White wine and cheese, silence and an empty apartment.
Waiting for people, phone calls, and hang-out plans. Shopping. Iranian food. Cooking. Confused. Reading. Tired of excuses. Craving sushi. Running out of money. Happy to be here. Bored. Missing my bed. Healthy. Full. Lonely. Fool. Good friends. Grateful. Restless...
Help!
1. stomach flue (doesn't matter if it's you or your friends, it's disturbing and painful).
2. losing money in slot machines...
3. having to drive for 8 hours on a route that you know is only supposed to take 4 hours...what's up with all the cars anyway?
4. going through your ongoing personal issues, and not knowing when the hell they're supposed to go away.
5. watching a Bunuel movie and not understanding its significance, AT ALL!
and I'm sure there's a lot more that could be added here, so I'm happy that my list ends here.
Thanks to Laleh and Marjan for inviting me to this game. Here we go:
one - I enjoy spending time by myself.
two - I am a vacation-smoker! usually end up smoking my whole year's quota in two weeks!
three - I'm so "cleany", sometimes it gets annoying, even for myself.
four - I pick traveling over shopping any day; and shopping over research; white wine over red; sushi over burger; tequila over beer; tea over coffee; movies over dinner; and adventurous affairs over romantic ones.
five - I am content with my life. at least I think so... it could be a lot better, but then it could be a lot worse too!
Looks like everyone I know has already written their post on this, so Raha and Mayssam, it's your turn now!
... when you're on vacation. Especially if you've left all the rain and the clouds behind to go somewhere sunny. Life is so good, it makes you wonder how you were ever unhappy, depressed, or bored... There is jazz music, Belgian beer, and good tequila. There's Mercedes Sosa and cheesecake. There is Karaoke and 90's music. There are good friends; old ones, new ones, special ones, absent ones... there is Christmas, traveling, shopping. And above all, there are cats! Lost ones... they follow you around, even into the apartment. They roll on the carpet, begging you to pet them... life is good, my friends. It really is.
I'm in love with the guy... I mean literally. I would marry him any day, if he returns to life, that is.
I finished the Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy tonight at 7:00 pm and was on my way back from the bookstore with the second book in the series by 7:30! The second book is The Restaurant at the End of the Universe and starts like this:
"There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable.
There is another theory which states that this has already happened."
I hope it will be as interesting as the first book.
After two weeks of constantly thinking about it, I finally went and watched Volver, Almadovar's latest movie. I liked it very much, it made me laugh quite a lot and brought tears to my eyes at times. It tells the story of this two sisters whose mother has died a while ago, but decides to return to life and finish off her undone business. I think the strength of love between mothers and daughters in this movie was very clearly portrayed, or maybe I just miss my mom too much and my judgment is clouded!! I liked the fact that all the main characters and almost all of the cast were women,it gave the movie a very unique feel, and helped in getting its message across in my opinion.
I really think Hollywood should be sued for converting Penelope Cruz into such a commercial celebrity... her acting was amazing in this movie. Actually, all the cast had super-strong performances... I definitely recommend watching "Volver". Here's a song from the soundtrack I liked the most.
So Blogger decided to add labels to the posts and that's why I spent an hour going through all my posts and labeling them, of course because I have a final next week. I had to also struggle with a lot of issues while migrating to beta, do it with IE if you want my opinion. I am a big fan of FireFox, but it just kept freezing on me. Don't know why. Anyway, not much to say really.Except that what I have labeled as "random" is more like "daily blabbering" or "not full of whining" or "surprisingly not about movies"... just to make it clear. :)
Now I wonder what I should label this one as!?
So I'm stuffed with soup and salad (and yes, that's possible!) and feeling a little light-headed from the wine I had, trying really hard to come up with something to write. I think it must be a disease or something. I even watched a movie and didn't feel like writing about it! Don't know what's wrong, but I'm going to give it a shot anyway. I watched Stranger than fiction... didn't hate it, but didn't love it either. Can't seem to understand the point of the movie, but then again, who says movies should have a point!? I liked most of the movie though. Can't really tell you what it's about because it doesn't make any sense. You don't have to watch it in the theater, wait for the DVD. Dustin Huffman and Emma Thompson are great in it though, as always.
I guess what keeps me excited these days though (except for the thought of Wednesday when I'm officially done with my finals)is The Hitchhiker's Guide to Galaxy. Absolutely genius! Thanks to Shahin, I now own the first book in Douglas Adams's sci-fi series and I have to tell you, it's quite the funniest book I've read in a LONG time. If you're against sci-fi you should skip this whole paragraph totally. I tried watching the movie that was made based on this book in 2005 and couldn't understand why it was such a big deal. Scenes made no sense whatsoever. I basically stopped watching halfway through the movie. Now I know that the whole point is to read the book and laugh at the author's wired scientific British sense of humor. I mean the guy knows how to write funny nonsense... The book is about this two characters (a human and a human-like creature from another planet) who starts this adventurous journey in the galaxy after Earth gets demolished because there is a need to build a hyperspatial express route through the star system! It probably sounds lame but you gotta try it.
here's a paragraph from the book (there are so many good ones, I can't really choose from!). Omitted parts are replaced with [...].
"[...]a sperm whale had suddenly been called to existence several miles above the surface of an alien planet.
[...]
this is a complete record of its thought from the moment it began its life till the moment it ended it.
Ah...what's happening? it thought.
