Category Archives: Blog

Rumi’s Birthday

This week, from Konya to Lahore and beyond, lovers of the poetry of 23th century mystic Rumi (b. 1207) celebrated Rumi’s 814th birthday on September 30th. It was delightful to see the ecstatic praises of his poetry and life on social media and among the hearts of devoted lovers of love all week long. To learn more about Rumi’s mysticism and art, you can purchase a copy of my book The Gift of Rumi, which illustrates how his ideas have been embodied and transmitted through the ages.

The Gift of Rumi is available for purchase at Macmillan, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, BAM, and other stores. The audio book is available on Spotify and at Barnes and Noble, Apple Books, Scribd, Chirp, Libro, and 40+ retail and library distribution partners.

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Standup in Hollywood

I had such a blast doing standup comedy with the stars in Hollywood for a fundraiser for the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library. I had to go on after comedy genius Cathy Ladman who has been a guest on The Tonight Show *ten* times — talk about a hard act to follow!

It was amazing to meet Kelly Carlin, and I’m so touched she liked my act — a dream come true! I’m very fond of her work too…

I owe all my Hollywood success to comedy legend Paul Provenza — whose dedication to humor (and being human!) is inspiring and life-affirming.

It was also awesome to meet The Drake from Seinfeld — Rick Overton! I was elated and encouraged by his generous words of affirmation and wise counsel! The whole night was a dream come true — I’m having a total blast being a professional standup comedian in Hollywood!

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The Gift of Rumi in India

The Gift of Rumi in India

How cool is this!?! My friend was in the Calcutta airport — and out of the corner of her eye, she spotted my book, The Gift of Rumi (St. Martin’s Press) in the bookstore! Small world — nice to see they have multiple copies on the shelf too! It’s heartwarming to see travelers in India having this opportunity to whirl with Rumi’s mystic poetry high into the heavens on their global journeys. Please encourage your local (and airport) bookstores to offer The Gift of Rumi too — spread the love far and wide!

It’s really been wild to see my book whirling around the world — from India to Australia and beyond! Here’s a gorgeous review of The Gift of Rumi in the Sydney Review of Books:

The Gift of Rumi is available for purchase at Macmillan, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, BAM, and other stores. The audio book is available on Spotify and at Barnes and Noble, Apple Books, Scribd, Chirp, Libro, and 40+ retail and library distribution partners.

The Gift of Rumi in India
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Life’s a Beach

Since it’s the end of the world, I’ve given up on wearing clothes and now am just living in my bathing suit paired with the wraps I bought in New Haven while a fellow at Yale Law School.

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Wanderlust

Such a treat to finally dig into the delicious delights at Wanderlust in Venice with friends — so tremendously good! This month they have Brown Butter Halva (among other goodies!).

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Save the Sea Lions

Abu and I were really sad to come across a dying sea lion on the beach. Many sea lions and dolphins have been dying the past few weeks from a toxic algae in the water. We wished there was more we could do to help — so sad to see them suffering so much.

We weren’t alone in feeling helpless — this woman waved down a lifeguard to ask for cones to be set around the sea lion so people (and dogs) wouldn’t disturb it while it suffered. Donations are needed to expand what care and services the marine specialists can provide these beautiful and suffering creatures.

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Balinese Blast

Since I’m a concert Javanese gamelan performer, it was such a delight to see UCLA’s Balinese gamelan perform along with UCLA’s Persian music ensembles. My friend who went with me was a Fulbright scholar with me in Indonesia, so the performance brought back fond memories of our time together living next to a volcano on Java and studying Indonesian language (and gamelan in Solo with the masters). These days, I don’t venture out much due to the pandemic, but I made an exception for this impressive Balinese gamelan performance (as gamelan has been such a big part of my life the past two decades)! Getting to see Balinese topeng (below) again too was such a treat — how lucky we are to have access to such life-giving performing arts here in Los Angeles.

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Cultural Diversity in Java

I was honored to be invited by Universitas Gadjah Mada in Java to speak with their students about cultural diversity and cultural heritage. I enjoyed listening to the related student presentations, and the event brought back fond memories of my time in Java on a Fulbright fellowship.

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Reflections from Burma

The reflections of several of my stellar students in Myanmar have been published in the Yale Southeast Asian Movement Spring 2023 Issue — put together by Yale’s Southeast Asian Movement and the Parami Social Issues Club. You can read their writing here. I was so blown away by their final plays that my dream is to have them staged here in America — stay tuned!

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A Door onto Sur

When I was teaching in the Sultanate of Oman, I stumbled upon this stunning handcrafted window frame from the port city of Sur and just knew I had to get it. It’s now whirled around the world to join me on the beach in California — and makes me smile every time I look in its direction…

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Beach Days

Beach days are here again — feels great to have the ocean temperature hitting 67 this week. Trying to spend every day in the ocean!

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Malibu Farm

I had a blast at Malibu Farm with friends — so peaceful to hear the waves crashing under our feet on the beach at sunset…

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Crossing Borders in Algeria


It was such an honor & joy to present my research on Rohingya literature yesterday in Algeria at the Borders / Crossing Borders in Contemporary Literature & Culture Conference — many thanks to the Algerian Ministry of Higher Education & University of Mohamed Boudiaf of M’sila for this wonderful gathering. A month or so before the COVID-19 pandemic began, I was fortunate to travel from China to Algeria to give a keynote address, and it was lovely to return to Algeria this week virtually to speak about Burma and Bangladesh. Everyone was very welcoming and the discussions were so stimulating that I stayed up until 4 am to participate all night long from California.

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Standup & Sword Play

Standup in China

It’s wild that in the People’s Republic of China, my days were filled with sword play (studying tai chi with sword) and my nights were devoted to standup comedy — and now in California I’m on the same tai chi sword by day and standup comedy by night schedule here in Hollywood! Very grateful to be able to continue doing both of my passions here in Los Angeles…

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