"with our fortunes we can try our best to help with other's misfortunes." Ashley Ludwin

today i read a report that indicates that Bahá'í schoolchildren are being subjected to cruel and harsh treatment as part of Iran's government-sponsored campaign against the Bahá'í community.

i find it reprehensible that in 2008 religious persecution is still rampant and it sickens me that innocent children are being attacked because of their beliefs. i was born in Shiraz, Iran. my parents and I left just before the Islamic revolution when i was only a few months old. as a result, my father has not seen his own mother in over twenty eight years. i cannot even begin to imagine how different my life would be if we had stayed.


1979

The city of roses
A summer's day
A picture-perfect setting
Tiny lungs gasping at sweet-scented air
Foreboding fear surrounds
A mother gazing on her child

The soil where life began for me
I shared with you
'It isn't safe to stay' they warned
Whispers of a revolution laced the air
So separated from you
By one decision
A new family of three vacationed
Never to return

'Yes, Golriz, it's half Persian' I explain
'We left when I was just a few months old'
A dislocation from a land
That I hold not one memory of
Just a series of mental flash-cards
Anecdotes of ripe pomegranates
Stories and samovars and CNN

Learning of your plight
I find myself injured on your behalf
Examining my world
The glaring disparities
Liberties often taken for granted
While your convictions hold you captive
A life-sentence to obstacles
I have never had to face

In awe of your love for this Faith
Overpowering your attachment to this life
My heart aches for you
And breaks for you
I'm inspired by your strength
The injustices you bear
For your story
Could have just as easily been
My story

open apology for everyone looking for ben harper lyrics and hot ladies

i was a little amused by the key words/phrases that people googled which inadvertently bought them to my blog today:

1. she's only happy in the sun lyrics
2. shells only
3. hot ladies in the sun
4. with sufjan
5. how hot would a black shirt get if it were left in the sun
6. lyrics of she's only happy in the sun

the question is, how hot would a black shirt get if it were left in the sun?

things i would rather be doing tomorrow

photo credit:selma

- spending a day in a zorb ball
- floating around in an anti gravity chamber. or a spaceship. i'm not fussy.
- meeting my grandparents
- adventuring in a hot air balloon
- exploring the greek islands
- whittling a set of spoons

i take it back

dear readers, i wish to retract my previous statement about edamame that has caused some consternation. there is actually no such thing as too much edamame. in fact, the more edamame the better and currently i do not have any edamame at hand and that is a travesty.

only in the south...

today marabeth called one of our media reps at a local gospel radio station and part of his answer machine message was a hearty 'i'm too blessed to be stressed'. so now we've decided to incorporate this line into all of our conversations. 'you want me to make that deadline? sorry. can't do it. i'm too blessed to be stressed'.

the other security guard at work (the one that isn't a part time exotic dancer/elvis impersonator) always greets me with a smile and a 'you have a blessed day'. it's a lovely way to start the day.

as i was driving home a few days ago i pulled up behind a black SUV and there were two women in the front seat who were TESTIFYING (and yes, it warranted all caps). i didn't really know what 'testifying' was until i lived in the south. i don't know what they were listening to or what they were saying but their hands were reaching up in the air and tears were streaming down their faces. they were feeling something. and they were not scared to express it. and as i was behind them i was a little concerned for their safety because between the tears and the looking up at the heavens and the hands waving in the air, i really felt like 'blind spots' and 'indicating-when-turning' were no longer priorities.

it was a little intense. but that could just be my reaction from a sheltered upbringing in new zealand where no one really talked about God and i went to friday night christian youth gatherings because there were cute boys there. in new zealand i certainly wasn't exposed to people openly expressing how moved they were by the spirit of their creator. and so i'm trying to overcome my own prejudices and realize that there is no right or wrong way to tap into that connection.

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my dinner tonight consisted of a banana and some almonds/walnuts/pistachios. marabeth and i were driving to an event and i turned to her, pointed at my 'meal' and said 'this is how i roll. whoever is going to be my partner in life needs to be okay with the fact that i am completely satisfied with this for dinner'. for some reason it struck us as extremely funny - perhaps it had something to do with the random almond i'd wedged into the banana that was sticking out at an odd angle - but it's true. i am a forager. i can make do with random bits and pieces. i don't need a sit down meal with all the components. i totally feel like cheese, crackers and fruit is a whole balanced dinner. i could happily live off eight grain granola and yogurt smoothies. i also like hole-in-the-wall independent restaurants/diners/cafes infinitely more than chains. in fact, have a real snobbery towards chains. i accept that this is somewhat elitist. but there you have it.

to balance out my elitist approach to eateries i will admit that i've read dan brown's 'the da vinci code' and i watch american idol.