Er,excuse me, who am I?
Hello?
Why am I here? What's my purpose in life?
What do I mean by who am I?
Calm down, get a grip now [...]
And hey, what about this whistling roaring sound going past what I'm suddenly going to call my head? Perhaps I can call that...wind! [...] it must be something very important because there certainly seems to be a hell of a lot of it.
[...]
And wow, what's this thing suddenly coming towards me very fast? Very very fast. So big and flat and round, it needs a big wide sounding name like... ow... ound... round... ground! That's it! That's a good name - ground!
I wonder if it will be friends with me?
And the rest, after a sudden wet thud, was silence."
... the girl in the frame used to belong to a family. She traveled to a northern land though, somewhere beautiful, at the end of the world. The girl in the frame found a house. She found a friend. She found more friends. She started her studies. "Oh, look, that's her first Christmas party". "That's her first birthday away from us!". "That must be her close friend". "Is that her street?". The girl in the frame graduated. "She looks very happy in that photo, doesn't she?". The girl in the photo went traveling... "it looks like she's having a good time".
She'll never be their daughter again, she won't be their sister, or granddaughter... she is not a part of their life anymore. She is nothing more than a picture, a memory, in a pretty frame on their shelf.
...Dont you tell me to deny it,
I've done wrong and I want to
Suffer for my sins.
Ive come to you cause I need
Guidance to be true
And I just dont know where I can begin.
What I need is a good defense
cause Im feelin like a criminal.
And I need to be redeemed
To the one I've sinned against
Because he's all I ever knew of love...
So I'm officially out of inspirations to write... not that life's not exciting... it is very exciting as a matter of fact.
I've had the greatest weekend, hanging out with friends who were visiting... the water advisory was finally lifted yesterday (in case you didn't know, Vancouverite's were required to boil their water before drinking for the past 10 days or so - so much for living in the first world!)... The snow storm caused a major chaos in the city... power outage led to the cancellation of all classes in school yesterday, so I could stay home and enjoy the pretty scenery from the window. Even my horrible final is over... so I don't know what's wrong... I think it's the lack of movies in my life! I haven't been to a movie theater in about two weeks now, and that, dear readers, is a disaster. It's unheard of in the history of contemporary daydreamers and I'm about to change it tomorrow night...that is, of course, if no major ice storms happen...
This is an end-of-the-world type of weather, I'd say... first we get constant rain for like two weeks and the water gets contaminated, then we get two days of non-stop snow and life gets interrupted!!! I mean it's not even December yet, and this is Vancouver we're talking about... it's supposed to be pleasant like all the time!
Anyway, we'll see how long this whole there's-absolutely-nothing-to-write-about phase lasts for.
...has only one form. In case anyone was wondering. And finals don't help either.
Read the rest......takes many forms. You don't have to look different, really. You just act in the moment. You can hold someone's hands, or break up with them. You can let your hearth decide, or follow your brain. You can get a degree or quit school, stop working out, get married, hurt a friend, love a stranger, leave your homeland, hate your boss...
Sitting in my office, checking emails and drinking tea, I wonder if anyone's ever experienced a madness this sweet...
You try to keep something to yourself, everybody knows it. You want people to notice something, it's like everyone's blind. It doesn't make any sense!
By the way, nobody has any comments on Iron Jawed Angels? really?! even you girls!? I expected at least a few comments. Go on, move that mouse and start typing...
...
It's getting late and while I wait
My poor heart aches on
Why keep the breaks on? Let's misbehave!
I feel quite sure affaire d'amour
Would be attractive
While we're still active, let's misbehave!
...
There was a time when people told me they had commitment issues and I didn't quite get it. I mean, why wouldn't you wanna commit to someone who's warm and loving and cares about you?... now I know. Because you have COMMITMENT ISSUES!
you freak out when your partner/date/prospective date talks about future, cares too much about you, want to see you more than three times a week, and buys you gifts for no specific occasion. ... You start to feel less affections and more guilt. You keep wondering about that perfect partner who hasn't come your way yet, after all, you deserve more than this, right?... what if the "right" person's just around the corner? what if it's the girl you met last night in the party, or that guy in your class? you start getting anxious, you cheat, feel more guilty, get more anxious...
You end it... loneliness sucks at times, but it sure feels good to delay that critical decision just one more time...
... when you leave single people in close proximity of alcohol. It's an empirically proven fact.
Read the rest...
You know how it's somehow carved into our unconscious that women in Western world have all the rights and how other parts of the world should learn from them and stuff... well, we tend to forget that not long ago they didn't have nearly as many rights as they do now. It's a shame that there's not enough emphasis on how women fought for their rights, even in the so-called Land of Freedom. Thanks to Roja who recommended Iron Jawed Angels, now I know a little more than before. You should watch it too, and I know I'm making it sound like a history lesson, but it's not. Believe me! It's a well made movie (for TV though, not for theater screening) with great acting and (there goes my usual comment) very good soundtrack! So you're not gonna be watching a boring documentary (although, even boring documentaries are made for a reason). Hillary Swank and Francis O'Connor have super strong performances.
The movie tells the story of a campaign led by Alice Paul that led to granting the right of vote to American women. It's unbelievable how the protesting women and leaders of the campaign were treated - either out on the streets or in jail (yes, that's right, JAIL!). Learning about Alice Paul made me proud as a woman, although her fight has not affected me personally. I'm certain that you'll enjoy watching it too.
