Persepolis: Iran for the masses

A little less than 6 months ago, a friend from my fun female book group (aptly named Girl-On-Girl Action) selected 'The Complete Persepolis' by Marjane Satrapi.

I'd been looking forward to reading it for quite some time, and was so glad once I did. It not only re-quenched my thirst for smart, pertinent graphic novels, but opened my eyes to a multitude of truths within Iranian history that I had absolutely no idea about. I was completely unaware that until 1982, Iranian women wore modern clothing and didn't have severe restrictions regarding how much skin they could show. They had worn tank tops, jeans, even mini skirts. I then realized just how much my little Americanized Western-thinking brain had been making assumptions about things I really didn't know about.

As a whole, I loved the book. It was witty and violent and peppered with humor so that even in the darkest of times Marjane kept her sanity. It's the story of a snarky little girl who grows up in revolutionary Iran, and forms her political opinions early on as a child, thanks to her parents, who are smart and teach her early the history of their country and why Iran is in such a messy state. While her family stayed in Iran and endured the ugliest of times, they selflessly sent her off to school in Vienna to experience all that Western Europe had to offer. Marjane endured various hardships and her blunt, honest personality is expressed so vibrantly throughout the text.

It's such an important and accessible piece of modern literature. Even parts that I had qualms with (Marjane's lack of attachment to her country and family for a few years while in Austria), I would simply remind myself that it's HER personal story of survival, and it's how she chose to deal with things. I can't say how I would handle things in a similar situation.

I watched the movie last night. Although decently done, it left something to be desired, as with any book-to-film adaptation. It felt a little rushed to me, and I'm so glad I had the chance to read it first before watching it.

The most important message I got from 'Persepolis' is this: BE proactive, BE political, have an opinion and care about the direction your country is moving in, and be aware of what is going on, as much as you can be through the muted media that the masses are fed. Iran unraveled so quickly, and went from a place of freedom to a country run by government that makes a regime based off fear and an everlasting war, where citizens are viewed as terrorists and traitors for questioning their government.

It's not that difficult to see how things could go that far, and that is truly a frightening thought.

A little bit tired, but Brand New.

According to astrology, Pluto represents a vast spectrum of changes, usually marking the beginnings and endings of significant periods in one's existence.

Death, rebirth, evolution, sex, regenerating and degeneration. Decomposing. Exploding. The phoenix rising from the ash.

These things leave permanent marks on our personas, be that from people coming in and out of our lives, or from moving from one career to the next, or letting go of old bullshit and stripping ourselves down to something naked and vulnerable. It feels more honest, and we're frightened, but temporarily less intimidated and a bit more ballsy. It's Nietzsche's school of "what does not kill us makes us stronger."

With my father's latest hospitalization thanks to Borderline Personality Disorder, I felt things surface within me. Emotions are brimming over, and for once I'm letting them. I'm not going to suffocate and try to bandage it up before the healing process has even had time to start. My eyes are wide open and I'm ready for it all, at least for now.

I'm ready for the death of old approaches and bad habits, and I'm taking everything in. A rebirth is long overdue.

Sometimes we need horrible things to happen in order to wake up.




Bjork - Pluto (live from MTV sessions)

I thought about working on that thing that needs to be done but then I forgot to think about it again.

“Procrastination is the thief of time.”
-Edward Young


One of my biggest pet peeves about myself is my sporadic inability to finish things. It's one of those little "self projects" that I'm always working on and striving to better myself with.

When I was 12, I wrote and finished my first little attempt at a novella. It was 27 pages hand-written, entitled "Trouble on Isleton." The story followed 6 of us who lived in our neighborhood and little mini-dramas that happened throughout the span of a summer. This included such life-altering events as sneaking outside to play flashlight tag and getting caught by our parents, as well as watching a friend's mother get drunk at a sleepover and arm wrestle us. I somehow managed to actually finish this little story and have my dad copy it at work so I could hand it out to friends. My first-ever venture into publishing, which caused quite scandal in our neighborhood.

Fast forward to nearly 16 years later, and I'm unable to finish reading something as simple as a magazine article due to various distractions like the internet and shitty TV. I'm even finding it difficult to write music reviews without stopping to do a million unimportant things like check my email for the 78th time today or look at the clock and say, "Oh shit! The Real World is starting in 5 minutes, better hurry up so I can watch brain-dead 20 year olds spread diseases in a hot tub." It now takes major effort for me to accomplish what I want to anymore. Guilty pleasures are all well and good, but from here on out I'm picking writing and reading over Tila Tequila.

And, you know, hopefully keeping my own blog will help.