OberTH Vs ShidON

i don't want time zones to exist.

they have to be there i guess, but if i could choose i wouldn't have them.

i would have something different. probably would build a huge mirror which would reflect the sun when faced towards it, and cover earth when its inbetween our globe and the big fire ball. This way all the earth could be full of light at the same time, and dark at the same time which would mean all things would work differently, i know.

but it would also mean that people would all work and live at the same time around the world. no more jet-lag, no more new-year celebrated at one time somewhere and two hours later somewhere else.

Anyway that is pure genious, but i don't work for NASA and i don't have the money.

But when in the future they build this huge mirror (cause they will), i will have a patent for it. and it will be called, i-mirror.... or e-mirror!

its my idea!

oh.. wait.. i just saw that it was thought of long ago... mr. herman Oberth (it says he was a great mathematician and physicist... someone is smart here eh?) considered it.. check it out at this webpage! http://www.retrofuture.com/weather.html

VS

well... good job to my mate Oberth... but i am the future man!

Farewell!

End of 10th post

ShidON

...simple...

well hello all!

few, but most definetly all!

this week is a busy one really.. i have a few assignments that i have to hand-in for next week, and i haven't started yet.

I'm gonna start working on them soon, but i don't want to stop posting now...
yesterday someone read my posts out loud to me. it was quite an experience. it gave me a weird feeling, it made me happy.
i think everyone who writes a blog should ask others to read their blog to them.
I realised that i need to learn to express myself better (though in truth i've always known that... highschool essays permenantly returned to me with a 5 out of 10 written in red on them... my teacher was trying to say "you have a brain and some good ideas...Tarzan").
but i also realised that i am managing to do what i initially planned to do, which was to be simple.
it really sounds simple, like a book for children.
is that good? you can answer yourself.
i quite like it that way.
simplicity does it for me now.
maybe one day i'll grow up, and address things in a more mature way...
but for now i'll stick with this style!
i am descovering something about myself.... In the dust of the internet...

Thanks to all of you for your support!

And start your own blog, as i want to read what you have to say!

End of this simple 9th post...

ShidON

new york i love you, but you are freaking me out

i have this song stuck in my head.

i need to find a solution to get rid of it.

yesterday, if you didnt know it, was australia day. we went to this australian party.

i've never been to australia. i'm pretty sure its amazing!

i mean the beaches, the sea, the hot climate, the animals, pharan :)... i'd love to go.

but if its like what i've seen yesterday please don't buy me a ticket!

Anyways, when i left the party in my typically aussie flip flops and shorts, i went to catch the bus and i got to talk with this awesome dude, called Ali Omar.

He sells corn at the bus stop.

I initially got close to the stall cause i was freezing, and the heat of the steam could help reduce the pain of waiting for the 148.

So we started talking and he made me believe he was from brazil. Then he said he was from africa without specifing which country.

It was cool that way. No need to localize.

His joke allowed me to share the idea that we are all from planet earth, and all come from the same place. He agreed.

And then he told me he was a muslim. And when he mentioned Mohammad, he would always whisper "Blessings be upon Him" or "May peace be upon Him". And he did it also when i said the name of the Messenger. I liked that.

I think there is a light in some people, which is so bright it shines through their eyes. Its love.

We talked only for 20 minutes, not more, but his eyes were shining when he talked of his belief.

He was so in love with his Faith. This heat made me forget the cold feet, and legs.

Corny love kept me warm at the bus stop.

End of 8th post

ShidON

consumer power

hey all!
yesterday my old man bag, which my sister gave me as a gift in India two years ago, started to fall apart.

My bag had no name, it had no crazy design or special label, but we shared a lot together.
In the last two years we have travelled together to India, Italy, England, Wales, Slovakia, Ecuador, USA, France, Israel. It carried so many different things! Ipod, computer, books, gameboy, camera... and it did all this with UBER style. No kidding. At least im convinced of this!

