Tag: writing

by jad

Almost Home (The Flaming Lips in Chelan County)

Oh, we’re almost home Oh, oh, almost home Oh, we’re almost home Home Oh, we’re almost home Oh, oh, almost home Oh, we’re almost home Home The Flaming Lips – Almost Home (Blisko Domu) x The thought soon becomes the word The word then becomes the deed If the deed is evil (evil) Blame the thought that is the seed Change the spark that makes the need Did your mind invent your mind? The Flaming Lips – Almost Home (Blisko Domu) x The insect crawls out on the leaf The leaf falls into the fire Burning up my fragile dream … Continue reading “Almost Home (The Flaming Lips in Chelan County)” →

by jad

Finding Inspiration in the Mundane (and a Muralist’s Secrets)

A post that @onemonthtwocameras made about finding inspiration in the everyday when every day feels exactly the same, and a conversation with my acupuncturist, who is low-key morphing into my talk therapist, conspired to spring this idea into my head. A simple trick for extracting a new perspective from the mundane. Ever since we moved to this neighborhood, we traded chaos for calm and lost a little bit of stimulation along the way. I also haven’t really felt like stepping very far out of our bubble unless absolutely necessary, and that’s meant a little bit of mental stagnation. That’s the … Continue reading “Finding Inspiration in the Mundane (and a Muralist’s Secrets)” →

by jad

Altogether Ooky (Soap Kills and Songs of Grief)

Altogether ooky. x ليه زعلان ليه؟ أنا مش زعلانه ليه خيفان ليه؟ أنا مش خيفانه و ليه، وليه منك رجال و ليه؟ منك رجال و ليه؟ منك رجال و ليه؟ x Violent Are the streets in town And your words and your thoughts Hopelessly drown. (Soap Kills – Violence) x

by jad

My First DSLR (and a Cat in Raw Format)

So I got myself my first DSLR. Nothing fancy. Just an old 2013-era Canon Rebel off of eBay. I wanted something small and light that had a line-in jack and a good range of lenses with a sensor size that’s decent enough to dedicate to work projects without any extra bells and whistles. I’m happy with what I got. I paired it with a dirt cheap Yongnuo 50mm lens that I used here; I think I’m good to go. I’ve been keeping a firewall between my photography hobby and what I do at work for the last couple of years; … Continue reading “My First DSLR (and a Cat in Raw Format)” →

by jad

Two Wolves at the Arundhati Roy Lecture

We went out to see the formidable Arundhati Roy speak at the opening night of @seattleartsandlectures yesterday. This was thanks to a generous gift of two tickets and two books from a dear friend and colleague whom we only realized once we walked in is an SAL patron. So, the seats were pretty good. She’d offered me the tickets after hearing me wax passionately about how Roy’s famous speech on “the other 9/11” had become a pillar I built my worldview on since I first read it in college. I think I’ve paraphrased her comments about Palestine in that piece … Continue reading “Two Wolves at the Arundhati Roy Lecture” →

by jad

The Mundane Places We Have Left

I saw this Reel the other day of a guy getting in and out of bed on loop as the voices of anxiety and the fear of starvation take turns convincing him to stay put and/or get up and at ’em, and I couldn’t think of a better synecdoche of my energy since settling back into the flow of things here. There’s so much to do and so little motivation to do it, and yet we must, we must — muss es sein? es muss sein! — infinitely recurring, forever. x It feels like the avenues for maneuvering are narrowing … Continue reading “The Mundane Places We Have Left” →

by jad

I don’t like explosions very much at all.

It’s been really gratifying to see more people commenting on the uneven distribution of firework joy, whether as a form of reinvigorated protest, or in the shape of that poem being shared about explosions and the differentiated lives we’ve lived. That’s been a thorn in my side for most of my life. I wrote my own poem once about the rat-tat-tat of compatriots insisting on our communal bonds outside my teenage bedroom door. I wrote an email too, my first time experiencing a Royal Air Force fighter jet screaming over the Royal Mile in Edinburgh back when I barely researched … Continue reading “I don’t like explosions very much at all.” →

by jad

Total Being

I read an article today that introduced me to the notion of “total being.” It seemed like the sort of thing I should read on a day like today. The piece even opened with an image I know too well: that of a taxi weaving through the chaos of city traffic. I know this image because I’ve taken interest in the politics of urban mobility and spent many formative years of my life invested heavily in their pursuit, but I also know it more viscerally than that. It evokes a nightmare that would recur for the longest time. It doesn’t … Continue reading “Total Being” →

by jad

The Photographer in May

May was a rough month for me, a fact that, I think, was reflected in the way I wrote and took photos; clipped, halting, and more enigmatically than usual. Below is an analysis generated by ChatGPT to help me articulate what I could not express during that time. The person taking these photos seems to possess a documentary-style approach to photography, capturing candid and unfiltered moments from everyday life. Their photographic style suggests an appreciation for the ordinary, focusing on details that might otherwise go unnoticed. The toy car in the first image reflects a sense of nostalgia or playfulness, … Continue reading “The Photographer in May” →