Archive for the ‘Vignettes’ Category
Orchid lessons
When the seasons change, people in New York are electric. They waltz across basketball courts and gun engines at red lights and dance in the street to car stereos. They pet each other’s dogs and chat across fences and look each other in the eyes as they pass each other on the street. Sometimes total [...]
From Cote d’Ivoire, a Happy New Year dance
This is irresistible, and the Aaninka dance troupe is fantastic. Makes me want to move to Cote d’Ivoire and apprentice myself to those women. In “Gangnam style vs Africa Style,” I think they win: H/T Nathalie, @pulitzercenter. This has been a quiet year for me, Internet-wise, and I’m excited for 2013 to show you what [...]
Gearing back up
It’s been quiet over here as I’ve had my head deep in new and long-term projects. I’m excited to share the results of all that intensity next year, as new work rolls out. Meanwhile, a hearty thanks to all who read, comment, tweet, retweet, message, argue with me or otherwise reach out. A hearty thanks [...]
From the tops of water towers, a little New York nostalgia
I just went digging for some clips and realized two of my favorite America stories aren’t on my website. So I’d like to introduce you to them. In 2008, I wrote one of many, many stories about the one-year anniversary of the heroics of Wesley Autrey, the ‘subway hero’ who threw himself in front of [...]
Witchcraft: Getting better all the time
Principles of the poorest performing schools in South Africa are blaming witchcraft for their students’ lackluster marks. Apparently, the students are suspicious of each other, and the pesky ones are bewitching their classmates. I found this little tidbit via @baldaufji, but the best part was the first reader comment: now this we can’t discount as [...]
What WordPress wonders about Cote d’Ivoire
Most of the time, the funny things on that list of “things people searched to get to my blog” isn’t all that different from the funny things that most blogs catalog on their back end, I would guess. But this little couplet, made of two separate search items, seems worth sharing:
I am a freelance journalist and multimedia producer who covers human rights, Africa and foreign affairs. [