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because it's raining outside today, the lists keep a-coming.

lessons i will probably never learn no matter how many times i'm presented with the opportunity to 'learn from my mistakes':

- not putting my toothpaste in my carry-on bag.
- following the washing/drying instructions on clothing.
- not eating/drinking near my laptop.
- sipping, not gulping, my starbuck's chai incase it is actually made to order and thus scalding hot.
- knowing when to say 'when' to salt and vinegar chips.
- realizing that shoes that hurt when i buy them will still hurt post-purchasing
- lip gloss left in the car on a hot day will never recover to its original form
- that i should stop keeping receipts. i will never ever need them. and from past experience the ones i do need, i can never find amongst the hundreds of unnecessary ones.
- that there is such a thing as too much edamame.
- i really do need at least 7 hours of sleep a night.
- keeping my itunes organized is not going to happen. embrace the chaos.
- apostrophe usage.
- always pack a hair dryer. hotel hair dryers are never going to do the job.
- just because i am offered salted peanuts on the plane doesn't mean i have to eat them and then be desperately thirsty for the rest of the flight because the cups of water they give me are meager and i don't see why i can't just have the whole bottle since they are giving everyone else whole cans of soft drink. (sorry, i got a bit carried away with that one)
- the sheer importance of flossing

reason #492 why i love the world wide web

today i found this gem of a site - a collection of 'painfully polite and hilariously hostile writings from shared spaces the world over' (description on the site itself). this is a favorite.

and as all good sites do, it introduced me to another great distraction: photo shop disasters and so another 10 minutes was spent giggling about these.

caption under this image:
When people Photoshop heads onto bodies they really need to look for little details that might give away the artifice, such as mismatching shadows, different lighting, or differences in sharpness. You know, those subtle, tiny differences that people might notice.

how to annoy myself

start every sentence with 'dude'. i don't know where i picked up this nasty habit but dude, it has to stop.

only boring people are bored.

yesterday evening i decided i wanted to learn how to play the guitar. marabeth has one that she bought a long time ago, with intentions to learn that didn't really eventuate (yet), so i dusted it off - tuned it and was surprised by how many wannabe guitar instructors there are on youtube. there are also a few too many emo teens sitting in their bedrooms mournfully singing and strumming. i found this one british guy who has uploaded a whole series of lessons so, with freshly cut fingernails, i learned d chord. then g, a, c, a minor, e, e minor and f. i then found the chords to ben harper songs and proceeded to massacre them. i was entertained for at least 4 hours and then had to stop because my fingertips hurt too much. i'm going to keep practicing and perhaps one day soon buy a guitar. and then like my poor gocco print, it will be shelved because the novelty will have worn off. gosh. i'm so predictable.

*

i'm drinking fusion white and green tea and it's delicious. i've mentioned it before but it must be reiterated, i love tea. my stock favorite used to be twinings earl grey. then i found sadaf tea at the persian store which is infused with cardamom and mmm it wins.

i also have 'tea' memories. or teas that remind me of moments/places/people.

earl grey mixed with jasmine is my dad's signature drink. he'd have this every night with dates. when we were young and my parents were trying to protect us from the vice of caffeine, we would get a mug of hot water with a tiny dash of tea and a spoon of sugar. i felt so grown up.

pg tips reminds me of TRA's tiny kitchen in london where i escaped for a week when i needed it most.

good earth green tea with lemon grass takes me right back to the landry's dining table in maine, drinking out of a beautiful ceramic mug.

recently i've been introduced to rose tea and it's heavenly. especially with a dash of half & half, and agave. mmm.

chai tea reminds me of m2 all the way. she was one who taught me to order chai with no water. makes a world of difference even if you do sound like one of those pretentious people whose drink order is a long chain of directives like mine has now become 'tall soy chai, as hot as you can legally make it with no water'. ahem.

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list of things i have a difficult time walking past and NOT purchasing

- patchwork quilts
- hour glasses
- green anything
- vintage camel colored leather handbags
- long gauzy scarfs
- fresh flowers. especially dark purple tulips and orchids.
- plaid shirts. seriously, how much plaid does one person's wardrobe need?
- cowboy boots. suddenly i want a pair. let's blame nashville.
- oatmeal cookies the size of my head. but you wouldn't pass them up either.
- anything in wholefoods produce section. have you noticed how they present the fruits and vegetables like it's a work of art? i'm taking my camera next time. it is gorgeous. the colors, the geometry of it all. i stood in front of beets, celery and a menagerie of lettuce heads, completely enraptured.
- trampolines. i haven't actually walked passed any, but i'm constantly thinking about how i want one.

