Some good reads

Yesterday, while being somewhat of a lazy bum around the house, I read a couple articles in Marie Claire.  Yes, magazine articles.  Marie Claire actually has some really good articles that are worth the read.  The first was entitled "My Life in a Harem" and was a Q&A with author Jillian Lauren (now wife of Weezer bassist Scott Shriner).  Her book her her true-story of becoming one of the Prince of Brunei's 40 girlfriends.  The book is entitled Some girls: My Life in A Harem and I have marked it on my "to-read" list.  The article discusses her sense of adventure and her life while living in the harem.  She received very lavish gifts, shopping sprees where thousands upon thousands of dollars were spent.  Though I disagree with Lauren's opinion on legalizing prostitution, I think the book will be an interesting read because it will open my eyes to a different culture and experience.

GoodReads gives the following description:
A jaw-dropping story of how a girl from the suburbs ends up in a prince's hare, and emerges from the secret Xanadu both richer and wiser 

At eighteen, Jillian Lauren was an NYU theater school dropout with a tip about an upcoming audition. The "casting director" told her that a rich businessman in Singapore would pay pretty American girls $20,000 if they stayed for two weeks to spice up his parties. Soon, Jillian was on a plane to Borneo, where she would spend the next eighteen months in the harem of Prince Jefri Bolkiah, youngest brother of the Sultan of Brunei, leaving behind her gritty East Village apartment for a palace with rugs laced with gold and trading her band of artist friends for a coterie of backstabbing beauties. 

More than just a sexy read set in an exotic land, Some Girls is also the story of how a rebellious teen found herself-and the courage to meet her birth mother and eventually adopt a baby boy.


The other article that I really enjoyed was about Tala Raassi, a rising young designer who was raised in Iran.  On her 16th birthday party, she was taken to jail and given 40 lashings for wearing a mini-skirt in the privacy of a friends home and in the company of the opposite sex.  The story is very moving and really brings to light the issues and oppression women face in Iran today.  Raassi moved to the United States after the lashings and stayed with some family while getting back on her feet.  She chose a career in fashion design to celebrate femininity and freedom of choice.  Just a really inspiring story!  You can see her line on the web: Dar be Dar, which literally means "door to door" in Persian, but is also slang for "all over the place".  You can read the article about Raassi on the Marie Claire website.