Wednesday, June 30, 2004
soar throat
Since the swim test I had to pass yesterday morning, I feel kind of down. My throat hurts and I feel like weird. Maybe I have gotten a mild cold or something. I don't know.
My scuba diving teacher is on a trip so we will not start the class till next week.
My mom is coming here this Saturday. Isn't it awesome? :)
I don't really know why it is so hard to study in the summer. It must be the weather. Why else? Well, maybe in a cold place like Ithaca it is even harder to study when the birds are singing and the deers and rabbits are wandering :)
Living in large cities all my life, I never really appreciated the nature. It is only here in Ithaca that I don't kill the buggs in my house anymore:) It feels like I am in their habbitat not that they are in mine. I gently take them by a piece of paper or something and throw them in the yard!
Although I really prefer a big city for living, I am sort of glad that I am living here in my grad school years. I don't think that I would ever live in such small town in my life again. Next year I will graduate and if everything goes smoothly, I will move to some big city by one of the coasts.
Should go now...
Have to study.
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My scuba diving teacher is on a trip so we will not start the class till next week.
My mom is coming here this Saturday. Isn't it awesome? :)
I don't really know why it is so hard to study in the summer. It must be the weather. Why else? Well, maybe in a cold place like Ithaca it is even harder to study when the birds are singing and the deers and rabbits are wandering :)
Living in large cities all my life, I never really appreciated the nature. It is only here in Ithaca that I don't kill the buggs in my house anymore:) It feels like I am in their habbitat not that they are in mine. I gently take them by a piece of paper or something and throw them in the yard!
Although I really prefer a big city for living, I am sort of glad that I am living here in my grad school years. I don't think that I would ever live in such small town in my life again. Next year I will graduate and if everything goes smoothly, I will move to some big city by one of the coasts.
Should go now...
Have to study.
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Tuesday, June 29, 2004
Scuba Diving
I signed up for Scuba Diving today :)
Very excited! I passed the swimming test this morning and therefore was accepted in the class. It is really interesting. For the fall, I guess I will sign up for Squash. We will see.
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Very excited! I passed the swimming test this morning and therefore was accepted in the class. It is really interesting. For the fall, I guess I will sign up for Squash. We will see.
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Thursday, June 24, 2004
Why not start the day with a laugh?
One sunny day in 2005 an old man approached the White House from across
Pennsylvania Avenue, where he'd been sitting on a park bench. He spoke to
the U.S. Marine standing guard and said, "I would like to go in and meet
with President Bush."
The Marine looked at the man and said, "Sir, Mr. Bush is no longer president
and no longer resides here."
The old man said, "Okay" and walked away.
The following day, the same man approached the White House and said to the
same Marine, "I would like to go in and meet with President Bush."
The Marine again told the man, "Sir, as I said yesterday, Mr. Bush is no
longer president and no longer resides here." The man thanked him and, again,
just walked away.
The third day, the same man approached the White House and spoke to the
very same U. S. Marine, saying "I would like to go in and meet with
President Bush."
The Marine, understandably agitated at this point, looked at the man and
said, "Sir, this is the third day in a row you have been here asking to speak to
Mr. Bush. I've told you already that Mr. Bush is no longer the president and no
longer resides here. Don't you understand?"
The old man looked at the Marine and said, "Oh, I understand. I just love
hearing it."
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Pennsylvania Avenue, where he'd been sitting on a park bench. He spoke to
the U.S. Marine standing guard and said, "I would like to go in and meet
with President Bush."
The Marine looked at the man and said, "Sir, Mr. Bush is no longer president
and no longer resides here."
The old man said, "Okay" and walked away.
The following day, the same man approached the White House and said to the
same Marine, "I would like to go in and meet with President Bush."
The Marine again told the man, "Sir, as I said yesterday, Mr. Bush is no
longer president and no longer resides here." The man thanked him and, again,
just walked away.
The third day, the same man approached the White House and spoke to the
very same U. S. Marine, saying "I would like to go in and meet with
President Bush."
