London — Don’t get me wrong. I’m not anti-Christmas, far from it. I’m a Christian after all, so Christmas is a highly significant time for me. An opportunity to remember with thanksgiving the incarnation, the ...
Milpitas — I’ve always been impressed by Chris Guillebeau. When I saw his offer in Quarterly I pretty much jumped into it. The tube has a hand printed lithography of the idea character (Japanese, I think), the ...
Addis ababa — Actually not that much to say, just a beautiful and very different ‘moment’. When I walk to pick up my son from school, I have to wade through this throng of local school kids in uniform. I guess the...
Pavia — “…sentirsi completi non è..colmare i vuoti.” (Ferro T. - “Sei Sola” - 2012) In principio era il Nulla. Poi – verso la metà degli anni ottanta – rucola fu. Ornamento, orpello verde-amaro, infestante...
London — I will admit that ‘20 degrees below’ is an exaggeration, but this is a cry of frustration! The open plan office where I work has too many air/con units in it, so almost as soon as we moved in, we man...
Shanghai — I like to think of me as an explorer of sorts, as some kind of adventurer that goes on clearing out the way for the rest of us, opening up unforeseen paths and finding meaningful patterns where others...
Tübingen — I used to work there in my student days. Pay was abysmal, and I learned other things too. For instance: people will literally kill themselves for their illusions. Like this Greek immigrant who had bee...
Chicago — Let me just start by saying I’m not complaining about anything. I love travel (and being able to travel). And I probably couldn’t afford more than one or two “actual” cocktails anywhere in Europe anyw...
Louisville — I’ve lived near this statue for almost six years. I have a recurring dream of returning to find everything in ruins, with this buried to the neck as the Statue of Liberty in a local retelling of Plane...
Ho chi minh city — Writing as archaeology: The most enjoyable and profound (and I never use that word lightly) part of writing a monograph on someone who died 500 years ago is the discovery of scattered bones and their ...
Aireys inlet — I don’t want to pass myself off as an expert, especially on a subject as dry as the forest floor in Australia. Chuckle icon. Actually the main thing I wanted to point out is that where we live, adja...
Rome — Long time ago there were people who could fix broken umbrellas. Now, as soon as they break, they are thrown away on the street. After a big storm you can see them at the side of the streets, half open...
Rome — One and a half year ago I thought it would have been wonderful to see people reading under the beautiful trees of the park. I picked the tree and with friends and young people bought the Little Free L...
Goleta — There were screams to be heard from every corner this morning as folks arrived at the Maps.com offices in Goleta to discover that office equipment, chairs and desks had been infested by giant man-eati...
Calistoga — That’s vegan chili about to be served to Dave, Xan, Ezra, and Jordan. Sunset coming.
Medie — This is a sign post in a petrol station. They don’t have a bathroom for customers to ease their urinal bags. They don’t get it. People don’t care about sign posts when their urinal bags are bursting....
Adeiso — Oh, to be anonymous again. To be a nobody. What a gift. This is what I thought to myself sitting here in Barcelona after a few weeks in Ghana. I had been at the cafe for hours and was able to feign...
London — There are a couple of things I love about this cinema. As the cinema web site itself says, the Renoir in the Brunswick Centre is “the first choice for any true art-house fan”. Eschewing most Hollywo...
Tübingen — The Chinese food stall operator is a militant. I’ve seen him go after an asshole customer with a knife (luckily no one was hurt, because racist asshole could not only bitch & heckle but run too). ...
Addis ababa — No one has warned me about that. My extensive online and print research before I had decided to move to Ethiopia indicated nothing about this. The noise pollution by the Christian Orthodox churches i...
Istanbul — One of those kinds of Sundays. We woke up early, went to the farmer’s market. Bought things and then too many things: eggs, tomatoes, leeks, mushrooms, and a single, unidentifiable squash. Kate had t...
Pittsburgh — 10 years ago, I visited Chicago to visit my cousin and also where I considered attending Graduate School. In my wild, ambitious mind, I believed to change the world that I needed to teach in the inne...
Toronto — ala Plato’s cave - of the real thing. So here is my first virgin view of the canyon ..
Toronto — This means that the maize pollen produced by the cultivated crops of the local Iroquois that inhabited this amazing place over 1,000 years ago is preserved and provides objective evidence of their res...
