Writing

A Note from Author John Graves

September 16, 2011

John Graves, from a personal letter: “To grow up among tradition-minded people leads one often into the backward yearnings and regrets, unprofitable feelings of which I was granted my share in youth-not having been born in time to get killed fighting Yankees, for one, or not having ridden up the cattle trails. But the only [...]

Living Plaza

June 8, 2011

Finished my first foray into filmmaking last week: Living Plaza – Dallas, TX from Aaron Garcia on Vimeo. It turned out alright–a strong story with some notable negligence in technique. Audio and time lapses could use some work, but as a first project, I’m pretty happy with it. Most issues can be resolved easily next [...]

Forget the Ruins

February 3, 2011

“Do you know a love poem in English?” Rahmat asked me one evening. We sat in the first of what seemed to be an endless array of cramped kabob shops casting unanswered light into the deep Kabul night. Here, Rahmat worked fifteen hour shifts everyday of the year except for Eid, when he returned to [...]

Bird

November 12, 2010

Behind the cracked glass door of a small, inconspicuous bookshop, Bird sat in his favorite chair and looked out on the street. A herd of armored vehicles passed and the view filled with dust. “It wasn’t always like this here, you know,” Bird said of his country. “I know,” I said. Bird was like a [...]

Inside Out

September 29, 2010

The shells of broken down trucks ran parrallel to the mountains, and a corridor of shanty shacks formed the center of town where the rusted scrap metal and truck parts came to an end. The men, stonefaced and suspicious, stood motionless in their shops and stared as I passed. The mud walls cracked in the sun and shop entrances were dark and uninviting. I walked cautiously.  I felt their heads [...]

I don’t know why

September 28, 2010

Late at night, you can blink twice and still not miss the shooting stars. They burn with tails fat and full and purple tinted. The mountains breathe in the black, a tangible thing you can feel, and in them, far away, a man is walking. He has a flashlight in his hand and the light [...]

Here, at night, is it safe?

September 26, 2010

There is a hesitance in everything I do here, everyone I meet, every step I take. Whether warranted or not, it’s still palpable. Beneath every smile and every welcome I receive, beneath the warm sun and the shallow mountain streams, something runs deep and cold. And I somehow feel I owe this country something because [...]

Are You Married or Single?

September 24, 2010

“You are married or single?” the grizzled man says in Russian. He does not speak anything but Russian, serving as pastor of the Russian Baptist church in Dushanbe,  a historically large community near the grand bazaar. Maya, his beautiful translator, speaks just about everything you need to speak in Tajikistan. “You are married or single?” [...]

There’s Good and Bad Everywhere

September 16, 2010

When you arrive to a place for the first time, there is a reckoning. The magic wears off and beneath the discarded wonder is a place as real as any other. There is a violence to the way your imagination can be suddenly stripped away, and some places survive it better than others. Today, I [...]

Cow?

September 15, 2010

Not ten yards from the Pyanj River, Afghanistan in plain sight, the taxi driver, speeding down a dusty road in Tajikistan, suddenly slammed on the brakes. Everyone in the car threw open their doors and sprinted up the mountain, away from the river. My heart skipped as I fumbled for the door handle. Christ, I thought, what’s [...]

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