March 2013
1 post
2 tags
Davidson Basketball: An English Major Attempts...
I know next to nothing about basketball. But I do have deep loyalty to my alma mater, and an appreciation for small details. So, when my dad asked what Davidson’s record was against Catholic schools (re: Marquette), I decided it was well worth the next half hour to figure that out. It looks promising.
Steph Curry and co’s 2008 tournament run started by defeating two Catholic...
January 2013
2 posts
Talking 'Bout the Weather
I’m as guilty as any of us about talking about the weather when there’s nothing else to talk about. A few days back, some weather-talk actually turned interesting.
I was chatting with two guys at Nature Iraq, Nwenar and Ali, about how it’s cold now, and how it’ll be hot in the summer, and how mosquitos suck. Nothing too exciting.
So, I launch into a half-remembered...
Name Games
I’d like to start this post with two apologies, neither of which have to do with the fact that it’s been, like, 15 years since I last blogged.
Apology one. Some people have heard this story already. Apology two, there’s a bit of explanation involved that other readers may already understand.
So, in the Middle East, broadly speaking, there aren’t really family names. Your...
May 2012
1 post
3 tags
A Partial List of Iraqi Snack Foods, and One Man's...
I’ll admit it, I’m a junk food addict. But at least I’m an adventurous addict (although my predilection is towards the salty). In my 7 (almost 8?) months here, I’ve done some casual investigation of the local snack food situation. With the exception of Baghdad Chips (kettle chips, but slightly oiler, with a 50/50 chance of being stale), most of these come in from Iran or...
April 2012
1 post
3 tags
In Tribute
I have a confession to make. I’m a closet design nerd. I complain to myself about the poorly put together GUIs of iPad music apps, I occasionally find myself nodding sagely when someone drops a Jon Ives quote, and I rock at this kerning game. With that off my chest, I’d like to pay a quick tribute to an unsung and (as best I can tell from 45 minutes with Google) anonymous pilnth of...
March 2012
3 posts
March Madness
“The Situation Remains Fluid”: that’s what the US State Department (or maybe the Canadian equivalent, I’m not entirely sure which) told me about Iraq when I started thinking about coming here. It’s become a personal mantra since then, one that helps me navigate the arbitrary hours of business, unexpected presence of construction work, and too-frequent power outages...
4 tags
Lying Still
I’m in a good spot now, musically speaking. My new years resolution was to make music every day, and I’ve stuck to it better than I expected to. My dad, step-mom, and I are hosting weekly jam sessions, which kicks my game up a notch or two. These jams have made me take another look at songs I hadn’t had much of a feel for (if you’d told me 6 months ago that I could wax...
Where Am I?
Imagine, if you will, that sometime around 1700 Spain, Germany, and Italy divided up the chunk of land that would become the modern state of France. For the next hundred years or so, religious common ground and cultural similarities notwithstanding, the French got treated poorly. Speaking French was forbidden in most places. Spaniards talked about the French as “Northern Spaniards,”...
January 2012
2 posts
Gendered Geography?
Background: I somehow managed to snag a 5 week ESL class at the American University. It was a trip. More posts will follow. The story: One day after class, a student who I alternately suspected of being in the closet and being a fundamentalist, started quizzing me about where I’d bought my new cell phone (I’d managed to put my previous phone through the washing machine. I was stressed for...
Don't Call it a Comeback
Hello, my name is James, and I’m a terrible blogger. I make promises and don’t keep them, I don’t finish my thoughts, I occasionally sound self-pitying. Here’s the proof. That said, I’d like to flex some writerly musculature now and then, and this seems like the best way to do it. Watch out Tumblr.
I had thought about writing this post as a personal manifesto of...
