"I will participate in the demonstrations tomorrow."

"I will participate in the demonstrations tomorrow. Maybe they will turn violent. Maybe I will be one of the people who is going to get killed. I'm listening to all my favorite music. I even want to dance to a few songs. I always wanted to have very narrow eyebrows. Yes, maybe I will go to the salon before I go tomorrow! There are a few great movie scenes that I also have to see. I should drop by the library, too. It's worth to read the poems of Forough and Shamloo again. All family pictures have to be reviewed, too. I have to call my friends as well to say goodbye. All I have are two bookshelves which I told my family who should receive them. I'm two units away from getting my bachelors degree but who cares about that. My mind is very chaotic. I wrote these random sentences for the next generation so they know we were not just emotional and under peer pressure. So they know that we did everything we could to create a better future for them. So they know that our ancestors surrendered to Arabs and Mongols but did not surrender to despotism. This note is dedicated to tomorrow's children..."

from a blog post here, translated by the NIAC.

yesterday at union square in san francisco

i was delighted to be among the few hundred in green, supporting the people back home. a rigged election, a suppressed voice, and really a slim chance to do much as more time goes by. people standing for what they believe, and all we can do from here all the way on the other side of the world is to let them know we care, we hear them, we see them, we follow them, and spread the knowledge.

i was talking to david yesterday about what is happening in iran, and how i am just completely addicted and glued to my laptop, following whats happening every minute. almost 7 years after i left tehran (it will exactly be 7 years on june 20th), i feel uneasy inside, like i dont know how it feels to be there. i feel... guilty somehow. maybe a part of it has to do with obama, and seeing when the people here want something so bad, and when they get together and put enough effort into it, they can elect a man like him. and how a similar effort in iran, in a situation that arguably is worse, doesnt give you nearly the same result. that after an unheard of 85 percent voter turnout, days of demonstration and rallies, tens dead and hundreds injured, there is still nothing for them, for us, to do but to wait around, be angry, be frustrated, be fearful of whats to come.

brew with a view and the fish hopper

anthony dwight dylan kelsey and i went to the monterey beer festival yesterday. it was a crowded house with a looooot of beer and three very impressive cover bands... it was basically a concert with free beer. who wouldnt be happy?
after getting our midday buzz, we headed over to the cannery row, where we enjoyed the gorgeous weather before ending up at the not so cheap fish hopper. i would say our little splurge was well worth it though.