To Do List

My friend Rojan performs a new rendition of the old-time Iranian song, Morgh-e Sahar. You can see more of her music here (I love this one! It makes me so happy every time I listen to it.) and here, where she performs with Pournazeri brothers of Shams Ensemble.

It's Sunday. My older son is home for the weekend. A cup of tea, a window to the green branches of the tall trees outside my window, and a whole day of planned chores await me. I'm still buzzed with a writing class I attended yesterday. I have several pieces of writing in the works and just as soon as I have made a dent in my endless list of long-postponed projects today, I will get busy with the writing. I plan on leaving at least one of them here. I hope you all have a peaceful Sunday. Go and embrace and kiss all those who matter to you in your life. That is the number one item on top of my "To Do" list today. It's been too long.

Blissful Saturday

My older son is visiting from Santa Cruz this weekend. He took me out to lunch for my birthday today. We talked about food, music, politics, and relationships. It is really an amazing feeling to talk to my son as an adult. He is brilliant, funny, and full of optimism. Too bad my younger son was at work and couldn't join us. It was a beautiful day. We drove around our neighborhood, spotting signs of autumn on trees and shrubberies nearby, listening to music.

It was even fun getting my car, Golgoon washed! My poor car really needed the attention and it was so good to finally have it washed on a warm October Saturday afternoon, as my son and I were chatting away. A lovely day, indeed.

I will go to Sacramento tomorrow to visit with family and to say goodbye to my sister who was visiting from Tehran. Here's a wonderful videoclip of a very uplifting Kurdish piece of music performed by my beautiful and very good friend, Rojan, and the Tahmoures Pournazeri group. I hope you enjoy it. Have a good Sunday everybody!

Love Yourselves

Toos Foundation reviews Persian dance history in London, March 2008, BBC Persian.

And so, it's Friday. I am trying to take it easy, really trying. This was another eventful and exhausting week. I decided not to go to a musical event in Oakland tonight, and instead go visit my friend, Rojan, at her house for a couple of hours. She is a talented singer and a very kind and loving woman. I will take it easy with a small circle of friends and some great Kurdish music, instead. Before I leave, though, I thought I would put up my Friday post.

My younger son is getting a hang of this driving business and the independence it offers him. An hour ago, he went to look at the by now empty refrigerator, and announced that if I gave him a shopping list, he would go grocery shopping! I gave him the list, some money, and the car keys quickly without blinking an eye! Hee Hee, that was a sweet gesture, a first, and it made me so happy!

My photo essay on the Simin Behbahani event was published today. You can see it here if you live outside Iran. Unfortunately, Iranian.com is filtered in Iran. I am working on a story that is making me smile as I write it! It is the story of a friend of mine in which I write about his learning about love and respect from his teenage daughter. The story is a good one, a very funny one, and I hope to be able to pull it off and tell a good tale. Soon.

So, O.K. I thought long and hard about what I would write in the last paragraph of my Friday post today. I usually talk about love and affection for those we love. The funny thing is that I actually mean all that advice I write about! These days, as I hurt a little bit and get hit with bouts of sadness at other people's selfishness, carelessness and wreckless behavior, it is a bit hard for me to write things I don't feel one hundred percent. So, instead, I urge you to do as I am about to do this weekend. Spend some time with yourselves! Lick any wounds you may have, and prop yourselves up! Love yourselves and reflect on all the wonderful things you do have, not on what you are missing. Disregard your worries and pains, throwing them into an imaginary big river passing right through your mind, one by one. Clean your hearts of feelings of helplessness and weakness. Remember that though we are no bigger than a small particle in relation to the magnificient universe in which we live, when we think our world has come to an end, in fact it hasn't! Build yourselves up to feel good and strong, in charge of your environment, your decisions, and your life. That's what I'm going to be doing this weekend. Well, O.K., truth be told, I will work on loving myself a little bit, while at the same time still loving everybody else around me, I know of no other way! I will just be doing a lot of reflection, that's all. Have a good weekend you all. Here's a little eid-e-shoma mobarak song from the legendary Haydeh for you.

Take Me To Kurdistan

Sanandaj Bazaar in Kurdistan, Iran. Photo by Arash Ashoorinia.

I have many Kurd friends. Colorful, vivacious, and kind, Iranian Kurds are some of the nicest people I have ever known. My Kurd friend, Leila, is generous, beautiful, and a most superb and soulful singer. I love their music and I love their dance. I have tried to learn their dance steps, but I have been an utter failure in that effort! I once listened to a lecture by Maestro Hossein Alizadeh, in which he was describing the nuances of Kurdish music. He said Kurdish music is mostly the music of agricultural work and movement, motivating and inspiring farmers to move. When their dance music reaches its crescendo, I have learned to step back and let them do it themselves, where my most humble contribution becomes serving the spectacle as a spectator. Ah, watching that energy grips me and mesmerizes me, taking me to a place as yet unseen, Kurdistan. Kurdistan is on the list of places I want to visit someday. I so hope for it to be soon.

Watch this video clip of Kurdish music, performed by my friend and neighbor, Rojan, and the Shams Ensemble, directed by Tahmoures Pournazeri. It's electric. Enjoy.