Archive - 2007

The Tehrangelesazation of Brooklyn

East Tehrangeles. Not literally, of course. There aren't scores of 'Purshian' mafia running around with sharply gelled tips, fake boobs, and nose jobs. NOT YET. But I tell you, if the L.A. Persian hipsters ever find a way out of SoCal and get into tattoos, thrift shop chic, and adopting Asian babies, I think they would feel right at home in say, Park Slope or in the other colonized neighborhoods in BK. Why, you might ask. Because the kinds of people that have taken over Brooklyn's choice neighborhoods increasingly exhibit the same social ambitions and hang ups as my West Coast brethren. Smug sense of satisfaction with their zip codes? Check. Pride at being able to say they live in a particular neighborhood? Check>>>

Crocodile tears

On a short trip near Caspian Sea in 1979 I stopped at an art and craft store that mostly sold wooden bowls, straw hats and dried garlic on strings. But I also noticed an out of place object there; a stuffed body of a baby Persian tiger (Panthera tigris virgata) now completely extinct, thank god. The taxidermy job on the baby tiger was done so badly with pieces of fur missing and looked like a homeless outside McDonald's that have not had a shower for six years and of all things the baby tiger had a smile on his face!>>>

All men?

I appreciate and admire what Iranian.com is doing in creating an open community for Iranian writers to express and write their views without any censorship and so on. But there is a small something that stings me down below the times when I go to Iranian.com and read about women's rights in Iran and their hard fight for justice and natural given right to equality, and that is the little green texts over the headlines>>>

A Rose Is A Rose: A User By Any Name

How to choose a great username.>>>

Blogging On Iranian.com

Everything you need to know to post blog entries and maintain a blog on Iranian.com>>>

Why Register?

You can read Iranian.com without logging in. Why should you register and log in as a "registered user" on the site? >>>

Aghdass at impasse

Aghdass dragged her husband’s dead body out of the house, down the wet steps and into the snow-covered back courtyard. It was wrapped in blankets, stuffed in an army sleeping bag and bound around and around with ropes. The Tehran winter night was as cold as ice and Aghdass’s stomach was churning like a stormy sea.>>>

Humble fame

A couple of year have gone by since the The Kite Runner was published, but the book remains a best seller. Those of us who enjoyed Hosseini’s first novel have been eager to read his next book, while, film buffs look forward to the upcoming movie based on his first. >>>

Sir Zero

Rushdie ought to have the right to write and publish what he wants. Muslims ought to have the right to be offended and express themselves PEACEFULLY. However, the focus in the media at the time was Islamic extremism and issues of freedom of expression>>>

Time

Since I spoke English and my asylum was still in limbo, I was told by one of the embassy workers that I had a very good chance of migrating to Australia. Yet it was going to be months before any official answer came through. Meanwhile, all my daily routines were changing. I couldn't plan my day any more. Meeting people and talking to them, which used to be the bulk of my daily activity, was now on a great downward slope, for I no longer had the desire or the necessary skills to interact with people. Since many of my acquaintances knew where I lived and still came knocking on my door I changed my apartment. That, however, was only one reason to move. The other was the terrible things that happened in that place.>>>