Just-talking-out-loud

Last week, I ran into an acquaintance in the bus. The bus was very crowded and she could tell from my face that I was not doing very well. I was standing in front of her and when I told her about my back pain, she offered to hold my purse. Then she went on and on about things I shouldn’t do and thing I should do. She was talking from experience apparently. She mentioned that I should not stand on my feet. Did she offer me her seat? No.

Kohlrabi and Mung beans haleem If you have no idea what Kohlrabi is, see this article. Haleem is a category of dishes that is popular in Iran. The recipe I am about to share can only be found in Esfahan and this particular recipe is a family recipe. The original recipe has meat and apparently different herbs.  2 medium Kohlrabi 1 cup Mung beans 0.5 cup rice 1 medium onion 3 cloves of garlic Salt and black pepper ~0.5 table spoon turmeric 2 table spoon dried tarragon  Boil Kohlrabi, Mung beans, and rice for couple of hours until everything cooks very well and become mushy and thick (i.e. it might take 2 to 3 hours and you might need to add more water). Then fry the onion and garlic. Add turmeric, salt and pepper and tarragon and fry for couple of minutes. Add the onion mix to Kohlrabi, Mung beans, and rice. Let it cook for a little bit longer. You need to stir it frequently at this point otherwise it will stick to the bottom of the pot and it...

I read Bird by Bird over holidays. It was a great book; not only about creative writing but about life in general. What was particularly amazing about the book was the writing style and how effective the writer as narrative was. Anna Lamott by far is one of the greatest writers I have ever read. I felt I knew her forever. She makes connection with her readers. Her writing reminded me of Nazy Kaviani ’s blog. I felt as if these two women are sisters. Anna is the naughty sister and Nazy is the sweet one. Both of them share their own life experience through writing. I felt happy reading this book as much as reading Nazy's blog made me happy. I meant to write about this book since I finished it but I forgot. I just remembered it because as I was knitting, my thoughts travelled thousands miles away and took me some places I didn’t want to go (i.e. I am trying to be a more positive/ optimistic person). Anyway, it reminded me of this part of her book “…out of the right speaker in y...

Let your kids know they can draw a Nice Cat! 

Did you know if you send a text message to a landline phone, the content of the text will be converted to audio and the person receives the message by hearing some sort of a robot voice? Try texting someone :) on landline phone.  

What did happen to the simple, good, old days? When you are travelling  pick-pocketers should be your least worries. Now that people can scan your information from a couple meters distance, you need something else to protect yourself while travelling. Today, I went to buy a passport cover and the sale person mentioned that they had the RFID protection one as well and if I wanted to take one.

I am giving an one hour training session to our staff about time management and productivity next week. If you know me personally, you might laugh at this! ;) Anyway, I did this half a day workshop on productivity last September and I have started practicing some of the tips I learned and have been trying to change some habits, etc. It is a slow and gradual process but I think I am improving. In preparation for this session, I came across this website that I found very useful. One of my colleagues is using it already and she is a very productive and successful person.

"...Help us to be humble when we receive and joyful when we give.....Help us never to be imprisoned by the things we think we know, because we know so little about Fate, and may this lead us to behave impeccably, making use of the four cardinal virtues: boldness, elegance, love and friendship." from Paulo Coelho's Blog  I tghought that was beautiful but I don't really understand the meaning of last phrase. Does it mean by being imprisoned by the things we think we know, we will use the four cardinal virtues? That doesn't make sense to me!

i·ro·ny  /ˈīrənē/ Noun when your gym clothes are too tight on you.

“May you hold ...calm when the world is full of sound and fury, ...love when the world seems cruel and heartless” in this year. Happy New Year!  from happy day! by Pam Brown