If you're looking for more facts on the campaign, maybe it's good to take a look at "Jailed for Freedom", a book by Doris Stevens (who's also one of the characters in the movie).
This most be my favorite song from the soundtrack of "Cinema Paradiso". Feels like it's got some quality to it that can't be put into words... for me, this has always been associated with the magic of the movies... Here it is, anyway.
Today I realized not having internet actually had some positive effects on my life. Like, I went to bed pretty early every night during last week. Nazi and I talked a lot more... we even tried to actually go to school early (to check our emails, of course!). Anyway, the point is we have internet now, and as you can see I'm online, blogging again which, as most of you will agree, does not make me any more productive.
Hmmm, yeah, have to go now put on my very creative costume, including a mini-witch hat, an ugly nose (which I probably won't wear after all!), and a magic stick; now, the stick should realistically(!) belong to a fairy, cause it's white and has a star on top, but well, I'm a good hearted witch, so instead of beating people up with my broom, I sprinkle golden powder on their heads. Honestly, when you end up shopping for Halloween costume three hours before the party, it usually doesn't get any better than this!
و حتی پست فارسی
آقا دم دوستمون گرم که دو روز مملکت همیشه تعطیلمون رو اضافی تعطیل کرده.... خیلی بهش سخت میگذره آخه طفلی... این سیاست مداری هم بد دردیه ها!
نکته بی ربط: خواهرم امروز به من گوشزد کرد که هدف خانواده از فرستادن من به بلاد خارجه همانا اصلاح نسل بوده، و در نتیجه من بیخودی دارم وقتم رو برای جوونهای هموطن تلف می کنم!!
yeah, I watched some more movies since my last post and to pick one favorite, I have no choice but to write about Annie Hall. I mean, I'm not going to even write about it, you have watch it, period. Feel like I'm a pathetic excuse for a movie fan for not having watched this before. Woody Allen is a genius, and Diane Keaton is brilliant, as always. I could not stop laughing throughout the movie, which doesn't mean it was a mindless comedy at all. If you like overanalyzing relationships, love New York, or enjoy Woody Allen's pessimistic/comic view towards life in general, this is the movie for you.
By the way, my internet connection died on me, so I'm sitting at a coffee shop writing these. The stupid IT guy gave me a 4 hour window for coming to fix the connection and then showed up in the first 10 minutes of that window - and sure enough, I missed him! Now I have to wait till Friday to get it fixed and that, my dear readers, is why this place won't be updated as often! (Which is a lucky thing for you, considering that I have nothing interesting to write at the moment!)
So I was daydreaming the other night, and it was all going fine you know... I was having this wonderful time, great vacation, all my friends around me... and then somehow it ended up a mess and I was all sad and depressed (in my dream, of course)... that was when I realized it was a dream and had to remind myself that I had control over this and it could have a happy ending you know! So it turns out I'm not even good at the only thing I thought I was good at: daydreaming.
Someone please help me!
Today I am helping these two guys (Read: kids) in the lab I'm TAing, and right in the middle of a heated discussion on different harvest prescriptions for a tree stand, one of them turns to me and says: "you smell nice by the way"!!??!! and the other says:"oh yeah, VERY nice, what perfume is that?" !!! I mean, what the hell? I couldn't help but wonder what would happen if I was a guy. No girl in that class would've ever told me I smelled nice; but just because I'm a girl, any 18-year old kid has the right to treat me like I'm there for his entertainment!!! I'm just very pissed off at the moment... it's probably not a big deal after all.
Read the rest...everytime I hear it instead of your voice, I can't help but picturing you with someone else... and let me tell you, my imaginations are pretty vivid! So come out of your cave and pick up the phone!
Read the rest......making eye contact with a cute stranger on the bus!
Hmmm, I don't know if it's me being pathetic, or is it the side-effect of watching someone else's daydreams in Science of sleep?!
So...let's do this! I went to see the Departed tonight... and yeah, hats off to Martin Scorsese! You just have to watch this movie, I was sitting in the second row in the theater (yes! that's counting from the screen) and still enjoyed it. My neck aches and still I'm happy I went! So trust me, you wanna watch this one.
The movie is based on another movie, "Infernal Affairs" (2002) from Hong Kong. The story is about two young men: one is a cop that squeezes himself in the Irish Mafia, and the other is Mafia's man in the Police department. You can guess how interesting and twisted the story gets... and there's of course lots of violence for all you blood lovers out there! I haven't watched the original movie, so I can't compare the two, but for what it's worth, I think Scorsese did an awesome job, especially with the casting. Jack Nicholson is great as always, and I was surprised to see DiCaprio act so well. Think I have to start giving the "king of the world" some credit! Matt Damon was also very strong, although I think he's becoming a cliche, you know... the smartass who goes a long way in society, but has a dark side... It could be just me though! My favorite scene was when DiCaprio and Damon were silent on the two ends of the line, waiting for the other's reaction. For some reason, it just seemed like a perfect scene to me!
