Category Archives: Blog

So grateful to the Harriman Institute at Columbia University for sharing news about the publication of my new book — it was a dream come true to study with the world’s finest scholars on Russia, Eurasia, and Eastern Europe there.

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

Love the stunning and thoughtful layout of this excerpt from my book, THE GIFT OF RUMI: Experiencing the Wisdom of the Sufi Master (St. Martin’s Press), in Watkins Mind Body Spirit magazine (alongside Pema Chödrön!) — beautifully done!

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

Very grateful and blessed to have the cutest surf instructor around — surf’s up, pup!

So delighted to see an excerpt from my book, THE GIFT OF RUMI: Experiencing the Wisdom of the Sufi Master (St. Martin’s Press), in Watkins Mind Body Spirit magazine (alongside Pema Chödrön!) — they made it all look so lovely!

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

So exciting to see my book, THE GIFT OF RUMI: Experiencing the Wisdom of the Sufi Master (St. Martin’s Press) on the cover of Watkins Mind Body Spirit magazine alongside Pema Chödrön — whom I’ve admired for decades!

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

I’ve been so fortunate to play Javanese gamelan around the world — from performing in shadow puppet shows in Java with master puppeteers and musicians (while on a Fulbright in Indonesia) to performing in concert at Lincoln Center and jamming in the Indonesian Embassy in Beirut and even the Sultanate of Oman.

A few weeks ago, I was contacted by the Aga Khan Music Awards and my gamelan friend Peni, an incredibly talented Indonesian vocalist, composer, and educator who I have performed with in concert, with an unusual question — did I still have my gamelan instruments in Oman (they had seen my blog posts about playing gamelan in Oman and needed them for a special event with Peni). Well, the gamelan in Oman did not belong to me but to my British friends — so I put them in touch and after many emails, mission accomplished!

Watch these gamelan instruments in Oman accompany my pal, Peni Candra Rini, laureate of the 2022 Aga Khan Music Awards — so splendid!

I’m honored to have my new article, “Geographies of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Oman: Charting Clitographies in Law, Migration, & Diplomacy,” in Volume No 91 of AK Feministische Geographien’s latest publication — a collection of papers from our Berlin conference earlier this year at Free University: “Shocks, Turmoil & Transformation – Symposium Feminist Geographies.”

A total joy to talk about my new book The Gift of Rumi: Experiencing the Wisdom of the Sufi Master w. Meg Gambino for New Books Network — very grateful for the chance to talk about Rumi’s poetry & mystic message of love. To listen, click on this link.

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

After a historic 70 day heatwave and related power outages, Chengdu got slammed with an intense COVID-19 lockdown (with a powerful earthquake on top of it!). To help lift the spirits of those in lockdown, my ol’ standup comedy crew in Chengdu (it rhymes!) started a nightly “talk show” while stuck in their homes. I was so honored & delighted to be invited on their show to talk about my creative life in Los Angeles, my new book, and the continuation of my worldwide standup comedy tour which I launched in China. It was great to see them again & catch up — happy to share some sunshine from California and good cheer on their show to keep them & their fans afloat during these challenging times in China.

After tai chihuahua practice, Abu and I headed to Simpang Asia for a tasty reunion with colleagues from my Fulbright in Java — so fun to see them and feast on yummy Indonesian food!

Abu and I like to do tai chihuahua and meditation at sunset on the beach (and in the morning too) — from hiking in the Himalayas of Tibet to chilling on the beaches of California, we love being immersed in nature…

Abu and I finally got to try the coffee at Menotti’s Coffee Stop in Venice (with an awesome film / comedy colleague) — so wonderful!

Abu spent Labor Day lounging on the beach — one of his ancestors has a personal connection to the holiday, as you’ll soon learn more about…

It’s so cool to see people posting about reading my book on their Kindle — and about listening to the audio book too in locations around the globe!

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