for about a week or so. I will be going with Angelo and Amanda to see Nathan and Dr. Moira.

I'll have my phone with me, so people can reach me if necesarry and I'll be checking my email.

Current Mood: working

The winds of change

I found that quote somewhere on the internet… It’s pretty relevant now though…

There is just so much happening in my life… and everything is happening at once... It’s quite a bit to think about...

The biggest one is that I had a very interesting talk with Mr. Summers last weekend. The end result is that I will be running around in dark-grey leathers sometime soon. I wonder with what kind of name my teammates will come up though…

Another thing is that I made the decision which university I’ll be attending. I’ll be going to Empire State University after the summer. I was there last Friday to take a couple of tests to determine my level in English and math so they can suggest proper classes for me. Apparently the somewhat… unusual nature of my education and the fact that English is my second language made them offer it. It’s nothing obligated, but I figured it would be a good idea…

After testing I met with Drs. Amira and Nasir Rashid and some other students. We did Friday afternoon prayers together and then had our first discussion group. They are pretty ambitious, because we immediately dove into the Lensherr Manifesto and how to counter that with arguments from the tradition. We also looked at pro arguments though and how to counter those... We mostly worked form the Koran, but we will also be looking at hadith (sayings from the Prophet Mohammed, peace be with him), Sunnah (islamic tradition) and fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence). Who knows, we might end up looking at some writings from the professor after this…

And today my work changed at Elpis… Until now I had mostly been doing translation work and assist on various administrative matters, but I have been assigned to a project now. They are setting up shelters for mutants women on the refugee camps at the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan… Apparently mutant girls/women are often cast out by their families and there are many orphans. The shelters will provide basic literacy, vocational education and powers training. I’ll be helping out since I know the language and the culture. I am looking forward to learning more about project planning…