And last but not least, is the great soundtrack... Scorsese shows once again he knows good music and he knows where and when to use it. I loved every single song in the movie, especially his version of "Comfortably numb" with Van Morrison, Roger Waters AND the Band! Unfortunately, I only have the original version, so here you go:
Does anyone remember that episode of from "School of Mice" where the kids are supposed to write an essay on how they spent their weekend?... That's probably one of my most favorite episodes. "Kopol" starts reading out his essay to the class and keeps mentioning the different meals he had, with extreme details. When finally he gets to afternoon snack (!), the teacher gets mad and asks him not to mention eating anymore. He continues reading the thing and then suddenly finishes up with some very incomprehensible words. The teacher asks him to repeat his last sentence, but still no one can understand what the hell he's talking about... until "Goosh Deraaz" solves the riddle! The last sentence of the essay is:"and then we ate dinner and went to bed"!
Now why did I mention this? because I really really want to talk about the movies I've watched in the festival (and out of it, mind you!) and feel scared of boring you to death with it! So dear readers, please hold your desire to curse and throw stuff at the monitor while reading the next few sentences (or just stop reading right now!).
I watched four Iranian movies in this year's festival: Men at work, 13.5 (can't seem to find a good link), from afar, and offside. I liked men at work and offside the best; especially the first one, which I thought was hilarious and deep at the same time! I hear it's gonna be shown in Tehran, so don't miss out on it if you're there! Offside was also very good... a new way of looking at women's problems, without turning the whole movie to 90 minutes of complaining and victimizing women, unlike 13.5. From afar, was just an interesting story that could have been made to a movie in a better way! ... there, I said it, quick and painless, now I can go sleep! 
Would somebody out there please take it upon himself to break my heart sometime soon? I've run out of inspirations to write!
Read the rest...... Now the things that i remember seem so distant and so small
Though it hasn't really been that long a time
What i was seeing wasn't really happening at all
Although for a while, our path did seem to climb
But when you see through love's illusions, there lies the danger
And your perfect lover just looks like a perfect fool
So you go running off in search of a perfect stranger...
You'll probably think I'm totally lame, but I just couldn't resist the temptation to write about "Away from her". I watched it yesterday in Vancouver International Film Festival and I have to say it was astonishing. I can't believe it was Sarah Polley's first feature film as a director. Having strong actors definitely helped, and the movie was based on a short story by Alice Munro, but still, you couldn't be a bad director and get away with making such a movie easily.
As much as I like watching movies about young lovers who get to (or in some cases not get to) be with each other, I couldn't help but admire the love that was shown between Fiona (Julie Christie) and Grant (Gordon Pinsent)after all the years they had lived together. I don't know which one's stronger? a love that burns when you're 26, or a love that comforts when you're 66. I loved everything about this movie. Go, Canada! and I am very interested to see what Sarah Polley's gonna come up with next! (by the way, for those of you who used to watch "GHESSEHAY E JAZEEREH" in Iran, she's the girl who played Sarah in that series! she's definitely grown up!)
I went to see the illusionist, with very low expectations, since a friend of mine had advised me against watching it. Well, I have to say that I'm happy I didn't listen to him! It certainly was not the greatest movie ever, but it had strong acting, and an interesting story, two things I like to see in a movie!
The movie is based on a short story by Steven Millhauser, 1997 Pulitzer Prize winner, about a young boy with extraordinary talents who falls in love with a girl from the High Society. he grows up to be this well-known magician, "the illusionist". Anyway, he meets the girl again, who's to be wed to the Crown Prince, a typical villain with twisted moustache and pointy beard. Long story short, the whole movie revolves around this love/rivalry triangle. Then of course there's the Chief Inspector who tries hard to find out the truth behind all the illusions.
I loved the magic performance scenes, and the way the story started folding up... however, I still can't decide if I liked the ending or not! I mean all through the movie I was trying to choose between my never-ending love for wizardry stories and the hope to find a logical explanation for everything that was happening. so at the end, i couldn't quite decide whether I should be disappointed or happy! But regardless of all this, if you like Edward Norton (and you should) and Paul Giamatti (Sideways), you're gonna see some very interesting interactions between the two, so don't miss out!
Not only it's one of my most favorite movies of all time, it's got one of the best soundtracks ever too...
When I get a real job with a real pay cheque, I'd buy a super fancy sound system, just to listen to this song at the highest volume possible (in my super fancy mansion, of course!)...
You know why you should never have expectations? Because they keep you waiting... and waiting sucks. Waiting for a phone call, for an email, for Holidays, for next year... things will happen anyway, just learn not to wait, damn it!
Read the rest...
I watched Good night and good luck last night. The movie shows a period from the career of Edwar R. Murrow, an American journalist who worked for CBS during the 40's and the 50's. The movie focuses on (probably) the most controversial conflict during his professional life: opposing Senator Joseph McCarthy on his campaign against the Communism. I thought both the movie and the story were very strong. George Clooney has done an amazing job in my opinion. The movie pointed out some very interesting issues that are still valid in today's world with the ever increasing stupidity in our mass media. (For a very funny touch upon a serious related issue read Shirin)
To see that by opposing a person in a higher position, Ed. Murrow exposed himself to threats and false accusations, I realized once again how similar situations can be when your not on the side of power, be it in the United States - the land of freedom -, in Islamic Republic of Iran, or in any other country.
I definitely recommend watching this movie, especially if you're a fan of black and white movies and enjoy Jazz music! because did I tell you? the soundtrack is one of the best.
