“I think we should talk about politics,” I suggested to the table of tour members, bored senseless with the American conversation of what you do for work. “Oh, but wouldn’t you rather be… Continue reading
The first announcement was so bland and polite. “The eastbound train on platform two is going out of service. Please do not board this train. It will be departing momentarily.” The crowd of… Continue reading
Plastic buttons could only click monotonously in flimsy “guitars”, and the rubbery cables were silent, yet the normally apathetic television emitted all the passionate rock ballad wails and foot-twitching beats of as many… Continue reading
I have a problem with what’s going on in Baltimore. Because it’s important. The militarization of police is a problem, and I fear it when a culture teaches one demographic (defined by career,… Continue reading
The sign on the wall said “California is in a drought” and I was tempted to the most benevolent vandalism ever. (Unless you count this, which you should.) Because while I agree with… Continue reading
Seeing a US fast food chain in Istanbul is like running into a crass, boorish American tourist in the Hagia Sophia; not far from my hotel there’s a Burger King talking on its… Continue reading
The classic cars of Cuba are obvious. Music jumps into your ear from every angle. Lavish colors surround you, blending with the heat into a chromatic and caloric smoothie of multisensory stimulation from… Continue reading
Home sweet home. Cool shade, soft air, and damp earth, beside flowing water, under patient boughs, and between sagacious trunks. Jungles are great, but I never appreciated the particulars of my homeland forests… Continue reading
Let me be clear: I love the 92 year old man. Born in 1921, Ronald Read walked to school every day, served in WWII, then worked as a janitor for 42 years, first… Continue reading
“Appear in court on December 26,” they said. So I cut my family’s Christmas short to be back in Oakland, security-screened by 9:00 this morning. I try not to predict the future, but… Continue reading