Its sad. I feel like tom hanks in "Cast away" when he lost Wilson the volleyball (one of the most painful scenes in cinema history).... except i do not live on an island, and my bag is still ok. Its just slightly broken, and i don't need to throw it away.

But for one split second yesterday, i felt like maybe i should buy a new one.

Maybe one with a label, with a cool design, and all the things that apparantly really matter.
I felt power. Consumer Power.
It feels good actually. You feel you can go on a special trip to replace broken things.
Or fill necessities. Or just spend to look better and not out of place.

But after that split second i zoomed back on my little man bag.
And i said, no way man!
This bag was just too special! it was a gift from my styled-up sister, it had been with me everywhere, it was cheap, it was of great quality. In fact in the last two years, while friends had to replace bags because they were breaking, mine had lasted long, and like a soldier in a war it gained value!

I guess this is all a metaphor, and what i want to say is that you should think well before replacing someone, or a feeling, cause at times it will never really work out. Instead fight to fix things, don't give into the consumer beast in you who pushes you to take the easy way out and replace emotions.
At times you'll have to replace, because of necessity, but always give it all you have!
It kinda feels like the first pair of shoes you really consumed, the ones you never would have exchanged even if they had holes, but that your mom, rightly so, secretly threw away because they weren't repearable, and maybe could have harmed you in many ways.

But then inevitably, love pushed you to search the trash.

End of seventh post.

ShidON

happy?

Well hello all!
I want to share that i am being mocked constantly because of this blog!
I love being mocked... means people care... its their way of saying "hey, you know.. i love you".

Or at least thats why i mock people, cause i love them. I know maybe its not the right thing to do, but anyhow.... if i ever did make fun of you its cause i love you. And to all those who mock and will tell me its not for love, just know that i wont believe you! HAHA!

Today i'll throw in another idea, which again the Baha'i Faith taught me.
The concept of how happiness is a state of being, rather than a feeling we have when associated with nice/funny things, events or people.
Its something internal to us, not a button that is pushed by external agents.
I thought of this when reading a Baha'i prayer, which says

"O God! Refresh and gladden my spirit. Purify my heart. Illumine my powers. I lay all my affairs in Thy hand. Thou art my Guide and my Refuge. I will no longer be sorrowful and grieved; I will be a happy and joyful being"

Well now. Isn't that interesting? I mean i used to associate happiness with being somewhere, or with someone, or doing something. I never had seen it as something i had to work on. In fact it says that we need to work not be sorrowful, but rather to be happy! So now when i feel sad or upset, i know that i can't rely on anything, or anyone, but myself and God to be happy!

This is such a relief for my wallet.

End of sixth post.

ShidON

but not really?

i am back!
as you all know i've had some friends over this weekend and it has been great.
many memories were brought out of our brains and hearts, they were cleaned up, and finally enjoyed. i guess its like vintage wine... though i don't know what vintage wine tastes like... im guessing its quite good!
the four of us are so different in so many ways. it is evident when we are around each other. but its funny cause, i tell everyone i am a proud italian, but not really, one was a crazy scotsman trying to be a vegetarian, but not really, one was a canadian with a strong belief in healthy eating, but not really, as the first thing he brings to my flat are 4 choccolate bars, and the last was a brasilian doctor, but not really, as he could not fix us all.
so we are quite inconsistent... you would say at least... in reality i think we all realised how diversity is the sweetest thing ever. and how at the same time we are all so similar.
and i think the love we commonly share for our Faith, makes us one, though we all had our ideas of how things are meant to be done...
this was my small, and weird tribute to three great friends who i truly love, and who gave me 4 days of joy.
end of fifth post.

ShidON

week of love

alright!

So it appears as if i might have to drop the blog for some days now...

But there is a very good reason! three close friends of mine from my year of service in Israel at the Bahai World Center will be visiting!

Also my sister and brother in law, with my little nephew Matisse, will be coming to town!!

It is truly a week of pure love! I am so happy!

Today i really don't know what to talk about. I know what i will be talking about soon though! Being positive vs being negative.. broad i know.. but its something i've been thinking about lately so...

anyway for today i think i will share an idea i had while in Israel.

