by jad

Cornish BFA ’24

There’s a Netflix docuseries on 9/11 and its aftermath where a veteran from the war in Afghanistan shares an epiphany he had on a watchtower one night. “It’s the freedom to pretend,” he exclaims, suddenly realizing what “freedom” means in America. “Everyone feels entitled to their fictions.” There’s something about his insight that resonated with me and how I read the representational politics interrogated and poked fun of at “The Freakshow Show,” this year’s BFA show at @cornish_artdept. Much of the work from this year’s cohort seems to be about laying bare such American fictions. We’ve made it a little … Continue reading “Cornish BFA ’24” →

by jad

Ugliness Machine

Imagine there was a tool or system for doing things that increasingly made your output uglier or less intelligent. The more you used it, and the more that others used it, the crappier everything it was used for becomes. Imagine that. Would you still use it? Like a pen that made your handwriting worse and worse, and in some magical way, made everyone’s handwriting worse and worse too. We would throw that pen in the trash, wouldn’t we? But that’s sort of the deal with the social media tools we’re using today. Do we really want to keep making spastic … Continue reading “Ugliness Machine” →

by jad

Light-Dark

I posted this image on a Sunday in 2013, a couple of days after taking the photo at a Catholic spiritual retreat I was gently compelled to go to by my parents – I wasn’t a fan of the church at the time. The image is taken from a workbook, and I seem to recall that the ocular illustration was meant to convey some theological concept or another — from aleph, the lid, to dal, the pupil — but I don’t remember what. “Contemplate,” it says. I do remember that this retreat was the first time I learned what an … Continue reading “Light-Dark” →

by jad

Latergram

If you want some insight into what it was like to follow me on Instagram in 2013, when I first joined this app, here’s a little peek. Not much has changed, I guess. February ‎24, ‎2013: The windows overlooking Lena’s terrace, where I tasted oranges in a salad for the first time, thanks to Lena’s Sicilian cooking. I don’t remember what we talked about, but the conversation was probably peppered with names like Deleuze and Trotsky, because it often was. Hanging out with Lena was like stepping into a jittery scene on a 16mm reel. March 21 is Mothers’ Day … Continue reading “Latergram” →

by jad

Remembering Dubai

“No matter how long an expatriate has been in Dubai, even if they are born in Dubai, they are not Dubaian. At some point, they must leave. This process of exclusion leaves these particular expatriates betwixt and between–they are not legally Dubaian and can be deported at any point, nor are they culturally of their countries of passport. For some, this uncertainty is liberating; it certifies them as global citizens. For others, it merely points out the dangerous condition of their liminal state.” (Dubai: Guilded Cage) Going through my old photos in that memory stick I found in Lebanon reminds … Continue reading “Remembering Dubai” →

by jad

R.I.P. Piper

I had a really good day on my last day in Houston. Everything seemed to flow well, like a gentle brook, all the way through to takeoff when the plane synced up with the on-board “house mix” I had playing in my earbuds. Everything felt right, even when plans changed or there were unexpected delays. I felt happy and whole. And that whole time I was feeling that way, our beloved blind cat in Lebanon was rapidly dying from a blood clot, unbeknownst to me. I’m thinking about that disjunction, now that Piper has passed. Was I being prepared for … Continue reading “R.I.P. Piper” →

by jad

Houston: Y’All Come Back Now

There’s a place in the mall where I’m staying (yes, my hotel is in the mall) that’s called the museum of illusions, which sounds a lot like how this part of Houston feels, especially in the early morning fog. I took these after breakfast yesterday. I could have stared at that thing for hours. It’s fascinating how much this part of Houston reminded me of Dubai, even in its muggy evening breeze that indicated to me that there’s a gulf out there somewhere around here. More street scenes from my first Texan morning. The first breakfast wasn’t included in the … Continue reading “Houston: Y’All Come Back Now” →

by jad

Seattle’s Nuclear History: TerraPower

“Nuclear power gambles with disaster; even proponents acknowledge that accidents are inevitable. Smaller reactors would mostly be clustered together to generate more power and offer no more safety than larger ones … Nuclear power is of course far less dangerous to human lives and the environment than fossil fuel power. But this comparison is irrelevant. The proper comparison of nuclear power is not to fossil fuel energy but to renewal alternatives like wind power, solar power, and geothermal power. These are far less risky, dangerous and costly than nuclear power. Hydropower is also a renewable energy technology; however, it has … Continue reading “Seattle’s Nuclear History: TerraPower” →

by jad

Kalama, Mt. St. Helens, PDX

We spent a couple of nights in Kalama, a whistlestop town on I-5 partway between Seattle and Portland. It was “basecamp” for our drive around both sides of Mount St. Helens. Our literal “base camp” was up in the hills above Kalama’s business district, on a homestead farm called Highland & Co Acres. The experience was like stepping into one of those Netflix design shows, spending two nights in a tiny cabin made from shipping containers. We had fresh eggs and wildberry jam for breakfast sourced from the property. A rooster literally crowed us awake in the morning. It was … Continue reading “Kalama, Mt. St. Helens, PDX” →

by jad

Valentine

Next year, it’ll be 20 years since a defining moment in my life and in the lives millions of people in Lebanon, which feels unthinkable, so I’d rather do that thinking today, when it’s “only” been 19 – where has the time gone? On Valentine’s Day in 2005, a massive car bomb tore through Rafik Hariri’s motorcade and changed the course of Lebanese history. That’s saying a lot in a storied place like that, but this is my witness, and for me and for my generation, the arc of time abruptly swerved off of its tracks that day. I rethought … Continue reading “Valentine” →