Singapore — The rains continue for the first 30 min. of the slightly delayed race; at least they didn’t cancel it. Time was <58min; my two decade older friend Bill will recall a race in Halifax in my 30s. 38m?...
Singapore — My friend Peter B would be more organized. Location scouted in daylight. Parking spot etc all worked out. Gear cleaned and batteries charged the night before. Enough experience to know the right mix o...
Tübingen — We had been warned, right at the greenhouse’s entrance: beware of poison. And yet, and yet. These berries looked even tastier in reality: though my camera didn’t want to admit it, their color was more...
Hilliard — There is something about falling asleep reading that makes dreams worth having. McCann, Hemingway, Lahiri, Austen. Typefaces leaving smudges on how we see ourselves. In the want or need to be someone ...
Aireys inlet — Sometimes I hear a ‘man coughing’ just outside the front door, thinking uh oh what’s this. Even after 20 years of living in the bush. Then I remember what it is.
San diego — Why We Go to the Ocean We don’t go to the ocean because there is salt water in our blood. The pH and salt content of our blood might reflect our evolutionary path from the ocean to land, but the phys...
Oakland — His brother hung up. He hung up. He lived closer to them now—to his brother, his wife and his kids—but the physical closeness simply highlighted the emotional distance. He hadn’t visited, not in the y...
Sevenoaks — So this caterpillar was lurking on our garden bench cover just now. But we’ve no idea what type it is. Apart from ‘beautiful’, that is! An update: A knowledgeable friend on Facebook solved the puzzle...
Boston — It’s a good day for reading a book, which is precisely what I’m doing, with a cup of coffee nearby and music in the headphones. I’ll go to the gym in a bit but then, I’ll be back here for more.
Accra metropolis — The sea brought a new life. We didn’t know what it was. But it seemed we were definitely far back.. and we were gullible to miracles of mirrors, gunpowder and large canoes. We were gullible for we had...
Accra metropolis — Feelings March 25, 2010 at 9:34am Its raining. My louvers are opened and the cold wind keeps gnashing and gashing through my wind-ow. The cold wind brings memories of you. As I draw on the moments...
Accra — The trotro is the name for the commercial bus in Ghana. The name trotro comes from people paying tro - the currency’s least denomination in the country - back in the 1950s. The trotro has evolved s...
Oakland — This young man, an accomplished baker and caterer, has been catering for quite some time and by using other peoples kitchen facilities. He recently decided to branch out on his own and rented this sto...
Tokyo — We’d been eating tempura up on the main street of Ebisu, and decided to head down to Meguro. Train was the obvious choice — 1 stop. Maybe let’s walk instead then, not down the main road, via the backs...
Fitzroy north — Still has nearby public transport, still has nearby affordable health care, still has parks . . . For three years in a row, Melbourne has been deemed the world’s most liveable city as surveyed by ...
Lyon — A few years back I had my knee operated. It didn’t go well and now I can’t run more than a few minutes before it hurts and swells. Today I went to cheer people running the Marathon.
Wellington — With Book Club possibly over, I’ve started to go back to my bookshelf and to-read list for ideas to help me get me back into reading for myself (now that I don’t have the collective intelligence of 6 ...
Yerevan — The street fashion in Yerevan is something to behold. I’m accustomed to women putting great care and attention into their look, but the men here are just as sharply dressed. Countless times during ou...
Port townsend — Above my window are pinned a mess of letters, photos, and scraps of art I’ve collected over the years. All from past lovers and friends. Little notes, drawings of faces and bodies. The letters span r...
Clifton park — If you can find the right table, you can carve out a place for yourself in this cavernous space. I’ve spent hours here, at the high tops near the door. Rain pattered the sidewalk outside and the pla...
San francisco — This wasn’t the first time he’d been inebriated at the office, but this was definitely the earliest, and probably the most brazen. And usually he drank whiskey from a bottle in his desk. Marijuana ca...
Portland — There are moments that make you appreciate your city. Spending 10 days in California meant I missed one of Portland’s most torrential downpours in years. Phew. I arrived back to a city on the cusp of...
Saskatoon — Our son came down for breakfast and asked “Why is dad so loud?” I told him it wasn’t Ed’s fault but rather the fault of those who didn’t support Tesla in his attempt to create clean and quiet energy ...
