10/21/2007

Friends

This is a video clip of our trip to Orange County to see Kiosk last weekend. It's called "Having a Biscuit in a Moving Car."

My birthday celebrations are officially over now. This is my last report about it and I promise you won't have to hear about it anymore for another year! My friends had me another birthday celebration today for lunch. It was such an elaborate and fabulous gathering, I was speechless! Wonderful food and a sweet sweet reception, filled with laughter and humor were the order of the day.

I reflect sometimes at the twists and turns my life has taken over the years. Though it has obviously been hard to move on and start all over again, I have left each phase with a heartful of irreplaceable friendships, and have entered another where new friends, as yet to-be-met, have been awaiting me. My young California internet friends have been such an important bridge into the new phase of my life over the past year. For a while, to express myself, I was writing but only for myself. Through their support I found the courage and confidence to share my writings with others and learned to communicate on this new medium, finding new friends and building meaningful relationships. They became my friends and my family all at once, each of us filling the gaps and voids of each other's lives. Their friendship has been invaluable in how I learned to cross the bridge of homesickness, loneliness, and occasional bereavement. Some of them are young enough to be my children, but our relationships are very mature and deep. We laugh a lot and cry a little sometimes when we are together. We talk about life and hurdles each of us has to overcome, and become deeply hopeful for the other's success and achievement.

I feel rich and deeply blessed in how good my life feels these days. A very important part of that life is the friends that surround me now. This is my thank you note to my friends, Leva and Vahid, Mehran, Payam, Reza, Roja and Hossein, Ehsan and Maryam, Omid, Helaleh, Marjan, Jahanshah and Nazy, and of course all the others who come visit me here, whether or not they leave me messages, making me feel a part of a very special circle in this world. Thank you all. You know, it's definitely easier to grow old with good friends!

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

The driver guy was the coolest one in your crew! lol!!!!!

jeerjeerak said...

Nazy Janam, it's indeed a blessing to have you as a friend. You have one of those kind hearts that are hard to find. May you celebrate your birthday among loved ones for many many years to come.

Once Again said...

Tavaledotoon mobarak. va hamishe hamintor ba jashnhaye moteaded va motevali :D

Daisy said...

Happy belated birthday Nazy jon,

I was very busy for a while and I couldn't come to visit you. I spent the last weekend with my family and the week before that with my sister in Seattle. When I came back to school, I realized that a pile of work was waiting for me. But now I am here and I want to wish you happy birthday. I wish you happiness and success in years to come. I wish all your wishes come true and I wish next year I get the chance to wish you happy birthday in person and be part of one of those awesome birthday parties you wrote about.

Hoping that you always write and I always read :)
A big hug

Anonymous said...

Dear nazy
it will be my honor and pleasure if I be considered one of your friends, you are real friend with a heart full of kindness and sympathy, God bless you nazy jan to be together many many your birthday parties.

p.s , Trip to O.C , it sounds lot of fun, I wish were with you, by the way, who are those handsome guys?
bayram

Anonymous said...

سلام عزیزم
تولدت خیلی مبارککککککککککککککککککک

100 سال به این سالها
برات آرزوی بهترین هارو دارم دوست ندیده عزیزم
مرضیه

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday Nazy jan, (sorry for my delay),I wish you hours, days, months & years full of happiness, joy and health.
Best wishes Nazy jan,
Pardis

Leva said...

Viva Los Mashangos!

Unknown said...

Dear Nazi,

Thank you for your sweet sweet comments.
You made another day of mine as u always do. THX

P.S: My birthday is November 04 and i'll be 27!

Anonymous said...

NAzy jonam, thank to you for being my friend. it was wonderful afternoon.
I love the video. who is that handsome guy smelling biscuites? say hi to him...

Chakameh Azimpour said...

Daer Nazy. Hi. Foremost thank you so much for your nice and lovely message. I was very much touched with what you said.
On my side, I don’t think I did some thing extra ordinary. I was just trying to respect you and your blog. I believe blog is a very personal matter. Even the fact that one put it online doesn’t make it public.
The reason I don’t leave comments is probably the fact that I always feel this person wrote this (post) in a special moment, when s/he was feeling about it. Even her/himself may doesn’t feel like that 10 min later. Furthermore, how can I say “Bah Bah, it was wonderful” or “Ooh Oh you don’t know what are you talking about????”, to a person I have no idea about his/her preferences, and I definitely don’t want to make him/her offended. But now, that I know you :-) I may leave comments regarding the points I may have something to talk about.
I wish I knew you more, then on your way back from Orange County you would stop by for a cup of Mint tea (Which is my favorite), or any other type of tea or coffee as you may like, and a realxing afternoon of the nice fall weather of Southern Califirnia. With a line or two of a favorite poem 
Me too, I write for myself. I didn’t even pass the address of my site to anybody. Sometimes, when I feel like saying something I write few lines to remember it in the future.
But then, sometimes it feels so good when I get a message from some friends who had goggled me on the net and came across my blog. I think the fact that I don’t have the Persian Keyboard and don’t write in Persian has a lot to do with my not being very active in writing.
Thanks again for your nice message.
P.S: I just realize it was your Birthday. Happy belated BD :-) With all the good wishes.

