View from Iran

Marjane Satrapi, Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return, 2005
Persepolis 2 is as good as its predecessor; perhaps even better. Again, Marjane Satrapi tells the story of her life through disarmingly simple (but not simplistic) black & white drawings, this time covering the period between her arrival in Vienna as a 14-year-old, and her final severance with Iran at 22. But her life story is anything but simple. Like the first book, I found myself wiping away a stray tear on public transports as I read about her isolation in Austria, her many struggles as she grew up into a young woman. She has an amazing life story to tell, as well as strong views on her own country (Iran) and the world's perception of it.

A book's greatness can surely be measured by its power to touch universal topics without overdoing it. Despite Marjane's life being unique, her genius is portraying her experiences as the kind of events that could have happened to anyone. I found myself relating to her dislocation in Vienna (I went to two different high schools in Asia after my family immigrated from Brasil), and long-distance relationship to her family (I've lived far from mine since I was 19).

I can't wait to read the third volume.

But You Lost It Somehow

Yesterday, I arrived earlier than usual at my gym in the hopes of finding the place empty. Although the weight room was as busy as usual, there was nobody in the locker room apart from one guy entering the communal showers.

I put down my bag and started getting changed. I noticed something fly past me: he'd strolled out naked and chucked his underwear on his pile of clothes. When he went back to the shower, he moved to a shower that stood directly in my line of vision.

I noticed he was staring intently at me as he soaped himself. He was probably in his early 30s, asian, muscular but not lean. I looked a second time, to be sure I wasn't imagining things (I thought until yesterday my gym was the straightest one in London). Turned out he REALLY was staring at me.

What disturbed me about the whole thing was that he had his mobile phone propped up on a bench beside the shower, blasting a R'n'B version of Roxette's "It Must Have Been Love" as sung by chipmunks.

The Sun Also Shines on Holloway Road

SO FRIGGIN' CUTE!

Aaaaaaaawwwwwww!