A light fixture at a food court somewhere in Tiburon, California. I visited my uncle in this Northern California town located just north of San Francisco.
After living in Florida for close to 40 years, my uncle and his wife relocated here for their retirement.
Strawberry Manor, California.
The Golden Gate bridge is a majestic sight. Also a depressing location where people commit suicide, as depicted in the documentary The Bridge.
I can't think of a flag that is more recognizable than that of the United States of America. Depending on where you are from and what your political views are, it represents everything from freedom to oppression. How you view it and what meaning you take from it can and will change with time. For better or for worse, 'till death do you part.
Thousand Oaks, California, where I went to high school. It's one of those sleepy towns in the suburbs of Los Angeles where everything closes at 9. For some reason, I am more terrified of crossing the street in this orderly town than in Tehran.
Independence day is really just a holiday, I don't think anyone even knows what it means to be independent as a country. Unless you apply it to oil. The day US no longer depends on foreign oil, that will be a day worth celebrating with fireworks.
It's always refreshing to see an empty billboard in LA.
Sometimes i get the feeling that we eat out of boredom, not hunger. An observation worth studying.
You can't live in LA and not know what a headshot is. A headshot -- for those who don't know -- is simply an eight-by-ten photo of an actor or actress. For every famous Hollywood actor known globally, there are tens of thousands of actors who are yet to be discovered. Among them, my sister, whose headshot was posted outside the theater where I watched her perform in a play.
At the first midnight screening of Hellboy II on it's opening weekend. I always love seeing people hyped up about a movie, so much so that they line up to be the first ones to catch it. I hope one day I get to experience that with one of my films.
Is this kind of packaging really necessary? Can't they spend the money instead on making the fruits taste better and in doing so, saving the planet from the plastic waste?
A Mexican cook preparing my bowl of Mongolian BBQ.
There are so many choices when it comes to milk, but for some reason there are only two political parties!
It's rare to be served fruits in house parties here. You would have to go to a Persian birthday party for that!
The Q&A following a special screening of The American Teen. The documentary followed five high school students in their senior year. I wondered how different The Iranian Teen would have been if someone were to make it.
Not being a tea drinker in Iran is a social handicap, because drinking tea is something people do together and you're very likely to always hear the question "can I get you a cup of tea?" To which I always had to reply "no thanks, I don't drink tea." Fortunately for me -- unfortunately for society as a whole -- drinking tea here is something most people do on their own. Alone.
A parking attendant hard at work.
Though many of the young Iranian-Americans are born and raised in the US, they still have a deep connection with an Iran they most often have never been to. So much so that they go as far as getting tattoos related to their Iranian heritage. This girl's tattoo reads "Banoo" in Farsi, which means "Lady" in English -- it was what she called her beloved late grandmother.
I spent a week in a beach house in Venice watching over my friend's cats; Zeke and Bella.
The beach house was a beautiful three-story apartment reportedly designed by Frank Gehry. Apparently it rents for $10,000 a month.
A series of art installations lit up Santa Monica's night sky as part of an event called Glow.
Two Iranian men were having a nice conversation about the "good old times" sitting on a bench in Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica.
This photo of a homeless man in Venice might as well have been taken in Iran or any other third world country. In fact, I could focus solely on the homeless population of Los Angeles and in doing so paint a one-sided biased picture of America as the most backwards country in the world.
The final resting place of thousands of staples that once held up a flyer or two.
The Ghostbuster girls looking good taking pictures with one of their fans at the 2008 Comic-Con. More than 250,000 people attend the comic book convention in San Diego each year. Not exactly my scene since I am not too interested in either comic books or any of the toys and gadgets that appeals to those who attend. A booth at the convention costs as much as $2 million dollars for 3 days.
The view of downtown San Diego from atop the Manchester Grand Hyatt hotel.
In America, they make their women ride the men around in bikes. The men sit back, relax and check their behinds as they struggle up and down the streets. This of course is a total lie. Now you know how Persians feel when they hear similar bogus statements about women in Iran.
A handful of Persian girls dancing to the latest Persian pop songs at a pool party in a house overlooking the San Fernando valley.

"One day, in the not-so-distant future, Americans will awake to the reality that American military forces are engaged in a shooting war with Iran. Many will scratch their heads and wonder, 'How did that happen?' The answer is simple: We all let it happen. We are at war with Iran right now. We just don't have the moral courage to admit it." Quote from an article by Scott Ritter.

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