Rainbow

I can't get enough of this one! It gives me such a great feeling! Watch till the end, and you'll know what I mean :D
An expressionless moment of happiness ... that's all we need, we need to be in the moment, in our moment, and we need to paint it up with all sort of colors, for it cannot live in a black and white world of true's and false's.

take-home midterm DONE

So I'm finally done with my take-home midterm! :D :D :D I pulled an all-nighter, but I felt like I didn't really need to do so... A little better time management and less worrying about small details could have been useful... well of course as the hours go by and by, the processing speed of the brain goes down and down, and the minutest and least significant issues seem to have some sort of "trick" embedded in them, so for an instance, you feel smart that you actually pin-pointed the "trick"! But alas, that's where the moment of smartness ends because for the next few hours your thoughts circle around your brain without actually getting processed, which obviously results in a huge spaghetti in which you get lost and forgot where you started from!

As you can see, the above are all symptoms of a degenerated brain! In the past 38 hours, I have slept (lightly) for only 3 hours! At this point in time, I don't feel sleepy at all, but my body feels degenerated, my muscles are jittery, and it takes some time for me to actually say what is going on in my head (due to the huge spaghetti!)

For a more specific list of symptoms, refer to here.

P.S. By the way, there was also another thing that has kept my mind busy for the past day: are Halloween parties usually thrown the weekend before the actual Halloween, or the weekend after? You know why this is important? Cuz if the former is true, I just missed it (for the 5th time, i.e. as always!), but I really really really hope that some really good Halloween party happens next weekend :(((

Assignments never end!

I'm just sitting at the kitchen table, doing one assignment after the other, one question after the other... I regularly take a peak at the gmail page to check for any new e-mails (and to satisfy my infinite thirst for refreshing the gmail page), and that leads to ctrl-tab, youtube page, to once again watch one of the videos in my favorites list! Then I do another question, and triumphantly look at my neat solution, all the while thinking, is this victorious enough for a break, to watch a little movie online? And I found myself thinking about all the movies I want to watch: Mohsen Namjoo's autobiography, or BBC's "Human All Too Human" program on Nietzsche, or another episode of Lost. And finally I say to myself: no, this question was too easy, I cannot allow myself such a celebration yet!

Here I am!

So my friend gave me this really good idea, to keep in touch using our weblogs. And she has been really successful in doing so :) I love her weblog! I tried to start doing the same a couple times, i.e. opened the blogger dashboard and clicked on "New Post", but I couldn't write anything. I was more reserved, I don't know why. I felt like I can only write here when I have like a real tornado going on in my head or in my heart. At least those were the times that I used to write in this blog so often.

Another goal was to try to add a meaningful photo to each post, to try to express my emotions and my thoughts with more color.

Well, maybe these standards are too tight! As of now, my decision is to write in this weblog, whatever I want to write, or whatever I want my friends to know, or whatever seems cool, basically: "whatever"! And from there, we shall see how the trend of the posts are going to take form. I guess they will morph themselves into what they should :)

So for today, I am going to adhere to the traditions developed by babyblue :)



Thanks to Windshield for the link :)

Carpe Diem

The only sense of time we really need to have is a sense of now. This now, that now, the "now" in itself. Seize the day, the hour, the minute, the moment! The moment of grief, the moment of ecstasy, the moment of anger, and the moment of love! Indeed, Seize the moment. Don't just "observe" the moment, for the clocks tick away, and the moment is gone. It is only by acting upon the moment that we can seize it, eternally. The moments that we hold up in our soul define us, and henceforth summon our soul to a higher level.

Oh how I love to seize my anger, my passion, my joy, and my sadness. Albeit, my mind is too agile, and my tongue is too slow.

127 band - good music, interesting style!

ای خسرو خوبان نظری سوی گدا کن
رحمی به من خسته دل بی سرو پا کن

Indifference

The picture shows a very particular kind of indifference.... a very sad one

300. The truth?

300 the movie

Face-blindedness

Prosopagnosia, or face blindedness, is a disorder of face perception. It can be caused due to an injury to the occipital and temporal lobes.

It's unbelievable... this means that it is possible for someone not to be able to detect faces, while its ability to recognize other objects is left relatively intact. I wonder, how your life can be evolved with this disorder. The face is often what you would associate with the people around you, with events, with memories of past events; now if you don't have the ability to assign a face to symbolize these things in your mind, then what would you use as a symbol?

This opens up a question though; so many face detection methods can be generalized to object detection methods. If the mechanism for detecting faces is the same as all the other objects, then how is it that we operate differently? How can a face-blind person detect other objects then? Should we take these rare cases of brain damage patients more seriously, and perhaps, learn a lesson from it?

Perhaps there could be some overlap between face detetcion and object detetcion mechanisms; it's so puzzling though, I wonder if there is an object-blindness disorder as well...

Hayejanzadeam raje be zudtar residan be Iran...

Hayejanzadeam ke beram pishesho kolli baham dige hey behsinim harf bezanim! baad ... oon ye seri harf bezane, man ye seri harf bezanam!

Baad oon mano bebare coffeeshop haye bahalo hayejan angiz!