The Marine, understandably agitated at this point, looked at the man and
said, "Sir, this is the third day in a row you have been here asking to speak to
Mr. Bush. I've told you already that Mr. Bush is no longer the president and no
longer resides here. Don't you understand?"
The old man looked at the Marine and said, "Oh, I understand. I just love
hearing it."
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Tuesday, June 22, 2004
BBC NEWS | Americas
Monday, June 21, 2004
Persian food! Yummy!
Today, I want to teach you how to make Tahchin. It is one of the most delicious food ever.
Material:
Chicken breast and thighs, 4-5 pieces
White onion, chopped, 1/2 cup
eggplant, 3-4
Turmeric, salt, pepper and saffron, a pinch
basmati rice, 4 cups
egg yolk, 4
yogurt, plain, 1 cup
Procedure
Soak the rice in enough water that covers it thoroughly for 2-3 hours.
Sutee the onion and the chicken together. Then add 3-4 cups of water, a little bit of turmeric (just for the color), some salt and pepper and then let it cook on medium heat until it is cooked and only 1/2-1 cup of broth is left in there.
Sutte the eggplant. To do so, first peel the eggplants, cut them vertical (from length)in 3-4 pieces and put salt on them. After a short while you will see water appearing on the eggplants. It will cause the eggplants to absorb less of oil when being sutteed. Then pour some oil in the frying pan and on medium heat start sutteeing the eggplants.
In a large pot bring water to boil. Pour the soaked rice inside the boiling water. It will cease to boil because of the drop in the temperature. Wait and do not stir till it comes to boil again (on medium high heat). Then strain the rice and wash it with cold water till all of the starch goes out.
Pour saffron in 1/3 cup hot water and let it stay for a couple of minutes till the water turns red-orange.
Mix egg yolks with the yogurt and saffron-water with just a bit of salt and pepper so that the mixture becomes very smooth.
Preheat oven to 350F.
Pour half of this mixture in the bottom of a Pyrex pot, pour some rice on top of it. Squeeze the rice with spoon. Put layers of chicken and eggplant on top of the rice, then some of the yogurt mixture then some rice and so forth.
When putting each layer of rice, squeeze the layers together.
In the end, pour the remaining of the chicken broth (1/2-1 cup) on the whole thing, cover the top with aluminum foil and put it in the oven. It should remain in the oven for at least 90 minutes. It is ready when the rice in the bottom of the pot becomes golden.
Enjoy and Bon apetit!
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Material:
Chicken breast and thighs, 4-5 pieces
White onion, chopped, 1/2 cup
eggplant, 3-4
Turmeric, salt, pepper and saffron, a pinch
basmati rice, 4 cups
egg yolk, 4
yogurt, plain, 1 cup
Procedure
Soak the rice in enough water that covers it thoroughly for 2-3 hours.
Sutee the onion and the chicken together. Then add 3-4 cups of water, a little bit of turmeric (just for the color), some salt and pepper and then let it cook on medium heat until it is cooked and only 1/2-1 cup of broth is left in there.
Sutte the eggplant. To do so, first peel the eggplants, cut them vertical (from length)in 3-4 pieces and put salt on them. After a short while you will see water appearing on the eggplants. It will cause the eggplants to absorb less of oil when being sutteed. Then pour some oil in the frying pan and on medium heat start sutteeing the eggplants.
In a large pot bring water to boil. Pour the soaked rice inside the boiling water. It will cease to boil because of the drop in the temperature. Wait and do not stir till it comes to boil again (on medium high heat). Then strain the rice and wash it with cold water till all of the starch goes out.
Pour saffron in 1/3 cup hot water and let it stay for a couple of minutes till the water turns red-orange.
Mix egg yolks with the yogurt and saffron-water with just a bit of salt and pepper so that the mixture becomes very smooth.
Preheat oven to 350F.
Pour half of this mixture in the bottom of a Pyrex pot, pour some rice on top of it. Squeeze the rice with spoon. Put layers of chicken and eggplant on top of the rice, then some of the yogurt mixture then some rice and so forth.
