Statement by a group of Iranian bloggers about the Presidential elections and the subsequent events

۱) ما، گروهی از وبلاگ‌نویسان ایرانی، برخوردهای خشونت‌آمیز و سرکوب‌گرانه‌ی حکومت ایران در مواجهه با راه‌پیمایی‌ها و گردهم‌آیی‌های مسالمت‌آمیز و به‌حق مردم ایران را به شدت محکوم می‌کنیم و از مقامات و مسوولان حکومتی می‌خواهیم تا اصل ۲۷ قانون اساسی جمهوری اسلامی ایران را -که بیان می‌دارد «تشكيل‏ اجتماعات‏ و راه‌ پيمايی‌ها، بدون‏ حمل‏ سلاح‏، به‏ شرط آن‏‌که‏ مخل‏ به‏ مبانی‏ اسلام‏ نباشد، آزاد است» رعایت کنند.

۲) ما قانون‌ شکنی‌های پیش‌آمده در انتخابات ریاست جمهوری و وقایع غم‌انگیز پس از آن را آفتی بزرگ بر جمهوریت نظام می‌دانیم و با توجه به شواهد و دلایل متعددی که برخی از نامزدهای محترم و دیگران ارائه داده‌اند، تخلف‌های عمده و بی‌سابقه‌ی انتخاباتی را محرز دانسته، خواستار ابطال نتایج و برگزاری‌ی مجدد انتخابات هستیم.

۳) حرکت‌هایی چون اخراج خبرنگاران خارجی و دستگیری روزنامه‌نگاران داخلی، سانسور اخبار و وارونه جلوه دادن آن‌ها، قطع شبکه‌ی پیام کوتاه و فیلترینگ شدید اینترنت نمی‌تواند صدای مردم ایران را خاموش کند که تاریکی و خفقان ابدی نخواهد بود. ما حکومت ایران را به شفافیت و تعامل دوستانه با مردم آن سرزمین دعوت کرده، امید داریم در آینده شکاف عظیم بین مردم و حکومت کم‌تر شود.

پنجم تیرماه ۱۳۸۸ خورشیدی

بخشی از جامعه‌ی بزرگ وبلاگ‌نویسان ایرانی

Statement by a group of Iranian bloggers about the Presidential elections and the subsequent events:

1) We, a group of Iranian bloggers, strongly condemn the violent and repressive confrontation of Iranian government against Iranian people's legitimate and peaceful demonstrations and ask government officials to comply with Article 27 of the Islamic Republic of Iran's Constitution which emphasizes "Public gatherings and marches may be freely held, provided arms are not carried and that they are not detrimental to the fundamental principles of Islam."

2) We consider the violations in the presidential elections, and their sad consequences a big blow to the democratic principles of the Islamic Republic regime, and observing the mounting evidence of fraud presented by the candidates and others, we believe that election fraud is obvious and we ask for a new election.

3) Actions such as deporting foreign reporters, arresting local journalists, censorship of the news and misrepresenting the facts, cutting off the SMS network and filtering of the internet cannot silence the voices of Iranian people as no darkness and suffocation can go on forever. We invite the Iranian government to honest and friendly interaction with its people and we hope to witness the narrowing of the huge gap between people and the government.

A part of the large community of Iranian bloggers

June 26, 2009

For Hossein Derakhshan

Following is an open letter in protest of circumstances surrounding the arrest of Hossein Derakhshan, an Iranian blogger who has been detained in Tehran for over a month now. If you wish, please publish it in your blogs and leave your name in the comments section. I will pass it along to be added to the list of those who have signed it. Thank you.

We, the undersigned, view the circumstances surrounding the Iranian authorities' arrest of Hossein Derakhshan (hoder.com), one of the most prominent Iranian bloggers, as extremely worrying. Derakhshan's disappearance, detention at an unknown location, lack of access to his family and attorneys, and the authorities' failure to provide clear information about his potential charges is a source of concern for us.