Nazy said...

Salam Vahid Jan. I am touched you came to visit me! Yes, the driver dude was something else! He was a very good driver and a very "saviz" guy. Do you know what that word means in Farsi? Saviz means khosh-akhlagh. Be good Vahid!

Nazy said...

Jeerjeerak Jan, you flatter me senseless! Thank you for your good wishes, and if I may say so, you aren't so bad yourself! It was good to hear your voice my friend. Have a safe journey over and enjoy yourself at the wedding. Take care Jeer!

Nazy said...

Dear Once Again:

Your visit has been a surprise through and through! A new visitor (or an old visitor who leaves a comment for the first time) is always a pleasure to receive! Your birthday wishes are kind and sweet. You are a blogger. You live in my area. AND you blog in English! How fascinating! I am pleasantly surprised indeed! I'm going to come visit your blog now, and you must make yourself known to us when we have gatherings in the area. So, I'm trying to figure out whether you are a man or a woman; not that it matters at all, but at least to put some attributes on you in my head! Thanks so much for this delightful surprise my friend. If you are ever planning on coming into Berkeley, do drop me a line and I would love to see you. Thanks again.

Nazy said...

Salam Bar Sweet Daisy: Welcome back! I hope your trips have been pleasant and full of love and warmth. Thank you also for your warm wishes. I will go to Toronto instead of Vancouver this time around. So, you will have to come to the Bay Area to visit with us if we are to meet soon. Be good bookwarm Daisy!

Nazy said...

Salam Bayram Jan: Thank you for your kind words. It was a pity you couldn't go on the trip to Orange County! We did have good company and many good memories were made. There was a very handsome man with us who wasn't caught on the video clip eating and smelling the cookies, like the others. He took your seat in my small car. Next time we will take you, too! Be happy funny Bayram.

Nazy said...

Marziyeh-e Azizam: Thank you very much for your kind wishes. Your visits always make me happy my dear. Come again.

Nazy said...

Salam Bar Pardis-e-Shirazi:

I have missed you! Thank you for your kind wishes. You must be so busy with your studies right now, but please do come and visit often, as your presence is always welcome. I have been back to read the Hafez poem you left me several times. Thank you.

Nazy said...

Viva Leva! Los Mashangos is a very good California name, indeed! Tea and Biscotti were devine. We'll do it again soon.

Nazy said...

MarYam Jan: Thank You! November 4th is a good day, indeed! I will be back from my trip by then and we will do some cyber stuff then! Twenty Seven is old enough to know how the world works, yet young enough to look forward to so many fabulous experiences to come! It is the perfect age if you ask me. Take care and be good MarYam Jan.

Nazy said...

Salam Bar Mehran:

Though the handsome man appears strange, in fact he isn't! The unnamed woman to my left handed him the plastic bag of biscuits, telling him: "Smell these, they smell so good," just before I started videotaping. So, the hapless guy starts by "viewing", "holding," and "smelling" them before he "eats" them! It is hilarious to watch without knowing the story! I will convey your good wishes to him.

It is an honor and a pleasure to have you as a friend, Mehran. Be good Your Majesty!

Nazy said...

Salam Chakameh Jan: Thank you for coming back. Thank you also for your birthday wishes. I wished we had known about you and we would have stopped by for that cup of tea and those few verses of poetry! We will do it next time. I hope your peaceful home is safe from the fires raging in Southern California. That is really scary to hear about and to watch on the news.

I think blogging is a lot more fun when there is an audience and they participate in the dialogue, whether or not they agree with my viewpoints. My blog is an extension of my home, like another room in my house, where I receive visitors! I really like having guests, whether or not they say anything. You are right, we do talk about our personal feelings sometimes, but even that, to the extent that I am willing to talk about some of my feelings publicly, is quite alright by me, and I don't mind it. If I hear back something, it delights me. If I don't, I keep on writing, because it is the writing that attaches me to cyberspace. Writing in English is challenging sometimes, especially when I want to talk about things extremely "Iranian" in nature, such as poetry, or memories. I brave it, though, as I keep an English blog to reach Iranians who can't read Farsi and Americans who want to know about Iranians. Though they seldom make an appearance in the comments section, they come and read and later correspond with me sometimes. That is fine with me, too.

I think I have stories left to tell. Until they are finished, I will write and blog. When I have no more stories to tell, I will go do something else to reach and touch people and be reached and touched by them.

I came and visited your blog. It is full of thought and feeling, and I enjoyed my visit. I will come again. I am honored you led me to your home. I hope to be a good guest and in time a good friend. Take care and come back soon.

Anonymous said...

متاسفم که بخاطر سرعت پایین اینترنت در اینجا این قطعه قابل دیدن نیست برای من

Nazy said...

Sorry to hear that Uni-Far! Of course you didn't miss much! My poor audience have to put up with my amateur attempts at "multi-media!" Thanks for coming.

Anonymous said...

:)