Here are some parts of the speech Ed. Murrow gave on october 15, 1958 that I found interesting [omitted sentences are replaced with "..."]:
"Our history will be what we make it. And if there are any historians about fifty or a hundred years from now...they will there find recorded in black and white, or color, evidence of decadence, escapism and insulation from the realities of the world in which we live. ... We are currently wealthy, fat, comfortable and complacent. We have currently a built-in allergy to unpleasant or disturbing information. Our mass media reflect this. But unless we get up off our fat surpluses and recognize that television in the main is being used to distract, delude, amuse and insulate us, then television and those who finance it, those who look at it and those who work at it, may see a totally different picture too late."
Little things can help you have a great time: a bottle of good wine (ok, maybe two!), good background music, a good movie, a well-prepared "ghelyoon", maybe a couple of cigarettes, ... but what's most important is having friends close to you, starting discussion when your head is spinning and making nonsense conclusions, taking out-of-focus pictures ... and somewhere in the middle of all that, missing all those who are not there... you were all missed!
- "Can I have a tall non-fat non-sweet Chai Latte?"
- "sure, anything else?"
- "yeah... and a butter croissant please!"
"Your talents will be recognized and suitably rewarded"
hmmm, when excactly?
- ... or does it always cool down this fast?"
- "it's you!"
- "yeah, I thought so!"
- "If you were sure there was an after-life, and if you knew in that life you two would be together, would you die now?"
- "... hmmm, can I think about it?"
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? ...
... And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."
From A return to Love, by Marianne Williamson
I first heard this quote in "Akeelah and the Bee". (Not the greatest, but worth watching). I think for most people (not ALL), what Williamson says is true. We do not see ourselves worthy of being loved or admired above a certain limit. We fear that if the people who love us find our flaws, we will lose them. So, we try to somehow prove to them - and to ourselves - that we're not as great as they think... We lose them... and think we proved what we wanted to. This self-destructive loop goes on without us ever getting a chance to act differently. Are we brave enough to break free?
I've been meaning to add music to this blog for the longest time now, and finally - many thanks to Mayssam - I'm able to stream the music I like here. Haven't decided on how I'm exactly going to do it, whether it's gonna be in individual posts or as a part of my template, but whatever, it's here and at least I like it :). So yeah, enjoy!
You ask me what is it that we're doing. I don't know. We're just going with the flow I guess. You're afraid that you might hurt me, I'm afraid to lose you. I can't stop it, but it can't go on either. You think I will hate you for this later, you don't know I already hate you for it. Don't they say there's a thin line in between?... You know what's funny? The fact that it'll all be over before we even know it. I'll be reading these in a few months and won't be able to remember how it felt. You'll be in someone else's dreams, I'll be dreaming of someone new.
So here's my answer: we're doing what seems to be the easiest way to let our feelings die away. Promise me though, that you won't let us get trapped in the illusion of this being anything more than what it is: an illusion.
Have you ever tried a pedicure? Do you use lotion to moisturize your dry feet? Have you ever stopped to notice your feet at all? Those two lovely little members that help you go places? Are you showing them enough attention? if not, maybe it's time to reconsider...
Negar has started the "feet right movement" to open everyone's eyes, and to recognize the importance of the unappreciated blessing, called "foot".
Everyone, feel free to participate! :)
I don't like to cry... that's what I've found out recently. That doesn't mean that I don't cry, I cry a lot actually, but I'm not comfortable doing it. I prefer to cry when no one can see or hear me, and even then I try to stop the tears so hard as if my life depends on it. Why do you think that is?
I think it's mostly because I associate crying with weakness. It's wrong, I know, I know... but that's written somewhere down in my unconsciousness. The funny thing though, is that I've always admired men that cried comfortably. I've always told my male friends that crying is not as bad as they think and it's very brave to be able to cry when it helps you in some way. So why is it that I can't accept it as easily myself? Every time I cry, I feel I'm weak and helpless and that the person who's watching me thinks less of me because of that. To summarize my random ranting, I think I believe it would be better if men cried a bit more and women cried a little less. I do need a therapist badly!
You say there's nothing we can do. That we should forget. I know. As a matter of fact, it's easier than most people think. I've already forgot how the grip of your fingers felt, and I can't quite remember what colors your eyes were, unless I look at the pictures, of course. Were you taller than me? What perfume were you wearing?
You'll see, I'll forget in no time. Except I still remember the feeling of being close, being watched, held, admired, spoiled, and scared by you. Don't worry though; I'll forget in no time, you'll see.
Don't you just hate your brain? It never memorizes the important things, like your appointments, or your course material, or the speech you're supposed to give in front of the class. But then it goes and remembers every single detail of a random night in a random place with some random stranger and bugs you with it for the rest of your life. If only we could choose which memories to keep... life would be a lot less complicated than it is now.
So here I am... 25 days, four states, and probably an extra two pounds later, back to my normal life (normal?...let's not talk about that!).
I had the greatest vacation you could have without going back home, and once again realized how much I love my friends. I met so many new people, interesting and wonderful and crazy too. Think I actually liked the States despite all my efforts not to! I mean I still can't say I prefer to live there, but almost all my friends from undergrad school are in the States and there's so many more options and opportunities. If it wasn't for the country being a big pretty jail, I would probably consider moving there.
School has started and I've already lost interest after my first class! It's probably just a post-vacation depression phase which will be over before the midterms, or at least I hope so!