The Iranian blogging community is one of the largest and most vibrant in the world. From ordinary citizens to the President, a diverse and large number of Iranians are engaged in blogging. These bloggers encompass a wide spectrum of views and perspectives, and they play a vital role in open discussions of social, cultural and political affairs.

Unfortunately, in recent years, numerous websites and blogs have been routinely blocked by the authorities, and some bloggers have been harassed or detained. Derakhshan's detention is but the latest episode in this ongoing saga and is being viewed as an attempt to silence and intimidate the blogging community as a whole.

Derakhshan's own position regarding a number of prisoners of conscience in Iran has been a source of contention among the blogging community and has caused many to distance themselves from him. This, however, doesn't change the fact that the freedom of expression is sacred for all not just the ones with whom we agree.

We therefore categorically condemn the circumstances sourrounding Derakhshan's arrest and detention and demand his immediate release.

ما امضا کنندگان ذیل، شرایط دستگیری حسین درخشان، یکی از سرشناس ترین بلاگرهای ایرانی، توسط مقامات ایران را به شدت نگران کننده می دانیم. ناپدید شدن، حبس در مکانی مجهول، عدم دسترسی به اعضای خانواده و وکلای مدافع، و اعلام نکردن اطلاعات شفاف در خصوص موارد اتهام احتمالی نامبرده همگی باعث نگرانی ما ست.

جامعه وبلاگ نویسان ایران یکی از فعال ترین و بزرگترین جوامع اینترنتی جهان است. از شهروندان معمولی تا رییس جمهور ایران، بسیاری به امر نوشتن در وبلاگهای مختلف مشغول اند. این وبلاگ نویسان دارای طیف وسیعی از عقاید و آرا هستند و نقش مهمی در

مباحث اجتماعی، فرهنگی، و سیاسی ایفا می کنند.

متاسفانه ظرف سالهای اخیر، وبسایت ها و وبلاگهای متعددی به صورت منظم توسط مقامات ایران فیلتر شده و شماری از وبلاگ نویسان با آزار و حبس روبرو شده اند. بازداشت حسین درخشان تنها آخرین نمونه از این نوع برخوردها ست و به نظر می آید این اقدام در راستای ایجاد رعب و واداشتن وبلاگ نویسان به سکوت طراحی شده است.

مواضع حسین درخشان در خصوص تعدادی از کسانی که بدلیل عقایدشان زندانی شده اند باعث رنجش جامعه وبلاگ نویسان ایرانی بوده و همین موجب شده بسیاری از آنان از وی دوری بجویند. با اینهمه، این موضوع این حقیقت را نفی نمی کند که آزادی بیان حقی مقدس است و باید برای همه در نظر گرفته شود، نه فقط کسانی که با آنها موافقیم.

بنابرین، ما از این منظر، به طور اصولی شرایط دستگیری و بازداشت حسین درخشان را محکوم می کنیم و خواهان آزادی فوری او هستیم.

Arash Abadpourhttp://kamangir.net/

Niki Akhavanhttp://benevis-dige.blogspot.com/

Hossein Bagher Zadehhttp://www.iranian.com/bagherzadeh

Sanam Dolatshahihttp://www.khorshidkhanoom.com/

Mehdi Jamihttp://sibestaan.malakut.org/

Jahanshah Javidhttp://www.iranian.com/

Abdee Kalantarihttp://www.nilgoon.org/

Sheema Kalbasihttp://www.zaneirani.blogspot.com/

Nazli Kamvarihttp://sibiltala.blogspot.com/

Nazy Kavianihttp://nazykaviani.blogspot.com/

Peyvand Khorsandihttp://soulbean.wordpress.com/

Nikahang Kowsarhttp://nikahang.blogspot.com/

Omid Memarianhttp://omidmemarian.blogspot.com/

Pedram Moallemianhttp://www.eyeranian.net/

Ali Moayedianhttp://payvand.com/

Ebrahim Nabavihttp://www.doomdam.com/

Masoome Naseri http://www.mimnoon.com/

Sharnush Parsipur www.shahrnushparsipur.com/index.htm

Khodadad Rezakhanihttp://www.vishistorica.com/

Leva Zandhttp://balootak.com/

New Names added:

