Cockroach Scripts

Transformation

2008-09-02T15:32:00.000-07:00

"I move into that quiet stillness of the chrysalis, letting the agents of change work upon me deep within. Waiting patiently, doing the inner work until the moment comes to emerge triumphant."

Brahma Kumaris Self Mastery

Determination

2008-04-30T15:20:00.000-07:00

"As a master I gather together my powers and capabilities. I consolidate my forces, and focus my will... automatically my goal is achieved."

Brahma Kumaris Self Mastery

8 qualities of a wealthy woman

2008-03-03T10:41:00.000-08:00

I happen to watch some parts of "Women and Money" on the public TV over the weekend.

The speaker was talking about the qualities of wealthy women... the fact that they should stop putting themselves "on sale".

Here are the 8 qualities of a wealthy woman:

Harmony (in thinking, saying, and doing)
Balance (a result of Harmony)
Courage (doing the right thing vs. the easy thing)
Generosity (to yourself as well)
Happiness (inside and out)
Cleanliness (being organized, in thoughts, in life, etc)
Beauty (the inner beauty, the confidence)
Wisdom

Accuracy

2008-02-13T17:21:00.001-08:00

"As a master I always consider each situation... knowing what I do, when to do it, and for exactly how long. I develop the instinct to recognize when something is not right and am ready to start over."

Brahma Kumaris Self Mastery

Courage

2008-02-12T17:53:00.000-08:00

"As a master my courage comes from my clarity of purpose, and the sure knowledge that I am exactly the right person in exactly the right place at exactly the right time, to get the job done."

Brahma Kumaris Self Mastery

back to balanced hormonal level!!

2007-08-29T14:36:00.000-07:00

Ok, I feel much better today! Nothing has really changed since yesterday when I wrote the previous post. I had a fantastic chiropractic session this morning which made my back feel sooooo relaxed after a while. It felt like some muscles were tense for 10-20 years and finally they released the pressure! I also think the comfort I got from TC and our quality time last evening was definitely a huge help in my mood. Sometimes you get so buried under the day to day errands that you forget those tiny simple joys of life and your relationship. We watched a very sad movie earlier in the evening. It was shot in Vancouver. It's about a very young mom diagnosed with a terminal cancer and has about 2-3 months to live. I cannot stop thinking about it. I think a person's life become much much more precious once they become parents (specially mothers)... I - not being a mother - cannot imagine how powerful and strong the parenthood (and the responsibilities which come with it) can feel... It's beyond my capabilities to absorb it... I guess I have to wait until I am a parent myself... if it happens someday...

Anyhow, Just wanted to log for myself that I feel light, happy, and relaxed today! :-)

Me at my darkest

2007-08-28T14:59:00.000-07:00

It's quite surprising that you email your wedding photos to 80 people (70 of them were there in your wedding party) and after a couple of days, you only hear back from 3 people!! One of them subtly complaining why you didn't use their work email address as they don't check their personal email account often anymore!
Someone whom you did so much for and for years felt you're so close to, takes a very nasty shot at you. In the evening you receive a phone call from them to apologize and you get over it, but you still wonder: "Why did they take a shot at me? Where that shot comes from?" It's not that something nasty just slipped from someone's - whom you look at as a close pal - mouth! It's "the root" of that shot... the kind of hidden emotions in that person which triggered that shot! The frustration over something (god knows what) that seemed to have piled up for a while which caused those words slipping out of their mouth! Do you think if people could read minds and feelings, there would be no lasting friendship or relationship on this planet? What makes us human being so not trust-worthy and so impure?
Why prejudiced people claim that they are the most logical? Aren't we human being the exact opposites of what we claim we are? i.e. Most low self-esteem people act so arrogant, and slots act like they are the most faithful creatures on the planet, people with maxed out credit cards dress the fanciest while they are being evacuated from their molded dark rat house!
Right now I have cravings for chocolate! guess what time of the month it is...

Let it snow!

2007-01-10T15:31:00.000-08:00

It's such a beautiful snowy day today in Vancouver... It reminds me of the winter days in my hometown... the childhood memories of making snowmen and throwing snow balls at eachother...

Here is the link to some pictures that I took with my phone camera on my way to work and also from my cubicle.

Is love enough?

2007-01-02T15:40:00.000-08:00

"Love doesn’t last forever because we need the opportunity for growth and healing."

Israeli psychologist Ayala Malach Pines, Ph.D.

Back after a long absence!

2006-12-19T15:29:00.000-08:00

It's been ages since I wrote in here. It's been such a crazy busy past couple of months. We moved to a new house! There has been a lot of challenges so far and this weather and the unusual wind storms did not help it. I still have mixed feelings about living in a house.

I lived in apartments all my life except for the summer time where we used to spend the whole summer in our villa in Caspian Sea shore (aka "Shomaal" which means "the north" in Farsi). (video)

I just think that I felt much safer living in the 11th floor of a concrete tower. Specially when the 160Km/hour storm hit us last week. I've put that lovely 1 BR apartment of mine for sale now and I already have an accepted offer which its subject shall be removed in a few days if everything goes well. I really liked my apartment, its breathtaking sunset/city/ocean view, it's nice finishing and its central location. I used to walk to my dance class a few nights a week and I was only a bridge away from downtown. It was so live but not as crowded as downtown. Except for the occasional sirens from the firetrucks and ambulances, it was quite a perfect place for me! I miss the lifestyle of living in that place already!

There has been/are tons of items in our TODO list and we try to tick off one by one. We're progressing each day... slowly but steadily.

Anyways, now I am busy joggling in between the unpacking, the holiday craze, planning our big day, my work, pole stuff and exercise, and am trying to remain calm at the same time.

Wish me luck!

Donny Darko's soundtrack

2006-11-21T15:44:00.000-08:00

What an amazing song!
(link)

Never too cold!

2006-11-07T22:48:00.000-08:00

Passing by Dairy Queen... There is a big sign saying:
"It's never too cold for ice cream!"
We both nodded and passed by...

