In the late 80s and early 90s, before leaving Iran, I read Chariots of the Gods, The Gold of the Gods, The Teachings of Don Juan and other ones that dealt with non-ordinary realities and allegorical work. Later on, thinking back to that time, I kept remembering the sentence "When life is too short, we live it too long" but I couldn't figure out which book it came from. I eventually caved in and googled it. I discovered it was from Samantha Fox's 1987 song My True Devotion.
"My parents, brother, and I left Iran in 1980, shortly after the revolution. After a brief stay in Italy, we packed all our belongings once again and headed west to the exotic and the unknown: Vancouver. We had recently been accepted as landed immigrants, meaning Canada graciously opened its doors and we gratefully accepted; we arrived at Vancouver International Airport on my 10th birthday, three suitcases and one sewing machine in tow. After respectful but intense questioning at immigration, we were dropped off at a hotel on Robson Street, which was then still a couple years shy of becoming the fashionable tourist hub it is today. We were jetlagged, culture shocked, and hungry, so that first night, my father and brother courageously ventured out into the wild in search of provisions. I fell asleep before they returned. The next morning, I woke up at 5 a.m. and ravenously feasted on a cold Quarter Pounder with cheese and limp French fries that had been left by my beds...

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