Things I've done since my last update to feel less powerless and hopeless in our new national nightmare!

• Finished putting all my local and national representatives' contact information in my phone.
• Emailed Mayor Garcetti thanking him for his support of the LAX protests and keeping LA a sanctuary city.
• Called Feinstein's office, and WONDER OF WONDERS, ( Read more... )

Fresh Off the Boat is a COMPLETE DELIGHT ( Read more... )

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Norooz mubarak!  I rang in the new year with my family at the usual family potluck, which despite the terrible windy and rainy weather was quite nice.  There was lots of good food and delicious baked goods, and I got to see a bunch of my cousins, so it was a good holiday all in all.  The drive back to LA was a bit of a white-knuckled one though.  ( Read more... )

Aside from Eid, it's been a pretty shitty time to be Muslim in America lately. I've been meaning to make a post about it for a while, but it makes me sad and tired and angry, so I kept putting it off. But I think it's important to say something, to have another voice out there, so here is me making a post, however incoherent and emotional it is ( Read more... )

I have been rather surprisingly busy (family stuff, errands, etc), and thus posting less than I have wanted. Also, I have been watching a lot of World Cup games. A lot. Today's games were super exciting, and my whole family is getting up at 7 AM to watch the Germany-Argentina game tomorrow morning. Don't disappoint me, Deutschland, I'm getting up ( Read more... )

Happy Persian New Year and first day of spring! I am back home enjoying my mom's annual Norooz cookies and my presents (nice clothes, as usual). Our table of haft ceen is prepared, though the hyacinth hasn't bloomed yet, and tonight I am going to the big family party. Life is good ( Read more... )

Okay, I just got back from seeing Malalai Joya speak. That was true...four days ago, but then Firefox crashed and evidently I never got around to finishing this post. Oops. Well, here it is now ( Read more... )

OMG YOU GUYS. I just found out Malalai Joya is giving a talk and doing a signing here tonight! This improves my day a lot.  And also makes coming to my Central Asia class worthwhile, because otherwise I would not have known about it. Now I know her talk will not be the most happy-making thing, what with Afghanistan and Afghan politics being a ( Read more... )

So, I went out with some friends earlier tonight, one of whom had a friend visiting her and who we were showing around before she got off work, and we managed to horrify him with the hilarity that is Twilight. GOOD TIMES. It is omg so fun to watch people's faces when you tell them about the crazy shit that goes down in the Twilight series. The look ( Read more... )