Gotta Love Darwin

I would encourage anyone who is unfamiliar with Darwin's life to read his biography, even an abbreviated one. He was an amazing man and scientist. Unwilling to blindly conform to the beliefs of the time he searched for the truth, ultimately rejecting the doctrines of Christianity despite his religious beginnings and wife. And although he didn't come up with the idea of evolution as the origin of species it was his work that ultimately increased its impact within the scientific community. Needless to say I think he was one cool dude.

Saw This At Lell's

It's been a while since we ate at Lell's Cafe because a) it's not cheap and b) the food is too good, y'know, butter and cheese and all that. But the last time we went I snapped a pic of a poster she has hanging near the espresso maker. :-)

Obi Is Off His Meds

Obi is doing so well upstairs. It's been about a year (I think) since we moved him over here. He is now off his Prozac. He is still a bit high strung but oh so more mellow than when he was coping with Frosty. He sleeps in bed with us sometimes even if Lupe and Banu are there also, not something he felt comfortable enough to do till recently. He also may be grooming himself again. I've cut out the fur clumps that covered his back like little furry tumors and I haven't seen any new clumps. He seems totally back to his normal self. Keep your fingers crossed.

Yes ma'am, I stole your Qtips.

Family Gathering With Tannaz and Salar June 2012

Tannaz and Salar are Saeed's brother's (Bozorg) children. Tannaz lives in Atlanta with her husband, Masih, and their twins Atousa and Khashayar. Salar lives in England with his British wife, Anna, and their two children Saam and Elyse. In June we met Shirin and Gabriel at Tannaz's house for an afternoon of fun.

L --> R: Gabriel, Anna holding Elyse, Khashayar being held by Tannaz, Tannaz's mom Farideh holding Atousa, Cyrus, Shirin, Kai, Saam being held by Salar. Missing were Saeed, Masih and Khashayar who was being put down for a nap.

Cyrus and Khashayar wasted no time and got right down to playing.

 

Anna was helping Saam do the rocket launcher.

Elyse, Atousa, Khashayar on the couch.

Saeed with Salar.

Shirin talks with her cousin.

Isn't this a great picture?

And this is how we got the kids to stay there, by singing "the wheels on the bus go 'round and 'round."

Masih blew up the pool for the kids. Kai and Cyrus knew exactly what to do.

It was Atousa and Khashayar's first time in the pool. They did great.

Tannaz tried to get all the kids to look up for a picture.

What a nice deck with a lovely wild back yard.

One last photograph before saying goodbye.

The airplane is reaching for his mommy.

Kai nestled in his favorite place, his mommy's body.

We celebrated Father's Day. Happy Father's Day Gabriel!

Saeed was treated to some gifts...

... and some schmoozles.

Video of Saeed analyzing the artwork.

Shirin and Cyrus look nice and comfy but pretty soon...

... everyone's on the couch! With the potty nearby just in case!

Beatrice is a kitten Shirin saved off the road (see the scratches on her nose) who ultimately went to live with our friends Darren and Merry and their two girls.

Earl seems to know he must be gentle with the little silly creature.

So Many Books So Little Time

This could be our motto!

Actually most of us show up and have read the book but I thought this was cute. Last month we discussed The Roundhouse by Louise Erdrich and this month (to be discussed Feb. 12) we're reading Behind The Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo. I just finished the latter and thought it was very well written. Both books won the National Book Award for 2012, Roundhouse in fiction and Beautiful Forevers for non-fiction. Last year my book club read a couple of stinkers but both of these were excellent.

A friend and coworker lent me The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling. I've started it but worry about finishing it in time to read our March book, Native Speaker by Chang-rae Lee. I've seen a T-shirt that says "Life is Too Short - Read Fast." Too true.

Pics & Video From August 2011 Visit

There's a little round-headed baby in this post - I forgot how peach-fuzzy Kai used to be!

This tent used to belong to Anahita and Shirin. Although it still could be blown up...

... it lost air over time. Of course the kids enjoyed it collapsed as well.

I tried supporting it with the cat scratching post, but eventually...

... the tent collapsed and I removed it. Obi, Cyrus and Kai, was perfectly happy to lie on top.

Kai was (and is) such a mama's boy.

Mommy + avocado = Love

Saeed told Gabriel about the old "can't pick up the chair if your head is on the wall" trick and he swore he could do it.

Arg! Even twisting on tip toes didn't help.

So Shirin tried it.

The agony of defeat!

But they were consoled by two very cute little boys.

And Shirin forgave her father for setting her up.

These pictures were taken by Cyrus.

She would never make that face at me.

Nor this one. And that's my hand on Chappu.

Cyrus takes great pics!

He was rewarded with a pancake and some grapes.

I remember taking this pic. Look at the little toothies!

The rest of these were taken by Cyrus.

You know how I can tell? When a child takes your picture, especially a child you love, your face is naturally happy and the smiles and expressions are totally genuine.

Irresistible soft cheek.

Kai was still learning how to be gentle with cats.

He was also learning that he could make fun things happen.

The company could advertise this as a cat AND child's toy.

Lucky boy.

More Laughter

I loved my workout outfit today, though I'm not sure what decade people thought I was from. Everyone looked like this (but fatter):

But I looked something more like this (but with a shirt on, and fatter):

C'mon people! Don't be so BORING! Black? Only black? I looked at many sites and actually patterned leggings are very in, but not in the step class I took tonight. As I was hopping around I had to laugh. I looked like the only male bird amongst a bunch of boring females. I will definitely wear them again and see if I can't wake these peeps up a bit!

Laughter Is The Best Medicine

My first story has to do with living in the South. There are times it can be really challenging living in a culture for which you don't feel a kinship. In many ways the South is the antithesis of everything I believe in. As a group Southerners are a gun totin', meat eatin', narrow-minded "you're with us or you're against us" type of folk. I have to admit that on the flip side they are generally a good bunch of people ready to help out any way they can.

Yesterday I called a patient and reached her voicemail greeting: 

 "Blah, blah, blah, blah, and I want you to know that Jesus is coming, coming, coming, soon, soon, soon, and you’d better be ready."

It wasn't just the words that surprised me it was the tone of voice she used for that last part 'and you'd better be ready.' It sounded downright threatening like she was Satan herself! I had a hard time keeping my voice steady as I left my message. Giggling is not professional.

My next story has to do with our YMCA. It is old. It hasn't changed since we moved here and it wasn't new then. No doubt they've done some renovating but I promise you it isn't in the women's locker room. First of all, people must have been smaller in the olden days. The women's lockers are big enough to put your street clothes and that's about it. I laugh as I wonder what I look like as I'm shoving my gym bag into the locker with all my might. Then, the water coming out of the showers changes from nice to hot to cold all depending on who else is using water. I can be rinsing my hair when suddenly someone flushes the toilet and the water gets so hot it's hard not to cry out, but it makes me laugh. If they ever fix those showers I'll be disappointed.