Make sure you're eligible, gather all the documents, fill out the forms, and (this is very important) ACTUALLY SIGN THE FORMS, PLEASE!
This way, you can make sure you won't get all your documents back after three weeks just to add that stupid signature!
And they even gave me a Master's degree!
With the Chancellor on the right and the Professor with the big stick on the left!
Update: That big stick is actually the University Mace and the professor holding it is called the "macebearer"!
Update 2: I just found out that they made a stupid mistake and gave me a blue hood (Master of science) instead of a red one (Master of applied science)... I know it's a "small" detail, but hey, I only have one convocation!
Six Feet Under = Freak Show
Lovin' it so far! (half way through the first season)
So I went to see Googoosh last night... definitely worth the time and money. Although some said it wasn't as great as her other shows, it was more than what I had expected.
I'm not gonna bore you with the details of the show... those who know her can guess how it was and those who don't will not get an idea by just reading about it! but there's one thing I really need to say... going to this show last night made me realize what a hopeless nostalgic I am! Actually, almost everybody there was super nostalgic... why are we here if we miss Iran so much? Is this going to be my future? going to concerts and shows and singing about Iran, instead of living there and experiencing it in real life? It's sad, and probably true...
And it sucks!
... but why? why did IT have to end... and like this?... What will I do without you? my dear TV show, my precious LOST! I will think of you, day and night till September, when you return.
It's painful to even look at the cast photos... they're all so terribly hot... I'm gonna miss them!
Say: "I really like your new highlights, they are even better than your previous ones!"
DO NOT SAY: " I never liked your previous highlights but didn't say anything. This one's much better!"
... that's just wrong!
I finished reading Night, by Elie Wiesel, and I am impressed, and disgusted at the same time. He's a survivor of the Jewish concentration camps during WWII, and this book is the story of his survival.
You hear and read about all that Nazi regime did and you see all these movies and documentaries, but every time it has the same effect, at least for me. How could they be so blind and inhumane? Just look at the picture below! Wiesel is the 7th person from the left, on the second row. Do these people really look like people to you? they're nothing but bone and skin, with probably no soul too. How can you survive such horrendous conditions and still have a soul?
It's not a very long story, so I suggest you take the time and read it. The story was written in Yiddish and the new edition has been translated to English by Wiesel's wife. I felt that the writing style was not particularly great, but maybe it was because of what was lost in translation.
I have become a believer... Miracles can happen after all! After almost two days of mourning over my lost shirts (please understand that I'm a girl after all and shopping is my way of making life bearable) and coming to terms with the fact that they are nowhere to be found, Steve emailed and said that they're in his bag, in Bermuda of all places!!!! Can you imagine my relief and happiness?... Can't wait to get them back... So thanks for all the moral support, I think it was your positive energy that somehow made the universe change its ways!
(The picture is me in Terra Nostra store in Montreal, waiting for Steve to try out some stuff!)
So finally this morning I started packing my stuff to leave Montreal and go back to Vancouver. The trip had already been a bit stressful and I was looking forward to its end. But Being the super lucky girl that I am, while trying to get a pair of socks out of my packed suitcase, I realized it was locked and wasn't going to get opened easily... I thought to myself this was just one incident, it couldn't mean anything... so I checked out, left my stuff at the hotel lobby and went shopping, mind you, for the second time in 4 days! In less than 15 minutes I found that one of the straps of my handbag had become loose and was almost disconnected. It was my favorite hand bag by the way! Anyway, it took me only 1 hour to find a place to buy safety pins and temporarily fix the strap. Well, things started to look up after that... jumping from one shop to another... trying out shirts and pants and skirts... delightful! But no, it just wasn't my day... I got back to the hotel, got all my stuff back and got a cab... guess what I realized after checking in my suitcase... if your answer had anything to do with me somehow losing my precious shopping bag along the way, you were right! I lost FOUR cute shirts, with their tags still on, all at once!
Now try and tell me it's all coincidence!