Adam-e Golabihttp://measer-pear.blogspot.com/

Mehrdad Aref-Adibhttp://www.aref-adib.com

Bamdad Iranihttp://bamdadi.com/

Darius Kadivarhttp://www.iranian.com/main/blog/darius-kadivar

Haji Kensingtonhttp://www.mibibi.com/

Yaser Kerachianhttp://vahid.blogspot.com

Foaad Khosmoodhttp://www.iranian.com/main/blog/foaad-khosmood

Mehran Mehrafshanhttp://xseer.com/

Seraj Mirdamadihttp://www.roozneveshtha.com/

Hadi Naserihttp://hadinaseri.blogfa.com/

Kaveh Nouraee http://www.iranian.com/main/blog/kaveh-nouraee

Shahrnush Parsipurhttp://www.shahrnushparsipur.com/

Cyrus Shahidihttp://andishehblog.wordpress.com/

Sameddin Ziaeehttp://sameddin-ziaee.blogspot.com/

Majid Zoharihttp://www.majidzohari.com/

The Loving Snow-woman

My blogger friend, sweet Robert in Germany had promised to share a picture of his snowman in the house of his childhood when it snowed this year. He has made his snowman and has kindly shared its photo with us. Here it is! The surprising twist is that it is a sassy-looking snow-WOMAN! I love the smile and the arms raised in preparation for a hug! Her hair is awesome, too! What a great way to start a day. Absolutely lovely. Thank you Robert! Have a beautiful day everybody and stay warm!

P.S. I fixed the link on the videoclip on yesterday's post. Do take a look. It's one of the funniest things I have ever seen on YouTube!

Friends All Around

Camera time, everybody! So, here's my young, old friend, sweet Assal. I have known her since the day she was born in Berkeley. She is beautiful, kind, considerate, and generous of the heart. She is also a very good writer, a poet, and a very funny girl all around. She has taught me so much. Many of you know her from her kind and insightful comments in my blogs. I saw her and her beautiful mother, Sheida, at a baby shower this past Saturday. We had a grand old time! I was walking fast down the street yesterday afternoon to run an errand and return to work. I heard someone say "Salam" in Farsi. I turned around. A young man was looking at me. I had never met him before. He said: "Shoma Nazy Kaviani hasteed?" (Are you Nazy Kaviani?). Perplexed, I said "Yes." He introduced himself as Mehdi, a young graduate student in Electrical Engineering at Berkeley. How the heck did he recognize me?!! He said he reads my blogs! Can you imagine the surprise?!! Of course such meetings had happened to me before, but usually at functions and lectures and such, never when I was running down the street like a lunatic! Of course, the minute I got over my surprise, I had to pull my camera out and snap a photo of my brand new friend, Mehdi. Here we are everybody, meet Mehdi. Hint: he must be super smart to be going to Berkeley! And so, I went to my last Persian Literature class of this summer last night. It's always wonderful when July rolls in and I am treated to Dr. Zari Taheri's classes. And it's always sad when the classes end. I love this highly educated and most wonderful human being, my teacher. I'm going to miss her so much. She says she has to stay in Japan for two more years to work on a very special Persian literature research project. Bad for us and good for the Japanese! And speaking of Dr. Taheri's class, I took my friend, Marjan, to last week's class with me. Marjan is a brilliant young blogger who used to live in Southern California. She has just moved up here to attend UC Davis this Fall. She is travelling now. I hope she has a good time wherever she is. So, that was all I could fit in one post! I have some other pictures to share with you, but they will need their own separate posts. I hope you all have a great Friday. I'll write again tomorrow.

P.S. I have started replying to some of your kind comments. I hope I can go back to my routine. I miss it too much!

The Impending Flight

Faranak Ravon discovered these doves nesting in her backyard in Northern California. See more here. From Iranian.com, June 2, 2008.

