This morning I watched the video of George Floyd begging for his life, his life being crushed out of his body by a policeman’s. So, another death, another ‘I can’t breathe’ and America burns again. But this time it feels different. This time I hope it is different. That video has haunted me since I […]
Tidal rage
It has been striking to me, increasingly so over the past months, the voices that are absent in the West. Strangely, I feel they are more present in India, in Pakistan: I mean those who have been most affected by what is happening these days. I read of millions losing their jobs or being furloughed […]
Actual weekend
Today is the start of the actual weekend; yesterday’s idle day was a bank holiday for the GF and a day without work for me. In the morning, the four of us went back to Serenity for another excellent meal. I must say, they have the best fried rice I’ve ever had, I would dearly […]
Left behind
Last night I went to a dinner for Lahore’s beautiful people, a crowd I was not particularly interested in when I lived in Lahore, and even less so now that I feel so far away. It’s funny though how one can feel sad about not fitting in, even with a group one doesn’t particularly want […]
It never really ends
All was supposed to be finished yesterday and I came home to make myself a cup of tea when an email popped up. I looked at it, it was from work. The materials we’d uploaded well in advance of the deadline had gone haywire: the aardvark text was under guppies and the the coyote material […]
Start of something new
The news this morning is distressing, terrifying, even. It is infuriating to read a site like Metafilter where it is viewed so intensely through American eyes that much of the discussion so far is about Democrats being better. As though it matters? As though they are? But I have just read that discussion coming from […]
The other kind of howling
And, meanwhile, American politics has taken my attention again, after I had happily relinquished it for a few weeks. Trump is being impeached for asking the Ukrainian president to, effectively, investigate a political opponent in return for access. Yesterday he doubled down on this on live television, saying that damn right the Ukrainians should investigate […]
Troubled and concerned
Day after day I get amazed at the passivity of Americans. It seems particularly noticeable at the moment, with mass protests in Sudan and Hong Kong, with even Brexit bringing hundreds of thousands onto the street. Even as Americans are troubled and concerned about everything – from the concentration camps on the border to the […]
Back in time
We woke up early – I woke up very early, around 5, as I was unable to sleep – and took a taxi to Chichen Itza. We arrived ten minutes after the opening hour and there were already about 100 people queuing for tickets. Luckily the line moved fast and it was still cool, so […]
A full, embarrassing, week later
Much has happened, not least the arrival of the Boddhisatva and then her departure along with the Gentleman Friend to a conference while I have stayed on in the Bay Area. It’s easier to be with difficult relatives when there are not others around as I am not on guard and trying to keep everyone […]