A new year...

I am back, it is a new year and time to think about this blog again. Stay tuned world...

To post or not to post

It has been a while. I can't seem to commit to writing words that others would/could read. Although I know that no one is reading this! For the next few months i will endeavour to write and share, whether here or there. Stay tuned world.

What is Real?

Working from home, i spend a lot of time in front of my computer screen and the fact that my job is supporting an online community - i also spend a lot of time investigating, using and trying to understand virtual communities. I find the notion of virtual friendship and/or community a challenging one. I think community is a key aspect of human existence.We are social beings. The virtual aspect however is a product of technology. The youth of today can somehow "feel" a sense of belonging virtually, and do not get me wrong that is great, really great. We all need to feel like we belong. But there is a physical result to belonging to a community that is not replicated virtually. That connection, that physical interaction between humans is truly what community is about. I do not mean deep friendships and loving relationships cause we can only have a few of those but that walking down the street, smiling to the person that crosses your path or buying your milk at the corner store and saying have a nice day kind to the clerk kind of connection, community. I do not know what it is called but it is deeply human, it is needed and it can never be replaced by something virtual. These communities should co-exist and should develop in concert with one another. Certainly not one at the expense of another - and if i may be so bold, on the contrary they should actively support one another.

work in progress 1

“Tehran 1977”

EXT. BUSY URBAN STREET – FALL DAY,

The street is packed with cars, many are impatiently honking but for no apparent reason. The posters advertising the latest movie or latest hair product as well the shops signs are in Farsi and English. A few women in the street wear full a length coverall, something like a sheet which is called a “chador”, others women wear a simple headscarf, but most are wearing neither and are in typical western clothes of the day. They wear skirts, blouses, knee high boots and ponchos. Men are also dressed in typical western clothing of the day, slacks, jeans, shirts, blazers, leisure suits.

INT. SEDAN - DAY

YASMINE SAFDI, A girl, 12 years old, pale complexion, bright brown eyes and smooth long brown hair, sits in the back of a new imperial green Chevrolet sedan, she has her school bag next to her on the seat. It also looks new, one of those briefcases with shoulder straps, “Kickers” is embroidered on the front above the buckles. Driving the car is the girl's grandfather BAGHER SAFDI. He is about 55, balding with grayed temples. He looks distinguished; he wears an ascot tie and a crisp pale blue button-down shirt and gray wool slacks. They are speaking in perfect English. He asks how her day went, has she made any friends.

Suddenly, there is a loud bang as the car hits the car in front of it.

The Black Bug

That is what my step-brother used to call me: "Sooskèsia" - the black bug... his cousin, Yasmine, was "Sooskèsèfeed" - the white bug - a nicer version of a bug I suppose. I hate bugs, honestly, i am scared of them. Especially cockroaches...and when we moved to Tehran, i was a timid little girl that was afraid of most things not least of which were bugs. Coming from Ottawa, where the bugs fly and are around only 6 months of the year, i was especially vulnerable to what a much older and much warmer national capital had to offer in terms of crawling insects. So it might have been that i was maligned by this new nickname ...But the few years i lived in Iran, and the fewer years (might have been months) spent in my step-brother's company were enough to turn the apparent misnomer into somewhat of a badge of honor. I was going to live up to this curious nickname...