From MARTYRS to AMERICAN MONSTERS to psychological methods of trauma healing to Toni Morrison’s Beloved to Cold Case while discussing the healing powers of horror stories. (But no Lady Gaga this time 
Author Archives: Sezin
The Healing Power of Horror
On Dreams, Suffering and the French Film MARTYRS
I was reminded of a strange dream I had a few years ago after recently watching the brilliant French film MARTYRS, and of course also manage to tie this back to Lady Gaga. 
Self-Referentiality: Internal monologue turned external dialogue
What do the expat+HAREM, Dialogue 2010 and Lady Gaga have in common?
Intertextuality and Irony in Lady Gaga’s PAPARAZZI
My submission for this week’s www.RedRoom.com themed blog competition on “What is your favorite pop song?”
On homosociality, American masculinties, and violence against women in DEADGIRL
Delving back into my much-loved world of cultural anthropology via the horror film “Deadgirl” and its social significance.
The Assasination Of Marilyn Monroe
My review of the tragic “Assassination Of Marilyn Monroe”.
Portrait of A Killer
A review of Patricia Cornwell’s phenomenal forensic study “Portrait of a Killer: Jack The Ripper Case Closed”
On Angels, Demons and Living Paradoxically
My friend Vesper’s amazing blog post inspires me to consider my thoughts on good, evil and other things in between.
Why?
An explosive encounter with a racist Czech granny prompts me to once again consider why it is I continue to live in Prague.
Transitions Abroad Essay Competition Winner
Dear Readers, Just a quick note to let you know that the essay I wrote about life in Prague as an expat placed as a runner-up winner in the Transitions Abroad essay competition. The article, Living in Prague as an Expat: The Times They Are a-Changin’, will be on their website for the next year….
Woe Is Me
Exploring the various facets of women’s literature and where my first novel, AMERICAN MONSTERS, fits into the debate.
Wild Things Make My Heart Sing
Reflections on the magical and terrifying film “Where The Wild Things Are”.
What’s In A Name?
The name on my birth certificate reads Sezin Piotruszewicz Menekshe Rajandran. I was named with the same initials as my grandfather on my father’s side, SPM Rajandran. He died just months before I was born, and in fact my mom was so upset at his funeral that her amniotic sack tore and she might have…
Born Hybrid
In 1990 Chris McCandless donated all of his life savings to OXFAM and went into the wild to live in the Alaskan outback. He had the feeling he didn’t belong in the life his parents planned for him. He knew they’d not take no for an answer, wearing him down like a chainsaw until he…
Intimate Strangers
The first in a series of reflections on the incredible Dialogue 2010, curated by Rose Deniz and on the topic of hybrid identities and location.
Fear Of Flying
In 1973 Erica Jong wrote the feminist anthem, Fear Of Flying. The heroine, Isadora, though terrified of flying, boards a plane and her subsequent journey leads to a spiritual and sexual awakening that was the one of the first of its kind in print. Jong’s thesis is that the fear of flying is the fear…
Inside Outsider: An expat+HAREM Guest Blog
My first ever guest blog has gone live at expat+HAREM, a neo-cultural hub for expats and voyagers. http://www.expatharem.com/2010/02/25/the-inside-outsider/
Inglourious Revenge
My impassioned review of Quentin Tarantino’s magnificent “Inglourious Basterds”.
Songs Of Freedom: A Found Poem
A found poem made up of song lyrics for this week’s www.redroom.com blog competition. My blog from last week, “The Sneeze”, was noted on their website as an honourable mention. Yeah!
The Sneeze
A short zombie story inspired by Franz Kafka, my Prague homeboy, and written for the www.RedRoom.com weekly blog competition.
Miep, Myself and Wendy
My reflections on Miep Gies’ death as well as Wendy Soltero’s would-be 32st birthday.
Full Body Search
The two-bedroom apartment is sparkling clean, so clean that Mr. Smith can eat food off the floor if it drops. He often drops food; he gets excited and his hands shake. Food falls, he picks it up and places it in his mouth. After, he cleans obsessively, frantically, scrubbing the walls, scouring the kitchen, bleach…
Frida, I’m In Love
I took this snap while taking a bath today, and then edited it with Picnik. Every time I take a soak looking at my feet reminds me of Frida Kahlo’s painting What the Water Gave Me, and more so these days now that my big toe is sort of scarred like hers. I couldn’t make…
In the “Nought”ies I:
Many of the things that I did in the Naughts Decade. I probably left out a bunch, but anyway.
#LoveLetterProject90210
I write poems to real/imaginary/living/dead people on postcards, usually the kind you find on those card dispensers in bars and restaurants, or I write cyber-cards on my blog. It all started in 2004, when I lived in Seville, Spain and was inspired by my dear friend, Jo Melo, and in fact many of the first…
Haiku Challenge: Lament
By closing the book ends this beloved story fairy tale lament. **** Night falls early now shadows repeating backwards her caustic lament. **** Lament without me windfall of time-travelled bliss through a cold echo. **** Fog heralds Winter lament this passing yearful measure towards Spring.
A Love Letter to Charlie Kaufman
Dear Charlie Kaufman: Your words, images, open the floodgates of my sadness and its beautiful release. Love forever, Sezin
Haiku Challenge: Invent/Narrow
To invent time one Floats between then and now reaps Memory’s echo. **** Autumn ray of love before Winter’s cold embrace you will invent me. **** My straight and narrow wishful thinking leads inside fallen tree branches. **** Narrow creviced heart fallen leaves of love’s lost grasp towards broken skies. **** Nature’s narrow path downward…
A Love Letter to Prague
Dear Prague: I am so madly in love with you I cannot contain myself. Please, don’t tell my husband. Love love love, Sezin
Haiku Challenge: Minor
Walking the minor miracle of your freedom streets teem with fall joy. **** Minor flooding here my heart, this blossom of love truly, madly, deep. **** History recedes minor ripples in velvet revolution day. (Inspired by the amazing events in Prague that marked 20 years since the Velvet Revolution.)
A Love Letter to Lars von Trier
Dear Lars von Trier: I. HATE. YOU. I’m so sorry I said that! I love you. But why you gotta mess with my head so? Love, Sezin
Why I Don’t Celebrate Halloween Like I Used To
When I first moved to Europe going on seven years ago I was bummed that I felt they didn’t really celebrate Halloween, American style. Dressing up, spider webs, pumpkin carving, creepy music, Trick-or-Treating…Halloween was always my most favourite holiday. I love costumes and basically will use any excuse whatsoever to dress up. Movie premieres, themed…
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Gluten: What You Don’t Know Might Kill You
Dear Dr. Hyman, Once again you have written an absolutely brilliant expose on something most people take for granted as a necessity in their dietary lives, such as wheat and wheat-based products. It’s a testament to our grab-and-go world that values convenience instead of healthiness that this hidden Celiac Disease epidemic has gotten to this…
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