Thursday, August 20, 2026
It's the end of summer, which means it's time to get back into school mode...
Showing posts with label What I'm up to. Show all posts
Showing posts with label What I'm up to. Show all posts
With Dwight the Deer at Story Mill Park
Thursday, July 17, 2025
This looks like a diorama in a provincial history museum in mid-90s Bulgaria, but it's just the bike trail en route to Story Mill Park.
Chernow on Mark Twain
Wednesday, July 16, 2025
I enjoyed listening to Ron Chernow discuss his new biography of Mark Twain on the Ryen Russillo podcast. I haven't read the book, but I've been eyeing it over the past couple of months. I'd read a pretty scathing review of Mark Twain in The New York Times, which had put me off a bit, but I understand as well as anybody that a scathing review usually tells us more about the reviewer than the book.
It was interesting to learn about Twain's entrepreneurial side. It reminded me a bit of Rebecca Loncrain's biography of L. Frank Baum in some ways.
Kristmas Konvoy N & P: News from Belgrade and the World
Sunday, December 8, 2024
This past Thursday was our last day of classes at MSU, so there's been a lot going on. In the city of Belgrade, meanwhile, the Christmas Convoy rumbled through town last night.
The rumbling was so loud that I've barely been able to focus on the news. Russia, Romania, South Korea, Georgia--so much stuff going on. For my takes on the latest at home and abroad, see below.
Postcard from Belgrade: the Snows of Autumn
Sunday, November 24, 2024
The snows of autumn are back.
 |
| Not so long ago, the evenings were still quite balmy |
I woke up this morning and headed out into the living room area. There room has a number of high windows so it gives me a good sense of what the weather is like on any particular day. I saw a bunch of snow falling and all of a sudden felt really energized.
It's nice to have some real snow again.
Shotz from Ireland
Saturday, August 10, 2024
This past May I finished my last class on a Thursday afternoon, then went to my department's end-of-year party. The next morning I got up at 3:30 am, showered, and left my place at about 4:30. As usual, I walked to the airport--it's about fifteen minutes door-to-door--and then flew out to Michigan to see my parents.
I spent a weekend in Ann Arbor before traveling out to Philadelphia for a week to do some research for a new project that I'm working on. The research in Philly could only be conducted in the first week of the month, while some other research I had planned in DC could only take place in the last week of May.
It was a short trip, but a memorable one.
The Sordid Reflections of a Detroit Lions Fan
Saturday, January 27, 2024
As the only Lions fan in the lives of a number of people, I've been hearing from a lot of friends this week. Mostly, they're writing to tell me that they're pulling for my team in the playoffs, which I appreciate. There's always room for one more on the bandwagon.
Gabor Szabo in Budapest
Monday, January 8, 2024
I was in Budapest recently, where I was constantly reminded of one of my favorite jazz musicians, Gabor Szabo.
Christmastime Research in Istanbul
Friday, December 29, 2023
I've spent the last couple of weeks in Istanbul, and it's been good to be back.
 |
| March, 1992: I'm the one in the jean jacket |
Nâzım Hikmet in Montreal
Friday, November 10, 2023
I recently got back from the annual Middle East Studies Association conference in Montreal. It was great. I went to university in Montreal and had only been back a couple of times since I graduated more than thirty years ago. This was my first visit since 2001.
Best of all, I had the chance to talk for a little while about my new book on Nâzım Hikmet, Red Star over the Black Sea: Nâzım Hikmet and his Generation. The hardcover is now selling for just $41. And if that's too rich for you, a paperback edition is due to come out by March of 2025.
Nâzım Hikmet Book Talk in Texas
Saturday, October 1, 2022
This past week I spent a few days in Austin talking about a book of mine that'll be coming out next year.
 |
| I gave a book talk for the Longhorn anti-Leninists of Texas |
It was a really great trip. Over the summer when I was in Istanbul I'd received an invitation to discuss the book on Nâzım Hikmet that I've been working on. The book, called Red Star over the Black Sea: Nâzım Hikmet and his Generation, isn't finished yet--I'm going through the copy-edited draft right now--but it's supposed to come out (through Oxford University Press) in March of 2023.
Catching up in the 'Grade
Saturday, September 17, 2022
Today we had the Fall Festival parade in Belgrade. I'd forgotten about the event, but while Zooming with my parents and brother this morning I noticed the large numbers of people parking in front of my house and pedestrians walking up the street.
 |
| Time to grab your fez and head to Belgrade |
But that's how things go when you're living in the tenderloin district of Belgrade, Montana. Whether it's the Jingle Jog, the Christmas Convoy, or the Fall Festival, some form of alliterative amusement is always on the agenda.
The Return: Part IV, Istanbul
Thursday, June 30, 2022
It had been three years since I'd been in Istanbul, and even that had been a short, week-long trip back in 2019. After living in Turkey between 1992 and 1999, I'd returned to the US to begin graduate school. But, given the fact that I work on Turkey professionally, I return frequently. From 1999 until 2020 there had been only one calendar year, 2002, when I hadn't gone to Turkey. And now, three years had passed.
I was supposed to be in Kazan, Russia this summer. That obviously didn't work out, but I was able to switch to researching in Amsterdam and Istanbul instead.
The Return: Part II, Talkin' Türkiye
Thursday, June 23, 2022
What's in a name?
Some people have been asking what I think about Turkey's "name change," i.e. from just plain "Turkey" to the new and exciting "Turkey-yay!" (as "Türkiye" is pronounced, sort of).
Who knows? Maybe they're on to something.
 |
| "Turkey-yay! I kiss you!" |
The Return: Part I, Amsterdam
Monday, June 20, 2022
Three years. It had been three years since the last time I'd been out of the US--a delightful summer spent in Moscow, Mongolia, and Istanbul in 2019. Up until 2020, the last time I'd gone an entire calendar year without crossing a border had been sometime back in the mid-1980s.
 |
| Which way to the Borderlands Lodge? |
But yeah, I didn't do much traveling in 2020-2021, other than a couple of quick trips to Michigan. So, let's just say that the old backpack was a bit dusty when I retrieved it from the back room to prepare for this summer's travels.
30 Years of Eurasian Borderlanding
Saturday, February 5, 2022
Thirty years ago this upcoming week, on Feb. 7, 1992, I began a four-month trip that would change my life in several ways.
 |
| I was a Copy Consultant |
I had recently graduated from college and, since August of the previous year, had been living in my parents' house in Ann Arbor. I was working two jobs--at Kinko's and delivering furniture--that I'd had in high school. The goal? Saving up money for a trip through central and eastern Europe.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)