Ya inke bahash beram daneshgash karaye ajib gharib bokonam o dobare ehsas konam ke baham dige ye madrese mirim!!!

Ya inke khol shim o berim dobare tehrangardio jahaye random berim o ghaza bokhorim o bekhandim baad begim ma raftim folanja bebin cheghadr bahalim!!! :P

Baad kolli aks begirim o did haye mokhtalefe akso ke hamishe oon mibine...

Baad berim khoonashoon o... kolli maskhare bazi darbiyarimo o kholbaazio...

Baad berim too hayateshoon mesle rahnamayio dabirestan alaki bekhandim ke hame fek mikardan in do ta divunean! :P

Baad berim az un daste khiyabvoon chips e serke namaki begirim! :D beshinim roo pellehaye poshte asansor bokhorim!

Baad beshinim montazeresh ke biad o bekhandimo... kolli hayejan! Ba inke kaare poochi bud, va khodemoon ham midunestim, vali nemishe hayejan, va khandehasho enkaar kard ;)

Baad berim shahreketabe Niyavaran, hameye tabaghehasho bebinim...

Baad berim ghesmate ketabaye English o maskhare bazi darbiyarim o bekhandim

Beirm baraye ham dige cactus bekharim!

Baad berim ghesmate card hash... harkodom ye card vase khodemoon entekahb konim ke unyeki baramoon bekhare!!

Baad ham berim Mug hasho bebinim o nazar bedim... va az hame bahaltar ghesmate khodkar medad haash! vaay khodaaaaaaast!

Baad berim khooneye ma o roo takhte man deraz bekeshim o oonghadr harf bezanim ta khaste shim o khabaloo!!

Hamishe ham akharesh ya un diresh mishe o baayd bere... ya man...

Hamishe ham akharesh harfaye nesfe... karaye nakarde....

Va ba hameye inha, kolli harfhaye mizanim ke adam ba hichkas nemizane, va karayi mikonim ke ba hichkas nemikone...

Va kolli doostiye ghashang....

Neverland

It's kind of ironic how right in the middle of the exam time I feel so happy, of course not due to my exams (LOL!) but in fact I think that is the time when I finally find the time to enjoy other things!! I think it's because I don't have a lot to do, I only have 3 things to do: study for my three exams, and I can manage it whatever I want; and sometimes it's not such a pressing thing since it's spread out in more than half a month ;)...


So I get the time to enjoy myself.. and you know... sometimes you just feel happy... a friend of mine tells me that I am the same child that I have always been and I have never grown up :) I like this idea :)


I was looking at some old photos today, and I noticed that in my cousin's 6th birthday, my brother and both my cousins were dancing hand in hand... the funny thing is, no matter how hard you beg any of these guys to dance now, you would never be able to persuade them! :P

It's really nice to pay a visit to neverland every now and then, and I think I am there right now, along with my best friends... that's the best part.... :) I am not being left out alone in the neverland, no, we all pay a visit to neverland together... in fact to each other's neverlands, or even to someone else's....

In neverland you're not afraid to show your pure emotions, the most innocent ones, the ridiculously happy moments, the silly jokes, the big teardrops... isn't it nice to know that there are other people whom I love there as well? that are not afraid to shed a tear when something touches their heart, that are always willing to run around the house for a silly laugh...


It sure is nice :)

UCLA student tasered in the library

Wish you were here...

So, so you think you can tell Heaven from Hell,
blue skies from pain.
Can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail? A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell?



And did they get you trade your heroes for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees? Hot air for a cool breeze?
Cold comfort for change? And did you exchange
a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?


How I wish, how I wish you were here.
We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl,
year after year,
running over the same old ground. What have we found?
The same old fears,
wish you were here.

Self-knowledge

And a man said, "Speak to us of Self-Knowledge."
And he answered, saying:

Your hearts know in silence the secrets of the days and the nights.
But your ears thirst for the sound of your heart's knowledge.
You would know in words that which you have always know in thought.
You would touch with your fingers the naked body of your dreams.
And it is well you should.

The hidden well-spring of your soul must needs rise and run murmuring to the sea;
And the treasure of your infinite depths would be revealed to your eyes.
But let there be no scales to weigh your unknown treasure;
And seek not the depths of your knowledge with staff or sounding line.

For self is a sea boundless and measureless.
Say not, "I have found the truth," but rather, "I have found a truth."
Say not, "I have found the path of the soul." Say rather, "I have met the soul walking upon my path."
For the soul walks upon all paths.
The soul walks not upon a line, neither does it grow like a reed.
The soul unfolds itself, like a lotus of countless petals.

-By Khalil Gibran, The Prophet.

define: terrorism

According to The Israel Project website: The FBI defines terrorism as "the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives."

Now who is really being intimidated here?!!!

I just don't understand how the news agencies can ramble and ramble and ramble, saying that the Israelis are defending themselves, and that this is just an act of defense because two of their soldiers were caught. I mean, do the news agencies think we are idiots? Every time I hear the news, I feel like my intelligence is being deeply insulted!