Toronto — The sun struggled in this moment. The wind did not. The green leaves along this path are slowly giving way, and the woods here are only days away from the full-on fiery hues of autumn. Right in this m...
Nürtingen — Since your appetite for experimentation never ceases, you wanted to catch those bubbles in the soda macro-wise. Not to mention the fantastic vietnamese food.
Liverpool — This place has so many memories; open mic poetry nights with Samantha, weekend lunches with Laura and Han all back in the day. I remember the last time Sam and I where here, I told her she had a repu...
Calgary — I’ve never had so much satisfaction walking from the car to work as I do now. A small part of it has to do with the setting, autumn is gorgeous in Calgary. Some say it is a little monotonous with too...
San diego — It was 7:00 when I thought we would hike. Its now 8:00. We played with the cat, drank black coffee and had sex. Maybe we’ll hike tomorrow.
Istanbul — Every time I come to Turkey, I think it will be the last time. Unlike those times, is this time. I bought a one-way ticket. My best friend Kate lives on a tiny street off Tarlabasi Boulevard, in a b...
London — I am both mesmerized and disturbed. A globe for a head she spins on her axis. Leg held out rigid. The question going round and round in my head “Just why?!”
Tübingen — We need options. We need gras and thistles. Nature is the blind master of options.
Sevenoaks — We have a very small garden, so we decided to grow potatoes and carrots in bags this year. And these are our first-fruits!
Istanbul — the three of us are together again.
Cambridge — I had to wait about 45 minutes for my bus to arrive at my station. Not that I’m complaining; there aren’t many times that I have nowhere to be by a certain time, and when I do, I relish it. This was o...
Boston — Grabbing frozen yogurt with a few coworkers today, we noticed the really cool feature FrozenYo has installed over its toppings section. It provides a really cool effect: some kind of futuristic, unive...
Boston — I was waiting in the Common to meet up with a friend, and, in sight of the state house, was thinking of what might be going on in there this week. I was trying to wrap my head around the idea of the c...
San diego — I imagine myself smoking a cigarette on a chilly California night, draped in a sassy sequin dress. It is black. My ears are throbbing from the music inside. I smile and take another drag from my ci...
Warkworth — When it is picked fresh from the garden and eaten within moments of being picked … Taste just bursts in your mouth … And it’s pretty good for you too. Nutritious , nourishing. Just Yum really. :)
Aireys inlet — Anyone who follows my sketches is going to have to get used to garden and nature talk for at least a month or two. It’s spring on our side of the planet!!! This specimen of the Bald Island Marlock, ...
New york — Thursday afternoon, 4PM: No plans. Heading home. * Insert random run-in with a Late Show staffer and a guy from Canada here * Thursday afternoon, 5PM: Sharing laughs with 500 people at the Late Show...
Bromley — No, not Bromley. The London Underground hasn’t quite reached that far yet. But my phone couldn’t work out where I was when I took this, and by the time it could, I was passing through Bromley. On my...
Paris — When all components, systems and parameters conspired to turn a portait of you into a picture which could have been made in Paris/France, at a time we both weren’t alive yet. And they still maintain t...
Addis ababa — This is Hyojin and she decided years ago that she wanted to travel around the world on her bicycle and 2 years ago she set off. And now she is stuck in Ethiopia with some parts of her bike busted and...
London — They say “Never look a gift horse in the mouth” (well they do where I come from). So when the supermarket across the road from my office started giving free coffee to loyalty card holders, who was I ...
Ulaanbaatar — After months of being teased by the tent master with invitations to set up Waldo the circus tent (while I was stuck in the desert), I finally got the chance at an end of summer party thrown by a frien...
Aireys inlet — This is my story of the crucifix orchid. It thrives on neglect. Nine years ago we were given a couple of cuttings of the beautiful Epidendrum ibaguense, which I believe is a native of the Caribbean ...
Boston — This is easily one of my favorite spots in the city. Aside from being beautiful and open in the middle of the most downtown part of the city, it’s gotta be the most architecturally interesting block a...
New york — Cowboy up, Princess. You got this.
Melbourne — There is architecture everywhere; as well as art.
Melbourne — I don’t see the fruit so much. Nor the crates. I see 17th century Dutch still life paintings, mingled in with an installation of Donald Judd pieces. Was this presented with some intent? Is someone d...