And so, though it won't be for several more weeks, I am starting to feel the emotions related to my son's leaving the nest. The only saving grace of how low I feel whenever I think about his departure is how excited he is! That's a very good thing, indeed.

My very good friend, Alef Shin, has written a beautiful poem in his latest blog. He has kindly and generously dedicated this gorgeous poem to me. Please go read it and see for yourselves how beautiful it is. In a few days it will be a year since I "met" Alef Shin in cyberspace on Tameshk's blogs. It has been a year full of friendship, kindness, wisdom, and learning from him and his gifted students, the Universal Dimension. They are one of the reasons blogging has been so important to me, for the chance it has offered me to learn from some of the best young minds of Iran from Iran. I do love that bunch a lot!

Have a good Thursday you all.

Saturday's Funeral, Tea Party, and Thoughts

Tea and chocolate with Omid and Helaleh this evening. Photo of a sign inside Alegio Chocolates of Berkeley.

I went to a funeral today. It was a very peaceful and loving gathering to bury my friend Parisa's father. I don't know a better Moslem than Parisa. In her lifestyle and thinking, she has truly surrendered to God's will, which is what a Moslem is supposed to do, I guess. When I see her, I always wonder what those other people who claim to be Moslems are talking about when they hate and kill. The circle of people who loved Parisa's father made the gathering one of peaceful reflection and joy of togetherness. For some reason, I didn't cry, though I'm prone to downpours in funerals. I think I may know why, though.

This week I have been driving a rental car, as my car was totalled in the accident. When I got in the car to drive to work on Wednesday, I found a yellow post-it note on the CD player. It was a note from my younger son. It simply said: "For you, Mom." I listened to the CD which started with Boston's More Than A Feeling, followed by many other tracks of music I love and listen to periodically. My son must have spent a long time finding those songs and compiling the CD for me, all of his own accord. My eyes filled with the tears that had been threatening for days, and which I had blinked away in my effort to cope with the incidents that have been occupying my mind recently. In all of the released emotions caused by the music and my son's gesture, I felt so liberated and peaceful to know that even when he appears so aloof and devil-may-care, there is someone in my life who knows me so very well and who cares a great deal about me and my happiness. True, I'm sure he didn't want his gift to make me cry, but sometimes tears liberate us of feelings which must be released before we can feel peaceful again.

So, there you have it--the woman who cries her makeup down on her way to work, but can't cry at a funeral, because these days, my tears are all for love and none for sadness. Yes, I cry, a lot! But more and more for the beauties of life. And life is beautiful.

Here and Now and This

Surprise lunch with sweet Leva today.

It's Friday. My children's father is visiting them in this area this weekend, so they have gone out to dinner with him. Iden is also spending his Friday night with his girlfriend, so I have the house all to myself again, enjoying writing and listening to music.* So, I have tried hard to ignore the pains and aches which have followed my car accident, but it seems a bit easier said than done! All this week, I have gone around thanking God for his mercy and kindness on me and others involved in that accident. I have talked to many of my friends and family members this week, and feel really good in the knowledge that I am surrounded by the love and affection of many people from different walks of life. One conversation with my friend at work, Ada, has been the most poignant one of the week for me. Ada was telling me about taking care of her ailing mother. I asked her whether she thinks life's glass is half full or half empty? She said "half full." She then asked me what I think about life's glass? I was surprised to find that I had to think about that question! I finally said I believe that life's glass is all full, without any room for speculation about what may not be in it. Here and now and this is what life is about, not there and then and that. It was good to see Ada smile after many months of seeing sadness in her face.

I wish you all a very happy and loving weekend. Life is too short, you guys! Spend it living, learning, loving, and laughing. Don't give in to doubts and worries--go forward sure-footed and decided on enjoying every moment of it. Go looking for opportunities which would make you happier, leaving the ones that drag you down behind. When you are strong you can help others, too. That's what I will be doing this weekend. I will be working on organizing myself, prioritizing my needs and goals. I will be sure to remember one thing as I do a house cleaning in my head--all the love around me stays and everything else goes! I'll tell you more about this soon. Have a good weekend y'all!

