Make Mine A Karma Koffee - Phoenix Karma

I often have long term projects that occupy me. So generally the first thing I'll think about is how I'll use the day to constructively work on those projects. At the moment, one of those projects is rebuilding the forums, and I've been putting a lot of thought, time and energy into doing that. Also, I'm busy working on my novel, and there are some very exciting developments on that front. That characters in my novel are all alive in my head, frozen at the point I last left them, and they're with me wherever I go. And if Taz has just called and woken me up, she's often the first thing I'll be thinking about

 

What was the last thing that made you gasp in awe and wonder?

 

If you were a super hero would you rather be invisle, have X-ray vision or be able to fly and why?!

 

I'd pick flight. I wouldn't want to be invisible, as I like people, I like interacting with people, and I like to be seen. Conversely, although I like to be a public person, I can also be a very private person. We all have our backspaces, regions we retreat to out of the arena of public performance, where we can be most ourselves. And if I had X ray vision, I would be invading the backspaces of others. Part of having your own backspace is recognising that others have them too, and that they must be respects.

So yes, I'd fly. I like to travel, and as a child I'd always look up and see the birds and wish I was one of them, able to fly unfettered and completely free. Then I'd think, well, humans have a lot more going for them than birds. On the grand scale of things we're all largely irrelevant, but from where I'm standing, humans would seem to be the superior species. So I'd rather be a human capable of flight. Also, when I lucidly dream, I usually end up flying to places....

 

The size of my penis

No, I think the simple things in life. Having all my friends around me again, having Tahmina around, feeling close to a lot of people and being in love. Soppy, but true....

 

Do you think it's the simple things in life that truly shape us as human being? A lot of people believe that it's big events in our lives that shape us, but I feel that the little things taht happen to us over time shape us more than anything. How bout you?

 

I think it's like joining the dots. You could concentrate on the eyes, and the really important features, but you'd miss out all the bits in between that really give your life form. My life has been shaped by big events that have influenced me. Nearly being blown up on 7/7 for instance, combined with a couple of racist incidents, both from white people and from Pakistanis - they've all gone into my thinking and thus into my writing - from 'Paki in the Middle' to my novel. Also, my cousin's suicide has left me wanting to enjoy life to its fullest, seize that day, but plan for a full and happy future. And my teacher's death, the one who led our Peruvian expedition. I remember how full of life she was, and how she'd grab every chance for adventure. That she can't now, has left me hoping there's a bit of her that lives on in all the people she inspired. All negative big events, I suppose, but ones that have influenced me in positive ways. And, of course, in my first year at uni, I elctrocuted myself on a light, and survived unscathed - which left me feeling for a while that I must be destined to be on this Earth for great works


And then there are the everyday things, friends, family, Tahmina, people who are in my life all the time, but that make it a really happy life. Take them away, just leave the big events, and you'd have only half a human being. I believe in big events shaping people. They can break people, and they can make people. But it is the everyday things, things that sometimes you don't even have to think about, they are what mould the raw form....

 

Under what circumstances, if any, do you think it's acceptable to take another person's life?

Could you do it?

How would you do it?

How do you think it would affect you?

 

Whether or not I could take another life, I don't know. Revolutionary struggles against military oppressors, I think, are justified, if regretable, circumstances for taking another life. I certainly would not support attacks against civillians, and acts of terrorism, which are often tied to such struggles. But for an Israeli soldier, in the West Bank, buldozing houses and shooting kids throwing stones - that is the prime example of a legitimate target. Whether I could pull the trigger or not I don't know. As when you kill someone, you don't just take one life, you take a whole network of family and friends and tear a hole right in the middle of them. But, given the circumstances, I could not mourn their loss. And if the only way to resist oppression, is armed conflict, then I support that right to fight back. I would have supported the fight against the spread of fascism from the Spanish Civil War to World War 2. I want America to lose in Iraq, because I think the danger of unchecked American imperialism in the region, should they succeed, is far too great to contemplate.

How would it affect me if I did kill someone? I can only imagine, very negatively. I'd lose a part of myself, certainly. A part of myself that might once, if no longer, have called itself pacifist. That part, I suppose, would have been stolen from me by such an oppressor in the first place, but I still would have to live with guilt and conscience. Not long ago, Taz, I and a few friends came upon a girl being manhandled by a drunk guy. He was stopping her from getting away and was choking her. We stepped in to try to help her, had a stand off, tried to talk him down, and when he turned violent towards us, I ended up punching him and hurting him quite badly. I still feel bad about that, even though he forced the situation, and I can imagine that the consequences of killing someone, for me, would be much, much worse....

 

And I'm gonna turn your question back on you now - If you knew everything in the bible was true and the saints were right, would you worship God and devote your life to spreading his word?

 

If everything in the Bible was true, then no. I would be worshipping a fascist dictator, responsible for the murder of thousands, if not millions, and the oppression of people throughout the ages. I might not have much choice, I might be coerced, as religion is inherently coercive, and God all powerful. But in my heart, I would hate that God as much as an Iraqi might have hated Saddam Hussein, even if they never said anything publicly against him. If, of course, I found proof of a supernatural being, one that the Bible and other religious texts had completely misrepresented, I would be interested in exploring it further. I find it hard to imagine worshipping anything. My life, my choices, they are my own. But if its motives and actions were good, then I might hold some respect for it....

 

Are you your Father ?

Do you wish to father, and want demands, if any, have you placed upon yourself with regards to being a dad ?

 

I'm not a father and I don't feel that I want children, certainly not now, and possibly not in the future. Of course I won't rule anything out. But I think without children I'd be freer to travel and realise goals....

 

If you did have children however, would you take them to explore the world with you so they had the same appreciation for it that you do?

 

Yes I'd try to make sure they were well travelled. Nothing quite like exploring other cultures. However, in truth, I think they'd probably be an anchor to my ship, both financially and practically....

 

Many people are able to have large families and still travel if they budget it right - Why do you feel so strongly that kids would completley tie you down?

 

why do you take so longon the toilet?
(seriously everyone...he was in there so long i had a shower in the meantime..)

 

Know my sentences can be difficult but surely the short ones can't be that hard.

 

My apple bogies, your sentence was so ridiculous, I'd assumed the madness was yours, not mine I'm not my father!

 

I'd had my starter and main course, and I was waiting around to see if I had room for desert before paying....