Hobbies

Road Trips 

I love driving in the scenic roads. Here is a list of some driveways I have enjoyed:

• al-Andalus (Spain)

• Porto to Lisbon (Portugal)

• Cabot Trail (Nova Scotia, Canada)

• Banff National Park (Alberta, Canada)

• Gross Morne National Park  (Newfoundland, Canada)

• Highway 1 (California, US)

• Florida Keys (Florida, US)

• Yellowstone (Wyoming, US)

• Punel-Khalkhal-Asalem, (Gilan, Iran)

Movies

We are fortunate to live in this era, the era of motion pictures. A movie can summarize or visualize tons of books for you. Here is a list of some movies I have enjoyed most:

• Good Will Hunting (1997)

• Dead Poets Society (1989)

• Midnight in Paris (2011)

• Chinatown (1974)

• 12 Angry Men (1957)

• Inception (2010)

• Forrest Gump (1994)

And a list of my favorite Persian movies:

• Mother (1991) by Ali Hatami

• Istgah-Matrouk (2002) (Abandoned Station) by  Alireza Raisian

• Travellers (1991) by Bahram Beizai

• Rusari Abi (1995) by Rakhshan Bani-Etemad

• The Color of Paradise (1999) by Majid Majidi

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Persian Literature

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... another reason I feel fortunate to live in this historic piece of world.

Hafez, Sa'di, Rumi, and Ferdowsi form the pillars of Persian poetry.  The first two, lived in the city I was raised in; Shiraz. Persian literature is adorned with knowledge, love and ethics. Persian contemporary literature is brightened with several great minds such as Mehdi Akhavan-Sales (probably the greatest Persian poet of our time), Hooshang Ebtehaj, Shafiei Kadkani, and Qeysar Aminpour.