*Hey, Jude, don't make it bad/ Take a sad song and make it better/ Remember to let her into your heart/ Then you can start to make it better...(Hey Jude by Beatles)

For Serendip

A saffron flower grows in the beautiful soil of Khorasan, Iran. Photo by Khashayar Dabestani, Iranian.com.

And so, she is back! My fabulous friend, Serendip, is back! Those of you who have been reading me longer, know that since April of last year, Serendip used to come and visit me frequently. Of course I love all my readers and I am always delighted to hear from any of them. Serendip, however, is unique in many ways. She was one of the very first visitors I ever had in my blogs, after my blogger friends in the area and Tameshk. She came and always left the most insightful comments for me. She is a highly-educated woman, a scientist, who has love and passion about poetry, music, spirituality, and politics, among other things. Every comment she ever left for me had a lesson of love and compassion in it. Serendip has a mostly political weblog. She keeps abreast of developing news and has her very distinct political views. Where she and I meet, however, there is little politics. We meet and greet each other in that beautiful vast land of humanity, where we talk about love, compassion, the arts, and anything beautiful. When Shobeir had first started visiting me, one day he wrote a comment for Serendip in which he said: "Your blogs are so serious and so cold (referring to the news pieces Serendip posts), but when I see you here, you are a poet, so warm!" Such has been our friendship, full of warmth and human poetry.

Serendip took a hiatus for a few months to be with her loving family. I am so delighted to see her back! Today I received my third message from her in one week, so I know she is back for sure, my refined, artistic, and articulate friend. It wouldn't have done to have welcomed her back in the comments section. I have missed her so much, I had to write her her very own post. Welcome back Serendip! Please stay this time. My older readers have asked after you, wondering what may have happened to keep you away from these parts. I explained to them that this was temporary. I'm glad you're back, my beautiful, unmet friend.

That Love Seems Easy At First

In Zanjan's Sahrain Wildlife Sancturay, a park ranger offers a suger cube (so Iranian!) to a squirrel, February 2008.

I started replying to your kind comments and got most of them done, but not all. I was tired and decided to stop and come back when I can do a good job of this, the best part of blogging in my opinion. It has been a crazy week for me, full of commitments and running around, feeling stressed for looming deadines. It looks like I am almost caught up with most of my commitments. I am exhausted and in need of some solid sleep. I will make another post later in the day.

My friend, Mina, of IranWrites, who is a very sensitive and articulate writer, has written a beautiful post about her pets, three dogs, which is really sweet to read. She has also generously dedicated that post to me. I feel honored. I have had many pets in my life, but I will never forget my sweet dog, Gorgi, and my beautiful cat, Oscar (his Iranian name is Asghar). When I moved to US two years ago, I had to leave my cat with a kind man in Karaj who has been taking care of him since. Animals bring joy and love to our lives, and become our families. I think Mina's description of her special relationship with her dogs is indicative of just how important animals can become in our lives. I found it touching that among the many political and literary reviews Mina writes, she wrote a very personal post about her pets. If you can find the time, go take a look and read her piece. The woman knows how to write! I thoroughly enjoyed reading about her dogs, bill clinton, Mercutio, and Ginger.

IranWrites

I would like to tell you about my friend, Mina, and her weblog named IranWrites, which she keeps in English. Mina is one of the most intelligent, articulate, and compassionate people I have come across in cyberspace. She is a scholar, an author, and an activist. I came to know her when I was researching a piece I was writing about Shahrokh Moshkin Ghalam, the Iranian choreographer and dancer, last year. Reading her observations and insight about that subject and any other subject she chooses, compared to my often superficial look at my subjects, embarrasses me a little actually! She zeroes in on her subjects and goes deep and wide to look at them, giving her readers immense satisfaction in seeing the issue from several angles. She writes simply and passionately, and reading her is very easy. Mina writes book reviews, political analyses, and her general observations as an Iranian who emigrated to US 35 years ago. Please go visit Mina's weblog and read her for yourself. In reading the collection of thoughts, analysis, and observations that make up her blogs, I am proud of her as a very responsible individual and an exemplary Iranian-American.