Boston — Running out to grab lunch on October 3, the unmistakable summer haze still hangs over the city for what will probably be the last time of the year. Although most of the city has transitioned to their ...
Cambridge — I wonder where it’s going… Caught this illusion on my way back from dinner with an old friend, right next to the Harvard grounds. Something about being here makes me want to feel brilliant, so tune...
Berlin — “Who designed these buildings?” I asked. “When were they built? What year specifically?” “Were they meant to prove something?” “What happens here?” “They’re made with lots of glass because democrac...
Tübingen — That day a little girl in a passing stroller pointed her index finger at me and said: “Bang!” Badly hit, I still managed to draw my finger gun and get back at her with two retaliatory shots. Her mothe...
London — Water: Life-giving. Death-bringing. We need it - we love it - but only on our terms. When it comes uninvited we hate it and curse it. Smooth or turbulent, sometimes deep, sometimes shallow, It mirr...
London — I don’t know if other countries have blue plaques to commemorate associations between famous people and places, but we do in the UK, and London is home to many. What I realised only today was that wi...
Berlin — Let there be light, whenever everything else is waiting to happen.
Wellington — …with coffee and cream, thanks.” I say. The words flow out of my mouth as easily as tomato sauce from a refill carton when you’ve remembered to punch an air hole in the opposite side from which you...
Chicago — hello Chicago!
Boston — Set your life on fire and seek those who fan the flames.
Tokyo — The shag carpet itched and left indentations on my face as I slowly lifted my head from the floor. So as not to pull a trapezius muscle, I slowly, carefully pulled myself up to the window hazily lit b...
Hong kong — “Should I bring an umbrella with me?” It’s a question I ask when the sky is gloomy, when it suggests the possibility of a shower without quite promising it. A bluff, I sometimes think. Everything sl...
Port townsend — It’s wonderful to be all alone in a big house. Dancing to Wax Tailor while I make tea, (we ran out of propane so I have to use a clunky little campstove to heat the water). Sitting under a lamp to rea...
Atlanta — we won’t be meeting by the fountain. The tradition was short-lived but felt significant. From the time we met through the time I left, it was always in October that we met there and enjoyed each other...
Boston — The high-rises of Boston’s Downtown Crossing disappear into the early morning fog on the last day of September. With a rush of warm weather, the fog disappears later today.
New york — We will be ephemeral Before our bodies wither We will upload our Personalities to the cloud And silently LOL Raising the temperature of a white room By .002 degrees For 29 milliseconds In a server far...
Toronto — In a post-apocalyptic Toronto, the city would be strangely, hideously dark beneath a moonless sky. Only the Tower would remain, its lights still tracing patterns up and down against a backdrop of star...
Saskatoon — You can’t buy fresh shiso in Saskatoon so we grow our own. There’s a risk of frost tonight and it’s going down to -3C tomorrow night so we’re harvesting our small garden. Some of these leaves will be...
New york — the thing about growing older is also the reality of, you know, your parents’ mortality and other depressing things like that. (p.s. i’m not a depressing person!) but this thing just happened and my d...
Bedford — Okay, the guitar is out of tune, but she spun some good lyrics. I think there’s a geek/chic/indie rockin’ thing going on here. Obviously, I’m not sure that a Pig in a Little Mermaid Outfit is ever g...
South san francisco — Shopping at UNIQLO Union Square, SF!
Austin — What’s Wrong with a Press Release? In the good old days – actually, not that long ago – market development for a new product or service launch was considered to be predictable. A skilled marketing co...
London — I really should have given this moment a different title! By the time I’d got my phone out and managed to take the photo the train was travelling quite slowly, but hey, this is St Pancras, which ever...
Manchester — This photo was taken on a perfect summer day in late August — about 80 degrees, not a cloud in the sky — on the Vermont side of the Connecticut River. I was kayaking with a group of friends when we s...
Saskatoon — This is the outpatient department at the Royal University Hospital. I’ve spared you all the sickly peach color of the vinyl benches? couches? I’ve also significantly toned down the harsh harsh harsh f...
New york — The polish is called ‘leather,’ but it dries with tiny, matte bumps that feel like sandpaper. We will be perfectly cordial when we greet each other tonight in a crowd of mutual friends that were casua...