I have two half-sisters, one younger and one older, both my dad’s daughters. They live in Germany, where I was born. People are always surprised to find out about them, but I just don’t talk about them much because they were never part of my life. So, there’s not a lot to say besides, “Yeah, [...]
Category Archives: Miscellany
Homa Sarshar, Ardeshir Farah, Etc.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
1. My interview with Homa Sarshar, the Iranian Barbara Walters, went really well. It’s so cool to talk to someone who does what you want to do and, in her case, has been doing it successfully for more than 40 years. She was really gracious. Now I have to transcribe our conversation, which always blows, [...]
A+ for Charm
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
A man, Patrick Moberg, saw the lady of his dreams on the subway in NYC and instead of chatting her up (because nobody in NYC actually hits on you on the subway if they have any self-respect or are halfway sober, they just write missed connections on Craigslist later and hope you are really bored [...]
And We’re Off, Sort Of
Thursday, November 1, 2007
1. Change of Plan: My much-anticipated interview today fell through because of miscommunication, but here’s hoping for a re-sked soon. Note to self: always confirm and re-confirm everything with everyone, via as many communication vehicles as possible, as many times as possible.
2. Distractions: I’m in the Coral Tree Cafe in Encino, attempting to start NaNoWriMoing. [...]
Writer Crushes, NaNoWriMo, Homa Sarshar
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
1. Junot Díaz, whose writing I like more than almost anybody. Every time he curses, my heart melts a little.
2. Nathan Englander, who is so nice and smart and his short stories are amazing. I haven’t read his novel yet. He once poured me a lot of vodka at a party, a tumbler full of [...]
Raymond Carver
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
I’ve got a project going right now, where I’m re-reading a bunch of old books. “Old” as in I’ve read them before, not as in 15th century.
I re-read most of Raymond Carver’s short story collection, “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love,” late last week. His writing is famous for being very minimal, [...]
Antique
Friday, September 28, 2007
I’ve been at home for about a month now, after my year-and-change in New York. I really miss New York, but the first night I came home, this conversation happened over dinner (in Farsi, which made it even better):
Me: Maman, why is there a bong in the china cabinet?
Mom: What is a bong? That is [...]
Dan Rather Memory
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Dan Rather is suing CBS.
After he was fired, I went to a talk given by him at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Before the audience got seated, ushers provided note cards for questions. Mine was something like, “You’ve been a journalist for a long time: How do you think blogging is changing journalism today?” A pointed [...]