When putting each layer of rice, squeeze the layers together.
In the end, pour the remaining of the chicken broth (1/2-1 cup) on the whole thing, cover the top with aluminum foil and put it in the oven. It should remain in the oven for at least 90 minutes. It is ready when the rice in the bottom of the pot becomes golden.
Enjoy and Bon apetit!
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Saturday, June 19, 2004
Weblogs
I am really happy that I started these weblogs. They give me a sense of belonging and definitely have reduced my fear of becoming a foreigner to my own people
Now, I can write in Farsi and communicate with my friends from home. I can find new friends whom I might never meet and further more, we get to talk. I can say whatever is on my mind and people will let me know what they think about it.
I think weblogging is a very good thing :)
In Iran, it is a totally different issue. In a country where the press are banned from saying lots of things, where the only TV channels belong to the state, where more that 60% of the population are below 30 years old, weblogs have helped people to become little journalists. It is an unsolvable problem for the Islamic Republic of Iran. You cannot silence everyone, can you?
Reading some of the weblogs, let me understand why my 21 year old sister acts the way she does, they help me understand why I am who I am.
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Now, I can write in Farsi and communicate with my friends from home. I can find new friends whom I might never meet and further more, we get to talk. I can say whatever is on my mind and people will let me know what they think about it.
I think weblogging is a very good thing :)
In Iran, it is a totally different issue. In a country where the press are banned from saying lots of things, where the only TV channels belong to the state, where more that 60% of the population are below 30 years old, weblogs have helped people to become little journalists. It is an unsolvable problem for the Islamic Republic of Iran. You cannot silence everyone, can you?
Reading some of the weblogs, let me understand why my 21 year old sister acts the way she does, they help me understand why I am who I am.
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Thursday, June 17, 2004
This is so cool!
Tuesday, June 15, 2004
joke
if a barber makes a mistake, it is a new style
if a driver makes a mistake, it is an accident
if a doctor makes a mistake, it is an operation
if parents make a mistake, it is a new generation
if a politician makes a mistake, it is a new law
if a scientist makes a mistake, it is a new invention
if a tailor makes a mistake, it is a new fashion
if a teacher makes a mistake, it is a new theory
if YOUR BOSS makes a mistake,
IT IS YOUR MISTAKE 8D
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if a driver makes a mistake, it is an accident
if a doctor makes a mistake, it is an operation
if parents make a mistake, it is a new generation
if a politician makes a mistake, it is a new law
if a scientist makes a mistake, it is a new invention
if a tailor makes a mistake, it is a new fashion
if a teacher makes a mistake, it is a new theory
if YOUR BOSS makes a mistake,
IT IS YOUR MISTAKE 8D
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My cell phone
Never ever buy an LG cell phone!!! Especially not of this kind. I have had my cell for say 1.5 years. Its frame started to crack right from the middle part. I fixed it with tape and stuff... but 2-3 days ago, it completely splitted in half and the two parts where connected only by some wire... The weired thing was that you could still talk with the phone if you could manage to keep the two parts together. I fixed it again through acrobatic moves (cause the middle part was broken into two pieces also) finally it looks fine and yes, you can talk to it.
When I wanted to go to bed, I put the alarm for 8:30 am because it was really late last night. The alarm goes on this morning and I am so tired and can't wake up. Finally after a few minutes I do wake up, wash my face and stuff and dress up and look at ny cell phone and it says 6:52 am!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I checked its alarm again (thought maybe I had gone crazy), nope, it was right there: 8:30 am.
So either I thought I heard the alarm and woke up (which is not likely but we will consider this possibility just to be fair) so I imagine stuff, or these phones really suck!!!
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When I wanted to go to bed, I put the alarm for 8:30 am because it was really late last night. The alarm goes on this morning and I am so tired and can't wake up. Finally after a few minutes I do wake up, wash my face and stuff and dress up and look at ny cell phone and it says 6:52 am!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I checked its alarm again (thought maybe I had gone crazy), nope, it was right there: 8:30 am.
