me fisheye!

YO!!

i am in minneapolis right now visiting my family + some buds and my fisheye camera is pretty darn fantastic. i want to share with both of you readers some recent shots i have taken. it is pretty crazy not shooting strictly with polaroid film...kinda super sad, but kinda refreshing too. i mean, its nice to not have to worry that the colours wont pop. as you can see below, these 35 mm beauts' didn't have much trouble "popping". i am super pumped about the way the sky turned out. super pumped to see parham + franz as well...(see parham + franz below...)

i would REALLY love some feedback on what you think. i mean, i already know they're awesome, but i want you to tell me too. atleast maybe tell me which one is your favorite. (heh. heh.). i'll be peacin' out now.

unpaid internships

i was just reading the blog "stuff white people like" and i came across the post about white people loving unpaid internships. it is a really funny and appropriate blog entry seeing as how i am in the process of finding an internship for the second portion of my grad program. this process has been equally stressful + stressful.

i am looking for something PAID (maybe that's the Iranian side of me; i DONT want an unpaid internship), and finding something that is worth it + PAID is almost unimaginable. but i will find one. wish me luck.

this quote from the blog really hit home:

If all goes according to plan, an internship will end with an offer of a job that pays $24,000 per year and will consist entirely of the same tasks they were recently doing for free. In fact, the transition to full time status results in the addition of only one new responsibility: feeling superior to the new interns.

i am looking for an internship in the Conflict Transformation/Resolution field, specifically i would like to work with the Native American population in regards to reconciliation/peacebuilding. we shall see. i'll keep you posted.

this is how i feel right about now:

and i WANT to feel like this again someday soon (sheesh!!! is that too much to ask??):

thank you for listening to me gripe. i am going to go now. and look for some paid internships. goodbye.
♥

amazing things, then creepy things.

amazing: www.blogotheque.net , "take-away shows"

baktash introduced me to this site. it is fantastic for a couple of reasons:

1. the bands that videographer vincent moon records are phenomenal (and some of my favorite bands)
2. he records them in random places, not using all of their equipment, so they are more adhoc, etc.
3. they are really creative and fun to watch. (way better than MTV music videos--hey! do they even play music videos anymore???)
4. i believe all the videos are shot only once , one shot. vincent moon tells a story about each video he shot, and how alot of times, they didnt even have electricity, or something so they have to bang on plastic buckets or their heads. hee.

here are a couple of my favorites:


#80.3 - VAMPIRE WEEKEND - Walcott / One
by lablogotheque




#80.1 - VAMPIRE WEEKEND - Mansard Roof
by lablogotheque



#40.3 - The National - Start a war
by lablogotheque

i was going to mix it up a bit, and not show you two VAMPIRE WEEKEND vids, but the fact of the matter is that they both rock. plus, you can go onto the site and find some of your own favs.

and now for two creepy things:<>

some secrets just dont need to be shared. (weirdo):


some photographs don't need to be shared (except by me, to you with the understanding that this is creepy, not cute):

aaaah yeeehhhhh...LISH is a MUST.

come ma' ladies, come, come ma' ladies..be my butterfly..shugga babeez!!
between constantly job searching for my Conflict Transformation practicum (HEY! any ideas/connections guys/ladies??) + stressing about getting a job + networking + interviewing for jobs, your dear old friend (me), has made time to whip out two new designs for LISH!

SUPER stoked to let you two readers have the FIRST peeks at my very new creations!! WOOHOO!!

This is the FIRST time i have used chain on my LISH earrings. so you should be as jazzed as i am. seriously.

Introducing: kya: chained:

this super hot pair of LISH is for sale here. kya: chained is made with red + white agate + gold chain + handmade gold earwires (by yours truly)!

entrodoosing: black stealth: chained:

this onyx stone is an oldie but goodie. and it now has a face lift, well, not really. but maybe a makeover? no thats not right either. i suppose a "haircut" or a "wardrobe change". I love the way these two pairs feel when i wear them...lightweight and stylie!

black stealth: chained can be purchased here. they are made with onyx stone + sterling silver wire and chain.

attn: ladies (and gents) i would really like to know what you think of my new LISH designs!! could you please comment below + give me some feedback? i'd really appreciate it!

love love and more love.