Free Hugs

2006-10-27T15:20:00.000-07:00

The wonderful clip of FREE HUGS true strory!
Juan Mann who did the Free Hugs campaign and became a celebrity in less than 3 weeks, was the feature guest in Opera talk show on Oct 26th 2006.

A note to myself

2006-10-19T16:06:00.000-07:00

To myself:
Sometimes whatever can go wrong, goes wrong... It's just a great way to measure one's dedication and persistence! Not much left guys... hold on tight and don't give up! you guys are almost there!

foooooooooooooood

2006-10-17T10:55:00.000-07:00

If you are in Vancouver and you love food, make sure you don't miss the taste of YaleTown which lasts till Oct 29th!
Aren't we Vancouverites in the food heaven of the universe indeed?

clip

2006-10-10T01:48:00.000-07:00

Beautiful clip (link)

You know you're from Vancouver when...

2006-09-19T13:57:00.000-07:00

I used to get different versions of "You know you're from Vancouver when..." emails... This one was new to me... :)

You know you're from Vancouver when...

1. Your co-worker has 8 body piercings and none are visible.
2. You make over $250,000 a year and still can't afford a house.
3. You take the bus and are shocked to hear two people carrying on a conversation in English.
4. You know what these abbreviations mean: PNE,GVRD, VPL, RAV, YVR.
5. You're shocked when it snows in the winter.
6. You've had a California roll for lunch.
7. You know more than 10 ways to order coffee.
8. You know how to pronounce Coquihalla.
9. A really great parking space can move you to tears.
10. Your hairdresser is straight, your plumber is gay, and your next door neighbour grows weed.
11. At 8:30 AM, the guy at Starbucks wearing the baseball cap and glasses who looks like George Clooney IS George Clooney.
12. You car insurance costs as much as your house payment.
13. The gym is packed at 3 PM--on a work day.
14. You can tell the difference between Japanese, Thai, and Chinese food.
15. You watch the weather from a Seattle TV station because it's more accurate.
16. You pass an elementary school and the children are all busy - with their cell phones or pagers while waiting for their personal rides home.
17. You're sure that you're the only one on the road with a REAL driver's license.
18. You don't even listen when the forecast announces "chances of showers."
19. The more expensive the car, the worse the driver.
20. You can tell the difference between Starbucks, Second Cup and Tim Horton's coffees.
21. You feel guilty when you throw paper or aluminum cans in the garbage.
22. You're not surprised to see geese throughout the whole year.
23. You can't remember: is pot still illegal?
24. If there's a day of snowfall, you consider not going to school or work.
25. You realize there are far more Rainbow flags in the city than Canadian flags.
26. You can name 10 Starbucks locations in less than a minute.
27. You don't even blink at the same sex couple holding hands on the street, but it shocks you when you meet a couple married for 40 years!

Last night show

2006-09-15T11:03:00.000-07:00

The show went quite well last night! I collected more than $60 tip in 7 minutes! The opening and the ending were fun and the audience were amazing! They were screaming and cheering for us all the time! We couldn't have asked for a better crowd! It felt grrreat!
My TC was filming the whole event and he brought me a beautiful bouquet of flowers! It made me really happy! He was super supportive of me in this whole process although he was really busy and had a lot on his shoulders... Thank you so much, my love!
By the way, our dance troupe has now a website and our business cards are designed and printed! They look sooooo good!

I guess I can relax a bit now after these past few stressful weeks!!

We did it! :)

2006-09-11T15:54:00.000-07:00

We did it! :)
We performed the Guinness World Record Pole Attempt at 6:00am (2:00pm UK local time) Sunday September 10, 2006 in Vancouver. The performance was done simultaneously all around the world by 100s of women. Many from UK, Australia and Canada... some from the states, and some from Belgium and Netherlands.
The attempt was performing a pole routine repeatedly for 10 minutes continuously and consistantly.
We all had to be there one hour before the start time (5:00am Sunday!) to complete the paperwork in front of the witnesses. One of the witnesses was the representative from Canada's blood cancers association, since the proceeds of all the money we raised via our sponsors would go to the blood cancers association.
TC was the official cameraman for this amazing and historic!!! event and he was also one of the witnesses! The whole thing went great and my TC did a fantastic job filming us. The tape was then submitted to the Guinness rep as per the Guinness World Record instructions.

I had 3 hours to sleep afterwards (I didn't get any sleep the night before!) as I had to go to the dance rehearsal for the show I'll be performing this Thursday. I went to the studio at noon and rehearsed with the girls for 6 hours! I was exhausted and starving by 6:00 pm when TC picked me up to take me out for dinner! The dinner was really good! We then came home and relaxed watching StarTrek and enjoyed a few cups of soothing green tea and belgian bisquites!

Evanescence

2006-09-06T00:18:00.000-07:00

Doesn't she have the most poswerful and the most beautiful voice in the world?
Their new album is in the stores on October 3, 2006.

Ouna,
make sure you'll check it out... I'll buy it for sure!
This is for you! enjoy!! :)

Vancouver Pride Parade pics from last month

2006-09-05T23:28:00.000-07:00

I forgot to post the parade pictures... Here you go (link)

Super fabulous party

2006-09-03T19:52:00.000-07:00

K's 1920's theme costume bday party was great last night!
We enjoyed our time and we played a lot on her pole... Most gals were dressed in nice corsets and boa... It was a real fun night! :)

My friend on the cover of Vancouver's local paper!

2006-08-31T11:27:00.000-07:00

I am so excited!
One of the three gals that I'm dancing with in this newly formed dance troupe, is on the cover of Georgia Straight paper this week!
I am soooo proud of her and her picture looks super hot!

Needed a physical break

2006-08-30T14:02:00.000-07:00

I was really tired after the show and all the practice time and also after the "getting ready for the stage" class this Sunday. My days have been so packed that I hardly have had time to sleep in the past 2 weeks. So I decided to give myself 2 days break from the pole class and hopefully relax a bit.
The first night after work, TC and I had to go all the way to Coquitlam to pick up some slates and load up the poor car with them. We picked up some "Chelo-Kabob" on our way home and didn't do anything else afterwards.
The second night (last night) we dropped off all the slate at the job site and checked out a few things to mention to the contractor, and then headed towards home. I cooked some healthy dinner and after that both of us went for a 20 minute walk around the block.
I went to bed @ 10:00 and flipped a few pages of my bridal magazines, and fell asleep at about 10:50... Woke up at 7:30 this morning but I still feel sooooo tired and sleepy!