So either I thought I heard the alarm and woke up (which is not likely but we will consider this possibility just to be fair) so I imagine stuff, or these phones really suck!!!
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Friday, June 11, 2004
Thursday, June 10, 2004
My little sis
Weather
It is suddenly really cold in here! Weird!
It was very hot yesterday, we were being cooked alive, especially because living in Ithaca, our bodies are not used to such high temperatures anymore. I feel like having soar throat. Well, not soar really, but sort of! It is because of the change in weather I guess. I am making barly soop for myself. It is really good and delicious. You should also try it.
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It was very hot yesterday, we were being cooked alive, especially because living in Ithaca, our bodies are not used to such high temperatures anymore. I feel like having soar throat. Well, not soar really, but sort of! It is because of the change in weather I guess. I am making barly soop for myself. It is really good and delicious. You should also try it.
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Wednesday, June 09, 2004
baby camel
A mother and a baby camel were lazing around, and suddenly the baby
camel asked.....
Baby: Mother, mother, may I ask you some questions?
Mother: Sure! Why son, is there something bothering you?
Baby: Why do camels have humps?
Mother: Well son, we are desert animals, we need the humps to store water and we are known to survive without water.
Baby: Okay, then why are our legs long and our feet rounded?
Mother: Son, obviously they are meant for walking in the desert, You know with these legs I can move around the desert
better than anyone does! Said the mother proudly.
Baby: Okay, then why are our lashes long? Sometimes it bothers my sight.
Mother: My son, those long thick ashes are your protective cover. They help to protect your eyes from the desert sand and wind. Said mother camel with eyes rim ming
with pride....
Baby: I see. So the hump is to store water when we are in the desert, the legs are for walking through the desert and these eye lashes protects my eyes from the desert......
Then what the hell are we doing here in the zzoooooo!!!!!!???
MORAL OF THE STORY IS:
Skills, knowledge, abilities and periences are only useful if you are at the right place"
(where are you right now????????)
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camel asked.....
Baby: Mother, mother, may I ask you some questions?
Mother: Sure! Why son, is there something bothering you?
Baby: Why do camels have humps?
Mother: Well son, we are desert animals, we need the humps to store water and we are known to survive without water.
Baby: Okay, then why are our legs long and our feet rounded?
Mother: Son, obviously they are meant for walking in the desert, You know with these legs I can move around the desert
better than anyone does! Said the mother proudly.
Baby: Okay, then why are our lashes long? Sometimes it bothers my sight.
Mother: My son, those long thick ashes are your protective cover. They help to protect your eyes from the desert sand and wind. Said mother camel with eyes rim ming
with pride....
Baby: I see. So the hump is to store water when we are in the desert, the legs are for walking through the desert and these eye lashes protects my eyes from the desert......
Then what the hell are we doing here in the zzoooooo!!!!!!???
MORAL OF THE STORY IS:
Skills, knowledge, abilities and periences are only useful if you are at the right place"
(where are you right now????????)
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Tuesday, June 08, 2004
It is a long time since I updated this blog I think. Not much has happened though. I submitted my proposal at 1:00 am on Friday and went to DC for a couple of days a few hours later. It was so rainy though. We went to my friend's aunt's house. She fed us with lots of good Persian food :) Definitely cannot complain.
I am back again with a long list of to-do's!!!
Should get back to work now, will write more later.
By the way, you should take a look at this gallery. it is breathtaking.
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I am back again with a long list of to-do's!!!
Should get back to work now, will write more later.
By the way, you should take a look at this gallery. it is breathtaking.
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Thursday, June 03, 2004
911 F
Tuesday, June 01, 2004
Rain
It just started to rain. I always experience some strong emotions on rainy days. If I am happy, I could be overjoyed. If I feel gloomy, I could cry all day. If I feel alert, I can start to paint. If I am really focused, I will study really well.
...
I guess I am just a little sad today.
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...
I guess I am just a little sad today.
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