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Several people have sent messages asking about our writing policy and what they should write about.

There are just two basic requirements: That you can write well in English or Persian and that your piece is interesting, thoughtful and forward-looking.

I was looking at the readership stats for the second issue of The Iranian and I thought every Iranian who logged in from those 52 countries must have a story she or he has been waiting to tell (not yell).

New Zealand for instance. What on Earth are Iranians doing over there? Why would they even think of going there? What made them stay? Do they think about the Caspian Sea or the Persian Gulf every time they look out their beach-house window?

I must admit that I myself have always had a secret desire to live somewhere out in nowhere; quiet, luscious rolling forests, mild weather (not too much rain or sharji) and, certainly, delicious exotic seafood. Add a satellite dish, PowerMac and an Internet connection, and I would be in heaven. Oh! I forgot the collie.

Instead, I live in New York. And dream.

What are your reasons for being in New Zealand? Malta? Russia? Or Kismet, Fire Island? Or, dear me, Iceland? What's it like being an Iranian out there? Do you care at all? Why not?

Seriously folks, there are unlimited things to write about. Be imaginative. Think more about the present and the future rather than the past. For we Iranians, sometimes the present becomes meaningful only when it revolves around the dead and gone. Snap out of it. Please?

So, what would you like to talk about? Now that's a story!