The Tehran Times

For travel lovers, there is always that one place or culture or era you have an obsession with. To go there, to understand it, to speak it, to fully capture its essence. For me that's the Middle East: I am dying to go to Tehran, Istanbul, Beirut, Dubai, Abu Dhabi,Cairo, Tel Aviv (to name a few) and hope to make it there one day.

I regularly bombard my Persian and Arabic friends with questions about the languages, the cities, the culture, the fashion, the politics. They all tell me that life in the Middle East is a far cry from the Western perception of it. In some parts, it's bad. But it is not something to be feared or villainized as it often is in the West. One friend expressed particular frustration with Ben Affleck's recent film Argo and its portrayal of Iranians. Anyway, my friend Golnaz showed me this blog, THE TEHRAN TIMES, and I'm reposting some of its pictures and art but trust me, I don't do it justice. The blog is a stunning collection of art, fashion, music and history.