Skype To-Go! March 31, 2009

It’s here and it’s free! Skype has launched its free calling and instant messaging for the iPhone and second generation iPod touch. Wohoo!

One Family February 10, 2009

www.bahai.org

I’m trying to pick up Arabic… February 3, 2009

Unfortunately, at times it can feel like I’d have more success picking up my car!  I wrote Payam a note, for example, and thought I’d signed it “with love from your wife (زوجتك), karina”. Instead, I signed with love from his hurricane.  Oops

Meanwhile, I’ve been looping my audio lessons trying to distinguish between “siffre”, “siffre”, and “siffre” ; and am trying not to flee in panic from to master:

Well, I am enjoying the challenge and seek motivation in the hope that one day I might be able to read this or this! إن شاء الله

Spellbound January 28, 2009

Here’s a fun link, courtesy of my brother-in-law, to a quiz on The 25 Most Commonly Misspelled Words.

Meeting Bayan January 27, 2009

By far the highlight of my visit east last week was meeting Bayan Aliyyih, who entered the world only a couple of weeks ago.  She is daughter to two of my favorite people and, as you can see in the photos below, is ADORABLE (if you can’t see, click to enlarge and you surely will) .  I didn’t take a photo of the entire family, so am borrowing this one from Bayan’s blog in order to introduce you:

Speaking of her blog, and in case you are wondering how she and her parents find the time to keep it updated, I should mention that Bayan has penciled a blogging slot into her family’s daily routine (right between her sleeping, sleeping, eating, and sleeping).

(Lest there be any doubt, let these photos attest to who’s directing the whole endeavor!)

Also, I think Bayan much prefers when her parents keep her inside, because she is a New Yorker and venturing outside these days entails bundling up in layers and layers and snuggling into her baby bunting bag (unless her parents bring her back to California, where we have no clue what a baby bunting bag is).

I do have to admit, Bayan didn’t seem to mind the cold… except for the part where the icy winter air started attacking her innocent little face (don’t worry, Bayan, I’m going to keep working your parents on that relocation thing any chance I get).

In the end though it was all worthwhile because she got to visit Max Brenner (YUM!)!  As you can tell, she was overcome with excitement…

She even made a point of waking up just to demonstrate her approval of the beverage selection — mocha for papa, dark hot chocolate for mama (and Bayan), and Mexican hot chocolate for auntie k.

Then we all got bundled back up (and one us went back into our bunting) and I continued to relish my first time meeting Bayan.  

A Montréal Picture Book January 4, 2009

(click images to enlarge, if you like)

As it was the first visit to Montréal for both Shastri and Mum, we decided to take the team up Mont Royal for a breathtaking introduction to the city. Despite his Siberian armor, Shastri was frozen and became singularly preoccupied… ‘How can I get the team to abort Operation: Brisk Winter Hike? If they wont, when can I ditch the team and bolt back to the car?’

As you can tell, our mothers on the other hand were both grinning from ear to ear.

Nonetheless, we did make it to the chalet, imbibed hot chocolates, and headed back out to enjoy the view (for about as long as it took to take this photo). Ok, we’re winter wimps, but it was COLD!

The highlight of the week was by far a visit to the historic home of William Sutherland and May Bolles Maxwell.

We thought a stroll through Old Town might make for another enjoyable afternoon, but only made it as far as a snow/ice bank.

Even enlisting the help of a passing snow plow proved fruitless. The team’s morale began to fade as passing tourists snapped photos and left.

But then Superstar Maram emerged from a neighboring store, borrowed shovel in hand, and saved the day (Mom, Mahtab, Shastri, and Payam look on).

Eventually, we did make it to Old Town…

…and McGill Avenue to boot!

And, for the remainder of the week, we stayed indoors; sipping warm beverages, playing Cranium and Dutch Blitz, and enjoying winter from behind double-paned glass!

Many thanks to the Montréal contingent for a most enjoyable week! Now, who wants to visit California?

Ode to the Mango December 11, 2008

In you,
colors of sunset
envelope juice so succulent
sugar and honey blush.

And sticky rivers of laughter
trickle from fingers to elbows
as strands of delicious memories
stick between my teeth.

For in you,
I still taste our childhood joy
perched high in grandma’s tree
so busy searching for the ripest, sweetest prize
that we rarely managed to make it
past the front yard and into the house
for weekly afternoon tea.

Ravi, Singapore (circa 1985)

Boxed Thinking December 4, 2008

Amidst the stack of license, social security, job, and (way too many) other applications we’ve been completing lately, I’ve made a discovery: Payam’s white! Really? Why hasn’t anyone informed the “sir, you’ve been randomly selected…” TSA staff?

Hmm… curious how people react to inane questions of the variety depicted above, I went online and came across an interesting site called Please mark only one.

And, I wrote this poem:

Form after form and always the same demand:
“Please mark one (and only one) box.”

Forget blood permeates bordered land
Blood permeates annoying checkboxes

Blood of our ancestors spilt across centuries and ages and pages of shared history
And still this obsession to categorize my, your, their blood?

Why?

After all, ashes to ashes and dust to dust
“Know ye not why We created you all from the same dust?“

Oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon
“Know ye not why We created you all from the same dust?”

I breathe atoms of you
Breathe atoms of we
Inhale molecules and matter
And particles scattered
Across borders and ages and find
Me in you in us in them and find

My people is you.

Royal 2.0 December 1, 2008

A family member recently forwarded this clip of Jordan’s Queen Rania, which I think represents a fantastic use of new media technology (and a position of power).

In March of this year, Queen Rania launched her own YouTube channel, with the aim of “breaking down stereotypes about the Arab and Muslim worlds” and “bridging the East-West divide.” The site hosts videos on a range of topics including terrorism, human rights, Arab identity, and honor killings.

Millions of surfers have tuned in and, in response, YouTube honored her with the first-ever YouTube Visionary Award. Mayor Gavin Newsom of San Francisco presented the award on November 22, 2008, and today’s SF Chronicle reports that he will be using a recently launched YouTube channel of his own to present his State of the City.

While it’s not a new platform for politicians, and agendas will likely be mixed, I find it fascinating to watch the creative ways in which those in power ride the 2.0 wave.