Noo Ruz

Tomorrow is the Persian New Year called Noo Ruz, a happy holiday shared with friends & family. We will wear new clothes (in my case a new collar), watch the goldfish swim next to our plate of spouts, and we'll eat dill-lima bean rice & fish.

Perhaps in acknowledgment of Noo Ruz, the winds in Athens blow warmly, trees are in bloom and flowers are poking up from the ground. What a beautiful, wonderful way to celebrate the new year.

Check out other Noo Ruz ecards each of which portrays a beautiful aspect of this festival (click the link). Please check out the web site because aside from the pretty pictures you can select Persian music to accompany your ecard.

To all my fans & friends, Noo Ruz Mobarak!

Festive frills & flourishes

Mama likes to experiment with technology; she has lost her generational fear of just clicking the mouse or pushing a button & now does both (and more) with abandon. She often looses interest in her technological experimentation. This explains her only foray into creating musical-visual collages for her iPod.

Six beautiful pictures of me slide across the small screen to the tune of "That Was the Worst Christmas Ever," words & music by Sufjan Stevens. The music-lyrics are not by any means cynical nor is it (as one may assume from the title) a song of mean. To the contrary, "...worst Christmas ever" is a touching, haunting, lovely story with this refrain:

In time the snow will rise.

In time the snow will rise.

In time the Lord will rise.

In time the Lord will rise.

Sufjan Stevens Presents Songs for Christmas Singalong comprises 5 cd/s, a cartoon poster, Songbook with guitar chords, lyrics and other stuff, and 5 holiday stickers, one of which (my favorite) shows King lion lying down with the baby lamb). I highly recommend this as an addition to your holiday music collection. (available from Amazon)

Which brings me to the subject of this entry:

Christmas Ornamentation of the Home: Deck the Halls

Mama's style may be labelled eclectic, tending towards collage or in a turn of phrase rather associated with Target (Tar-gay), shabby chic. Shabby, disorganized, ill-considered would be less flattering terms. Slip-shod might conceivably apply.

However, if ever there were a time to eliminate the adjectives & highlight the actions of the heart, surely it is Christmas time: "a kind , forgiving, charitable, pleasant time: the only time... in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave....God bless it!" (email me if you can identify the original from which I quote).

Mantle decorated with cards, a treasure box of jewel-colored bells, a Santa musical snow-globe and happy Japanese boys & girls, framed.

Disrespectfully referred to as St. Nick & Dick, this ornamentation honors two important figures in my life: St. Nicholas (aka Santa Claus, in our house) and my beloved Grandpere.

Finally, Mama remembers that comfort begins at home and especially during the holiday. She provided me with my very own special Merry Christmas pillow.

And that pillow exactly expresses my wish for you: a happy, restful Christmas season.

VIPs: Close to Home

The "close to home" of today's title is less than exact. In the spirit of my previous entry, here I pay tribute to the VIPs in my home: Mama et Papa.

All too often I have exposed their shortcomings [plentiful perhaps], and yet that's a defect that all creatures share.

Yes, my loft space is tiny & only sparingly furnished. [for a size comparision between my loft & the Roushanzamir house, see entry July 28, 2006] True, I'm served 2 meals per day [they eat--at least--three]. My collar is not gem-studded, nor is my name tag either gold or platinum.

However:

It is they who saved me from the hard work & deprivation of life on an Idaho farm towards which I seemed to be headed. [I'd almost rather be beheaded]

As the picture above amply illustrates [shot 1 month after I arrived in the Roushanzamir family], Mama comforted me in my infancy when I felt frightened & alone. [One not apocryphal story: In my initial terror, I feared to leave Mama's arms and thus she lost 10 lbs. during my first 3 days in my new home unable as she was to prepare or eat food.] Papa too was, from the very first, a commited [if permissive] caregiver.

Papa spoils me rotten. I adore him & he's simply wonderful. The nicest guy in town. He encourages treats before breakfast. Allows me to chew on his sock & shoes. Lets me drag him along on walks. I stay up as late as I want & he walks me as early as I choose to awaken each day. In short he give me free reign & indulges me in the most endearing way.

Scattered throughout my blog are numerous photos of Papa [only 1 or 2 of the stricter Mama]. [for example, see July 4 & 30, 2006, August 1, 2006, January 18, 2007; for Papa & Grandmere Manijeh see July 8, 2006; also search for Papa shown sneaking me treats; for Papa with Mama, see July 9, 2006] So for this entry, I've selected a picture of Papa visiting Trinity College, Oxford. [his company, questionable]

And finally, although not the slickest or most current of photos, here I share for the first time one my personal favorites.

Celebrating: 2007-squared

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In the Roushanzamir household, almost every holiday is celebrated twice.

Of course, New Year's/Noo Ruz is no exception.

On January 1, 2007 I, like many the world over, welcomed the New Year with a lazy & thankful delight that --apparently-- extended well into January. [thus, this my first entry of 2007]

To my faithful fans, and to my new readers, I send my best wishes for health & happiness, peace & prosperity in 2007.

Soon I shall send another New Year's greeting, this one according to the Persian/lunar calander, when Noo Ruz is celebrated toward the end of March. [expect further details as that holiday nears.]

Among the other festival days of the Roushanzamir family, Mama's et Papa's wedding anniversary. The first, 12/16 [1998], shamefully, passed unnoticed and unsung by me. This omission will be rectified on May 19th [1999] as I pay due homage to the happy confluence of energies that united Elli & Saeid-- thereby preparing for my safe, secure entrance into their world. Thus far, my treatment has been highly satisfactory. [11/05]

Throughout 2007 special attention will be accorded to holidays-squared [Papa's birthday is another example], those satisfying occasions which our family recognizes with double-significance.

Mercury Absent

I'll be on leave 'til August 27th. In the meantime, please review my previous entries, especially "Mercury Rising" and "Silk & Denim: the ends of the Earth." Also feel free to scroll down to the end of the screen, perusing entries as they tickle your fancy.

Then click on "Archives" to read early entries. And don't forget to read my Mama's profile & click on "View my Complete Profile" to learn more about Mama.

Au revoir til the next time, Mercury