Sunday 26 October 2025 Ankara, Türkiye The night is still heavy over Ankara when you wake, not to the call of inspiration, but to the high-pitched drone of a mosquito. It is 3:30 a.m. Outside, the world sleeps. Inside, something stirs — part irritation, part calling. The kind that brings a man to lace his… Continue reading Café de la Paix
Category: Turkey
The Oppressed Pedagogy
Above: Socrates teaching Sunday 19 October 2025 Ankara, Türkiye Education as Power Throughout history, the most dangerous person to any oppressive system has not been the warrior or the rebel — but the teacher. Throughout history, great thinkers have recognized that education is not merely about learning facts — It is about shaping the mind… Continue reading The Oppressed Pedagogy
The Academy of Joy (2)
Wednesday 15 October 2025 Ankara, Türkiye Above: Fountain of the Nymphs in Kızılay Square in Ankara (1930) Reading about René Daumal’s Le Mont Analogue has led my mind to consider – Above: French writer René Daumal (1908 – 1944) Let us call it an idea, for lack of a better word – The quest for enlightenment,… Continue reading The Academy of Joy (2)
The ostrich in the room
Sunday 5 October 2025 Ankara, Türkiye Above: Başkent Millet Bahçesi Park, Ankara, Türkiye There is an old story about the ostrich, repeated since the days of Pliny the Elder, that when danger approaches the bird buries its head in the sand, imagining that what it cannot see cannot see it. In Natural History, Pliny the… Continue reading The ostrich in the room
The cheese transporter
“Inside every human being, there is a loneliness greater than any storm. Some try to fill it with people, others with dreams. And a few, poor souls, only ever find the silence inside growing louder.” Sabahattin Ali, Kürk Mantolu Madonna (Madonna in a Fur Coat) Above: Turkish writer Sabahattin Ali Spring arrived this week, with… Continue reading The cheese transporter
Bruggwald
Landschlacht, Switzerland Wednesday 23 April 2025 In the event of something happening to me,There is something I would like you all to see.It’s just a photograph of someone that I knew. Have you seen my wife, Mr Jones?Do you know what it’s like on the outside?Don’t go talking too loud, you’ll cause a landslide, Mr.… Continue reading Bruggwald
The winds of change
(Part 2 of “Peace of Mind” / Part 1 of “The road to Rorschach“) Landschlacht, Canton Thurgau, Switzerland Sunday 23 March 2025 We can’t go on any more with this notionJust saving up to buy a ball and chainSeems it’s all arranged.You can’t buy time and you can’t buy emotion What have you and I… Continue reading The winds of change
Invention of self
“Life is other than what we write.“ André Breton, Nadja (1928) Friday 7 March 2025 Landschlacht, Schweiz Above: Landschlacht, Canton Thurgau, Switzerland Literature is both a mirror and a chisel: One reflecting the world as it is. The other carving out the world as it could be. This blog may not be literature, but the… Continue reading Invention of self
To lay the keel
Tuesday 3 March 2025 Eskişehir, Türkiye “Nikos Kazantzakis asked his God for ten additional years. Ten additional years in which to complete his work – to say what he had to say and “empty himself“. He wanted Death to come and take only a sackful of bones. Ten years were enough. Or so he thought.… Continue reading To lay the keel
Home?
Tuesday 11 February 2025 Eskişehir / Ankara, Türkiye The day begins in the embrace of motion — a train bound for Ankara, a city that has become familiar yet remains distant from the rhythms of my daily life. The capital of modern Türkiye has many roles to play. It is the conflicts between these roles… Continue reading Home?