بایرامعـلی تقدیم می کند

Those of you who are regular visitors to my weblog know that I have a good friend named Bayramali. He is a blogger who specializes in arts, nostalgia, and humor. He is an extremely funny young man who brims with intelligence, knowledge, and joy of life. We met last year and our friendship has been a constant source of joy for me. Along with several other young bloggers who live in this area, Bayram is my friend and my family now. Leva kiddingly says that she is always surprised to read my comments in Bayramali's weblog, because in his comments section, she believes, I turn into an entirely different person, funny and witty! Ha Ha, that statement cracks me up every time! The reason is, I believe, that Bayramali affects me that way, and if I am funny and witty in his space, it's a direct result of that which he gives to all who go and visit him.

Deutsche Welle has recently interviewed Bayramali, and you can read that piece here. The interviewer is obviously smitten with Bayram's brand of humor, especially when he does his music reviews which could be endlessly funny. She has featured one of his "music interpretations," in which he reviews Kamran and Hooman's song, Oon ba man. You can read that post here, and listen to him deliver the review in his own words here. No written document, no blog entry, and no interview, however, can show the true and deep essence of the man that Bayram is. He is unique and special and positive and loving to all, and you would have to know him to know what I am saying.

Snow in Tehran

I should have gone to bed a long time ago, but Halat also sent me this video clip which she took of snow on Tehran's Mirdamad Boulevard, as she and her father were driving to work this morning. I thought I would share it with you. It was fun to see my beautiful Tehran again. Well, it's beautiful to me. Thank you Halat Jan. Goodnight.

Warm Thoughts on A Winter Night

A Tehran street vendor's tray of piping hot red beets (laboo), January 1, 2007. Photo by Halat.

On my request, my wonderful reader, Halat, who is a blogger and an artist in Tehran has taken this photograph for me. Isn't it just beautiful? I cannot think about Tehran winters without remembering the look, the aroma, and the taste of laboo on street corners. Simply gorgeous! Thank you very much to Halat who is unique and is not at all Yeki mese hameh!

So, this was the last day of my winter break. I must return to work tomorrow and start on a few of those wishes and resolutions I shared with you yesterday. I will again have less time to spend on blogging, and you'll be somewhat rid of me, though not entirely! It has been a very exciting and relaxing couple of weeks, spent with family and friends both online and in real life, proving how the line in between the two lives becomes invisible at times. I took part in many gatherings and a wedding as you know. Warm memories of these days will be with me for the cold months ahead. I'm not sure I'm ready to go back (postham bad joori baad khordeh!), but I must try. Thank you all for being such good and generous readers, keeping me company through this holiday season with Yalda, Christmas, and New Year celebrations. Be good y'all.

Opening My Presents

Christmas in Tehran, BBC Persian, December 24, 2007

Just as I open my Christmas presents, I am opening another present, one which I have had for several months now. On my birthday in October, my blogger friends Leva, Mehran, and Bayramali gave me a very special present. It was my very own weblog, with a dot com address! As you can see, though I was and continue to be deeply touched with their generosity and thoughtfulness, I am still trying to figure out how to use this new software, which is a lot more challenging than blogspot for me. My wonderful friends had their super-smart friend, Hamid Reza in Tehran, design the website for me. It is beautiful, though not completely finished yet. It will have music capabilities by the time it is ready, blogrolling to manage my growing circle of blogger friends, and will enable me to post interesting links. Leva, Mehran, and Hamid Reza will be teaching me how to use my weblog this coming weekend (good luck to them!), so that I'm able to switch sometime in January. I would like to invite you to go take a look and tell me what you think. Please don't change my address on your blogs and bookmarks yet. I will let you know when I'm ready to switch. Here's the address: http://nazykaviani.com/ . Will you come back and tell me what you think? Thanks a million.