...finally, after what seems to be the longest time, she came, my (and many other people's!)one and only Shabnam. Sometimes you don't miss people and things enough, because you can't remember how they were exactly... then when you see/have them again, you realize you didn't miss them nearly as much as you should have! That was the case with Shabnam; only she can turn the most ordinary stories to super fun memories that makes your eyes water from laughing hard. And only she can be so adorably forgetful and caring at the same time. It's absolutely great to have her in the same continent, let alone in the same province!
As excited as I was to see Shabnam, I had to take off to Montreal for a conference. Let me tell you something, whoever said Montreal was cold didn't know a thing... I'm sweating all over the place. The only semi-decent summer-ish shirt that I had brought got totally stinky today, so I had to go,and conveniently, buy a new shirt! That'll teach me a lesson to check the forecast before traveling! I've only seen Old Montreal so far, which BTW was awesome. I'll go around some more tomorrow and Thursday .
On a side-note, those of you who plan to travel light, DO NOT LEAVE YOUR SHAMPOOS AND BODY LOTIONS AT HOME just because you think they take up too much space and/or are too heavy. Right now, after using hotel's products, my hair is basically impossible to manage and my skin is as rough as that of an elephant! So much for me traveling light...
On another side note, it's hard to share a room with people who, at least occasionally, get on your nerve so badly that you want to just start shouting at them as loud as you can!
... and I keep singing it to myself. I don't know if you've ever listened to Fiona Apple's songs, but she's got this really strange quality in her voice and style of singing that gets into you (or me, at least!)
The song's called "paper bag" and starts like this:
I was staring at the sky, just looking for a star
To pray on, or wish on, or something like that
I was having a sweet fix of a daydream of a boy
Whose reality I knew, was a hopeless to be had...
And then goes on to:
...Hunger hurts, but starving works,
When it costs too much to love...
Anyway, should try to get it out of my head somehow; it's driving me nuts!
PS - not sure why I even posted this, it's just something that has been bugging me all day!
well, I just realized tonight, with the help of an observant friend, that I usually go out after 9:00 p.m. I mean it just happens that most of my plans somehow end up being late night plans! What do you think is going on? Have I indulged myself in the rotten Western culture or what?
Read the rest...Ok, so since some of you have shown interest in my drunken posts, here's one for you... except that I had my last drink more than two hours ago... so this might not be as interesting!
Following our unlucky chain of events, Nazi and I decided to do a magical trick (Jadoo va Jambal, if you will)... therefore, during an extremely superstitious act, we actually burned (or heated or whatever you may call it) some "Espand"! We did it the old fashioned way... circling it around our heads and moving it around the house and everything! Even our moms would be surprised. Don't judge us though, we'd never have done it if it wasn't for Nazi's injured knee... I mean, THAT was too much! I couldn't just sit there and wait for my hand to be cut off by some unfortunate accident now, could I? So yeah, I openly announce here that I am a "proud" superstitious after all, and so is my roommate, I guess!
Have you ever noticed how bad things happen all at once? So you know, by reading my previous post, that our toilet was clogged! Well, at exactly the same time we found out about that, our kitchen sink just happened to start leaking! While we were trying to call the manager and get someone to take a look at it - which BTW hasn't happened yet! - our kitchen lamps died on us, all of them! And last but not the least... our futon's wooden frame suddenly started to squeak. After careful inspections, I realized it was a loose screw and fixed it (or at least I think so!). Well, I think it's about time that our ceiling falls on us or something in that order!
Honestly, do you think we haven't been paying enough attention to our house? maybe it's feeling neglected and is trying to tell us something! Whatever it is dear house, we've heard it! You can stop what you're doing now...please?!
I watched Downfall (Der Untergang) last night. (spoiler notice: this post may reveal some points in the movie plot!) A movie about the final days of the Nazi regime in Germany. It was a bit disturbing, seeing how people can be blinded by ideas, which in Hitler's case turned out to be very wrong. A long movie, but far from boring. It was the first movie I had seen that showed a more human side of Adolf Hitler. It showed some of the people in his circle of friends that actually liked and admired the guy, even when he was extremely close to the end of his reign/life. Some of them turned to extreme solutions when they saw their ideal future (i.e. a Germany with National socialism) going down the drain... This one couple actually KILLED their own children, because a world without their ideals wasn't an appropriate place for kids to grow up in! How sick is that? All on all, It's definitely one of the best WWII movies I've ever watched, so give it a try if you're interested in the topic; you won't regret it.