Lebanon is completely ruined; Kofi Annan said today that there are 500,000 people displaced, many without food right now. What the news agencies mostly fail to broadcast is how Israel is defending its country by intimidating not only a segment of the Lebanese civilian population, but its whole entity! Well of course the Israelis have an end, and that's to achieve their political and social objective, to prove that they can kill as many civilians as they like.

Just remind me, what was the definition of terrorism?

Freedom of the swing

Today, I was [accidentally!!!] woken up earlier than usual. The early morning weather is just something different. You can smell the freshness in it, it's no cliche, you can really smell it!!!

There was a playground right in the middle of the square. It started bringing back so many nice memories... all these scenes just passing through my mind... just like "The Final Cut" movie.

I sat in a swing, moving my feet and my body back and forth. Going up, all the way to the sky. You feel a sort of freedom that just brings everything in you out, puts it all aside, and lets you free from all the little things that are constantly occupying your mind. You start becoming who you really are, just swinging back and forth and with each swing, losing more of the external artifacts polluting your soul.

Sleepless II: more (irrelevant) thoughts

Richard Bach said it so easily:
"If our friendship depends on things like space and time, then when we finally overcome space and time, we've destroyed our own brotherhood! But overcome space, and all we have left is Here. Overcome time, and all we have left is Now. And in the middle of Here and Now, don't you think that we might see each other once or twice?"

But hmmm... Is it really that simple? I mean, suppose we overcome space and time, suppose space and time lose their effect in our friendship, suppose our friendship becomes, as they say, eternal. Is that it though? Can't it be enhanced? Is this all there is to it? Just space and time? No you and me?

I think we're just infinite. Even if the space and time stop, there's still so much more to do, so much more you can never finish, you can never reach the eternal. There's so much in you, so much in me, that we'll never be able to explore.

Another thing: let's say our friendship, our belief in our relationship, becomes eternal, freed from space and time. Now how about my knowledge about you? Is that independent of space and time?

Sleepless I

I finally got the energy from somewhere; I don't know where! I think it's because I'm thinking if I don't finish this, long weekend is going to be like crap! So I'm paying the price, staying up till now and doing work efficiently just to be able to get done with it.

I've almost done 2/3 of it. Another 1/3 is left. Right now it's 4:30 a.m. and I'm just working so efficiently because everyone is quiet. There's no sound. Nothing! Just the sound of my keyboard, along with the occasional groans of Tala, begging me to turn off the lights so that he can finally sleep. Well he does fall asleep, but he's such a light sleeper!! :P

Hmmm... I'm looking forward to tomorrow (I should say today!!). I'm planning to have lots of fun in the next 2 (or maybe 3, or actually maybe 4) days!!! :D If I can only get this over with...

Well I'm not complaining; it's really good for my near future :)

California!

So I am finally in California. I'm soo tired (most of you guys have already heard this from me 100000 times now!)... but in any case, it's just tiresome.. I donno why... I guess it's because in APL we're not exactly SITTING by the computer all day long, but instead jumping and running around the lab!!

and then we go downstairs to get some coffee, go to Sam's office to make some tea, laugh a little bit, and come back, and then it's not like we've already wasted so much time and we want to actually get some work done! NO! we're still running around the lab, and finally when we sit, we start sending msgs on msn and gmail! :D

Well, all the same, we still got work done, and in fact learn a lot (using caffeine and working our asses off at nights!)

Here, I'm sitting by a computer and I'm not exactly bored (!!), but just tired. You know, I feel like I want to go somewhere and sit there and just do what I wanna do for like half a day or a full day. I mean, I don't want anyone talking or interrupting or anything. I wanna do what I want to do! and then inhale some fresh air, get some energy, and get back on track.

At the same time, I am excited about all the new people, the environment and everything else. But I just feel like I'm overwhelmed right now... need to relax a little bit.

I rented a car, guess what? A red malibu!!! [;) I didn't ask for it! hehe!]

And once again:

Propaganda!!!!

I had to make a one-day trip from Toronto to LA. First off, there was the fingerprinting. That's a given considering the high correlation between being a terrorist and one's place of birth!

Later on, while waiting for my flight, I heard this on the CNN: "Are Iranian spies watching New York?" PROPAGANDA!!! And this was announced in the headlines section without further explanation! Ten minutes later, further explanation followed, only to prove that the headline was, expectedly, nothing but random guesses!!! All they knew was that maybe someone was watching some tower, and this may or may not be related to the Iranian government actually spying in New York, which is obviously, for nothing but to plan a terrorist attack!!! Of course this news, or shall I say gossip wrapped with mystery, is announced in the early morning headlines!!!

A few hours later, on the way back to Toronto, I noticed there was a code on my boarding pass, indicating "SSSS". And this is not the first time I have seen this on my boarding card! No! This has happened every time for the past couple of times!! Now what does this code mean? This means that we have been selected for a "Random" security check (Everyone that is marked with this code must be physically screened and have all their belongings searched thoroughly). The selection process was in fact so random that everyone in the special screening area spoke Farsi! (Using the ECE lingo, I guess if the countries were listed on the x-axis, the PDF of this random variable would be a delta function!)

Discrimination, disguised under America’s deep concern for the security of this great nation, and of course world-wide peace…