P.S. By the way, more and more people (friend who came from Dubai, the fitness coordinator at work, my manager's manager, the pole gals, the Persian crowd, ...) start to notice that I am in a much better shape than I used to and my body is looking toned! This makes me feel really really good! I haven't cut on any food, I just keep working out and make sure I eat home-made natural fresh un-processed food and a lot less "restaurant/cafe teria/food court" food!
Here is my workout routine during the week (the Pole Dancing schedule changes every 6 weeks):

Mondays: lunch time Circuit Training and Core Strength, evening Pole Dancing
Tuesdays: evening Pole Dancing
Wednesdays: lunch time Circuit Training and Core Strength, evening Pole Dancing
Thursdays: evening Pole Dancing
Fridays: lunch time Yoga
Saturdays: morning Belly Dancing
Sundays: afternoon Pole Dancing every other week

The newest hottest dance troupe!

2006-08-27T11:50:00.000-07:00

The 3 of us had a great performance for a fundraiser event last night. The show was great and all the efforts and time we spent was paid off!
We still look for a name for our troupe but hopefully it's finalized by the time we'll have our next show!

Hey Ouna,
It's all taped on video and there're tons of pics. So, remind us to show it to you when you're in town! :)

Bard on the Beach

2006-08-21T14:54:00.000-07:00

We finally went to watch "Measure for Measure" on Friday. It was my first time watching a play in Shakespearean English. To my own surprise I did enjoy the play as I understood way more than I thought I would! Although I must confess that I read the intro before the play starts... The acting was awesome! I totally recommend to all Vancouverites! :)

He's changed how I used to love my job!

2006-08-18T15:16:00.000-07:00

Since the frequent conflict with that new guy in the office, I am more and more demotivated towards this job. I used to love it for the whole year and I was working like crazy with pleasure... the results were amazing and I even got a promotion after 4 months of starting that role... but now... I care less and less everyday... That guy is just killing the fun of this job for me... He's not even my manager, he's a peer... but he wants to control the world and he needs to learn so many things first! He's supper confident, supper aggressive, and extremely rude. Doesn't let anyone to finish off their sentence! He jumps into conclusions without knowing the facts and he uses his personal "assumptions" as "facts"!!

Once again! :(

2006-08-17T16:43:00.000-07:00

It's not about what you do or how good/bad you do it!
It's about who you know!!

so sick n' tired

2006-08-11T09:11:00.000-07:00

Back from a b-trip. I'm quite sick and tired of all the politics and frequent @$$-kissing of the corporate world. It's so cheap and it's driving me insane. It's no longer about hard work and caring for the company, it's about whom you know and who's @$$ you kiss.
If the job-market wasn't so bad in this city, and people have more options to pick an employer, it wouldn't have reached to this point. The professionalism and morale is going downhill...

Overwhelmed and confused

2006-07-31T11:49:00.000-07:00

I felt so overwhelmed late last week. Life in general is going great... There are just too many things going on at the same time and there're way too many responsibilities... I know! I know! I shouldn't complain much if I compare myself to women who have young kids and a super demanding career...
Anyways, I feel I need a mental break... but I doubt if it happens any time soon... It will take till fall at least... We also need to make a bunch of financial decisions... How are we supposed to know what's right and what's not?!?! I am worried that we make wrong decisions as we're both too busy and don't have enough time to think things in depth!

I've learned...

2006-07-28T14:13:00.000-07:00

"I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights."

Maya Angelou

planning ahead...

2006-07-26T14:44:00.000-07:00

I am trying to plan a small wedding for next summer but I am finding it very difficult. There are so many tiny details I don't know about a typical Western Wedding and I don't have enough connections for quality wedding vendors in town who also fit within a standard wedding budget!

So far I have browsed tons of wedding sites and have bought 4 local bridal magazines just to have an idea... but the more I learn about the process the more difficult it feels!

I'll be having such a stressful next 11 months! I know!
sigh!!

Comfort Zone: An undefined term in Iranian culture

2006-07-25T10:30:00.000-07:00

A friend (Iranian) whom I know through work since 8 years ago is quite kind to me but sometimes she passes the boundary and pushes things beyond my comfort zone.
She is unhappy with her job (I think it's mostly her fault) and she has applied for another company. She's scheduled for an interview and she wants to negotiate a very high salary. Which is not uncommon. She calls me late at night and she says: I want you to promise that you also move to this new company I have applied for, since I want to tell them "give me a good salary and I promise I'll bring good people to your company!"
I could feel the smoke coming out of my ears! I was very angry for the moment, and then I felt so frustrated... However I tried to be logical and keep calm...
I respond: "Promise? What do you mean? I don't know anything about them! I am not unhappy with my job! I might consider applying just to get an idea about their company, but promise to quit my job and move there? I am sorry!"
And I say to myself: "Is she out of her mind? With all due respect I have for her, but why many of us Iranians hardly know our limits? Why do many of us have dictatorship engraved in our genes? Why many of us find it so normal to use others for our own personal benefit and make it sound like doing a favor to them? Why do we assume people around us are so naive? If many individuals don't walk their democracy talks, how we can expect one day a true democratic government (which is made of the typical individuals like this) rule our country?"
Unfortunately I know many people like that in my culture... People who (regardless of their gender) want to dominate whoever around them if they are given the opportunity... Dealing with this type of crowd, you always have to be alert not to give them any opportunity! Thank goodness, I don't have to constantly worry about it with others!

Hot & Humid

2006-07-24T11:25:00.000-07:00

It was such a hot and humid weekend. We were already invited by TC's mom to spend the weekend at her house which is equipped with multiple fans and coolers, but we weren't able to make it due to too many chores. But we took a raincheck so maybe we can save the offer for another time!

The only "us time" we had in the whole weekend was spending an hour on the beach on Saturday evening. Kits beach was jam packed. The diversity of the beach people is quite different that how it used to be when I used to live there. I guess it's more diverse now... equal blend of locals and immigrants.