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very important meeting reminder i received today

KK, i miss you too.

so my friend jen works as an events coordinator for a massive law firm in houston. she is stellar at her job and in life in general. her latest blog post was about some of the strange people at her work. one of them is this woman who pilfers food from the board rooms. the thing is, instead of using a paper plate, or proper receptacle she puts the food inside office stationary. as jen wrote on her blog,

"She doesn't ask for a plate or a to-go container, she just brings down a file folder, stuffs a sandwich and some pickle spears in it and goes back up the elevator like nothing ever happened. She's a loon."

it's gold right? i mean, just imagining this whole scenario you can't help but smile. and then jen emailed me this:

"One time that she took an inner-office envelope up to her desk with some fajitas in it (no plastic wrap) and then put it in her inbox like it was incoming mail."

WHAT?!

i'm still laughing about this.

p.s.

this has to be one of the coolest office buildings i've seen. i love the idea that someone has to make the call "hello, can you mow my walls?"

improbable ebay purchases that i want

if you have a cool spare 2k lying around i'd like one of these and also one of these.

in other news, i am happy to report the flea sightings have ceased so perhaps it was all in my mind. or perhaps i was allergic to no longer being in new york.

OH and in extra other news, i've solved the need-to-synch-my-itunes-with-my-ipod dilemma. well it's not really true to say 'i' because the level of my involvement was little to none. it's a good thing i have techno-savvy friends who put up with my incompetence and shenanigans (and my refusal to google answers to my conundrums).

and because you don't have enough time in your life to keep up with the cool, here is a site that does it for you. ladies and gentlemen enjoy the cool hunter. i'm not ashamed to admit that i totally want an adult version of one of these.

to be continued...

why my mum is more entertaining than mtv:

'so how is anisa doing'

'she's lovely. she wants to go to some concert'

'yeah? what concert'

'sixty cents'

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i sat in the sun today during my lunch break and even made a colleague meet me out there for our afternoon meeting. i think he thought i was kidding when we set up the time and i sent him an outlook calendar notification with 'patio outside' as the location. but i wasn't kidding. i have the tan lines to prove it.

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short list o'things i found mildly irritating today. okay, maybe not mildly.

-migraine headache that refused to go away. i drank water. i had caffeine. i took a nap. i ate a whole peeled lemon. i massaged my temples. to no avail.

-not being able to rip all the music from my ipod onto my new macbook. there must be a way to do this. help me.

-being inside when outside was so much better

untitled

there is so much noise all the time
the tv blaring
and she is at the sink
washing dishes
because that is what she likes to do most

you told me this
and my heart expanded
constricted by my chest
i held my breath
let you keep talking

because i'm not sure how you do it
what mettle you are made of
to be there when you could
be somewhere
anywhere else

i often find your world
to be an injury to my reality
and i, unfit to be a shield
or saving grace
allow your acerbic wit and my laughter carry
our conversations
in bank lobbies
at 2pm

one more reason to love mcsweeneys

they feature a plethora of random lists.
i only just started exploring, but i really like this one and this one.

you know what isn't fun at all?

fleas.

yep. first marabeth yelped. yes, actually yelped, because she was bitten by something as she was sitting on the couch watching american idol. i thought perhaps she was reacting to the awful rendition of andrew lloyd weber's 'memory', but no.

anyway, then i felt something bite ME. and then again. and then i saw it. a flea.

so then they attacked us with full force. well either that or it's just psychological but i'm itchy all over.

jen said we have to get something called 'seven' and put it in the attic.

i didn't even realize we had an attic.

i can't believe we have fleas.

don't let this put you off coming for a visit.

so Q has reading material other than GRE study guides

a friend of ours is selling his house and he sent marabeth some pictures. this one makes me smile so much because well, you tell me, what is the point of the gate?



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some of my favorite moments

1. hearing a voice over the phone and those few seconds when i realize it's a dear friend
2. the audible breaths in the vocals of tracks i love - like jeff buckley's hallelujah
3. opening up any apple product. as a friend commented, even the styrofoam is like sculpture
4. using a really great black ink pen on a blank sheet of paper
5. getting a head massage when you get your hair shampooed before a cut
6. the silence that exists after a prayer
7. the first sip of an extra hot soy chai latte
8. a well-deserved standing ovation
9. rounding a corner and seeing the ocean
10. wrapping up after a shower in a freshly dried warm towel
11. waking up from a nap and knowing i don't have to be anywhere
12. my mum's rubbing my back as she hugs me
13. watching people greet each other at airports
14. seeing colors i never knew existed, in someone's eyes
15. stepping out of an air-conditioned room into the fresh air and sunshine

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conversations with marabeth:

she points to my tool kit

"why do you keep this in the car?"

"because you never know when you are going to need tools"

"when are you gonna need a hammer? we should keep this in the house"

"no, i need it in the car. i might need a hammer one day if something happens to my car and i'm stuck on the side of the road"

"um, the only tool you will use if that happens is your cell phone"

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new york city breakfast (for andy)

snappity-snap-shots