I've been doing a lot of screenwriting. So much so that I often fear that I will not be able to keep up with this blog. But I look at it as my monthly ritual to maintain a level of sanity and a frequent exercise in acute observations that end up helping with the writing.

Greens are still green. Not yet burned by the upcoming summer heat.

A hipster cafe named Mug on Jordan Street.

Sometimes having too many choices is not exactly to your benefit. You end up confused as to what to pick -- in this case color for painting your newfound room.

There are no pop charts, no top radio request lists or billboard top 100s to track the popularity of songs and singers. Iranian [underground] pop songs are never sold, never packaged, never find their way to a concert or get air play. But they find their way to parties and car stereos. By way of copied MP3 CDs. By word of mouth. Current top hip hop pop sensation: Sasy Mankan.

No matter what your religious or political views are, the image of a man taking time off to stand in front of his God to pray is one of peace and harmony. To pray on a daily basis requires a kind of discipline that my generation lacks. For forcing yourself to do anything five times a day, every day of your life takes a lot of will power and commitment to your beliefs and values.

You know how profitable fancy alcoholic drinks are in the States and elsewhere in Europe? Now take their fanciness, hold on the alcohol, keep the price tag and you get something even more profitable: water disguised as an "ice in heaven" in the form of a lemonade. Sold at your local hip cafe across Tehran.

A piece by Iranian artist Noushafarin Atefi.

Who needs a dolly when you have miracle workers who can carry a side by side refrigerator on their backs! The bitter truth is that the miracle worker in Tehran costs less than renting a dolly does in the US. (Before you can accuse me of worker abuse, we did offer to get them a dolly, but they looked at us funny and said something to the effect that "dollies are for pussies!")

And how not to carry a washing machine...

A satellite installer person once told me that he thinks the reason why satellites will never become legal is so that knowing everyone has a satellite dish, "they" always have an excuse to get in people's homes without a warrant.

To change one's perspective always reveals new angles on things we think we know everything about. An angle on a plastic water bottle.

In anticipation of the upcoming "elections," Iranian flags run high across the country. There is usually a period of three weeks during the allotted campaigning period where there is relative freedom of speech and expression. So when they accidentally block Facebook because it's being used for campaigning by the more moderate candidate, they unblock it the next day!

Somewhere on a table top in Tehran an angel is smiling at you.

At Rira Cafe on Mirdamad Avenue, where each table has a theme. This one in particular featured old watches.

Pistachios. One of Iran's largest exports.

I went to Azadi Stadium to watch a soccer match between Iran's Perspolis and Saudi Arabia's Al Shabab. The stadium was only third full. It's the only stadium in Iran that has a 100,000 seats. It was built before the revolution alongside an olympic village for an Asian olympics in the mid 1970s. The soccer match itself was as boring as watching paint dry.

Yep, there has been sightings of teddy bears in Iran.

Two gentlemen walking on the 33 Bridges (sio-se-pol) in Esfahan. I went to Esfahan to visit an uncle who was not feeling well.

Yogurt Stew is a specialty of Esfahan that cannot be found in Tehran or elsewhere in Iran. It's basically a thick yogurt dish that has chicken and saffron mixed in. It can be served cold as dessert or hot as a stew that goes well with rice.

Fine gachkari (plaster work) inside a restaurant in Esfahan.

A back alley in Esfahan with three shops. Esfahan is a city drenched with historical sites and neighborhoods dating back to thousands of years ago. Though obviously this picture has nothing to do with any of that.

Esfahan is a more well-kept city than Tehran. The streets, the trees, parks, gardens and shopping centers are all in a better shape.

A tailor hard at work in his small shop on the second floor of a building somewhere in Esfahan.

There has been considerable improvements in food packaging. I just don't understand why some companies insist on stealing foreign logos and or fonts. "Dairy" which is not to be confused with "Disney."

"Hmmm... What else can I poop on?"

Somewhere smack in the center of Tehran a river runs through it all and no one seems to know its name.