The rest of the weekend was spent on meeting the people which we "had to" meet! Doesn't this sound so Iranian?!

Trip pix - final set

2006-07-21T10:47:00.000-07:00

And finally the last set of my trip pix (link)

Some of these pix are taken in the town of Brugge in Belgium. Brugge was small, cute, and old. There were a lot of small handmade chocolate boutiques and some shops which served fresh Belgium waffles with ice cream on top! :)

I also took some pictures of the TinTin shop in Brugge. Everything was so expensive in TinTin shop so I just bought a pair of fridge magnets and left! I was wondering whether there's a TinTin museum in Brussles as Herge was from there?

The next day we ended our cruise trip in South Hampton (near London). Since our flight to Vancouver was in the afternoon, we had enough time to visit the mysterious Stone Henge on our way to the airport. Stone Henge is more mysterious than the Pyramids of Giza as there is so little information available about it. Quite impressive I must say!

I also tried to capture a part of the beauty of the British country side while we were driving towards the Stone Henge. Believe me, the pictures are not even half as magnificent as the real landscapes!

Trip pix - 5th set

2006-07-20T11:21:00.000-07:00

Here is the link to the 5th set of the trip pix (link)

These pix are from Vigo (Spanish port), La Havre (French port - where the famous D-Day occurred), Rotterdam and Gouda.

Gouda is such a cute small town. We were there on a Sunday. So most shops were closed but we had a great lunch over there with some bottles of chilled Dutch wheat beer! Really thirst crunching...

I really liked Rotterdam. It was neat, orderly and clean. Since the heart of the city was completely destroyed during the World War, Rotterdam is also called as "The city without a heart". That's why there's a monument in Rotterdam with a hollow circle in the middle.

Because the vast part of the city center was ruined during the war, this city is full of modern and post-modern buildings. The yellow tilted cube apartments are a good example of such designs.

One of Netherlands' famous snacks are fries with mayo. There's a huge variety of cheese there as well. Of course, when you're in Netherlands you don't want to miss their famous Dutch Pancakes either. And for dessert try the caramel waffle sandwich! yummmmmm!

Trip pix - 4th set

2006-07-19T10:59:00.000-07:00

Here the 4th set of the trip pix (link)
They are taken in Jibraltar, Cadiz, and Lisbon.

The apes in the rock of Jibraltar and also the fascinating view on top of the rock were my favorites. On top of the rock you have Spain in one side and Morocco (only 13 Km away on the other side of the sea) on the other side.

I was so touched by seeing how the apes protect their babies and their families that I had a hard time stopping my tears while taking their pictures.

Cadiz was small. Lisbon was clean and pretty with some very yummy Lisboa custard cakes! :)

Trip pix - 3rd set

2006-07-18T08:41:00.000-07:00

The 3rd set of our trip pictures (link)

The pix are taken in Barcelona. The most famous buildings in Barcelona are designed by the architecture Gaudi's. The most impressive of which is Sagrada familia and also La Pedrera.

The church of the Holy Family is being built for the last 140 years!! and the construction is still in progress!!! It's Gaudi's most ambitious project and has the whole bible sculptured in it! It's truly breathtaking.

The link also includes the Canada day pictures while we were at sea and also some pictures from the Spanish port of Malaga, the house where Pablo Picasso was borned and also the Malaga fortress on top of the mountain.

Trip pix - 2nd set

2006-07-17T10:36:00.000-07:00

The 2nd set of the trip pictures (link)

These are taken in Roma and Vatican City. Rome was truly fascinating.

Trip pix - 1st set

2006-07-16T08:05:00.000-07:00

Here is the first set of the trip pix (link)

These are from Italy (Frascati, Grottaferrata, Rome, Florence, Pisa) and France (Cannes)

More to come...

I'm back! :)

2006-07-14T10:57:00.000-07:00

We're finally back from our European trip. We were on a mediterranean cruise for 14 days. It started from Rome (port: Civitavecchia) and ended in London (port: South Hampton).
We stayed in Rome for 3 nights before the cruise started. I indeed fell in love with this city! I fell in love so bad that I want to retire there.
On our last night in Rome, in our hotel (which was a 500 year old castle in a romantic suburb of Rome called Grottaferrata), while we were walking in the garden, my sweetie proposed to me under the tree in the pic below, and I said "yes". So we're now officially engaged! :)

I'll upload some pix once I get a chance. For now, I am still recovering my jet-lag!

Besides, I need some time to enjoy looking at my ring! :)

On hilidays for the next couple of weeks...

2006-06-23T23:11:00.000-07:00

I won't be updating this blog until I am back from the holidays in a couple of weeks!
I'm planning to take tons of pictures and eventually post them in here.
Ciao bellas!

Email from my dance instructor :)

2006-06-22T01:20:00.000-07:00

Hi Girls!!

First let me tell you girls that you did an amazing job last week Wednesday at <...>.

I know that the songs were very short and rushed and you may or may not have noticed that they were playing some of our songs at tripple speed. I want to apologize for that but that will all be corrected this Wednesday and I want ALL of you, back (if available) because I want to give all of you an opportunity to dance to relive that night, lol.

I have spoken with the coordinator at <...> and we have come up with this plan:

1. You will be dancing 2 FULL songs each :) , very happy about that;
2. The performance will be broken up into 15 minute intervals, one at 11:15 pm, the second at 12:20 am; and
3. They have provided me with a songlist to choose from, which actually are fantastic songs.

I know Sooski will not be able to make it this week, No Problem. . .would love to have you back again!!

Thanks a Bunch Girls. . . .
--Y

In Suomi

2006-06-20T02:42:00.000-07:00

In Suomi at the moment. Cannot wait till the weekend is here! Both of us need this time off soooo bad! It'll be great!

No longer a "stage virgin"

2006-06-15T10:43:00.000-07:00

I finally performed! It went pretty smooth! The DJ cut my song short though! :-( My instructor was quite P.O.'ed because of this!
The club was jam packed! 7 of my friends had also showed up to cheer for me and their support made a whole lot of difference on how I felt on the stage.
Phew... It's over now! :)
I'm no longer a "stage virgin"!!

