Cyrus Farivar

Ed: The following is an assignment for my book writing class that is due tomorrow on the theme of “A Matter of Principle”. I just finished it. We’re supposed to practice writing narrative non-fiction. Comments always welcome. Heidi Hadsell is my maternal aunt. John Hadsell is my maternal grandfather. Farivar, Cyrus January 30, 2005 Prof. Freedman “A Matter of Principle” WC: 1264 Most days, Heidi would walk to school. Her house sat up on a hill, along the edge of…

Ok, just did my taxes online. I still think it’s cool that I’ve never paid a single bill or done my taxes using paper forms. I’ve paid electric bills, DSL bills, credit card bills, and my taxes all online. Now if only I could pay my rent electronically. Uncle Sam owes me : $5 I owe the Governator: $12 Net: – $7

Best story on Iraqi elections I’ve seen so far. LA Times: Since U.S. polling places in five states were announced this month, these fervent fans of democracy have become Seattle’s hometown heroes. More than 100 already have driven to Irvine once to register for Iraq’s out-of-country voting. By the time they return to Seattle, they will have logged nearly 4,800 miles in the pursuit of democracy. The co-founder of Seattle’s Iraqi Community Center, Qatrani spent days trying to persuade election…

The Wanderlust Geek is back! Check the new podcast at : www.wanderlustgeek.com

My Wired article can be read here.

Photo by: Sarmad Ali January 4, 2005 Cyrus on the Capitol Corridor, somewhere between Emeryville, Calif. and Sacramento, Calif., working on a piece for The New York Times.

I’m usually the first to have zero fashion sense and one who favors comfort over style and I generally don’t care about what I, or other people wear. But I will say, that this piece in the WashPost says a lot about our attitude towards the world. The vice president, however, was dressed in the kind of attire one typically wears to operate a snow blower. Cheney stood out in a sea of black-coated world leaders because he was wearing…

Got three freelance assignments to work on, not to mention my classes. Yikes. It’s good to be busy. Oh, and that silly little thesis to worry about as well. Not to mention Estonia! Speaking of which, I did my first interview for that today and I found out that one of the key bits in this piece is fundamentally wrong. Estonia never declared Internet access as a human right. It’s so prevalent that it’s practically a human right, but people…

So, I was looking at my calendar, and I realized that as I’d set it up I was only going to have four business days which is sorta short for going across the Atlantic. I called up American, and so for about $40 more in taxes and longer travel time, I have six full business days in Tallinn. Sounds like a fair deal to me. Depending on what can be achieved on the weekend in Tallinn, I may take a…

Argh. I’m listening to Bush on the radio, and he DOESN’T ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS! I point you now to this gem from Matt Loker of The Daily Californian: The simple fact is this: Kerry spent record amounts of money, collected the endorsements of basically everyone except Chuck Norris and still lost to a guy who talks like heÕs giving a sixth grade report on something he didnÕt study. ÒMr. President, how do you feel about Indonesian President YudhoyonoÕs recent actions…