♥

they've got to be MESSING with us!!!

they have to be pulling our leg(s), yanking our (communal) chain, totally tweaking our mind(s): as if CROCS weren't bad enough (loving disclaimer: for those of you that DO wear crocs, i dont discriminate, i understand that they are comfortable, etc. some people have to wear them for work, etc...) but NOW THEY'RE MAKING A HIGH HEEL??????????????????????? oh wow. and their line is "its hard to believe the parents were ugly", what is SERIOUSLY hard to believe it??? hahahaha. no way. this is true garbage. albeit comfy garbage. but come on. i cant wait to see someone wearing these in the mall or on the street. i promise you (two) readers that i will ask her (or him) if they are comfortable. i will kindly request that they give me five one-word descriptions of just how amazing their new "fashionable" crocs are.

i do believe that my and mr. davis' fashion sense is far superior:

the fashion world is so awesome.

seriously though, how unbelievable are these people??? wow. take a look-see for yourself:


i cant wait for sasha cohen to come out with his latest, BRUNO. this is a taste of what is to come in his movie.

p.s. sorry for the shotty quality. still watch it though; its worth it.

in the midwestie.

okay. so baktash and i finished our roadtrip from boston --> minneapolis. i have experienced quite a culture shock: israeli harsh ---> minnesota nice. dude. but do have to say that i was getting super sick of vermonters; they are so so rude. living there for a year was hard in that sense. it is good to be back where people smile and say hello to you. i get to spend time with my older bro and my sister in law + their little baby who's in her belly! YAY! i'll be an auntie come october 15, 2008.

here are some more sneak polaroid peeks from our trip:

more photos of my whole israel-boston-chicago-road trip soon.

how's your summer been? hopefully as cool as mine so far. heh. heh.

xoxo.

some strange + hilarious photographs:

dude. the world is a strange place. but its even more hilarious than it is strange. check out these images i found or have taken. some i have chosen for their comedic value, some for there utter peculiarity. you decide which one i chose for which. tell me below! (how well do you two readers know me? huh???)

Tim Hansen - Photographer:

Samimi-Extremie - Photographer:

(oops!! tee hee! how'd that silly face get in there?? heehee) ^

A really stupid family -- Photographer Unknown (and stupid):

Last and definitely not least: Sinbad. If I have to say more, I feel sorry for you:

note: i wanted to share with you one of my new favorite phographers: eleanor hardwick. but this photographer wont let me borrow images for my blog entry. but i really strongly suggest you go there and see her amazingly creative, peculiar images.

EVERYONE loves sex + the city...

...except me. i dont get it. everyone else seems to. 

but i did get this:

Married to the Sea can be so darn hilarious sometimes.

(okay. so i've honestly only every watched like 1/2 an episode. so i cant really say. BUT sarah jessica parker makes me want to get in my car, put it in drive, accelerate at 50 mph into a cement wall, then reverse and repeat.)

my favorite simple brilliant lyricist.

the man i love:



MASON JENNINGS.

i just got back from a long long trip. i will tell you two readers all about it in the next blog entry. but for now, i want to introduce or share with you Mason Jennings, whom i have been a devoted listener to for years. the reason i share him with you now, is b/c i should have a damn long time ago.

M. Ward and Mason Jennings have been my two musicians that i have consistently listened to since 2001. while Mason has simple, at times seemingly "cheesy" lyrics (to some not to mention underground hip-hop heads...), his songwriting is so pure, honest and true that it always has a way to connect with me no matter my mood or time in my life. he sings alot about God and Jesus and Buddha which is really rad too. i dont find much music i like that is about God and the spiritual realm. But Mason has a way of writing, singing, questioning and praising God and the spirituality of life in a way that is really amazing and not cheesy at all. just real.

I got this snippet of info from some dude on youtube. i am sure i am supposed to be telling you from what source, but seriously, who gives. the reason i selected to use it was precisely for the last sentence which i have convienently made bold and italic for you two lovely readers (love me). I am in awe that the human who wrote that sentence actually exists. (love him)

"In this simple, one-take footage, the Hawaiian-born, Minnesota-based singer-songwriter and the Shins' frontman do a pretty duet on "Something About Your Love" from Jennings's sixth full-length In The Ever.

"Please note the awesomely chill bearded guy, who is not Will Oldham, but who is sitting by the side, letting this tall glass of mellow wash over him like a warm breeze":



this song goes on pretty long and probably doesn't need to, but it is good for you to see the "awesomely chill bearded guy" for yourself. its truly classic.

so i have seen Mason live i think five times and i really have been dying to share with you this photo of Mason and I, shown below:

well, ok. i'll be real with you folks. it is actually mason's hand and my legs. you WONT BELIEVE what happened. i was standing in line to meet him after a show he played. i was convinced he needed to hear about the Baha'i Faith (my religion) if he hadn't already. his song-writing really reminds me of person who either is a Baha'i or is searching for it. refer back above to the whole piece on mason + spirituality. doi. ok. so i was there to meet him to just let him know about the Faith, tell him he reminds me of my own spiritual quest, yadayada.