Sick on bday!

2006-06-06T14:46:00.000-07:00

I feel so sick. I had to stay at home yesterday while I had sooo much to do at work. It really bites to be sick and in bed on your birthday! :(

Today I though I'd feel better. At least the fever seemed to be gone. So I came to work... but I don't feel well at all.

:( :( :(

Audition!

2006-06-04T16:25:00.000-07:00

I am sooo exited!
I passed the audition and I'll be performing this Wednesday night! :)
The location would be one of the clubs in downtown...
The only thing is that I don't get to choose my own song and I wouldn't even get to hear my song prior to the performance!
But, who cares! It'll be a blast!
I can't wait!... :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

Busy Bee

2006-06-01T14:09:00.000-07:00

We're too busy! In general this year was supposed to be a busy year (both at work and in life), but it's even busier than we imagined...
Work is almost 18 days a day, and after that the stress and the thoughts are still following each one of us... The other project is also taking so much time, effort, stress and it requires millions of decisions to be made on the go! and it's draining our pockets too!
Also I am getting my feet into some very very amature performances... This Sunday I'll be auditioned for my pole tricks! And if that works, my performance will be either this Wednesday or the Wednesday after... in some funky place in dowtown!
On top of these, we are also preparing for our holidays... Men don't need to do much prep, but women (including myself) need a lot to prepare for... Eyebrow cleaning, HighLight renewal, Haircut, Manicure/Pedicure, shopping for some nice matching summer sandals, and the the list goes on forever.
Oh, I missed those days that I'd be bored to death as there was nothing to do!! ;-)

women's lib!

2006-05-26T11:59:00.000-07:00

I was thinking about proof reading this post, but I really don't have time for it.
____________________________________________________________

When I travel to Finland, I notice there are almost as many women as men in high ranking positions such as director, CEO, even the president!
I guess it is probably similar in the rest of Northern Europe as well.

But here in North America, that's not what's exactly happening... It's such a struggle to grow as fast as men in a typical North American corporate environment. You have to compete with all the men (first the cocasions, and then the rest) and then all the non-colored, non-immigrant women! Well, I don't find it impossible for a woman to get to the director positions here, but for sure it is way harder than it is for women in more liberal European countries.

Take a look at this article: Hard Choice for Moms: Work or Stay Home?

"Mothers with the financial means have long had the choice to go back to work or stay home after the birth of their children. Today, however, more moms in all economic levels appear to be considering the stay home option - at least that's what some experts suspect when they point to recent population surveys, which show all female employment numbers declining after decades of sustained growth."

Why is this becoming a trend like there has never been any women's lib?

The other day in the office, I submit an improvement idea and I CC this guy at work - one of those young brit big bang hot shots whom everyone thinks of him as a flawless mastermind. 10 minutes after he sends this nice wikipage link for "an important improvement idea - effective immediately!" portraying my idea and there's no mention of me what so ever!! And of course he gets the credit!

I was just wondering... has the president of Finland have to deal with such male mentality while she was advancing her career?

Matrix

2006-05-24T22:14:00.000-07:00

I cannot stop thinking about this sentence in the movie Matrix:

"There is no spoon!"

It's such a powerful thing to think about when you find yourself in fear!

Doc appt

2006-05-24T17:54:00.000-07:00

Well, the doc wasn't able to tell what was wrong. The UltraSound test could not assess properly what it was supposed to assess and the next best choice seems to be the C.T.Scan!

My doctor doesn't really recommend C.T.Scan as it portrays so much radiation over the abdomen area which could cause some concerns to my abilty to bear children in future.

His suggestion is to do nothing (I am not kidding!), and if/when I decide to plan a family some day and it doesn't succeed, then I should go through more thorough tests and madication...

Now, I still don't know whether there's anything wrong with my health or not!! Isn't it cool?

ups and downs

2006-05-23T22:20:00.000-07:00

It's been ages since I updated this blog! I'll try to be better...

I was so excited all these past few days... I mean really excited... I was walking in the clouds!
We planned our holidays for this year and it couldn't be any better! :)

Well, this morning a slight change happened to our itinarary and it made us both pout! :(
But I believe it happened for a reason!

Tonight I am a bit depressed... I had a voice mail from my family doctor's office. He needs to see me and discuss the results of my abdoominal ultra sound test. Normally this means that something is wrong! How wrong? I don't know. :(

MB!

2006-04-02T20:55:00.000-07:00

I am so glad he's won so many awards tonight at Juno's! :-)

Our 7-sin pix! :)

2006-03-22T00:00:00.000-08:00

This year...

last year...

It seems that I keep following the same style... not much change!!

Happy Norooz! :)

2006-03-20T01:26:00.000-08:00

Happy Norooz and Persian New Year! :)

back after a long time!

2006-03-02T07:02:00.000-08:00

Felt so lazy to update this blog for a long time…
Nothing special is happening…same old, same old…
Work is quite demanding and that leaves us not much personal time… When I’m not working, I am normally so exhausted that updating my English blog feels like too hard!

I just wish I could keep my spirit up just like TC does on the time of stress, exhaustion, and when I feel blue!

My knee op

2006-01-12T11:57:00.000-08:00

I just had a knee operation to remove the hardware installed for my ACL reconstruction 1.5 years ago.
The operation was scheduled in a private clinic. Thanks to our provincal government finally allowing the day-surgeries to be outsourced in private clinics! The place was great! The staff were so friendly and the overall experience was excellent. My doc has been one of the founders of this clinic.
I'm still in cloud 9 due to the affect of the anesthetic and Tylenol 3... but so far, not too bad!
A little bit of swelling and a lot of R&R...
My doc was quite surprised that screw was not absorbed at all after 1.5 years and still looked like the first day when he installed it into my knee! I guess neither the screw nor the staple liked me, or they just wanted to be freed! (want to know a secret?... I didn't like them either!)

