of course the big stopping blocks for people are time money and interest - kim howard

i've always believed somehow that there is a strange interconnectedness between certain points in the past and certain points in the present. it seems to happen during moments of different states of mind when suddenly a change of weather or a random song will teleport you back to some place you know very well. this morning the air was cold and i'm still in my sleeping-pants. an early morning meeting on the rooftop with a friend on the rooftop presented sudden reminder of times back home, wherever home was for either of us.

istanbul, istanbul.. in a few weeks i'll step foot outside of the city (the country more specifically) for the first time in a few months. in time my finger will heal and i'll be able to play guitar again. she'll come with me to bulgaria.



so, as its been warrented, a little on turkey:

i have some friends coming out here next year and often i think about what it would like to bring someone into this world i've landed in. in the past i've been an open eyed and curious wanderer of new cities always eager to see everything and absorb it as my own. istanbul has been different for some reason. my niche that i've stumbled into is quite small however without borders. i live and love on the european side in taksim. this part of town is the central attraction of nightlife in istanbul where its easy to have a fun and budget-varying night out. the streets are always crowded and its easy to meet people from all over, especially at the far end in tünel which is a haven for expats. i prefer a handful of my tribesmen and women which i've chanced upon in the last few months, they are as close to me as the friends i've made anywhere and i wish in a beautiful way that we could combine forces someday. speaking of this i mentioned i have some friends coming out. so as i wander the streets i'm always thinking about how cool it will be to bring an outsider into town especially people i'm so fond of.

there is another spin on istanbul that i am gratefully blessed with, i also have a second scene on the asian side where there is an entirely different aroma of life. i've learned long ago that when i came out here i was placed with people of the like and it's superficially obvious. soon, when i come back from bulgaria i will have a new apartment where i can finally set up creative shop and sleep on a pile of cushions i've been collecting. from there it is only a few short weeks before egypt. our team is a bless-ed one. we are actually venturing so far south that we are in stone's throw of the sudan border. we've got quite a journey ahead of us including an aquatic voyage down the nile traveling and sleeping on boats. a debaucherous night out last week with the five of us gave a nice foreshadow of the fun and potential we have together. we somehow fit well into each others' lives and i'm thankful to have met these wonderful people. the tribe grows too. there are many among us not affiliated with our trip to egypt however deeply woven in the fibers of tribal istanbul. travelers and transients alike we each know the role we fit in among each other and we are all painfully aware of the temporariness promised before us. the future is beautifully uncertain and although it is easy to speculate a grand journey to kyrgyzstan it is also easy to forget that one day you might wake up with a finger more or less missing.. yeah halloween 09.. dont worry, it's getting better i think.

in this day of lovely interconnectedness i see the bridge between my life in istanbul, my life in detroit, my life in samoa, my life in central america and anywhere else i've wandered or will wander. live and love, mookfish.







a bless-ed picture from sofia, bulgaria cleverly tagged on facebook as myself (on the right) and christopher graham, my bulgaria travel mate (on the left). dibs.