It all started one night when the three of them were sitting in front of a TV, watching Harold and Kumar go to White Castle. Now, that's not exactly the type of movie that you'd think would make people bond or anything like that, but somehow it worked! He had suggested the idea of going on the trip before, but not a lot of people thought it was doable. After all, it was an eight hour drive each way, and they had to be back in two days. She couldn't say if it was the movie, or the fact that it was two o'clock in the morning, or something strange in the air, but all of a sudden it sounded like the best idea ever. They even convinced him to join. Next evening, they were on the road, with enough supplies of water, smokes, and music... it turned out to be the most wonderful trip ever.
They never imagined it would be such a magnificent place. Arizona certainly had the most beautiful skies she had ever seen, watching the sunrise on the Canyon was a once in a lifetime experience, and she remembered once again that spontaneousness creates the most memorable moments.
Desert View
View from Mather Point
Kaveh
Saba (photo by: Mayssam)Funny how dreams can be more powerful than the reality itself... how you create this perfect picture and never consider the possibility of it all being too good to be true. Then, just when you're reaching the best part... it hits you right in the face... hopefully you are wise enough to let go and move on... but, are you?
Read the rest...
I had a wonderful weekend (thanks to Ali) in New York... it was really what I had expected it to be... no disappointments. I think this is the only city I would willingly live in, if I had to leave Vancouver. 48 hours is hardly enough to see a city like New York but since most of our time was spent walking around, I at least got a feel of how life can be in NY city. What I loved the most were the narrow streets with red-brick houses and small stairways in Downtown Manhattan. Here are some pictures:
Downtown Manhattan's view from a ferry towards Staten Island.
Statue of Liberty's view from the same ferry! (I really didn't feel like getting any closer)
Central Park
view of a building from Park Avenue
A quiet street in Midtown Manhattan
A huge building on Broadway Avenue, right where it starts
Tall buildings in Downtown
So I'm in the East coast; nowhere else but the in the location of most of my favorite TV shows: New York City. So far I've only been to Metropolitan museum but liked everything I saw on the streets, hope it stays this way!
Will post some pictures later.
It's been very fun so far...heading out to the East Coast today... this vacation is turning out better than I had expected!
Finally, after 24 hours of sleeplessness and a few hours of waiting in different lines - including check-in, customs, immigration, and security - I've arrived in City of Angels. All you blogger and non-blogger friends nearby, I'd love to see you!
It's absolutely LOVELY here with real summer heat, a great change from Vancouver. Will write some more later (if I'm not too busy partying!)
"Later that night I got to thinking about safe s e x. Odd how only when our physical life is at risk do we follow certain guidelines to protect ourselves. But what about our emotional lives? Wouldn't it be nice if there was a little pamphlet to warn us what unsafe behavior might be high risk to ourselves or our relationships. And even if you take all the precautions and emotionally try to protect yourselves… When you crawl in bed with someone, is s e x ever safe?" - Carrie Bradshaw (from S e x and the city)
(And sorry about the deformed "S"-word, didn't want people finding this blog by Googling weird stuff; I'm getting enough of that, as is!)
What's better to do on a gloomy rainy day than to go watch LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE, a hilarious movie about a dysfunctional family on the road. I was laughing so hard during the movie I couldn't believe myself, and I wasn't the only one. Definitely, definitely watch it... it's got smart humor, great acting (especially the cute little girl), and even a valuable message behind it all!! What more can you ask for?
(I hope the producers don't mind me mix and matching their advertising posters!)
Tonight I watched Manderlay, the second movie from Lars von Trier's trilogy: USA- land of opportunities. It's similar- in making - to the first movie, Dogville, which I had watched a while ago. It's not as harsh though.
The movie is about the discrimination against the black people in the States. The director has a way of showing you the worst that human race is capable of; and you wonder at the end whether you'd do the same, if put in similar circumstances. I really liked the idea of just pretending that things exist (walls, doors, trees,...). The minimalistic set decoration (in both films) makes you more focused on what's going on with the characters. If you've watched Dogville and liked it, you'll most probably like this one too. You don't have to have watched Dogville though, the stories are totally independent.
Looks like some people are just not good enough to enter the Land of Freedom.
Read the rest...If they tour around the area you live in, don't miss it. It was awesome...
So I went and watched it. Didn't think I'd like it but I did! It was a very fun movie to watch, great Woody Allen moments, lots of Scarlett Johansson, and a reasonable amount of Hugh Jackman... basically, there was something in it for everyone! Go watch it, but don't expect a masterpiece.
My favorite quote of the movie is when Allen is trying to socialize with some people in a party; he starts asking people about their persuasion (persuasion meaning religion, of course) and then goes on to say : " I was born into the Hebrew persuasion, but soon I converted to narcissism".
Have you ever noticed how annoying Doctors' waiting rooms are? I mean does it bother you too, just sitting there looking at other sick people or noisy kids, or reading decade-old magazines and crappy news papers, or worst of all, listening to the music from the playlist-for-the-sick?
I spent 15 minutes waiting to see my family doctor today and now totally believe that they deliberately try to push you to your limits, just to see if you get a nervous breakdown or a seizure or something. Who here thinks that Pink's "let's get this party started" is a good song for such a place? is "you'll be kissing my a**" what we want our kids to associate with the doctor's office? but even if I try to ignore Pink, there's one song that I absolutely can not forgive them for playing. And that's no other than THE WORST SONG EVER MADE in the history of contemporary music: Girls just wanna have fun by Cindy Lauper!