Ala Hazrat Haj Agha

Deutsche Welle Radio (Radio Sedaye Alman) has interviewed Ala Hazrat Haj Agha. You can read the interview and listent to it here.

This might be a good post to talk about another related topic. I know some of you have been curious about my unlikely friendship with a group of young Iranian bloggers in this area. Here's the simple story of the way that friendship began. I went to a panel discussion about Iranian bloggers at Stanford University last February. In transition from another life into a new one, I had created my weblog in December 2006, and had been writing in it, but I hadn't given its address to anyone. I went there to find some answers to my questions, but was too shy to ask my questions! The panel consisted of Mehran, Leva, Omid, and Mehdi. Omid was already my friend, but I had never met or known about the other panelists or their blogs. Unbeknownst to me, there were others in that room whom I also did not know, but who would become my friends a little later, such as this fine gentleman. I left the gathering that day, having briefly chatted with the panelists (enough for them to remember me later, I guess!). Anyhow, our friendship started on that day, and I started sending Mehran my writings. He was full of kindness and support for me and eventually, with his and Leva's cajoling and encouragement, I gave them my blog address on their birthday in March (the two of them share the same birthday, would you believe?), they publicized it, and I went from a "blogger makhfi" to a public blogger. Mehran left me my very first comment on this blog. His blogger personality, Ala Hazrat Haj Agha, "A king without a throne and a Haji without a prayer," is a wonderful character, a funny, joyful and happy soul, and a man full of hope, optimism, and love for others. His real character, Mehran of Kerman and Tehran and Kermanshah and Rome and Fresno and San Francisco, I'll have you know, is even better than His Majesty. This one's throne and crown and prayer is his heart of gold.

Breaking Barbari Bread*

I went to Ehsan and Maryam's house for dinner last night. They had invited us a while back and I had been looking forward to going to their home. Leva and Vahid came and took me there. I was not a very good guest, I'm afraid, as I was talking to my son on the phone all night, helping him to submit his university application by midnight last night. My hosts and their other guests were understanding and gracious, but it didn't feel right. The young Iranian couple had such a lovely and warm home, and were so good to us. I know I promised not to post food pictures for a while, but this couldn't be helped, as I saw food items at their house I hadn't had in years! First, take a look at these amazing home-made barbari's! Ehsan made them himself! They were fresh out of the oven when we got there! It took Ehsan 2 days to make these barbarai's and Bayramali, Leva, Vahid, and I ate them all in about five minutes!

Maybe eating those Barbari's so quickly was a mistake, because the spread Maryam had prepared was out of this world, we would soon find out. Ehsan had also helped by making a Southern Iran favorite, ghelyeh-mahi. Just look at this:

Can you see the koofteh, khorak-e-zaboon, zershk-polo-ba morgh, sabzi polo, tahdig, and gheliyeh-mahi? It was out of this world!

And this is my first helping, with more to follow! Please note that home-made baby bademjoon torshi, shoor, salad shirazi, and tahdig next to my gorgeous koofteh! Outdone, absolutely!

Once we ate the fabulous food and the phone calls stopped (yes, he is done for now, so we wait and see how things develop), we sat around and chatted companionably for a few more hours, my absolute most favorite part of a dinner party, even if the food is as heavenly as Maryam's. Those relaxed hours after the food is served and the host and hostess can join their guests, sit down, relax, and enjoy their party. We were all full of stories to tell and it was hard to wait our turns to tell them! Some of our other friends had missed the party because of illness and emergencies, and we missed them. I am glad to report that I took their share of kooftehs and now they wait in my freezer to be my dinner on a cold winter's eve soon! No, I won't give them away to anyone, sorry!

Somedays I think the best part of my life in its newest iteration has been the possibility of making the friendships I enjoy these days. I consider myself one of the most fortunate people in the world to have come to know some of the brightest Iranians who live outside Iran, and then many inside Iran.

*Breaking Bread is an expression as old as biblical times. It means sharing food with others, and in colloquial English it means developing friendships with others through eating together.

