Tag: americans

Daniel Adler Comes to Terms With the End of His Trip (And His Whispering Schizophrenic Self)

I’m coming to terms with the end of my trip. I met a young man named Aaron last night at a Couchsurfing event a six-foot two German girl invited me to. It was the kind of thing I used to waffle over attending when I lived in New York: should I get on the subway… Continue reading Daniel Adler Comes to Terms With the End of His Trip (And His Whispering Schizophrenic Self)

The Value of Self-Importance; or Hating, Then Loving, Canadians

We walked down a hill, past seated bulls flopping their tails, to a street that looked familiar, and up to where we were yesterday, near Govinda’s on Palace Road. I felt good from having showered and shaved, albeit sweaty. Jan told me about a friend of his who had a straight-blade shave by a guy… Continue reading The Value of Self-Importance; or Hating, Then Loving, Canadians

Why the Dalai Lama is Like Stalin

Dharamshala, in Northern India, is a lot like Bushwick. During the day, see people working on crafts, wood carving or knitting; water coloring; playing guitar; smoking hash; drawing in coloring books. Almost everyone smokes cigarettes. There are communities of Israelis, Russians, Australians, Japanese, Americans, Tibetans, Indians. Some are traveling like me, but only in India,… Continue reading Why the Dalai Lama is Like Stalin

Daniel Adler Sobers Up

I wanted to go out after the five hour bus ride– Krakow! A tall woman with big blue eyes in a yellow pea coat asked me if I needed help when I was looking at the tram map. She rode with me and asked for my blog address and told me where to get off.… Continue reading Daniel Adler Sobers Up

What Makes Italy Italian (And The U.S. American)

Past the Piazza Plebisicito where all the statues of great men in Neapolitan history stand in their alcoves, down the line from Roger the Norman with his ancient mustache and weird neckbeard, to Charles III with his French coif to Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies with his Hapsburg jaw; past the building, two hundred… Continue reading What Makes Italy Italian (And The U.S. American)

Ave America! From Whitman to Kerouac…

When Europe sloughed off her old skin and the ones who didn’t want to accomodate post-liberation Europe traveled the great Atlantic to come to the continent they were not free and they didn’t seek freedom — just think of the Salem Witch Trials, as if they were a result of great religious freedoms — no… Continue reading Ave America! From Whitman to Kerouac…

Why Stem-Changing Verbs Are On The Outs

I was on the phone with my mom the other day and she was telling me about an angry wasp that stinged her when the thought occurred to me that many Americans prefer to simplify stem-changing English verbs. I was working off little sleep, and I felt a little crazy, so I didn’t mind telling… Continue reading Why Stem-Changing Verbs Are On The Outs