A weekend getaway

2006-01-02T18:47:00.000-08:00

We scaped to the island for a weekend getaway to relax and celeberate the New Year...
There was not much that we did, but relaxing, watching TV, and enjoying the jetted tub in our log cottage.
The new year gala night was good, and the food was fabulous! We counted down for the arrival of 2006, drank some sparkling wine and took a bunch of pictures.
The weather in the island was unusally stormy, but we were still able to catch the ferry and get home by the evening.
I think this was what we both needed after such exhausting past few months!

Happy Holidays! :)

2005-12-22T17:22:00.000-08:00

It's Yalda tonight!

2005-12-21T18:31:00.000-08:00

Happy Yalda festival!!
To learn more about the history of Yalda (Winter Solstice) please refer to this link, and this one.

2005-12-15T11:29:00.000-08:00

seems that Ouna's donkey flu has been contageous from the other side of the ocean!
I am feeling so sick because of this flu :(

tea

2005-12-08T13:59:00.000-08:00

Don't remember where I read this - or something like this:
"You can only enjoy a cup of tea to its perfection, if you don't do anything else while drinking it..."

...and it's so darn true!!

It is hard...

2005-12-07T10:50:00.000-08:00

It is hard not to have a lot in common with the society/community you live within... It is hard to read that once again an airplane crashed, this time into a building in south part of Tehran and many people were burnt to death, and then you hear your neighbour is so depressed that her dog hasn't p..ped today! It is hard not to be understood... It is hard to be in pain... a kind of pain which is so invisible to people around you... It is hard to be a stranger... everywhere!

FCV

2005-10-27T15:31:00.000-07:00

Know what? I had the opportunity to drive the xillion dollar fuel cell vehicle the other day - thanks to the charity event being held in our office!

The car was a Ford Focus which was ~300 Kg lighter than the standard Ford vehicle, but after loading it up with the fuel cell engine and it's preferals, it was ~300 Kg heavier than the standard Ford vehicle.

The drive was quite smooth, but it was noisier than I expected. (Still was way more quiet than the sound of average vehicle's engine!)

it took 30 seconds until it boot up (started) and about the same time to shut down itself. the price of Hydrogen fuel is now about 2.5 times more than the price of gasoline (per Km). The Ballard rep said that it would be eventually cheaper than this, as there will be more Hydrogen stations.

Although this is the most environment-friendly vehicle up until now, but the cost (even after it's massively produced) is quite high and yet seems quite impractical.

But this for sure was the most expensive vehicle I ever drove in my life! ;-)

Misc.

2005-10-25T14:02:00.000-07:00

The swedish massage was fan-tas-tic!! so soothing, so relaxing... I didn't want it to ever end! The virgin cocktail which came after, along with the dried fruites, raw almonds, and the ice wine just made it even more heavenly! I also got a complementory make up touch-up afterwards! what else could I wish for?

_______________________________________

Today the gals and I are going to a bar (in the other side of the town) to support our friend "Crystal", on her "rookie of the year" pole dancing challenge. We're all so excited for her. She's so determined and she deserves all the success on the road ahead. Good luck to our fabulous gal!

P.S. "Crystal" did a great job performing on the stage. She had the fire fighter costume on, and the crowd was going nuts for her! I guess she would become the 2nd or 3rd, if she doesn't win the 1st place.

Too busy of a weekend

2005-10-16T22:40:00.000-07:00

I knew Avi was going to be in town this weekend, so I planned to spend all my time with her on Saturday and Sunday morning, but I had no idea that Ouna would be in town on the same weekend too!

So, I was on my way out of the shower to get dressed and drive to the mall to get something for Avi's bday on Saturday afternoon, when I answered the buzzer and found out that Ouna was at the door!!

It was TC's request that Ouna surprises me with his arrival and as usual they succeeded! I was shocked and surprise as Ouna smsed me in the morning that he's planning to visit the British museum in a day or so! He had bought me the "Forgotten Empire" book and also a souvenir plate from the October Fest in Germany.

The rest of the weekend was spent with these two good friends (individually) and made it all worthwhile to be restless again! :) Love you guys! :)

It sucks that my best friends live so far away from me! But at least V is now back from her 1.5 month vacation! :)

Being this restless, now I even look more forward to receiving my 60 min swedish massage next weekend at the new spa in downtown... a part of TC's last year big Xmas present! :)

Love n' hate relationship with Tuesdays

2005-10-11T22:20:00.000-07:00

I am in a kind of "love n' hate" relationship with my Tuesdays... My fitness class was moved from Wednesdays 6:30-7:30 to Tuesdays 5:30-6:30! This means I have to head out from work at 4:30 the latest, rush back to busy Granville St., and spend 20 mins to find a parking spot which is not expiring after 6:00 or it allows me to park as early as 5:20!! And of course, gotta have enough change ($2-$3 minimum) for an hour with the meter.

Also, leaving the office at 4:30ish in "jam packed with meetings" Tuesdays is not quite easy either.

After finishing the fitness class at 6:30 (all exhausted and sweaty) I run back to a few blocks farther, where the car is, and then I find myself driving impatiently towards the Rumi class. Hoping to find a parking spot in Burrard, I make sure I haven't spent all my changes for the greedy meter. I grab a grande machiatto at Starbie (although "grande" is not close to being enough for the 3 hour Rumi class!!) and run to the class.

This is the time I hope none of the people I know are present in the class as I would be embarrassed to kiss them on the cheeks (the Persian way of greeting friends) because I had no chance to take a shower after the fitness class, so it's quite likely that I stink!

Thankful, I am!

2005-10-10T15:04:00.000-07:00

He is away again… for a long time… Feel so empty somewhere inside me since yesterday. Never thought I could feel this way for anyone. Cannot explain it with logic.

I woke up with his phone call this morning. Then I had my morning mix (steamed milk + instant rich coffee) and left home to do some errands.

It was the perfect fall weather, rainy but not cold, quiet, and peaceful. I walked a bit more after… to the crescent… sat there and relaxed under the rain for a while… I feel much better now… Although I miss him so bad, but I am happy that I miss him… it means I have someone to care about and deeply miss in my life… I feel thankful!

