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Have you ever had one of these?
I work with this guy who has to be the best. He cannot stand it if someone has done something or been somewhere if he isn’t allowed to tell a story in which he’s done something more exciting or been somewhere more exotic. To hear him tell it, he is superman. If he hears me…
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Chaos: The New Normal?
A coworker of mine was describing a situation in which he and his brother were watching TV and they got into an argument which then escalated into a fist fight, and the police had to be called. Just a regular Tuesday night at Chez Coworker, apparently. I remember thinking, “Huh. My whole life, the police…
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My Four Compass Points
I’m recovering from a cold and completely devoid of inspiration today, so I’ll leave you with the 4 extremes of my travels. The furthest west that I’ve been is Santa Monica, California. The furthest east that I’ve been is Göreme, Turkey. The furthest south that I’ve been is Mitla, Mexico. The furthest north that I’ve…
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My 100th Blog Entry
All distances in the Byzantine Empire were once measured from this original milestone, located in Istanbul (Constantinople back then). I’ve stood beside this very important yet inconsequential looking stone as hundreds of people walked by it, probably not realizing its significance. I was thinking about this stone today as I’ve arrived at an important milestone…
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Where is China, Greenland and the Whole of Africa?
Since I haven’t been able to afford international travel in the past several years, I travel vicariously by checking out the countries of origin of the people who visit my blog. WordPress is even kind enough to provide a nifty little world map, with the countries that have visited colored in for me. When I…
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It’s World Hijab Day. Should I Care?
In the interest of full disclosure, I am not a Muslim. I’m a Unitarian Universalist. But I have worn a hijab on two occasions. Since I am not a Hijabi (which is a woman who wears a hijab), and have not experienced what it is like to wear a head scarf day in and day…
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The Transitory Nature of Civilization
Still sick as a dog, and not in the mood to blog. (Hey! That rhymes!) So I shall leave you with a half formed thought before going back to bed. Here’s a photo I took many years ago on a trip to Ephesus, Turkey. If you’ve heard of Ephesus at all, it’s probably from the…
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My Recipe for Peace on Earth
Have you ever noticed that the most prejudiced, judgmental, belligerent people are often the very ones who have had little or no exposure to the groups that they are complaining about? Many years ago I decided to travel to Puerto Rico with my boyfriend at the time. Upon hearing of our plans, his mother completely…