Well, as stupid as its name is, I was surprised by this movie... it was a very well-made movie, super funny, with good acting (except the supporting role actress who was a tad disappointing). The whole movie is basically narrated, and it's just too funny... I resisted for the longest time and finally watched it last week and definitely recommend it to everyone. You're gonna get a good laugh out of it and you're gonna enjoy the cinematography and editing... the story is not the best, but the dialogues are awesome. Just thought it was disappointing how little publicity this movie has received.
We are the same height, have the same highlights, we borrow each other's clothes, we don't look like each other but somehow are similar. We go on the same diet, we overeat together. We go to school together, and party with the same people. We listen to the same music, and go to the same hairdresser. We travel. People think we're sisters... I think we're even closer.
You are a lot more than a roommate to me... you are my mom when I'm sick, my dad when I need protection, my sister when I need someone to confine in, my brother when I feel lonely... you've been my friend all along, you are what's left of my country for me, you're the closest thing I have to a home... Just like I hope to be all this for you.
So bear with me when I'm moody, when I need attention, when I'm sad, heartbroken, or tired. When I don't feel like talking, or when I talk too much. When I act weird or give you advice you haven't asked for. When I drag you to the movies, or want to stay home when you feel like going out. When I get cleany, or when I make a mess. When I become cold, irritating, or obnoxious.
Three years...It's not been easy, but we've grown up together. Sooner or later, we'll be going our own way, but I'm sure no one will understand what we've been through, except for us! So cheers to us, the coolest roommates on earth!
" Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow airport.
General opinion makes out that we live in a world of hatred and greed. I don't see that. Seems to me that love is everywhere. Often it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there. Fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends.
When the planes hit the Twin Towers, none of the phone calls from people on board were messages of hate or revenge, they were all messages of love.
lf you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find that love actually is all around."
From Love Actually
I always cry at the airport when I go back home.. I'm fine up until the moment I see my mom and then it just happens. No reason, no control. Today I just happened to remember the fact that I love airports... no matter if I'm leaving home, or going back, if I'm there to pick up friends, or to watch them leave through the gates. I just love airports.
We're leaving in a cruel world. Sometimes - like these days - you just see it more clearly... maybe we should all go walk around the arrival gates in a nearby airport... just to feel that love still exists. It does, right?
Sometimes I wonder if he really knows how I feel... I never told him, he never asked... we're just going along with it. Emoticons are not the best way to describe how one feels, are they?
Read the rest...1. ... I wake up in the morning and go to a CPR class at 9:00 a.m. (note: from now to 22 July 2009, you're allowed to choke on your food, have heart attacks, get beaten by snakes, and get unconcious for any other reason in my presence. because now I'm knowledgeable enough to call 911 and ask for help; honestly, the first three hours of the class was just to tell us how important it is to call 911 and how you should do it and what to say and stuff like that. They did teach us how to do CPR and rescue breathing though, so you're still safe.)
2. ... I leave the CPR class and go with my friends to rent a motor boat and ride around in it for two hours in the Pacific ocean, watch the seals sunbathe on rocks, and get back just in time to have a delicious fish and chips at the harbor.
3. ... After a long hot summer day, I end up watching "Paradise Now" with some friends and discuss politics till 1 in the morning.
4. ... I wake up super late on Sunday and still decide to go canoeing (yet again!) and have a wonderful time.
Yeah, I just had a perfect weekend (still a few more hours to go)!
The link to this website has been circulating a lot in the past few days, I can't comment on the reliability of the pictures, but even if one percent of it is truly happening, we can surely call it a disaster.
I'm also very interested to see where the States is going with arguments about Iran's involvement in the conflict. There has even been a meeting with a group of selected Iranians and the White House officials, probably to somehow justify a military action against Iran. I really have no idea where all this is going.
So my office-mate is back from Germany, where he had to attend his mom's funeral. We (people in our office) wanted to do something for him; so we bought a card and each wrote a few lines in it. We also decided to buy her flowers... or was it plants?
You see, two of us (including me) thought that you didn't want to get something that went on living for a long time, because it was always going to remind the poor guy of the tragic incident, while the flowers would die away. However, there was an opposing view in our office that thought plants were better.
This morning I walked in to say hi and talk to my office-mate... and he was very difficult to see behind the leaves of four big plants on his desk. It's done now and I think just showing that we cared was good enough, but still feel weird about having to see those plants everyday... would flowers have been a better choice?
I have mentioned on other occasions that I do not want to write about my political views here... I feel like to write about politics you have to know a lot more than I currently do... I did not want to act against my word, but sometimes enough is enough. And that's the case with my silence about Lebanon's situation.
Just looking at the pictures on news websites is painful... imagining that the same thing is very likely to happen to my homeland, for a similar pathetic excuse. I'm not saying that the lives of the two captive soldiers are not worth anything, but really, is it why Israel is attacking Lebanon and killing so many civilians? What is the ratio of the value of an Israeli soldier's life to a civilian Lebanese, 1/1000? I feel the word OVERREACT is not enough to express this situation.
Picture from BBC News
Looks like I'm getting a lot of people coming to this weblog using Google search for "Don't get mad, get even"... and that's because of this post. I guess what people are actually looking for is this new apparently-super-lame-movie called John Tucker must die. Well, I surely think they're better off just reading my post... but well, I can't really beat Hollywood in advertising, can I?