Ok, obviously I don't have anything else to do, so I'm here to write about the new Pride and Prejudice - which I have just finished watching. This is a story that has been told/made-to-movie in every imaginable way and yet, surprisingly, I didn't get bored at all while watching the new remake! I think the director did a wonderful job in this new adaptation. Of course, as some reviews have mentioned, Elizabeth Bennet is too pretty to resemble the original character created by Austen herself; oh well, it's Hollywood after all! It just doesn't make sense when people keep talking about how beautiful Jane is ...you look at Kiera Knightly and are like: "what the ...?"... anyway, that aside, I thought it was a very good remake. The actor who played Mr. Darcy was indeed very agreeable! Beautiful country landscape and good music... Oh, yeah, and you know, there are these movies in which people keep making out and making love and stuff and try to convince you of the affection between the characters... and then, there are some other movies that will carry you till the very end only to find the main characters have their first/last kiss on the final scene. This was one of those movies... another one that I can remember was proof of life, which by the way was an interesting movie... I guess sometimes less can be more enjoyable!
1. Everybody has their own weird sense of humor; just accept it!
2. Today, this little girl on the bus - who thought I couldn't understand Farsi - told her mom "the lady who's sitting behind us is very pretty!"...yayyyyyy! a six year old thinks I'm pretty... making progress here!
3. I've totally lost my voice for no reason, sound like a Zombie right now!
4. The End.
I used to be a big fan of Judie Foster a few years ago... when she came back with Flight Plan last year, I was really disappointed I couldn't find a chance to watch it in a theater. However, after watching it last night, I'm kind of glad it didn't happen. It wasn't horribly bad, but still, it could be a lot better. I honestly didn't think that the final 3-4 minutes were really necessary and fading out into the white light was just too cheesy. Other than that, it was an ok movie and I think anyone can enjoy it as a rental DVD.
And while I was flying to Toronto last week, they actually showed "Memoirs of a Geisha" during the flight... I have to say I was impressed. I absolutely loved the movie and the soundtrack. It was a very well made movie. Apparently if you've read the book before, you might not enjoy it as much. I haven't read the book so I can't comment on that really. The acting was very good and the main actress was really really cute! 
I have also started reading "Freakonomics" for my book club this month and so far (midway through the second chapter) have liked it a lot. There has been a lot said about it recently and I always wondered what it could be. Apparently, it's a new way of looking at the "hidden side of everything" as the authors put it. It's not about economics, but more on how to use it to explore different aspects of day to day life. I'll let you know how it turns out to be when I'm done reading it.
It was a lovely day and I can't believe I had to stay at school for a stupid invigilation instead of joining my friends on a trip to Victoria! I spent the last five hours (of a Friday evening, by the way!) marking the final exams of an economics course! ...LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSEEEEER!
Got back today from Toronto... looks like I've had enough time to catch a cold after all.
I was really impressed when I first arrived at Toronto... huge highways and nice buildings in downtown area... however, it only took me a day to realize not everything is desirable about this city. People actually honked in the streets for no reason, something you almost NEVER see here in Vancouver. Asphalt on the street was all cracked and uneven, there was traffic on the highway on a long weekend, most trees had no leaves yet and the whole landscape looked kind of brownish...and driving... don't even get me started on it!... Toronto reminded me of Tehran in more than just one way.
You can not go to Toronto and not visit Niagara falls, so that's what I did... definitely an amazing experience... then, of course, was U of T that I just had to visit. A mix of new and old buildings in the middle of downtown Toronto... More importantly, I got to meet some friends I hadn't seen in a couple of years.
hmmm, oh yeah... another cool experience in Toronto: after a night of wondering around the city streets, my friends and I went to "Darband" restaurant and had "KALE-PACHE"!!!!!!! DELICIOUS!
However, as lively and interesting this city is, right now I just can't choose Toronto over Vancouver... but if there was a situation where I had to move, I'd be happy to go there for sure.