I am thankful for everything I have and for anything I don’t have… I am thankful that I could taste a true love and compassion in my life… I am thankful for living in Canada, where it gave me the right to be myself and thought me to love and respect all human beings regardless of their differences with what I was used to… I am thankful for living in Vancouver, where transformed me to be more peaceful and easygoing… I am thankful for being blessed… I am thankful for what I am and who I am…

Happy Thanks Giving to you all! :)

kids...

2005-10-09T15:23:00.000-07:00

I found this link somewhere... Kids are such sweet and innocent creatures... Cannot help loving them...

This is how a heart breaks

2005-09-29T13:35:00.000-07:00

I love, love, love this new hit from Rob Thomas:

"...This is it now
Everybody get down
This is all I can take
This is how a heart breaks

You take a hit now
You feel it break down
Make you stay wide awake
This is how a heart breaks..."

There's soooo much energy into this song and the music is amazing...

Harrison's SandCastles

2005-09-27T21:21:00.000-07:00

I just got back from a short trip to Harrison Hot Spring and took some pictures of the beautiful sandcastle competition. Here is the link to the slide show.

The weather was amazing and the experience was indeed refreshing!!
I strongly recommend this place almost ANY time of the year...

Tallinn

2005-09-14T05:03:00.000-07:00

These are the pictures of the weekend we spent in Tallinn (the capital of Estonia). (link)
We had such a great time over there… I strongly recommend visiting Tallinn in case you haven’t been there.

This is a test with MS-Word

2005-08-17T22:29:00.000-07:00

This is a test این آزمایشی است

2005-07-24T20:22:00.000-07:00

Pix from our last trip (link)

baseball! way better than I thought!

2005-07-13T12:15:00.000-07:00

Baseball is not as bad/boring as I thought it'd be. I watch my first game last Friday along with TC (da one and only all sports guru!)
Poor TC had to struggle teaching me the rules of the game while I was not interested to learn them at all!
pix can be found in here!

?

2005-07-10T13:27:00.000-07:00

Are we all this judgemental?

1... 2... 3... testing...

2005-06-28T19:36:00.000-07:00

la-Z-gal!!

2005-06-15T09:16:00.000-07:00

I am not as efficient as I want to be these days... I am slow... slow thinking, slow reacting, slow working, ... I am not even responsive to people who asked me a question or talk to me and wait for a nod or something!! I guess it makes people feel that I am growing cold or arrogant...

It feels like I am on drugs or something! I know it could be due to my recent low blood pressure but it sure has made me kind of lazy!!! (a real pet peeve of mine!)

I am lucky that I haven't fallen sick yet as I am exhausted due to relentless hard work during the past 2 months. I am just trying to keep the mindset that I cannot afford to fall sick!! I have no time to stay at home in bed... (like I am a machine!)

All I do when I get home these days, is lay down in front of the TV and watch my "sex and the city" DVDs until I am ready to drop dead in bed. Gosh! I love that show...

:) :) :)

2005-06-13T13:37:00.000-07:00

Two of our most wonderful friends are moving in together at the end of this month. They were engaged about 1.5 months ago and the big day will probably be sometime in Spring 2006...

I wish both of them the best :)

Pictures from the trip to Finland + Stop @ UK (May '05)

2005-06-06T14:47:00.000-07:00

I had to go to Finland for work for 2 weeks in May. I got a chance to visit Helsinki, Oulu, Tampere, and Salo while I was there. The trip was quite intensive in terms of how much work had to be done and how many goals had to be accomplished but overall it was pretty successful.

I kind of liked Finland! Almost everyone speaks English well, and Fins are pretty friendly. The country is reasonably deciplined and 98% of people are Finnish. (Less than 2% immigrants!)

On the way back from Finland, I had a chance to stop in London and get some rest after 2 weeks of hard work work work! TC and I got a chance to meet with Ouna (our Egyptian friend) in London as he's moved there for work. It was fun and we enjoyed our reunion a lot.

I am not sure if I am a big fan of London, but I wouldn't mind living there as a short term ex-pat or for vacation!! London is too damn expensive!! I guess it's the 2nd most expensive city in the world after Tokyo!

The pictures can be found here!!

Lucky

2005-04-19T15:22:00.000-07:00

I forgot to mention... Luckily, I finally moved out of my team and will be working on different tasks on the same project... Tons of things need to get done... I guess I really needed a change!

Leila - The sale is ended!!

2005-04-14T09:59:00.000-07:00

This is the sad story of Leila... and there are many more Leilas.
There is also a petition to sign to save her. Please click here to sign it.

Blast at Cairo bazar

2005-04-07T14:11:00.000-07:00

Gosh! TC and I feel extremely lucky that this didn't happen 3 months ago... We used to hang out in this bazar on some nights...

Rape, torture and lies

2005-03-31T17:49:00.000-08:00

In case you were following the news about the Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi who was killed in Iran in 2003, check this out...

Going through an "Early 30's crisis"?

2005-03-30T13:39:00.000-08:00

I feel more relaxed with life recently, but don't feel great in general... Hence this article may seem to have a frustrated tone to it...

I am quite fed up... The same old issue that has been plaguing me: I hate the environment that I work in... This team is so different than any other team I've worked with since 1991 - when I started my first job in the corporate world!

One colleague treats me like I finished school yesterday... He's trying to "teach" me things that I was teaching people a decade ago!

So far I've investigated my alternatives... moving out of this team has been sort of promised by 3 managers (my manager, my manager's manager, and my manager's manager's manager!!) but God knows when it's going to happen!! A month from now? 6 months? a year?!?!?

I am running out of patience... So I thought I'd look elsewhere for job opportunities... Gosh, This town is the land of *no* opportunities in this industry!! There are either labor level positions available or chief executive positions!! Not much in between! I guess all I need atm is some L U C K - Which apparently kissed me goodbye 2 years ago!!

For a while I was thinking that I might be in the wrong career... I am a very social person and I love to deal with people, something that this job doesn't give an S about... I hate to be a machine and work like a machine... something that is very well rewarded in this team!

Then I was thinking: "Should I start my own business? how much money do I require to start? What kind of business gives me the highest chance of success?..." and, as usual, I don't think I have the guts to start my own business...