BUT there was this chick (sorry for you angry women who hate the term "chick", i in fact DIG IT), who was with me standing in line. a girl from minnesota (where he's from--OMG!!!) and she was really sweet. but equally as nervous to meet Mason. i was like, oh well, people get weird with famous people as if they aren't in actuality just people, humans like the rest of us. doi again. ANYWAY. i didnt think it was big deal that she was nervous. UNTIL. we got up to him and i asked to have a picture taken with him and i asked the nervous girl to take the photo. she was all, "okayyyyyyyyyyyyyy....eeeeehhhhhhhhheheehhhhhhh......" like, really nervous and shaky. so we're standing there posing --mason and i-- and she CANT TAKE THE PICTURE BECAUSE SHE IS SHAKING TOO HARD. it was amazing. i am NOT exaggerating when i say that the photo you are seeing now is the most still photo graph taken. Mason and i didnt know what to do or what to say, so she just kept trying to take a photo that wasnt compeletly blurred. and i thought maybe she was going to have a seizure--NO JOKE-- so i thanked her for her efforts and said goodbye to Mason so pissed at the girl, but really humans in general, that i left without even telling Mason what i had planned to. and i only had this photo to prove it.

what do those really awesome tee shirts that cheesy grandparents wear say? something like: "i went to meet Mason Jennings and all i got was this lousy photograph". yes, that's it.

Mason's website: www.masonjennings.com

Mason's myspace

Mason's latest album: In the Ever -- AWESOME album

nice old treats in the old market of tel aviv.

my sister: i haaaaaaaate jaffa, i dont want to go there mom!
my mom: come on guys, trust me you'll LOVE it.
me: are you sure? or do the bazaars there just smell like fish and human urine?
my sister: uggggghhhhhhh!!
my mom: you guys NEVER want to do what i want to do! (as she looks down real sad) i'll just go with my friends sometime then...(another sad tone)
me: let's just go!
my sister: shenken + shukka carmel are SOOOO much better!
shirin sister-in-law: yeah! i really want to go to shenken and shukka!
my mom: TRUST ME. jaffa is great.
us: okkk...

here's some PURE AWESOME-NESS that i found in jaffa. be prepared, its so SICK you might puke (comments for each photo UNDERNEATH each image):

ok. do i really need to say anything about this image?? if i do, you are too stupid and un-funny to get it. "no agoostas dear!! save some room fo' lata!!!" (PLEASE SOMEONE REMEMBER WHERE I QUOTED THIS FROM!!) who buys this stuff??!?!? i did laugh so so hard when i saw these fat people. peef, take note of the lady on the bench squishing her husband and being completely oblivious. this is a sink. a SINK. a sink for unicorns. or as na'im and decided and mani-corn, a man turned unicorn. but na'im like uni-man. i like mani-corn better. unless the mani-corn has a UNI-BROW THEN, he could be a mani-corn uni-man.
this awesome chaise lounge was 2,000 sheks. that's like $500. damn, in the states that would easily go for $3000. sigh.
i don't really need to say anything but: THIS IS RAD. RADDDDDDDDDDDDDDD.
CUUUUUUUWWWWTTTEEE!!
i love lilies. so so much. the cafe that housed them was even cooler.
dude, this image cracks me the heck up. i mean, we got snow white's 5/7 dwarfs, a creepy 14 year-old dingy troll, some cool lights, and some freaky crap.
tee-hee!
psssshhh. another dress for My Little Pony. she's everywhere. (kinda cool, kinda lame).
i even found that my man had converted from the Baha'i Faith to Judaism. sheesh.

so basically i dont know why any of us were complaining or not excited to go to jaffa. if the photos didnt drive that point home for you, i dont know what will. as it is obvious to see from the photos, jaffa is THE BEST PLACE EVER.

so bascially the day ended with my mom saying : "i TOLD you guys..." with a smirk on her face, a look of victory.

i love my family.

i am fully aware that Dov Charney is a raging pervert.

...but he doesn't participate in slave labor or hire four year-old orphans to work for him. and i'll admit it--i love his gear. i will also admit that some of his advertisements are for prostitutes. but you cant stop me from wearing it. sorry.

there is also something to be said about the models who seek out AA, in the sense that haven't they seen the advertisements? i mean, come on. you expect to be treated with utter and complete respect and honor when most of the shots are of women with their bums hanging out or their breasts fully exposed? come on ladies. dont you think to a certain extent you are already aware of the discrimination and objectification going on?

so with that in mind i just wanted to show you four things: one thing i hate from there, one thing i am excited about them getting, and two items i already own that i love.


