The 400th Post: Something So Perfect.
The fact that I am publishing the 400th blog post is totally amazing to me. This all started as a way to sort through notes from my travels. Since then, … Continue reading
And Are You Happy (As You Wait)?
Sometimes your heart’s desire hung from the highest branch of the highest tree and you could never climb high enough to reach it. Or else you just waited patiently and … Continue reading
The Company You Keep
It’s a good time for the lonely. Wear a Bluetooth headset at the market, and you may speak to yourself with impunity while hunting for just the right melon. Your … Continue reading
Solo
In the tiny café, one has to adapt to custom and share a table with a stranger. I receive a welcome from a woman with hip glasses and excellent posture. … Continue reading
Lay ee odl lay ee odl-oo
Originally posted on The Nice Thing About Strangers:
As bus merged onto the highway, leaving no chance for unhappy passengers to disembark, a group of Slovakian college students old enough…
Richard Gere Was Here
I sought a place to collapse and eat after a day of haplessly wandering Sarajevo map-less and on foot. The choice was made simple when I spotted a man standing … Continue reading
You Can Read Over My Shoulder, But You Can’t Come Along
In the shuttle bus to the airplane, I break into scraps of conversational Turkish with a group of teenage boys from Kahramanmaraş. Even the boldest among them–a boy with smooth … Continue reading
The Rush
In Kreutzberg, on a street of hip shops and Indian restaurants and postcard stands, a young boy with wavy brown hair hurries down the street. In winter, the sidewalks are … Continue reading
Punctual
She was forty-five minutes early for her train–the young woman who kept looking at the arrival screen above her and straining to listen to the loudspeaker’s announcements. Bahnsteig Eins, Bahnsteig … Continue reading
before you go to the mall…
One of the secrets of the happy life is continuous small treats, and if some of these can be inexpensive and quickly procured so much the better. -Iris Murdoch. The … Continue reading
The Nice Thing About Strangers 