Maybe I am going through some kind of early 30's crisis!! Not happy with what I do and too old to start anything from the scratch!!

Being a woman, a colored woman... how hard is it really?

2005-03-24T13:22:00.000-08:00

A few years ago when I was in a stronger mental shape, I never thought about this, and I was happy with whatever life had brought to me (except for one thing!). I wasn't too ambitious since I was young and new to this part of the planet! So my expectations were not very high at all...

The thing is that I now started to realize how hard is it to be a woman in a male dominant industry... Why do we have way less female CEOs, MPs, ... than male in most places in the world? What is it that makes it harder for women to achieve the highest highs in their careers? Add some "color" to this, being a colored woman - an immigrant - makes this even harder... and it's not just the language!!

You have to struggle more, be more efficient, more confident, more considerate, ... than your typical non-colored male colleagues, to climb the career ladder... and you may argue this if you're a man and you have never immigrated to a totally different environment...

What is the secret here for those who overcome this challenge? I know it takes a lot of strength, ... but what else? Is it the "charisma" that most of us immigrants lack in our immigrant lives?

Any idea?

Welcome spring :)

2005-03-21T10:40:00.000-08:00

What a great Norooz!
It took me half of Saturday, but I finally finished the spring cleaning of my tiny little apartment and then set my Haft-Seen. I then went to my fitness class and felt so energetic afterwards (as usual). I walked back home, picked up my car and drove downtown to shop. I got a polo style shirt for TC as his Norooz present (It's a frugal year!!). Called P on my way home to see if she'd like to join me (I felt that she was frustrated and needed to talk) and she said that she'll meet me in 2 hours. I then prepared a chicken ceasar salad for dinner and we talked while dining. She left my place at about 10:30ish pm and I watched "Prostitution behind the veil" which I had taped a few weeks ago on CBC (What a sad documentary!). It was almost 1am Sunday morning when I finally hit the sack right after sending a "nighty night" SMS to TC who was dogsitting at his mom's place. I was gently woken up about 3:15am when TC came (all the way from his mom's place!) and we both started getting ready for Norooz. I also got a chance to join the Norooz chat room which dear Haleh had arranged for Iranian bloggers... That was fun!! Mom called right before Norooz and we counted down the seconds to Norooz... Couldn't have been a better a Norooz!! TC in my arms and mom on the phone... TC had to go back to his mom's for the dogs and I guess it was almost 6am when I went back to bed... but it really felt good...
I forgot to mention my Norooz gifts! I got beautiful red satin PJs and a photo album which included all the pictures of our happy moments since we started going out... TC never fails to surprise me and put that huge smile on my face!!

The festival of the last Wednesday

2005-03-15T11:09:00.000-08:00

chaarshanbeh soori

Tonight is "chaar-shanbeh soori" (the Fire Festival)!! Chaar-shanbeh soori falls on the eve of the last Wednesday of the Persian year.

The plan is to pick up Ouna on our way from work and then the three of us will head to North Vancouver where we will shop for "Haft Seen". Then we'll meet with V and M for a yummy Kabob dinner. After dinner, the plan is to drive to Ambleside park, West Vancouver - where tons of Iranians will gather to sing, dance, and hop over fires to celebrate the last Wednesday of the year!! Wanna know more about it? Why don't you join us if you live in/near, Vancouver?

* "chaar-shanbeh" means "Wednesday" in Farsi and "soori" is an ancient word in farsi for "party" (There are some similarities between the Persian fire festival and Halloween)

Norooz and feeling nostalgic again

2005-03-09T19:53:00.000-08:00

Haft-Seen (The 7 "S" symbols of Norooz)

Norooz (the Persian new year which starts at the crack of spring) is on its way again and like the past 6 Noroozes that I have spent away from Iran, I start to feel quite nostalgic and sort of sad...

These days in Iran, like all years previous, I'm sure there is the same old craze everywhere... the excitement and energy in the air as everyone tries to get things ready for Norooz... Spring cleaning, busy streets, insane traffic jams, buying presents, "Haft-Seen"* (the Norooz table), planning ones Norooz holiday vacation, "Chaahaar Shanbeh Soori"** (the fire festival), the new year's feast, painting hard boiled eggs, baking Norooz pastries, and the excitement and anticipation growing in all kids as they wait for their "Eydee" (a-d) (new year's gift(s))... or just feeling happy and eager that something special is on its way...

There is no way that I can experience my same old feelings for Norooz here... Life goes by "as usual" here on Norooz. The same old routine as the past 6 years: I go to work like everyone else, get the work done, put a box of chocolate on my desk and email everyone: "Today is the Persian new year and the 1st day of the spring... please feel free to come by my cubicle and take some chocolate!!" and hope that all the people who come for a chocolate will say 'hi' back to me tomorrow when I say 'hi' to them! Nothing at work, in the streets, on TV, or in the newspapers indicate that there is anything any different or special about this time of the year - it is just another regular day... I may be invited to go to a restaurant with the Persian crowd I know here, but even that doesn't make it feel like it's the best day of the year. Like all my past Noroozes in Canada, I will set my "Haft-Seen" table, turn my TV to the multicultural channel hoping that there is a Norooz special, and wait for the long distance phone calls filled with good wishes and special Norooz greetings from my friends and family around the world that are sure to come. All the while thinking about my beloved ones whom I left behind when I moved to Canada: Grandparents; Aunts; Uncles; Cousins; and all my wonderful and special friends...

Last year, mom was here for Norooz! It felt slighty better, but still not the same. TC couldn't join us since he had a hockey game at the same time, although he did send me an SMS message at the time - while he was resting on the bench in the middle of his game...

I now think to myself, will I ever get to experience the same old Norooz feelings? Will those butterflies in my stomach ever come back while I am counting down the seconds for Norooz?

Links for more info on Norooz:

Soosk Naameh (Cockroach Scripts) in English

2005-03-09T14:33:00.000-08:00

Ok, finally I decided to write in English as well! (for the sake of readers with no Farsi language background)
I cannot promise to keep the contents of soosk naameh and this one consistent, but I'll try my best to keep 'em both alive!!

Wish me luck, y'all!! :)