Feels strange... it always does at the beginnings... feels warm, just like friendships... feels mysterious, just like the future... feels painful, just like the distance in between.
Always surprising when it hits you... you remember all the familiar feelings, yet... it's not like anything you've ever experienced before.
I close my eyes and dive in, hoping for the best...
.. you hate the comment screening process that I added to my blog a while ago. You know, the one where you have to enter a series of stupid letters to prove you actually exist! Honestly, do they try and make it deliberately annoying or what? I just had to enter jnfkwsly or something like that to comment ON MY OWN POST! So maybe I should get rid of it?
Update: Ok, ok! I've dumped the word verification process. Sorry to have annoyed you all this time... but watch out, if you don't post at least a comment a day, I'll have to put it back!
There are good movies, and there are bad movies. In between, there are movies that you can't quite make your mind up about. They have something to say, they are not super badly made and the actors are not particularly horrible; yet you can't say you liked or hated them.
I watched Head in the clouds today. an "unclassified" movie in my opinion. It left me feeling sad... well, the cloudy weather didn't exactly help either, but anyway, I felt that it had a message, but couldn't say what it was... I'm sure some people will like it but it just lacks that something that makes movies memorable. Anyway, just thought I'd say something about it!
I lost my login and password like a year ago... and it didn't matter how much I tried to get them back from their "bad, bad server", as they put it, nothing would convince their system that I needed my password. Finally, following tons and tons of emails I sent them, and after being known as the most impolite among my friends for not answering any comments, invitations, and testimonies, they gave me my account back... just 20 minutes ago. I almost cried tears of joy... guess this just shows that there's still hope for us all, that prayers will be answered one day, and we'll be reunited with those we love in a warm, loving network... called Orkut.
- Ok now, time to go reject those friend requests I guess! ;)
Yeah baby! That's right... no other team but Italia!
Now all I have to say is to Zidane :" What are you?... a two-year old? "
Update: I just had to add Negar's drawing here... a very accurate picture of what happened, priceless!
...is my new addiction! It is a Japanese puzzle thingie that just won't leave you alone. You gotta have more... and more... and a little bit more... until you can't stand looking at numbers anymore.
I wasted two precious hours of my life last night to watch a movie that I basically hated... well, "hated" would be too strong, but still, you know what I mean. 
"Where the truth lies" is a film by the well-known Canadian director, Atom Egoyan, and is not at all what I had expected after "the sweet hereafter" - the only movie I had seen from him before. The movie tells the story of an "ambitious" journalist that wants to uncover a mystery from more than a decade ago. The mystery involves a dead girl and two showbiz stars of the time. I say "ambitious" because if you're willing to sleep with whoever comes your way - regardless of them being male or female - you look pretty damned ambitious to me! Don't get me wrong, I'm all for pushing the boundaries and showing whatever that helps the plot. But throwing in random threesome scenes in a movie just for the hell of it doesn't really impress me.
As if having Hollywood actors in a Canadian director's movie wasn't disgraceful enough!
Anyway, DO NOT WATCH this movie unless you have to write a school paper about it or something in that order, and even then, try to copy stuff from other reviews. It's two hours of your life you won't get back!
...well, think I need to admit openly that I am the worst football expert you've ever met in real or virtual universe... I was 100% sure that Brazil and Germany would make it to the final game and look what happened!?... I wanna say that Portugal is going to win over France and make it to the final, but since i actually like Portugal, I'm gonna remain silent and just hope nothing goes wrong!
UPdate: And yet another disappointment!
Note: here, the lowest point in the graph is basically just walking to the bus stop and back and the peak is doing canoeing, biking, hiking, and running in one week! Guess I am what you call "Jav Zade" in Farsi!
... so I watched the Germany-Argentina game this morning and let me say that it was totally unfair for Argentina to lose because of the penalties... they were so obviously stronger than Germans, but well, nothing you can do about that!
Anyway, I walk in to the office, all excited, and say to my German officemate:"Go Germany...!"
He looks at me without responding... but I keep on talking:" I watched the game today, it was so exciting!"... still silent... "so you're not into football?!" [oh, just shut up now, please!] ... he looks at me and goes:" well, I'm preoccupied... I'm flying back to Germany tonight." I realize that I have f***ed-up big time, but have to go on:"so...what happened? is something wrong?"..."well, my mom passed away last night."
if you hear me complain about stupid little things again, just shoot me.
INT-DINING ROOM-NIGHT [11:20 p.m.]
roommate 1: "so, let's go camping this long weekend!"
roommate 2:"yeah, that sounds great... let's check campsite availabilities!"
(9 minutes later)
roommate 2: "so Alice Lake is all booked too, let's try this Birkinhead lake..."
(1 minute later)
roommate 2 (reads from the computer screen): "this website undergoes maintenance from 11:30 p.m. to 3:30 a.m. Pacific time... F***"
...was one of the greatest so far, since like six months ago. I went biking on Saturday; the two beaches I went to were just packed with relatively good looking people! It was like one of those TV series with hot girls and guys running around in their swim suits! Anyway, the fun part was mostly the fact that I started biking again and hopefully I'll stick to it for the rest of the summer.
Sunday, I went to Pitt Meadows for canoeing with some friends... and had an awesome time there! It was my first time canoeing and I did not suck as badly as I thought I would! So yeah, that felt good. All on all, a wonderful weekend with lots of sun and absolutely no working!
Here are some pictures:
