these days are made for whistlin'

ok.
alot has happened since i last blogged. alot.
for starters, school is almost over and that is sad and exciting and scary and cool.

and we are almost going to israel.
Baktash + i are meeting up with the fam (minus jorma, melinda + baby moore) in haifa for the month of june.

this is how i feel about seeing my family:


but that means i have to say goodbye to all my friends )which is really heart-wrenching (cant you tell by my face????):

no silly, this isnt all my friends! but some of the greatest. the women photos are missing. but that's allright. i'll do that soon. just you wait.

its complete b.s. that one cannot foster and accomplish amazing long-lasting relationships with people in less than a year. we were only here for 9 months, and i am so blown away by the depth and intensity of my friendships.

second, this book has really spoke to my whole perspective on life and confirmed all the heart and soul of peacebuilding work that i felt was lacking prior. so i rocked a couple of presentations on art in healing + creativity in peacebuilding. they were so amazingly empowering + exciting.

the book is called "The Moral Imagination" by John Paul Lederach:

this is how i feel about the next phase of my journey, damn it feels good to know that whatever step i make next, will be a great, exciting one filled with service, challenges + joy :




p.s. thank you to steve rozmus for the youtube clip. you rock, steve-o.

p.s.s. oops! his name isnt dick its jack. darn it. dick sounds so cool. right? heh. heh.

one truly great hippie (+ i dont say that much about hippies).

Devendra Banhart.

He's so cute and dirty and hippie-ish. His tunes are really great and funny and sad. i hope you like it or love it or hate it. i dont care, but i do and i dont. enjoy and laugh or cry or scream or simply comment or turn off your computer. okay. or not.

Here he is:

"little yellow spider" -- video with hippies dancing around being strange, eccentric and weird:



"at the hop" -- great video, beautiful production:



WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU GUYS?? heh. heh.

anne julie art

yeah, its been a while since i have blogged last. i am a freakin' grad student in case i never said that before. but like any great student, one has to procrastinate at times. heh, heh. so i figured it was time to post a new entry.

i wonder how you all are doing, how life is going...i've been thinking so much lately about how fleeting and exciting life is at times; how there are so many directions we can go in life. and its up to us. YAY! GIVE ME A HUG, TEDDY BEAR!! *smile* what i'm basically trying to say is grad school is almost over. i have three weeks left. WOOHOO! break out the kegger!! (not really, kegs are for college students and non-Baha'i's).

so, annejulie is pretty much amazing. i have three of her pieces. i found her on etsy about a year and a half ago and i am in love. she illustrates children's books as well as creates these amazing, whimsical images that depict sadness, mystery + joy so honestly. the honesty of her pieces has really touched me. alot of these pieces i've purchased for my future daughter, they would go beautifully in her room...cheesy, right? NO! they are beautiful and i wanted to show them to you all:

annejulie's etsy page: www.annejulie.etsy.com

annejulie's webpage: www.annejulie-art.com

check her out, and take care of yerselves.

kisses and teddy bear hugs.

another crazy iranian - i can say that, because i am one.

holy crap i can't wait to show this to my mom, she'll laugh so hard.

i almost died. he gets really into it...wow. what a kook!



(p.s. where does baktash find this stuff??? OMFG!!!)

polaroid shoot w/ elise + portishead

OK. so this is the last of my LA photos for now. i am fully aware of the fact that i have bombarded you with photographs of my visit there and you aren't totally feelin' it. oh well, suck it up.

school is almost over (i have a MONTH, yes, A MONTH) left...i am not that stressed out, even though i went running and am updating my blog instead of reading for my AM class tomorrow WHICH i havent even started reading for yet.

anyhow. here FREAKIN AWESOME PICS!! ENJOY THEM! DONT BE SHY!

take note of the skulls + bodies buried in this person's yard (this is baktash's brother's bandmate -- [wow!]):

ALSO, remember that totally tubular band named PORTISHEAD from like, 1998?? remember how you felt like you were a heroin addict living in a damp cave when you listened to their music? well, remember how you always wanted them to come out with a new album? and we waited and waited for years and it never came? well, its coming. get ready. its gonna be R-A-D-D. i'll keep you updated.

the album's name is: THIRD

the release date is: april 29, 2008

i dont have any cool new vids of samples of their new tunes, but i wanted to give you a heads up. WORD? WORD!

bring on the major leagues.

hey dudets + dudes:

so you all know by now that we went to LA for spring break. it was SIIIIIICK! here are a couple of polaroids from our trip. these polaroids were taken on an extremely windy day in santa monica. 

then we went shopping + found this really awesome parking garage to take pics in. well what is new?? we always find cool parking garages to hang out in. we especially like ones where no cops come bust us for huffing glue and drinking gasoline. what gives, right?

so basically, LA is the entertainment center of the world, so you even need to be entertained when you are parking your cadillac escalade. DAMN! what do you guys think of LA? 

stone cold _________.

this is me and my best ol' buddy elise. we have a band called stone cold *beeeeep*! it is amazing. we leave LA tomorrow for VT (ugh) where it might still be snowing (ughX2). LA isnt as lame as everyone says at all. it is actually pretty awesome. i had to put this photo up. more to come once i get back...there are so many more awesome shots. i love you LA. goodbye. 

sightings

i got to see elise + burt today. i will put some photos up when i can. i saw smokey robinson on the plane + jamie kennedy at a cafe. i dont even know who he is though. and then i found out he stars in that really lame movie about white gangster rapper wannabes, or whatever. (lame).

burt told me that he showed my blog to his coworkers as they were working on the set of american idol. he especially loved the surfer clip. as we all did. i am trying to find funny clips to show you guys more often...a friend of ours showed me this video and we all really enjoyed it. its really funny. it'll make you chuckle.



well, i cant say i miss vermont + the snow.
xoxox.

los angeles

...i'm going there right now. i'm in the hartford airport right now. its 3am, baktash + i havent slept a wink b/c we went to long island today for a wedding which consisted of eating food for 7 hours STRAIGHT. it was reeedickulous. it wouldnt stop coming. we had to leave before the whole banquet hall was filled with cakes, chocolate fountains, popcorn, snow cone machines, crepes, etc. i'm getting sick just thinking about it. 

so now we're heading to LA. to see his family, elise, burt (my great great buddies) + the beach. because YOU WOULD HAVE NO IDEA-- IT FREAKIN' SNOWED IN VERMONT YESTERDAY.  what kind of godforsaken state is vermont anyway??? we have now officially had snow for FIVE MONTHS. YUCK!

OMG. i almost forgot. LA is not only home to fake breasts + liposuction, but also to my most favorite store in the UNIVERSE: American Apparel. so basically, i'm going there. everyday. i dont care if the CEO is gross. sorry guys, but i'd rather buy gear from a weirdo who walks around in his underwear than a sweatshop pimp.

and then there was just...she & him.

holy crap just when you thought life couldn't get any more RAD, you find She & Him. WHICH JUST SO HAPPENS to be M.Ward (my most favorite musician like, EVER--OMG!!--read old blog post) + cutie Zooey Deschanel (actress from "winter passing", "elf", etc.)!!! WOW! you say! man, oh man, i meant to make this the first music blog that was ever to grace the electronic pages of samimi-extremie.blogspot, but to be honest, when i first heard this album i was so angry b/c m.ward is barely singing in this album + i felt ripped the *beep* off!! OMG!! and zooey's voice is kind of loud + overbearing at first...but after two listens to the album, i REALLY fell in love with it. i think you will too. this is them perfoming at SXSW just this last month:


i apologize for the semi-crappy quality of the vid, but hey! its the internet! its youtube! its a free world! a free democracy on this world wide web thingy! sheesh! get off my back!

there is also this cute little sneak peak/listen:



anything m.ward does is amazing. so i recommend that you check them out.

artist(s): She & Him
album: Volume One
label: Merge
quality: ROCKIN!

this is how She & Him make me feel:

p.s. i'm the one in the red overalls WIGGING out.

everything will kill you...except SIGG bottles

its just a fact. we're all going to die.

but why would you want to die from a plastic bottle that leaks hormones + chemicals into your body?? who wants to mysteriously grow a third nipple? or a beard (if you're a woman, or na'im--heh. heh)? not me. sheesh. i can think of much more interesting ways to die. like, standing in the middle of the road in high traffic. ah yes. or jumping out of an airplane with no parachute. but not by a nalgene bottle or a aquafina bottle (ew!).

so i splurged + bought my very first SIGG water bottle. they are safe + they guarenteed me that i wont die from drinking out of this bottle. so that is basically super sweet. so save your life, and get a SIGG bottle. i bought mine from AMAZON.COM. you can too.

on a side note: they will try to sell you a SIGG bottle cleaner brush. but i was talking to my brother, Na'im about this yesterday + he said that brushes are poppycock. "in fact," he said, "i haven't even washed mine once".

I was all: "DEEEEESSSSGGGUSSSTTTEEEEEEENNNGGG!!!" i cant believe my brother is so gross. but he did say you can wash yours with baking soda or vinegar. (also deeeggustteeengg!!) but whateves.

so save your life, save your ca$h you would spend on plastic bottles + hop only the coolest band wagon since nalgene bottles. heh.

oh! i also wanted to tell you guys that i subscribe to NYLON magazine + i love it. it talks about music, fashion, makeup, movies, art + artists, crafts, books, world politics. if only the models didnt look like 13 year old boys...sigh. but check it out if you havent already!

peace dudets +dudes, and thanks for stopping + commenting! xoxo.

everyone could use a little THAO

my great old buddy amanda + i were chatting on the phone the other night + she was all: "LISH! (that's my nickname from her, hence LISH jewelry (cool, layli!!!)) you would LOVE THAO and the Get Down Stay Downs!!! I was all: "what the hell kind of name is that??" she was all: "TRUST ME". so i peeked at THAO's myspace, and really liked her stuff! it is so happy + neat! nothing like all those "sad bastards" i usually recommend...heh heh. (i still love sad bastards THE BEST though. shhh. dont tell anyone...)

tell me what you think of her new song, "bag of hammers":




artist website: THAO with The Get Down Stay Downs

artist record label: kill rock stars (WHUT-WHUT!! OLY WA IN EFFECT, YO!!!)

newest album: we brave beestings + all

thao's really awesome. and we need more chicks that rock. right? HELL YES (i'm doing air guitar, chugging a redbull + banging my head on my desk right now!)!

p.s. thanks amanda for the rec! samimi-extremie thanks you! love you heaps!

my life is over. (savepolaroid.com)

so basically my life sucks. and i just wrote this really awesome draft professing my love for polaroids and it took me like 30 min. + then this DAMN blog thing erased it somehow and now i am even more angry than i was before. UGHH. i hate being a computer non-genius and not knowing how to save my entries. UGGH.

ok. i think i have sufficiently calmed down. but not really. so here is the lameness. polaroid announced that they were NOT going to make film anymore which means that basically my life is over and i cant be creative anymore. it is really REALLY lame. i dont know what to do with myself. and i'm not the only one. savepolaroid.com is a site dedicated to trying to save polaroid (good luck...but, whatever). it is such a travesty that it is all coming to an end. so basically we need to go to costco + stock up now because soon it will all be over.

i am left with a huge overwhelming sense of anger + sadness. but mostly anger...and sadness. it is really lame. and i just knocked over my trash can cos i am so angry and sad. i am now sitting in a pile of trash, banana peels + tears of anger AND sadness.

the other really crappy thing is that yesterday my polaroid shattered by smacking the pavement at a gas station on the way to burlington. i cried. i really did. tears were streaming down my face, as i couldnt bare to part with both the film forever and the camera too. my friends were really considerate and had fixed it by the next day (thank you messaye + john). so now my camera works again and life is kinda cool again. except for this film thing.

i mean, i am so so sick of people being like, "but layliiiiiii, you musssttt go digitalll now,,,polaroiddd is SUCH a wassssttteee, blah blah, whine, whine (they are sipping their w(h)ine being really lame + at this point i tune them out because they are really dense for not COMPREHENDING JUST HOW AMAZINGLY AWESOME POLAROIDS ARE AND HOW THEY FAR EXCEED ANYTHING THAT A CRAPPY DIGITAL CAM OR THEIR i-PHONE CAN DO! I MEAN, W-T-F??!?@#?#$?@#??)".

so i joined the Flickr group named "save polaroid". it is a group that posts a polaroid self-portait of themselves professing their love for polaroids + begging for them to be saved. i will not lie-- i cry when reading people's dedication to polaroid. and i cant believe its all over because "there isnt a market for them anymore, layyyyli,,,i mean YOU practically keep them in business, layyyyliii (swish, swirl goes their wine, IEEEEEEEEEEEEE!! goes my brain)".

nothing has been better at keeping track of my memories, when i was a child at my birthday parties, to saying goodbye to homes + phases of my life. nothing has been able to document it like polaroid, then or now:

help. i dont know what to do. i will miss them making me broke. i will miss always looking at landscapes + people through the eye of my polaroid. i am always thinking about the next polaroid shot i can take. if you are really my friend, you'll go to costco or sams club + buy me the last packs so i can keep my dream alive for a little bit longer. PLEASEE!! i'm k

goodbye good times, good bye polaroid. this is so so sad. R.I.P. POLAROID. (p.s. i might get that tattooed on my bicep with a tear). i love you.

blame it on the "system" + happy Naw Ruz!

people can be so cliche + idiotic sometimes. i sit and sit in class (they are four hours long in duration with one 15 min. break) and listen to the same four individuals talk. but PLEAASE shoot me if i have to hear one more hippie drinking mate tea out of a moldy mason jar talking about how "screwed up the corporations are and that the system is cramping my style", "we should go back to how we lived 300 years ago", "quit putting me in your post-modern box" blahblahblah b.s. b.s b.s. someday i will just pull on their dreads and tell them that if they so badly want to live off the land, go into the woods...maybe you're life will be like that genius from "into the wild". pssh. but they wear shoes from wal-mart (secretly, cos their trust fund is running low...) + drink starbucks coffee. uggh...this is how i feel about THOSE conversations (i'm angry in this photo in case you didn't know):


oh! in case i haven't properly introduced this dark man with makeup before, he is my boyfriend. his name is baktash aazami + he is really funny + smart. we like to go for long walks on the beach together. we just recently made presents for one another that were framed photos of footprints on the sand at the beach at sunset saying something really awesome like, "where you walk, i have walked too, we are one, i am always holding your hand"...something really awesome like that. and then he bought me a teddy bear and a plastic red rose. it was so sweet. i think we are in love. this is how that love makes me feel:

oh! in case you dont know who that cutie with me is, its my sister, shirin samimi-moore. she is really rad + sometimes it seems as though she is the older one (we are 10 years apart). she's really mature + fun. she's basically a genius child. we like to send crap to eachother like, "sisters by birth--best friends by choice". its really amazing.

on another really inspirational note, i just bought FEIST tickets. FEIST is basically the raddest, deadliest chick in the world. i dont know any girl/woman who doesnt love her. i saw her live once and i cant wait to see her again. she's gotta be the cutest singer-songwriter on the planet. and she's awesome cos she's really creative + she doesnt show her cleavage or her butt cheeks in her music videos. here, look how darling she is:

i dont care how famous she gets or how many of her CD's are sold at starbucks, she is still my favorite female musician.

OH! one more thing! happy NAW RUZ!! for those of you that dont know, that is the Baha'i new year (and the first day of spring) YAHOO! that means no more fasting for me! i can eat my bucket o' bon bons for breakfast again! here i come twinkies + ding-dongs!! this is how Naw Ruz makes me feel*:

* take note: those are bon-bons + twinkies in my basket too. my mom let me eat whatever i wanted! (COOOOOL mom!!)

i hope you have enjoyed my news + your attention has been drawn to all things cool + hip. (take note: you too can make cool footprint in the sand cards for your signifigant other...you know they want one! doi!)

goodbye, my homies.