Dr. Cornel West often refers to Paidaeia – a Greek word meaning pedagogy. Ermias Asghedom referenced Greek marathons and the legend of Pheidippides when he named his brand the Marathon and his debut album Victory Lap, respectively. Was Ermias trying to draw connections the way Dr. West does? Or was Ermias highlighting the east African…
Tag: Life
Patois and Haiti
Adding patois and Haiti to this constellation of words shifts the linguistic lens toward the colonial world and the complex, often violent, processes by which languages are born, suppressed, and transformed. Patois is a word that carries its own prejudice embedded within it: derived from Old French, it originally suggested rough, clumsy speech — the…
Drachm, Phlegm, and Thumb
These three words share a fascinating silent consonant — the silent “b” in thumb, the silent “g” in phlegm, and the silent “ch” in drachm — and each of those silent letters is a kind of fossil, a remnant of an older pronunciation that speech gradually smoothed away while spelling stubbornly preserved it. This phenomenon,…
What Happened in Nizwa, Oman? (Part One)
I arrived in Muscat, Oman on January 27, 2019. The following day I visited the home office of the company I was to work for — Al Nawa. On my way into the building, I noticed a car parked outside with the license plate 10914. When ever I see 109 I imagine it is a…
Literally. What Have I Been Up To?
I’m sitting in my new apartment. It has actually been more than two years that I have lived in this apartment. But, it’s new to me. I’d only lived alone in Los Angeles for less than one year (2004-2005) before I moved here in 2023. The rest of the time I lived abroad — South…
Carl Von Ossietzky
Ossietzky’s Nobel Peace Prize nomination telegram was numbered 109. That part! Do you see 109 within the painting? It’s not hidden. It’s right there. I found it when I visited the Nobel Peace Museum in Sweden. This was another encounter with 109. Please support 109. Buy 109 and/or artwork inspired by 109 at http://www.isee109.store
Paradocs Coffee on Fairfax
My notebook by Moleskin and Japanese Pilot Pen Go well with Taka’s coffee at his Paradocs Coffee Shop quaintly positioned on my favorite block in LA On this MLK Day I sat there reading an article about Samya Stumo Who sadly lost her life a little less than a year ago aboard Ethiopia Airlines flight…
Alfredo Sanchez Lives!
Alfredo Sanchez was sitting at the lunch table with four strangers — one of whom had nearly killed him less than an hour earlier. With that behind him, Sanchez was eager to sink his teeth into his meal. In one breath he uttered something in English. Then, his curiosity piqued when the Asian woman who…
The Ballad of Alfredo Sanchez Continues…
Alfredo Sanchez had never wanted to go to Costa Rica, so how he ended up living in the jungles of Drake Bay is summed up in two-words — volunteer opportunity.
109 Chronicles
2007 — I took a leap of faith and traveled to South Korea that year. My first friend in Korea and neighbor was also born in 1979 on 10-09. 2013 — Hanguel (Korean Language) Day became a national holiday that year. Thereafter I found it easier to schedule parties or trips on my birthday so…
Black Friday
This is such an important record for the times. Thanks DJ Quik! https://m.soundcloud.com/quikisthename/black-friday
Culver City
I miss living and working here. Although I did not have the time to enjoy this place the way I am today when I lived here a decade ago. If I return to America for good this is one place I would strongly consider living. So I hit the street in search of a job…
You must be logged in to post a comment.