Maidink's Questionaire - harding hitting!

My stupid blog just cut out on me, I had all the answers so nice and clean - man this would never happen with Barbara Walters, sheesh :-) . Tough, deep probing questions....worthy of the mighty Oprah.

Here are the rules:1. If you want to participate, leave a comment below asking to be interviewed.2. I will respond by asking you five questions - each person's will be different.3. You will update your journal/blog with the answers to the questions.4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview others in the same post.5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions
Here are the questions:
1. You are an avid reader (at least I believe you are). Who is your absolute favorite author/authoress and why? Who do you most dislike and your evil reason for such disdain?
Going to do this backwards, can't stand Nicholas Sparks, his writing is so poor and sacchrine and yet always ends up on the best seller list - why??? Who is reading this drivel?? Why are they?? Favorite authors, hmm..that is tough, I like anyone who can put a good story together, which inludes J.K. Rowling of Harry Potter fame, Ronld Dahl, pure genius. Also if Anne Perry, Janet Evanovitch, Sophia Kinsella or Phillpa Gregory come out with a new book, I must get it! Some other perinnial favorites include Maeve Binchey, Jane Green, Maureen Dowd, Anna Quidlen.

2. Also from what I gather, you like to travel. To someone who hasn't been outside of the continuous 48 states (yeah, I know ... sad), what three places would you personally recommend a person visit before they die and your reasons behind each. It doesn't necessarily need to be a town or country (e.g., you could recommend an annual event).
London - it is THE city to go too - so much life and living, past and present in one location. I liken it to going to the big party of the year at the most popular kid's house.
Alaska - I know its in the States, but it is drop dead beautiful and so peaceful. At least once in your life you must go, to find zen.
Salzburg, Austria - I've never been but I adore the Sound of Music and I've always said before I die I want to visit this city. I imagine heaven looks a lot like those hills in the movie, so expansive yet comforting.

3. You are the eldest child. Out of how many? Are you close to your siblings and your parents? Are your family's political and social views the same as yours? Please elaborate. Yeah, I know that's three questions but it falls under the same subject manner.
I'm the eldest of two (one sister). We are a very close family (live in one house), still doing vacations and dinners together! My family is a bit of an anamoly from stereotypes in that we are all practicing Muslims who have a strong sense of values and God and yet we are all proud liberal/democrats. I think if you are truly religious you would have to be liberal - just look at the examples of Christ (pbuh) or the Prophet (pbuh), they displayed enormous amounts of compassion, love, forgiveness - a rush to judgement and leaning towards hate is a man-made portion of religion. I love my faith but sometimes I really agree with Marx, "religion is the opiate of the masses" no one thinks anymore when practicing, just blindly following some guy with a beard (yeah cause a beard automatically makes you an expert on my religion - not!). It's funny how people in the Mosque can't wrap their heads around us, my family and I just don't fit into any box :-)

4. Some people view the Bible-thumping extremist Christians as representatives of the Christian faith. Many Christians are quick to disagree by replying the extremists perverse the faith to their own means. You are a self-described liberal Muslim. What's your take on the Muslim extremists that have pretty much tainted the American view of the Islamic religion?
I don't think they are Muslims, they are practicing a blend of their patriachial culture and some tenets (that they like) of Islam. Personally I think they should stop saying they are Muslims and just admit they have created their own religion. I pray that Allah shows them the light and they stop using HIS name in vain (to kill people). They don't represent the beautiful religion that I practice.

5. The last and less thought provoking question. Adorable Tony convinced you to start a blog. How did you get to know us bloggers in the first place sans a blog? What was your view on blogging before your own? What is it now?
ahh my "birth" story...as it were. Well it started after the 2004 election, I was very depressed (cried when Kerry conceeded) and was surfing the net looking for like minded fellows, when a friend sent me a link to sorryeverybody.com. Cruising the pictures, I saw Pax's, and across it was his blog address, which I decided to take a look at (figured he must be a morning Kerry-ite also since he was on the sorry site). Finding it funny and relevant, I stayed on. I neandered over to Tony's after his sad annoucement about Parkinson's (which Pax told us about) and thought he was a hoot! From there baby-steps to other blogs. Before blogging, I knew little about it..thinking it was a world alien to me and I would never be able to join. Now I love blogging - it is fun and I've met (through cyberspace) all these great people - I feel loved :-)

Crossing my fingers this gets posted - I'm off to London for the weekend. Have a good weekend everyone!