HATE (i always start off negative!! damnit!!):


SERIOUSLY who would wear this dress. it is so deeesgusteeengg!! that dress wouldn't look good on anyone. ANYONE. the only creature that "dress" would look decent on is My Little Pony.

two items i own that i really, really LOVE:



i love both of these so much. great colors and great cuts.

item that is "coming soon" that i am really EXCITED about:

very, very cute skirt. very, very short skirt but really cute with leggings and tights. i cant freakin' wait!

HEY! do you hate or love AA???

QUESTION: i HAD to change the font color and the font of the blog entries. the white on black was hurting my eyes...was it a good idea or did you like the white font color better? this seems easier on the eyes--what do you think??

flafeel & homos.

first, a little disclaimer from samimi-extremie:

ok. so there is all of this "blogger" pressure to be this super witty, brainiac, know-all-the-coolest-blogs blogger that takes really cute pictures of stuff, like, "this is what they serve at my favorite diner"--click! and then post it. BUT what i am saying is, forgive me if i dont always make you laugh or make you think "gosh, layli is so witty". because there is no part of me that prides my blog on that characteristic. like today, i found this blog called "dooce" i'm not even going to "hyperlink" that blog, cos it just seems so cliche. but the deal is that SHE supports her husband AND daughter by writing her blog. now, seriously, how weird (and kinda fascinating) is that?? yep. pretty weird. and she just talks about her life on the blog. and people are FASCINATED by it. they go gagagoogoo over it. now, folks, this is where America finds itself in trouble. the fact that "dooce" has 1137 comments on each of her blog postings, is really telling of the state of our country. people are more interested in what dooce craps for breakfast than how many people are dying in hmmm..lets say Sudan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Burma, etc. (sadly the list doesnt end), or even how many people are dying in their own communities due to poverty, lack of education, lack of justice, racism, discrimination, globalization, starbucks + burger king (i mean, not really burger king, but i thought i mine as well get SUPER liberal for ya'll and the starbucks name drop is for all you hippies out there that claim to hate starbucks but when no one is looking you roll up in there with your crusty mason jar and ask for a mocha-mint frappucino).

our reality has become a non-reality, drowing in this romantic notion of non-conformity when in fact we have all become conformists.

p.s. i also dont proof-read my blog entries. what can i say? i'm a non-conforming rebel.

-------------------------------------------------

to be honest, i just like to shoot the breeze from time to time and show you guys a few of my favorite things. which mainly just turns into me showing you guys some polaroids i take and think "hey cool! these are practically extinct now and so my friends should see this!!" or some dude making an idiot out of themselves from youtube. but, whatever.

so yeah. back to flafeel and homos. i'm in israel, remember? you four readers who occasionally browse to my blog? well, for you four, sometimes maybe five, i will be sharing with you some great polaroids that were taken as of late:

i am sorry that i havent taken any cute photos of my food to share with you guys. so the title of my entry may seem misleading perse, but i trust you four readers have an imagination.

this photo of na'im and i, i especially love:

i wanted it to be reminiscent of the polaroid taken of banjo + i last april, yanked from my flickr site:

so the samimi-moore/sahba/aazami clan just got back from mitzpe ramon (old fossil of a crater)/dead sea (evaporating salt pond)/108* too hot of weather road trip through the negev desert of Israel. if you four readers show some love, maybe i'll post something about it. maybe a few photos of na'im drinking water from a camel's mouth or baktash diving to the bottom of the dead sea with his EYES OPEN.

okay, now i have to go to bed. but not before i eat some flafeel & homos. (there are really are signs here that spell it like that).

haifa, israel.

so baktash and i have made it to israel in one piece after having a 14hour too long layover in amsterdam. (damn, that place SUCKS). i got to see the redlight district forthe 1st time, i think na'im and i blanked going there when i was there before...i dont know HOW. it was so sad-- the red light district, that is. i mean, there were 15 year old girls in those rooms. sigh.

but now we are in haifa with my family minus three. we really REALLY REALLY miss my older bro, his wifey and there baby on board. nonetheless, it is really great to be back.

things to do in israel, specifically haifa:

1. go the the Baha'i Shrines and pray + meditate.

2. eat shwarma

3. eat falafel

4. go to the beach

5. go get really really good coffee (i'm serious, they have it in gas stations..and its WAAAYYY better than starbucks times like, eleven--NO JOKE)

6. go bargain in the junk part of town for cool junk.

7. have fresh squeezed juice daily (man, i sure dont miss VT)

8. laugh with the fam.

9. think of how rad haifa is.

that's about it for now. so here are some polaroids as of late (the last one obviously photoshopped, cos my film is getting busted) :






thanks to my sister in law and namo, i have this really neat-o video to share with you all. this is basically how i feel about being done with school and being with my family(minus 3 :():





it really reminds me of my friend, miral. if you know him, you are blessed.

how is your summer going? is it as RADICAL as mine?? heh, i dont think so.