Bio
assal_b@hotmail.com

They OWE us
Mahdavikia will have to play extra hard during the World Cup
Aptil 15, 2006

Put a stop to it
Not me: I choose not to be that quiet American that the powers that be bet on us being
November 7, 2004

Poem to my beloved
May 10, 2004

Put a stop to it
15 years after the Irann-Iraq war, I have drunk the sweet elixir of forgiveness
October 8, 2003

Losing wisdom
A dental moment
August 1, 2003

In their honor
Join me in support of Iran's brave students!
July 3, 2003

Kiss
With the gentleness of a freight train
June 26, 2003

The house of broken memories
Four walls, inside which every night had been filled with food, laughter, and good company
May 10, 2003

Bye bye Berkeley
UCLA should be a blast
May 5, 2003

Veshkoon
If only for today I would remove my mask and shout
April 17, 2003

Who will remember us?
My generation
March 17, 2003

Discretion
I see every emotion and memory he hides so well
February 11, 2003

Oppressed once more
America will not repeat its past mistakes. I will make sure of it
December 19, 2002

Apple pie
Mohammad to Mike
December 12, 2002

For the United Nations
Poem
November 20, 2002

Full circle
We tumble around and around
October 15, 2002

Nesfe jahan away
She is leaving us, laying in that hospital bed, half the world away
September 16, 2002

The same wish
How children feel about events of twenty-plus years ago
August 8, 200

Love Live Iranian TV!
We should not always strive to bitch and scream about our own pop culture
June 18, 2002

Count your blessings
This small world is in a lot of pain
June 7, 2002

Nothing to lose
Hoping this Cup will be that of the Third World and the underdog
June 3, 2002

Help you hamvatan
Can you spare a couple of thousand?
May 7, 2002

Javad 101
You need to learn Street Farsi to make it
May 2002

No refunds
I want an arranged marriage
April 2002

Pay it forward
Making the world a better place, Iranian style
April 2002

Magical mystery man
Thank you! You are not hypocritical or condescending
December 2001



Bio

Writing your own biography is an extremely difficult thing to do. I guess I could start out by telling you the basics: Born in 1983 in the birthplace of the American Hippie Movement (Berkeley), I am an only child who never once was labeled as being spoiled (Except by those who send me mean replies to my articles!).

Growing up in America is tough for many Iranian teenagers. They lose themselves too quickly in this land of conformity. They forget their roots; the importance of afternoon tea with their grandparents, the soul cleansing that can arise out of the reciting of a good Persian love poem, the smell of esfand being carried above your head. I have not forgotten these things.

I pride myself above all else upon the fact that I speak Farsi, I can read it and write it, I can appreciate it. Of all the beautiful places in this world that I have ever visited, it is the warm summer nights by the Caspian Sea that make me cry when I think of them. Iran has many problems, and so do Iranians, and so do I. I hope one day I can write in an updated biography of mine that at age whatever I moved back to a free and happy Iran to live happily ever after.

I wish I could tell you more about myself, but I think that you can tell all you need to know about a person by paying attention to what they are trying to say behind their writing. So keep reading my sar-dard-avar stories and please do reply, whether you agree with me or not, because your replies are like soul food to an aspiring writer... To top