Above: Bullring, Antequera, España Eskişehir, Türkiye Wednesday 21 August 2024 I love my wife. But loving someone does not necessarily mean that you are comfortable with the differences between you and your romantic other. My wife is an efficient German. She does not wish to waste her time. She had witnessed flamenco dancing in Valencia… Continue reading An introduction to death
Tag: writing
Of a jazz that I feel
Above: Composition for Jazz, Albert Gleizes (1915), Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York City Eskişehir, Türkiye Wednesday 24 July 2024 Last Sunday evening at Starbucks with a new student after my classes at the school have ended. He is an educated man, a well-seasoned man, despite being half my age. Not that unusual. But to… Continue reading Of a jazz that I feel
An extraordinary woman
Monday 22 April 2024 Eskişehir, Türkiye The lemon-coloured MG skids across the road and the woman driver brings it to a somewhat uncertain halt. She gets out and finds her left front tire flat. Without wasting a moment she prepares to fix it. She looks towards the passing cars as if expecting someone. Recognizing this… Continue reading An extraordinary woman
The Donkey Trail 3: A view to die for
Eskişehir, Türkiye Friday 31 May 2024 Above: Mount Säntis, Switzerland Here is my problem. Two problems, actually. I have the workings of a plot, but I cannot decide what details to include or exclude from the story. I also want to capture the emotions of the characters by showing, not telling, what they are feeling.… Continue reading The Donkey Trail 3: A view to die for
Dreams of Fielding
“A comic writer should of all others be the least excused for deviating from nature, since it may not be always so easy for a serious poet to meet with the great and the admirable. But life everywhere furnishes an accurate observer with the ridiculous.“ (Henry Fielding, Joseph Andrews) Above: English writer Henry Fielding Eskişehir, Türkiye Monday 21 April 2024 Henry Fielding is one of… Continue reading Dreams of Fielding
The house of the rising sun
Eskişehir, Türkiye Sunday 21 April 2024 “The brevity of life, the failing of the senses, the numbness of indifference and unprofitable occupations allow us to know very little. And again and again swift oblivion, the thief of knowledge and the enemy of memory, makes a void of the mind, in the course of time, even… Continue reading The house of the rising sun
The moon is dark
Eskişehir, Türkiye Sunday 21 April 2024 Your love did not leave me. I was hungry. I was thirsty. Oh, the night was dark. My soul is strange. My soul is silent. My soul is shattered. And my hands are in handcuffs. I am left without tobacco. Sleepless. Your love has not abandoned me. (“Love Me“,… Continue reading The moon is dark
The barrister’s books
Eskişehir, Türkiye Sunday 21 April 2024 Above: Caricature of Leo McKern (1920 – 2002) as Horace Rumpole from the episode “Rumpole and the Younger Generation“ “Inspiration is something one possesses by the hard and bitter labour of every day.“ Salvador Dali Above: Spanish artist Salvador Dali (1904 – 1989) All writers need inspiration. Ideas have to come… Continue reading The barrister’s books
Where all thinking stops
Eskişehir, Türkiye Sunday 21 April 2024 “Greece and the islands of the Aegean Sea have given birth to many myths and legends of war and adventure. And these once-proud stones, these ruined and shattered temples bear witness to the civilization that flourished and then died here and to the demigods and heroes who inspired those… Continue reading Where all thinking stops
Just a little Muir
Eskişehir, Türkiye Sunday 21 April 2024 “In every walk with Nature one receives far more than he seeks.” (John Muir) Above: John Muir John Muir (21 April 1838 – 1914), also known as “John of the Mountains” and “Father of the National Parks“, was a Scottish-born American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologist, and early advocate for the preservation of wilderness in the United States. His… Continue reading Just a little Muir