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Bookstore Blues
Here's another all too human emotion I want to share because it might be familiar.
In a Virgin Megastore inside a recently erected Shopping Temple on Istaklal Street, Istanbul, I am browsing some books, mainly paperbacks. As the lighting is good I decide to take some pictures of the store.
Of course, the ...
The Curse of Efficiency
Everybody with a working brain knows about the paradox of efficiency. Production processes have to become more efficient in order to stay competitive, but that greater efficiency may *never* result in giving people longer vacations. Instead, workers need to work even harder because the increased efficiency means competition has increased, too. Instead of enjoying the ...
Nouakchott to Dakar
My Mauritanian friend gives me some cash to catch a “sept-place” private taxi to the border with Senegal. I catch it somewhere in the outskirts of dusty Nouakchott and receive honest treatment from the taxi operators. It is not too far to the river Senegal and the border, and the scenery is already getting richer. ...
End-Of-Line
Istanbul, December 2011. After a really nice visit to Dutch poet Martijn Benders, who gave me two of his poetry books on the occasion, I decided to do one of the poems in English because I think it would be a good poetic anthem for the "occupy" movement. I take all the blows, of ...
The No-Man’s land
The no-man's land, a 3-mile strip of dusty desert between Morocco and Mauritania, was what I had expected. A potholed dust track lined with car wrecks, rusting refrigerators and computers piled up between the dry shrubs, and one scavenging species approaching every living thing that crossed: human beings. Some lead you to a dead-end ...
Pay Me Because You Like Me (not vice versa!)
I will put a little image right next to this line, on which you can click if you want to express your appreciation with real money. Directly, without having to stop reading, going to the bank, opening another website, writing a check, or sending the maid for some loose change to give to the poor ...
Non-destructive Travel
There has been a lot of fuzz about our "carbon footprint" and most articles on non-destructive traveling start and end with quoting our unsustainably high carbon dioxide emissions on international flights. The obvious result of these well-intended pieces is that readers can't hear it any longer and lose interest in non-destructive travel altogether. The climate ...
Daily Social Media Fairness Sessions!
Imagine you're a wealthy shop owner and you hear about this "thing", this new technology that strongly amplifies every voice raised on it and thus promises to lure paying customers into your business. Wow, you think, I don't wanna miss this boat, and you ask how much it would cost. "It's free", some bearded hippies ...