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In Dubai
I’ve never experienced a mall food court that was quite as delicious or quite as ridiculous. I’ve never been so hot. I’ve never been so confused, so afraid, so miserable, or so in love.
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I need my fluids
I need shade, I need nutritious breakfast, I need to feel the earth underneath my feet and not have it sink away like so much sand. I need to figure out where home is, and whether it exists at all, and...
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Variation on James Fenton
Don’t talk to me of love. Let’s talk of Dubai, The little bit of Dubai in our view. There’s that tower scraping heaven And the men tighten the saddles And I’m in Dubai with you.
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On top
Watching cars move off Sheikh Zayed Rd. and on, beyond the line of skyscrapers and toward the port, is like watching Pac-Man from a great height.
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I’m in Dubai
My computer committed suicide, among other things. Nearly started screaming in the bathroom this morning, then realized that Swamp Thing was actually me after 48 hours of hardly any sleep or protein....
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Shorter Danielle Crittenden: Throw the Niqabi Off the Train!
Props for anyone who gets the movie reference in the title of this post. Non-Muslim women have pontificated on the niqab (face-veil) and its relation to Western culture before. *cough* Admittedly, a...
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Parody of Johann Hari’s piece on Dubai
If you know me well enough, you probably realize that I am as likely to go off on a tirade about one of the Gulf states as anyone. However, even if I leave my professional role aside for a moment, I...
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Man with 86 kids going for 100… and he gets applauded? Really?
Remember the outrage over the Octo-Mom – Nadya Suleman? How come I am hearing nothing of the sort directed at Hot 100-Dad? Could it be because of… *gasp* sexism? Because Islam only allows 4 wives at a...
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Bag spam: what’s in my bag? And what’s in yours?
I’ve got friends who keep sending me little memes that I have no intention to spam other people in my Gmail address book with. I can, however, spam the readers of this blog! So for those of you who...
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Who are you? And the far reaches of globalization
I recently gave a talk at the Chekhov Cultural Center here in Moscow, as part of English Language Evenings (thanks so much to the organizer, Stephen Lapeyrose, and all of the wonderful people who...
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