Ramazan (written in Turkish with a “z” not a “d”), begins today. It is a one month period of fasting and reflection. You’ll hear many different interpretations of this, the 9th month on the lunar calendar and I won’t offer you mine today – you can follow this link to learn more.

I am not a very religious person but I’ve been fasting every year for a long time. The reason I still do is because I feel the religion has been hijacked by extremists and fundamentalists. People’s perceptions are developed by witnessing actions not listening to words.

So, I fast to take the religon back. From the slanted media, the crazies in far off places, and in general those who are intolerant. Islam is a normal religion just like everyone else. Too bad it doesn’t seem like it anymore.

Plus it helps my abs. Eat that Lindsey Lohan!

…not dirty. It just hurts.

Here begins the dirty french word of the week (thanks Jenny for the great idea). The next few weeks will bring more creative and unusually sexual words that the English language has yet to discover.

A word that one must know to build a solid foundation of “dirty french” is merde.

Merde (may-rd) – shit. The word is not used to describe defecation however and should not be confused with chier, which means “to shit.”

Possible uses for “merde” would include:

• Aw man I’ve got a flat tire…MERDE!
• Merde I’ve got the worst hangover ever.
• Men with erection problems in France probably say merde more times than can be repeated.

French word of the week – enjoy!