As i was told the story of how once Baha'u'llah, while in prison, made a funny remark, and uplifted the hearts of all the people around Him, i thought that if God could tell us a joke, it would be without a doubt the perfect joke. It would make EVRYONE laugh, no matter what cultural background, no matter what sex, age or religion. It would be clean, it would be smart... It could potentially make us laugh forever!

I would love to hear Him tell a joke...

So no matter what happens, remember to laugh and smile, cause i'm sure He likes us happy, not sad...

End of fourth post

ShidON

how can we make Him happy?

i'm not sure i will post every day.
for now it seems as if it is working this way so...
last night i was thinking a lot about life and about what im doing with mine.
as a good friend told me once, there is a saying which goes
"Life is God's gift to you, how you live it is your gift to God"
It sticked with me til today. And i am contemplating how i can really make it that gift.
Its not easy, i realise that for sure.
I guess He is independent of us, but must feel joy when we get things right.
But getting things right is not always the same for everyone.

In a Hidden Word, another work of Baha'u'llah, it says
"be not content with the ease of a passing day, and deprive not thyself of everlasting rest".
i could not get this passage. What does "deprive not thyself of everlasting rest" mean? is He talking of death? Should we try and die? Or is he talking of sleeping all day?

i might like the latter interpretation!

But i think what He is really trying to tell us, is that we need to live every moment, that we should not be happy with time passing and us standing still, and that only when we are active we are actually entering everlasting rest, which is a state of inner peace and tranquility, of true spiritual growth and understnading. It is interesting how being active and resting, are in His words, connected so beutifuly!

so to make our lives a gift to God we need to live them to the best of our capacities, and learn as much as we can from our daily mistakes!
I think we offend God when we do not decide, for good or for bad, because we offend creation's most important aspect, life (Dante)!

i realised one thing lately though. You need sleep. And i'm not saying it cause i am giving in to my lazy self! i think that if you really want to live life and make it outstanding, you need to be awake, you need to think clear, and for me, being tired does not allow for clear thinking!

i wonder what you think...
sleep well tonight
i close the third post.

ShidON

i'm still here

i am still here!
I can't sleep much lately so this morning i tried to create a header for the blog.
I remembered this picture i took in boston and i think it rocks.. and with the help of two friends i edited it. i am also new to photoshop so...
the title for the blog, ShidON was inspired by a mistake.. or maybe two..
Reason 1) my mom is american. she says shidon instead of shidan, so all my friends at school called me shidon. in my first years in italy i was Shidon. so im going back to my rootes... on a side note, they also called me shidy in italy, which is NOT going to work in english speaking countries, so i had to change that to shido. i still remember, my first week out of italy, a girl asked me what my nickname was. i foolishly, and with a smile, said shidy... it is true that at home we live in a glass wonderworld...
Reason 2) i shot a short film with a group from uni (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6rM_ONWBXQ), and in the credits my name was spelt shidon. first i was annoyed, then i thought it worked since i want to turn on the spiritual side of things. thats why ON...
does that make any sense to you?
i hope so.
see you later.
end of second post.

ShidON

why a blog?

Hello!

Im sitting here, in front of my computer, trying to find a reason for this blog to exist.

I do not know what i will be writing about, i do not know if tomorrow i will regret it, close the account, and get back to my blogless life.

I know that some reasons for starting this blog are not plausible.

Popularity is not what im aming at. I see bloggers as a bunch of losers and geeks with a talent... i anyways am not part of them really, since writing has never been my skill!

Motivation then is the question for today...

And the only answer i gave myself was by remembering a wonderful book called "The Seven Valleys". In this book, Baha'u'llah, its Author, talks about the journey we all go through in life, a journey which takes us through 7 valleys.

Now the first valley is the valley of search, and it is said that in this one valley, all that really counts is your patience! And it says that you should search for meaning under every stone, in the dust and in all places....

...My thought was that the internet might be one of these... hoping to find more meaning...

i now close the first post.

ShidON