journal of there

Active Thinking

Orientation

It’s helpful to recognize distinctions between places, to locate, identify and appreciate each one. Every place has a certain meaning, and every land and its people enrich the world in a certain way. So it does make sense to categorize the planet, to this extent. But what defines a place, exactly?

Morning Coffee

I open my eyes widely. This energy enters my body. It’s in me. There. I’m present I think.

Features

The World Cup

A political concept lies at the heart of the EU that I think helps explain the continent’s success, and it might sound controversial: it’s the fundamental idea of the nation-state. It can actually be a fun, cooperative thing.

Dangerous Illusions

On assignment in Paris - a book launch held at the Crazy Horse, in celebration of human pleasure against religious dogma, of course.

Maybe Art Should Be About Something

Art mustn’t directly address the failings of global politics. It’s possible there are smaller lessons in an international art show. Like the Olympics, humanity can shine as a collection of disparate ideas and methods. And with the overlooked and overhyped alike, it’s a nice takeaway message.

Look at the Sky if You Wonder Why

I breathe, perceive this infinite field of vision and start to see the little cells in my eyes dancing. It’s like a hallucination and my ego vanishes in it. I wonder about the nature of perception and about human limits; I become more aware of my consciousness.

In Praise of Internet

I think there’s this misconception about the 20th century that without internet-ready handheld devices, strangers were chatting with each other in cafés and on the metro, somehow more in touch with their real selves.

Understanding the Trump Victory

Left-leaning people simply didn’t want another typical politician committed to policies of neoliberalism. They chose to abstain instead.

Wish Here Were You

Architecture in St Petersburg

Streets of Casablanca

Havana

Ruins of Tulum

The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter

If I Had Just Said Hello

Normalcy! Politeness! Coward! My head. I swear I’ll explode. I leave her alone.

Love like a Cloudy Sky

Maybe my love evaporates like rain into the atmosphere. But it can always rain again

Girl from Berghain

I smiled, relaxed, backed away; I tried to communicate that I wasn’t desperate, didn’t need anything, but could entertain her company, if interest was reciprocated.

All-Time Fictional Crushes

From childhood through adolescence and beyond, the fictional characters that defined my romantic interest.

Tinder in Saigon

It’s one of the fanciest places in the city. She looks amazing. I’m underdressed, intimidated, but ready at least to be charming.

Lifestyle

Pilgrimage

In death, we find rebirth. In this case, through a new god of fertility and sex. A journey to Paris’s Pere Lachaise.

Capital of Leisure

Berlin is an embarrassment of riches when it comes to relaxing. The attitude exudes from the parks and into every daily situation.

How I "Found Myself"

Berlin lets you be. You can throw yourself into any fathomable interest, pursue any attraction or distraction (as the case may be).

Mist Connection

She tells him about her loneliness, her disappointment in the night, in life. He registers it, hears her, nods. She loses herself in his moon-like grin.

The Berlin State of Mind

We need to replace “Where are you from?” and “What do you do?” with “What culture do you relate to?” and “What do you care about?”

Zeitgeist

Politicizing the Psychological

It’s easy to agree to disagree on topics like food and film, but when it comes to how society functions, wouldn’t it be nice to come to some sort of mutual understanding?

Banned from Late-Stage Capitalism

I've been a fan and subscriber to an online community for years called Late-Stage Capitalism. I love the critiques posted there of free markets gone awry.

Grieving Trump from Abroad

I stayed up until 9am that night, much more sober than other nights I’ve stayed up until morning. I watched the New York Times odometer tick mercilessly toward the right…

Stupid American Democracy

Why, in an era of global polls, GPS and online banking is America still using this thing called the Electoral College for representative democracy? Why can’t democracy be direct?

On the Road

Internet like Water

Shouldn’t wi-fi be everywhere by now? Shouldn’t the connection be reliable? Am I expecting too much to think this should be considered a basic public utility?

Riding with Anxiety

I wonder what would happen if I just didn’t get off this train at Poznan, just stayed on without a ticket…

Tinder in Saigon

It’s one of the fanciest places in the city. She looks amazing. I’m underdressed, intimidated, but ready at least to be charming.

Soul

The Pains of Being a Horrible Person

I am a black hole. I suck the life out of the world and I am always hungry, always wanting to consume people, to suck you dry like a vampire

We Tried Again and Failed

It was my mistake to think I could talk so candidly with you about this stuff. I don’t know why I brought it up.

The Exquisite Pain of Unrequited Love

She is the sun to him. He feels warmth radiating from her face. The shy blinks of her eyes are like rays of light, a glow emanating somehow from inside him and out.

The Girl that Wanted All or Nothing

This is where my own fears and insecurities come in because as much as I miss this, I will always want more, will always wonder what else is out there…