Sufi and a Fever

I feel terrible, I have such a bad cold, I ache everywhere and I have the chills as well as a fever, I think. I drank Neo Citran this morning and slept till 1:00 PM, so I'd feel better later on to sit and do my work, but I had to go out on a couple of errands, and I think I shouldn't have, because it was snowing and cold outside and now my cold is worse.
I have this huge paper that worries me a lot, it's due the beginning of April, and I know I have a month for it, but since I know myself to be an incorrigible procrastinator, I have to start really early, even though I think I'm quite late already. The rest of my classmates are half-done I assume, and my paper requires a great deal of work, because I mainly have to rely on and consult primary sources.
Here is my topic: the words Sufi and Sufism have been used too liberally to describe a huge category (span) of esoterically-inclined mystics, although other words different than Sufi can be ascribed to these mystics such as 'arif, 'ashiq, dervish, sheikh and others (mental note: you are doing some work here, clearing out for yourself what your thesis is, since I still don't know).
I have to sort through Rumi's Mathnawi and Hafiz's diwan and some other Persian poets and find words that describe Sufis and then see which word the poet has used to describe what kind of a mystic, and then look at the translations of these works and see what the translator has understood from that word, and whether it is similar to the meaning of the Persian poet.
The problem is I don't have enough secondary sources on this topic, I still haven't been able to find a book dealing with this issue, although I've found scattered references in the many books that I already have.
I'm going back to class tomorrow and my very-smarty-pants classmate is having his presentation tomorrow, I'll see what he's done by now, which I'm certain, is a lot.

An Attempt to Untangle My Mind

Maybe this should have been my first post.
How is it that an idea does not stay put in my mind for more than 2 seconds? I had so many things to write about and I just forgot, it's insane and maddening, frustrating.
But I seriously need to move out, I don't know why but I feel I need to find myself in a totally new environment, I feel like my growth is stalled, although this is again one of my tons of excuses and the example of how I blame other things and people for my own shortcomings.
Right now I feel that I should watch what I write here because I don't want the people who know me to know what really goes on in my mind, to know all my faults,
I also watch what I say because I care too much about other people's opinions and feelings and seriously, I don't want to give-in to these Western ideas of individualism and breaking-free-from-all-restrictions and I don't know, so many other modern crap, but they are really tempting and true...
I'm rambling right now, but I really started this blog to just do that, clear out or at least put down in a more organized manner the ramblings in my head, so that at least when I start to think about something, I won't leave it in mid-sentence, by writing it down, I'd be at least forced to finish it, my mind is so confused right now that if it was possible to get a picture of it, it would look like the most hectic and messed-up war zone ever, all thought, ideas, feelings, goals, plans, projects and tons of others things are criss-crossing and bumping into each other at high-speed.

Anti-terrosim propaganda leading to a rise in Islamophobia

"Amid this panic-inducing rhetoric, there was little acknowledgment that Muslims suffer more discrimination than any other section of society, no recognition that every attack on their community can only intensify that prejudice. Imagine what it feels like to be a Muslim, stalked by a constant sense of distrust and suspicion? As a society we may condemn racism, but when it comes to Muslims, it seems to be somehow acceptable, from the cabinet downwards."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2013207,00.html
I've always wondered about this, about how easy and acceptable it is for people to be absolutely racist to Muslims, especially on TV and in the Media, it is completely looked over and even encouraged. I have more to say later on.....

Shank Interview with Chomsky

I've been reading the Michael Shank interview with Chomsky on Feb. 9th. I've always loved and admired Chomsky's candor in talking about US policies towards such countries as Iran, North Korea... especially Third World countries. I like his method of comparing the United States system and policy to the mafia's system.
"The godfather does not accept disobedience, even from a small storekeeper who doesn’t pay his protection money. You have to have obedience otherwise the idea can spread that you don’t have to listen to the orders and it can spread to important places."
Chomsky absolutely speaks the truth and it's downright refreshing. he says that United States issue with these countries is their independence, US has problems with countries that assert their independence because it will prove to be a model used and adopted by other countries who will witness the country's prosperity, or at least their pride in controlling and ruling autonomously.