פוסטים שתוייגו ’sailing to byzantium

Not in Kansas

בקטגוריות: Uncategorized

9 May 2008

This is a reworked version of a recent entry of mine. I had brought it over to my creative writing workshop for review, and revised it according to the (excellent) comments I received. Now I wanted to have this version up as well, for comparison. *** I cross the Golden Horn to Galata,  escaping Sultanahmed’s […]

Letter to the Galatians

בקטגוריות: Uncategorized

19 Apr 2008

Galata is across the Golden Horn, very different from Sultanahmed’s twisting alleys and tourist traps. First thing that greets me is the underground shopping mall, crammed tight with consumer electronics and handguns, one shop next to the other, each proclaiming new sales, new models, just for you. Outside two young men push their cart and […]

Fire in the deeps

בקטגוריות: Uncategorized

18 Apr 2008

In recent years there have been many discussions of the place of art in everyday life. Should a tool that’s functional also be beautiful? Is there place for art in the workplace? Once we’ve gotten something working well, how much more should we invest in making it pretty? More and more, in the 21st century, […]

Fragments of a Hologram Tulip

בקטגוריות: Uncategorized

18 Apr 2008

In William Gibson’s Neuromancer, the protagonists take a detour through Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar. I can see why. It meshes it wonderfully with Gibson’s claustrophobic oldnew dystopia. Narrow streets, winding, rising, falling, interlocking. Old shops selling leather goods, silversmiths, hookahs. Children’s clothing, leather goods, Turkish delight. Spices, doner-kebabs, leather goods. Vendors outside storefronts playing backgammon tossing […]

Outside, looking in

בקטגוריות: Uncategorized

18 Apr 2008

Japanese tour guides are in something of a pickle in this Mediterranean weather. It’s too hot an dry for rain, but what will they raise up in the air to lead their group but an umbrella? Well, they find a way. Sometimes they carry an umbrella anyway. Sometimes they find substitutes. Long sticks with something […]

At the Hagia Sophia

בקטגוריות: Uncategorized

18 Apr 2008

They are a humble people, the Christians. A cheek-turning, brother-loving, genuflecting lot. How appropriate, then, that in order to share their humility with all and sundry they would build gigantic, overwhelming, towering edifices to honor their modest carpenter. Oh, but they sure knew how to build, those Christians of old. Vaulted archways 15 stories high […]

Paper Chase

בקטגוריות: Uncategorized

17 Apr 2008

I was going to sit and write my usual paean to airport terminals, but I’m not in the mood, what with my train being late by more than the time it takes to reach the destination, the flight being delayed by a further 45 minutes (so far), and the check-in counter clerk refusing to give […]


פעם היה לי לייבג'ורנל. עכשיו הוא כאן, מגובה.

פוסטים