Tag: politics

by jad

We Are Nonlinear

I woke up today to some messages from a friend in Syria who’d read the Imam’s thoughts on our habitual selves that I’d shared, lamenting the things one does habitually that one just hates; things like checking one’s phone as soon as one wakes, which made me smile, because that’s exactly what I was doing. The thing is: there’s a reason why we need imams and priests and gym instructors — the people who habitually preach to us about habits — to remind us again and again about the things we do over and over, and that reason is that … Continue reading “We Are Nonlinear” →

by jad

I Confess that Nothing was Planned

I wrote something before I went to the rally for Lebanon on Broadway. I described how a lot of people were asking me variations of a question: how are you? And when I showed up, I was still in that headspace. The one where I’d replied in the best way I could. Honestly, concisely, with equal-parts appreciation and reserve. I went to the protest out of a sense of duty, but I was feeling burnt out, and it was probably showing in my photography. I’d admitted that I’d been copy-pasting a few replies. I tried to be genuine without over-performing … Continue reading “I Confess that Nothing was Planned” →

by jad

I Am Grief

These double-exposures came about by reloading the roll that got stuck when my Ricoh point and shoot stopped working into a Nikon SLR; the frames clearly didn’t align properly, and the original frames were somehow flipped. No matter. These work well in visualizing my deep dislocation being here while Lebanon’s under attack. It’s a heavy, jumbled up feeling, but — irony of ironies — it’s far from unfamiliar. This slow, rolling rumble of indignation; I’ve felt it before. This gnaw of fear; I’m used to the feeling. These pangs of guilt; they’re always there. It’s all second nature, at this … Continue reading “I Am Grief” →

by jad

Where Gaza Goes…

We found ourselves hanging out with Dr. Jill Stein, Prof. Butch Ware, and some two dozen or more Greens and other Stein-Ware supporters in the Secret Garden at Pike Place today. Their visit was very last minute and motivated by the machinist strike at Boeing, so it was a super low-key opportunity to connect with the campaign. I’ve only been a citizen of this Empire for two years, and I use those words carefully; I am a citizen here the way that St. Paul was a citizen of Rome. I exercise my rights and privileges as an act of defiance. … Continue reading “Where Gaza Goes…” →

by jad

Fragments of a Fair

We sailed through constellationsand were rutted by the stormI crumpled under cudgel blowsand finally came ashore I spent the next two years or morejust staring at the wallWe went to sea to see the world,what do you think we saw? We went to the state fair within three months of my immigrating here and have been back every year since, except for those two pandemic years when it was closed or too weird. I’ve brought a Holga, a Polaroid, as well as a Fujifilm XT4 here, but this year, I reached for the Canon PowerShot A710IS I found in Lebanon … Continue reading “Fragments of a Fair” →

by jad

Costa Rica: Day 7

Today’s the last long driving day when we make our way back to Guanacaste, where we’ll spend a couple more days before heading back to Seattle. So this feels like a good enough time as any to post this random frame I took using Christine’s camera on our most epic moving day when we shuttled back and forth between SLU, SODO, West Seattle, and Madrona. This is where we parked our car when we picked up the U-HAUL. I just love how the light leak that came through after accidentally opening up the back a bit too early actually elevates … Continue reading “Costa Rica: Day 7” →

by jad

From Within

I’ve seen some delightful license plates around here; just now, I saw one that said “CTRL-F5,” which seems to mean “a hard refresh” on most internet browsers, which is the sort of geeky type of thing you’d expect in this zip code. What I didn’t expect, however, are plates that say “TAXWLTH” (tax wealth) or even “GRAMSCI” (a literal communist), both of which were very real and sadly not pictured. It seems that I might not be the only Lake Stinko commie pinko around. So, what would Gramsci have to say about holding proletarian sympathies in a zip code like … Continue reading “From Within” →

by jad

Ecotone

I learned a word when I was trying to find more information about this hidden gem of wilderness, encircled all around by private property and technosocial infrastructure—like when it was established, who maintains it, etc.: the word was “ecotone.” Ecotone refers to “a transition area between two biological communities, where two communities meet and integrate.” They’re natural formations; swamps, marshes, and other wetlands are by definition “ecotones” because they are the crossfade between dry land and bodies of water. They’re home to a mashup of species from both environments, along with those specially adapted to that particular mix. But you … Continue reading “Ecotone” →

by jad

Humans of the March for Palestine

I’m thinking about this today. “Seeking Visions for a Better World is a call for images and aspirational sentiments that invoke constructive visions of the future to counterbalance the preponderance of dystopic visions presented in pop-culture, literature, and media.” // at @su_hedreengallery, by @ryanfeddersen. The @marchforpalestine.seattle was one of the most thoughtful and intentionally organized political actions I’d ever had the pleasure of taking part in, however small my role ended up being; I’ve certainly never seen more beautiful spreadsheets in my life either. Something felt different from the moment I watched the coordination Zooms. I’d become familiar with the … Continue reading “Humans of the March for Palestine” →

by jad

Basic Filmmaking

This is the very first project I made in a “Basic Filmmaking” summer intensive I did at NYU back in 2006. It’s shot on Kodak 16mm film using an old Arriflex and was hand spliced and screened silently for a class led by Katherine Lindberg, who seems to be still teaching there. I don’t remember what the project prompt was, but I loved how she intuitively got what I was about. She would later tell me (approvingly) that I “like to poke sticks.” She didn’t let me quit on myself when Israel’s shelling of Beirut started to mess with my … Continue reading “Basic Filmmaking” →