in the New York Times today

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/30/world/middleeast/30syria.html?th&emc=th

Hope all is well in North America!
Tim

Poetry night

A short post before I can get back to posting pictures. I saw two great
pieces in the New York Times yesterday that I thought I would share.

The first is about the theft of bricks from St. Louis, which are then
transported as far as New Orleans! This really resonated with me as I
loved just driving through town and seeing the beautiful brick buildings.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/20/us/20brick.html?_r=2&th&emc=th

The second is about this poetry night called Beit al-Qaseed that takes
place every Monday night in Damascus. It's a small event that usually has
between 50 to 75 people in a basement bar of a fancy hotel in Damascus.
Drinks are reasonably priced, the poetry varies from okay to excellent, and
the crowd can always be counted on to be loud, talking back to the reader,
making corrections or suggestions, and expressing praise or contempt.

The one time I was unhappy about Beit al-Qaseed was when a Syrian woman was
reading, and the crowd absolutely would not quiet down to give her time to
speak. In general, even if a poet is mediocre, I favor giving them their
time to bore everyone, but the crowd just yelled over her, offering
pseudo-corrections to her Arabic.. the whole experience had a thick cloud
of sexism hanging over it, as even pretty bad male poets generally don't
get run off the stage, but a woman speaking in public remains threatening
even (especially?) to members of the cultured class.

In addition to original work, the event takes translations of foreign works
or readings of Classical Arabic poetry. A Syrian friend of mine is
nicknamed Shakespeare for his Shakespeare and Donne readings, and an
American friend is hoping to read an Andalusian (= Arab from Spain) poet
from the Middle Ages. I myself am hoping to read Eliot in the next few
weeks, but I need help with the translation from friends..

The best part about Beit al-Qaseed is that this fall our schedule was
changed so that we have every Tuesday off, which means I can go out and
sleep in and not be tired on Tuesdays anymore.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/20/world/middleeast/20poetry.html?ref=world

Until next time!