CURRENT MISSION

To become un-English

ABOUT ME

About to start travelling to the end of the world and (hopefully) back.

PHILOSOPHY

I am not a number; I am a human being. My life is my own and I will not spend it in subordination.

Interests

Modern literature, the weirder the better;
Particularly poignant parts of songs;
Learning bits of other languages;
Buying more and more DVDs to add to my insane collection;
Reading surreal poetry in Spanish, depressing poetry in Russian, and love poetry in Arabic;
Ballroom dancing, tango, and dabke (Palestinian dancing);
Writing short stories of varying levels of quality;
Finding out that there are whole books about subjects I don't even know exist;
Stalinist architecture;
The peculiar poignancy that comes from listening to music very loudly;
Cooking desserts when I have the time;
Staring at maps while drinking tea;
Avoiding university work;
Left-wing politics and the Zapatistas;
Trying to escape having been born in England.

• writing
• books
• literature
• poetry
• architecture
• dancing
• tango
• ballroom dancing
• cooking
• chocolate
• desserts
• drinking
• politics
• reading
• traveling
• music
• cartography
• history
• languages

Music, Movies, and Books

BOOKS: James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, Edward Albee, Julio Cortázar, Matías Néspolo, Federico García Lorca, Zakariya Tamir, Mikhail Bulgakov, Vladimir Nabokov, Mark Z. Danielewski, Thomas Pynchon, David Foster Wallace, Juan Goytisolo, Charles Beaudelaire, Adonis, Mario Vargas Llosa, Miguel Delibes, William Faulkner.

MUSIC: Kent, Michael Jackson, Souad Massi, Beirut, Neutral Milk Hotel, Pink Floyd, The Decemberists, Ella Fitzgerald, Édith Piaf, Dire Straits, The Gotan Project, Tinariwen, Värttinä, Tom Lehrer, Lady Gaga, Lina Shamamian, Nancy Ajram.

MOVIES: Anything by David Lynch or Pedro Almodóvar, Dougal the Blue Cat, Donnie Darko, The Cook The Thief His Wife and Her Lover, 8 1/2 Women, Heavenly Creatures, Requiem For A Dream, Blade Runner, Dr. Strangelove, Russian Ark, Al-Hudud, Caramel.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Two headscarved women having an impromptu snowball fight between the columns of an ancient Roman city in a blizzard (Syria).

Teach, Learn, Share

The basic steps of about ten forms of ballroom or Palestinian dancing. Some particularly beautiful poems. How to roll your r's (I've never yet failed at this one!). Why chocolate is good for you (and it really is). The full modern history of the Middle East.

I'm always willing to learn almost anything! A new recipe, a dance move, a phrase or poem, a song, a favoured but secret author...

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Armenia, China, Egypt, Georgia, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Uruguay

Countries I’ve Lived In

Spain, Syrian Arab Republic, United Kingdom, United States