I Am Iran

It's Friday. I have had a whole week of very exciting and very exhausting events. My older son was applying for university admissions this week. Waiting until the last possible moment created so much stress for him, something from which I hope he has learned a thing or two. Truth be told, I am learning a lot of things, too, about myself, about him, and about life in the process.

I leave you with a video clip which sweet Roja Najafi, Tameshk, has made. It was an idea I had, which she understood with all her heart and ran with it, adding her own soul to it. It is about Iran and about our collective desire to protect it from a potential attack. It was inspired by anti-war protests in San Francisco and Berkeley in October and November. You will see many of the photos that I have collected about Iran in the slideshow. My beautiful and talented friend, Vaaleh, performs her song "Mojdeh-ye Vasl," based on a Hafez poem in the background. I hope you enjoy it. Do tell us what you think. If you can' access Youtube, watch it here on FileDen.

I hope you have a good weekend, full of joy and warm feelings. Think about peace this weekend. Talk about it. Share this video clip with anyone you like, if you find it useful. Do anything and everything within your power to raise awareness about peace. Life is beautiful, full of promises of joys and accomplishments and good memories to come. All of that can only happen when there is peace. When there is no peace, there is fear, there is hate, and there is hopelessness. Peace is what our world needs the most. That's the least we can give our children and their children. Be good y'all.

Occupied Chairs

My only picture of my dinner table. When I get better pictures I will replace this one. (To those who took those millions of pictures: get with it, send them to me!)

Sorry for disappearing from the radar! I have been so busy this weekend, preparing for a gathering of friends and a few family members, as well as looking after my house guest, Mersedeh. I think the party was a success. I invited several of my friends to come and to be my family. They came and some of them brought their friends, so it was a lively event, full of joy and warmth and friendship. My little house was teeming with people and joy. Of course there was food and dancing (it wouldn't be an Iranian party without those two elements), but there was also a lively game of pantomime, which was entirely too hilarious, and live musical performances by unnamed Northern California bloggers. I missed all those who couldn't make it, and rejoiced at welcoming the ones that came. It is always a good day when the chairs are occupied, the plates are used, the food is eaten, and the doors are opened to welcome all those breathing, thinking, feeling, and smiling faces in my house. This was a good day for me to be thankful for second chances, new beginnings, and flawless feelings of friendship and harmony. Jaye hamegi khali bood.

Kuchalara Su Sapmisham

A young Rashid Behbudov performs Kuchalara Su Sapmisham.

I grew up listening to Rashid Behbudov. He was an Azarbaijani musician with a heavenly voice. Iranians loved Rashid Behbudov, and he loved Iran and Iranians, traveling to Iran frequently, and even singing some Farsi songs. Though I don't speak Azari, there is something about the music, language, and people of Azarbaijan which tugs at my heart, and fills me with love and respect for them. I have countless Azarbaijani friends, some of whom in sheer moments of friendship and kindness to me, have pronounced me an "Honorary Azarbaijani!" I can't get enough of their music. I am listening to a wide variety of old and new Azarbaijani music these days, all of which are beautiful and worthy of sharing with you. I think it appropriate, however, to share this beautiful love song by the old master, Rashid Behbudov, with you. In this song, he talks about sweeping the street, setting up the samavar, and putting sugar in his lover's tea cup, in anticipation of her arrival! I think it is one of the most touching songs I have ever heard. I want to give this song to Marjan, who is a young Azari with a heart of gold, full of love and anticipation these days. Yashasin Azarbaijan!

P.S. Thanks to Bayram, here's the Farsi translation of a piece of the lyrics. See how sweet it is:

کوچه را آبپاشی کردم تا زمان آمدن یار گردوخاک نباشه... جوری بیاید و جوری برود که در میانمان حرفی نباشد... سماور را آتش کردم و در استکان قند انداختم... یارم رفته تنها مانده ام... چه شیرین است یار... چه عزیز است یار

And I fixed the song name to Kuchalara, based on Neda's recommendation (see Comments). If I still have it wrong, please do let me know.

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!