A few weeks back I met this girl on Instagram who seemed like fun. She seemed full of energy, had green hair and posted selfies regularly. Oh, and she was really hot!

So I asked her out. It took a little persuasion, but she finally agreed. And we set up a date.

On the day, I picked her up. And was surprised to find out that she is even more beautiful in person. So on that front, there were no problems.

(Before you accuse me of being shallow, read this or search about “attraction in men” and understand that the first thing that attracts men, is appearance. …

In the recent years, we have seen more and more people making a living by creating content and publishing that content on the internet. And most of the time, it looks so easy. Just sit in front of a camera and talk for ten minutes or write a few hundred words or take some photos in your living room or record yourself talking with someone and make a podcast.

Sounds very doable, right? And it’s so much better than the usual 9 to 5. Who wouldn’t want to be a creator?

It’s only after we become serious about it, after we actually sit in front of a camera or a microphone or start typing or taking photographs, that it becomes painfully obvious: this is hard work and it’s not for everyone. …

You hear people say it all the time: “the world has gone mad”. But you can’t really understand it until it happens to you, until you feel a constant threat of war. Now, I’m starting to see the madness of it all, clearer than ever…

These past few months, we’ve heard politicians, reporters and Middle East and US experts say it: the shadow of a US-Iran war is getting bigger and creeping closer as the sun sets on the JCPOA.

And every time they talk about war, I ask myself: have they all gone mad? And the answer is yes. Some more than others. Lets just hope that the people don’t become the sacrificial lamb in this struggle between mad bullies. …

I was almost 21 and still a student. I had been in some relationships that closely resembled a romantic one. And I had even thought about marriage (as you should, when you live in a mostly religious society). But I didn’t really know what it’s like to love a person until I met her.

In Iran you go to a university and study for 4 years to get your bachelor’s degree. And in the first 3 years, all I did was extracurricular activities. I didn’t have time even to think about a relationship. But after those 3 years, I was kind of tired. …

There are many things that I want to say -as an Iranian writer / photographer- to the outside world. One of them is about what individual people and individual companies -especially in the tech world- are doing in the face of US sanctions imposed on Iran and its people.

What you’re gonna read is mostly based on my personal experience in these last few years.

Apple and its die-hard fans in Iran

I honestly don’t know why this many people living in Iran have Apple products. I just don’t get it!

Let me explain a bit. Iran’s smartphone market is approximately worth 6 billion dollars and various reports say that Apple has about 10 percent of this market. (some reports say 9 and some 11) That means there are more than 850,000 iphones in Iran. About 200,000 are imported legally and the rest is smuggled in. and this is just the number for iphones. …