What follows, are two completely unrelated stories that are ultimately about hope and inspiration:
I would like everyone to grab a box of tissues and read this story. I want you to think about it the next time you get angry while driving. I know I will. I’m an admittedly terrible driver, and have been guilty of road rage many times. I’ve been working on driving more calmly for several years, but living in Los Angeles, relapses are easy. I hope that the memory of what happened to this family and their little boy will forever stay with me when I’m behind the wheel. Life is indeed too short.
When a porn star and a college student driving through the San Fernando Valley fell into conflict, a Bangladeshi American family suffered the consequences
By Ed Leibowitz
Los Angeles magazine, February 2010
On the Internet you can watch a four-minute video clip of Ayman Arif dancing. The venue is a bedroom in his Northridge home; his stage, a comforter patterned with sunflowers. Taking his cues from a Bollywood spectacular playing on the television, the four-year-old Bangladeshi American boy wriggles, twirls, and bounds. On his bare chest he wears the pink string sash of the Brahman jester he is pretending to be. His mop of brown hair gives way to a wide forehead, and his dark brown eyes are bright with fire as he sings along to the Bengali-language soundtrack. One moment he’s wagging a stern finger, the next he’s clasping his hands to his heart or pumping an outstretched palm toward the heavens.
On Tuesday, October 9, 2007, some ten months after her son’s impromptu performance made it onto YouTube, Syeda Arif was readying her family for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr—three days of gift giving, party hopping,overeating, and prayer to conclude the fast of Ramadan. At 30, Syeda was petite, with almond-shaped eyes and a husky laugh. She and her husband, Amir, lived in a Bangladeshi enclave in the northwest San Fernando Valley. Her father had been twice nominated to the Bangladeshi parliament, and Amir liked to say that she made friends with the ease of a born politician.
Around noon in the gathering heat of the day, Syeda buckled her two-month-old daughter, Ikra, into the car seat in her Honda Civic and drove to the home of Romey Islam, one of her best friends. The Islams lived in a modest gray ranch house on Sherman Way near Van Nuys Airport. Its soundproof front windows looked out onto a six-lane river of crosstown traffic that, like the row of palm trees lining the sidewalk, continued as far as the eye could follow. Read more…
And keeping in the vain of “life’s too short”, here’s another article I highly recommend taking the time to read. It’s an inspiring look at
Roger Ebert, perhaps the best known film critic in America. Those of you in other countries have probably never heard of him, but I’ve always had a special affinity for Mr. Ebert. He was a fixture in Chicago where I grew up, and his
movie reviews with Gene Siskel and patented “thumbs up or down” are legendary. Five years ago, when
the movie “Rent” came out, I was very excited. Any regular reader of this space knows that seeing the musical
“Rent” in 1996 was a seminal event in my life. I went on to see the show 15 times in 15 different countries! While I was a bit underwhelmed by the transition from stage to screen; subsequent viewings of the movie made me appreciate it more. Upon realizing this, I wrote to Mr. Ebert to take issue with a few of the comments he made in
his review of the film. Imagine my surprise the next day, when I got a personal response from Roger Ebert from his personal email address; and he actually agreed with me! I thought that was a very classy thing for him to do. At the time, I had no idea of the huge medical ordeals he was facing. I read this article last night and it brought tears to my eyes. Roger Ebert is a class act. This is the story of a life well lived and it’s worth your time.
February 16, 2010, 7:01 AM
Roger Ebert: The Essential Man
It has been nearly four years since Roger Ebert lost his lower jaw and his ability to speak. Now television’s most famous movie critic is rarely seen and never heard, but his words have never stopped. Read more…
PLUS: Have You Seen All of the Essential Movies?
By Chris Jones
It was a very busy weekend at
The Hotel Careyfornia, filled with many of
my blog’s namesakes, primarily dogs
(4), kids (3), and sunsets (2). Thankfully, there was little mention of
Sarah Palin and her
redneck teleprompter! Friday, Seth and Hannah came by with
Garbo & Ruby. On Saturday,
David & Rebecca came with the two girls and Chanel the dog (just like
last Valentine’s Day, when I went to Gay Traffic School!). Despite snow in 49 of the 50 United States, it was 75° (24° C) in L.A. and we hiked up to the
“new” Hollywood sign. It’s been
covered by conservationists temporarily to prevent land development at one of the last untouched parts of Los Angeles. After a quick trip to
Millions of Milkshakes, we headed to
The Getty Center for sunset (
it’s free after 5:00 on Saturdays!). We capped the night off celebrating the Lunar New Year with
delicious Thai food. Sunday,
Claudio, Ryan, Omar &
Chazz came to dance the Valentine’s night away at
Avalon. Tonight,
Tyson (who took time out of his
busy TV appearance schedule), met me and Chazz for dinner at
Hollywood & Highland. I’m exhausted. Is it the weekend yet??
Hannah & Seth dropped by with Garbo & Ruby
The Hollywood Sign has been covered by conservationists
Rebecca & Nicole at The Getty
One of the best places in LA to watch the sun set
Looking south towards downtown and Long Beach
My future sister in law and nieces!
Gorgeous travertine marble
Chazz overlooking Hollywood Blvd.
The El Capitan Theater – home of Jimmy Kimmel
Night falls on Hollywood Blvd. with downtown Los Angeles in the distance
The Hollywood & Highland complex, adjacent to The Kodak Theater, home of the Oscars
Best of the rest….click here
was so nice having her here these last two weeks. I miss her already. (She just called to tell me 
that she saw 
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