Adventures of Mr.Behi

The Meltdown in The Hague

The spring has announced itself conspicuously here in The Hague. Steady sunshine for some days in a row has awakened the trees and all across town, flowers of all kind are in blossom. For this Iranian couple, this is the first spring in The Netherlands and as it turns out, we just witnessed another kind of meltdown in our neighborhood and this is not an ordinary frost but a thick ice of over 30 years of age that has just cracked between Iran and the US.

Today, just a few streets above us, the Afghanistan summit provided a chance for an ice-breaking meeting between the two countries. Although this is not the first time they collaborated over Afghanistan but this can be considered a strong message -in a positive way- that Obama administration is willing to change the game. I hope Iran and the US to cut the crap and instead of only talking about Iraq and Afghanistan, sit and talk about their own issues. Ironically, The Hague is also home to an everlasting tribunal that is supposed to resolve disputes over Iranian investments in the US before the revolution. Hope to see The Hague as a starting point for an end to all this. (Update: and here: it just blew out)

The weather changes very fast here and it may become gray and wet in no time again....lets enjoy the Sun for the moment.

Persian New Year 1388

We are done cleaning or better say what we call in Iran "House shake" and are waiting so that about an hour and 40 minutes, we reach the equinox in local time and start the new Persian year. It is a sunny day here in The Hague and flowers have already been appearing in sidewalks.
The schedule is booked for the weekend. We are invited to a Dutch wedding tonight and I will also be part of a writing workshop in Amsterdam. A Persian concert is also awaiting us....
While we are here in the land of the Dutch, check out this Dutch man traveling in Iran. He enthusiastically went through a Farsi language training and is going through a wonderful spring route in the south and the center of Iran. 

Moving Right

It was a while ago when I stumbled upon an audio book that became my companion for a month and I could not stop talking about it with friends. "A Whole New Mind" by Daniel H. Pink talks about aspects of human intellect that have been under the shadow of ever praised analytical skills.The enthusiastic narration of the author in the audio version was an extra delight for itself.

The book is talking about the emergence of a new age when the skills acquired via classical academic curriculum (left brain skills) will not be enough to give individuals the necessary edge for success. They are only good if merged with right brain skills and what the author calls "High concept and High touch". He encourages us to learn about good design and get acquainted with symphonies or study the art of story telling. I was thinking about this and realized how much these "touchy/feely" stuff (Right brain skills) can leverage the life of people who are mainly involved with hardcore science and engineering tasks.

No matter how much your work is about numbers, the better you can present the results to your boss with a good story, the better the result. I am sure many have seen presentations and reports with terrible designs not only in font selection and typography but also in coloring and composition. No matter how number oriented your client, you still have a better chance of success if you can convey your message with a good story via a well designed presentation that talks about the relationships, the big picture and how they relates to sneaky little details.
I started buying books and magazines that the author recommended and "A Whole New Mind" will remain among my top list of gifts for friends.