Sweet Peas and molasses, you mean I gotta tell you about myself here? Where does I begin?
A coconut. A koala. The wave of an ocean dark blue reflecting the full moon. Surf…Surfing. Shiny, silver and sleek things. White. Vibrant, deep, brooding. Spiritual. Spring and Summer. Fast, soulful, counter culture. Hot, fire, red. Make a statement, be politically engaged, learning to carry out my responsibility without complaining, never becoming habitual, and where possible conservative and subdued. Faith. Food. Art. History. Confused, and not afraid to admit I just don’t know. Still moments. Urban homesteading. Green living. Organic. Social media. Books. Leadership and good governance. Bug-Out-Bags. Doomsday prepping. Friends that are family and family that is everything. Religion. The things that make me go “oooh, aaaaah. Give me more.” Being comfortable with the idea of being uncomfortable.
What do all these things have in common- ME! Affad Shaikh, that’s me, and all those things have me in common.
When I’m not running from Zombies or surfing in the Pacific Ocean, I’m just another nerd sitting on my Mackbook listening to 
music and participating in the progressive revolution through technology and my personal connection with God.
-Photography-
I just started sharing the photo’s I’ve been taking over the years. I shared my love for Nina Paley, part of which lies in her championship for Copy Left and Creative Commons. That applies here, but I need to figure out the mechanics.
Equipment:
Samsung NX2000; Lens OIS 50-200mm; OIS 20-50mm
Sony DSLR (Work)
Nikon DSLR
-The Past-
Manzanita Elementary School (Palmdale, CA), Mesa Middle School (Palmdale, CA), Ferrucci Middle School (Puyallup, WA), Rogers High School (Puyallup, WA); Palmdale High School Alumni (2001); University of California, San Diego BA in International Studies: Political Science (2006)- Muir College, Summer Bridge (Summer 2001), UCSD OASIS, San Diego World Trade Center, Cross Cultural Center, Muslim Student Association, Student’s First, CAIR San Diego. InFocus News staff writer. Council on American-Islamic Relations: Greater Los Angeles Area (2006-2011). Richard Riordan Volunteer Leadership Development Program, Los Angeles Junior Chamber of Commerce (Class 34); Netroots Nation– America’s Voice (2009), Democracy For America (2010). New Leaders Council– Orange County; Juris Doctorate, Whittier Law School (2011–2012); Illume Magazine (first article, article dos); South Asians for Obama– Los Angeles; NewGround Fellowship (2012-2013); The Religious Left Blog; Altmuslimah blog (here); California Assembly Delegate, District 36, Democratic Party- Progressive Caucus, Arab American Caucus & Asian American Caucus; Speaker, Netroots Nation 2013; A.S. Business Management, Antelope Valley College (2013—); Editor, NewGround Reflections Blog (2013); PCCC P100 Finance Training Alumni, Los Angeles.
Find me on Twitter (@socalmoslem), Pinterest (Affadavit), LinkedIn (Affad Shaikh), Instagram (affadshaikh), Vine (socalmoslem), Pinterest (…?), Klout (…?)- maybe a few other places, its just so hard to keep track of all of them.
All my Photography is under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Corner Office Shaikh 
this blog is so much cooler than your old one, im glad you ditched the cair colors and joined the modern world. now study hard. i rather hear your thoughts once your done with law school!
LikeLike
GO CHARGERS
LikeLike
I’m really glad I have found this info. Nowadays bloggers publish only about gossips and web and this is actually annoying. A good website with interesting content, that is what I need. Thank you for keeping this web-site, I’ll be visiting it. Do you do newsletters? Can’t find it.
LikeLike
Hello! Just want to say thank you for this interesting article! =) Peace, Joy.
LikeLike
Hello! I know this is kinda off topic however , I’d figured I’d ask. Would you be interested in exchanging links or maybe guest authoring a blog article or vice-versa? My site goes over a lot of the same subjects as yours and I believe we could greatly benefit from each other. If you are interested feel free to shoot me an e-mail. I look forward to hearing from you! Fantastic blog by the way!
LikeLike
You should take part in a contest for one of the best blogs on the web. I will recommend this site!
LikeLike
The next time I read a blog, I hope that it doesnt disappoint me as much as this one. I mean, I know it was my choice to read, but I actually thought youd have something interesting to say. All I hear is a bunch of whining about something that you could fix if you werent too busy looking for attention.
LikeLike
Hello! I just would like to give a huge thumbs up for the great info you have here on this post. I will be coming back to your blog for more soon.
LikeLike
you got a very fantastic website, Gladiolus I detected it through yahoo.
LikeLike
Everyone loves it when people come together and share views. Great website, continue the good work!
LikeLike
Dear Affad Shaikh;
We wanted to share a film trailer with you, from the documentary film THE HIGHEST PASS which is opening in theatres April 27 released by Cinema Libre Studio.
The film depicts the beauty and spiritual mysteries of India as seven riders and their guru traverse 2,000 km in 21 days going from Rishikesh to Ladakh on motorcycles under extremely challenging conditions. Facing India’s chaotic traffic; overloaded trucks on winding roads; low oxygen and altitude sickness; floods, snow and icy cliffs, the riders climb 18,000 feet without dampening their spirits or, ultimately, their deeper selves.
“This is not just a bike adventure; this is the highest pass, the highest self.” – Anand
We hope you will consider sharing this with your readers.
Press release here: http://cinemalibrestudio.com/clsblog/?p=1788
Warmly,
Fajar Prasetya
Intern, Cinema Libre Studio
http://www.cinemalibrestudio.com
LikeLike
Really awesome web site! Thanks for taking the time to compose this insightful blog post!
LikeLike
Who’s That American Muslim? Affad Shaikh Pretty nice post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I’ve truly enjoyed browsing your blog posts. In any case I’ll be subscribing to your rss feed and I hope you write again very soon!
LikeLike
This is probably the most entertaining spam comment left on my blog as of yet!- “Today, I went to the beachfront with my kids. I found a sea shell and gave it to my 4 year old daughter and said “You can hear the ocean if you put this to your ear.” She placed the shell to her ear and screamed. There was a hermit crab inside and it pinched her ear. She never wants to go back! LoL I know this is totally off topic but I had to tell someone!”
LikeLike
Enjoyed reading through this, very good stuff, thanks . “Be not careless in deeds, nor confused in words, nor rambling in thought.” by Marcus Aurelius Antoninus.
LikeLike
I really love your writing form.
LikeLike
I actually wanted to comment on an older post. “Turkish Wrestling” post was refreshing and insightful. I’ve experienced the same phenomenon in traditional East Asian cultures. Men in East Asia, and like their Muslim counterparts, are quite comfortable with their sexuality, and don’t feel the need to prove that they’re men through some machismo act. After spending several years abroad, I’ve come to the conclusion that there is a legitimate need for heterosexual male-to-male intimacy, and that American men are not only starved of this, but also have a warped view of what it even means to be a man.
I happy to have stumbled upon this blog, and look forward to reading more of your posts!
LikeLike
Thanks Theo, its interesting, I have noticed it in so many cultures outside of the “Islamic” ones as well, for some reason here in US we have really weird perceptions of social (physical) conduct. Though I admit i was a bit surprised when i first saw this behavior in my travels abroad.
LikeLike