After learning my flight was detained 4 hours,
I heard the announcement:
If anyone in the vicinity of gate 4-A understands any Arabic,
Please come to the gate immediately.
Well—one pauses these days. Gate 4-A was my own gate. I went there.
An older woman in full traditional Palestinian dress,
Just like my grandma wore, was crumpled to the floor, wailing loudly.
Help, said the flight service person. Talk to her. What is her
Problem? we told her the flight was going to be four hours late and she
Did this.
I put my arm around her and spoke to her haltingly.
Shu dow-a, shu- biduck habibti, stani stani schway, min fadlick,
Sho bit se-wee?
The minute she heard any words she knew—however poorly used—
She stopped crying.
She thought our flight had been canceled entirely.
She needed to be in El Paso for some major medical treatment the
Following day. I said no, no, we’re fine, you’ll get there, just late,
Who is picking you up? Let’s call him and tell him.
We called her son and I spoke with him in English.
I told him I would stay with his mother till we got on the plane and
Would ride next to her—Southwest.
She talked to him. Then we called her other sons just for the fun of it.
Then we called my dad and he and she spoke for a while in Arabic and
Found out of course they had ten shared friends.
Then I thought just for the heck of it why not call some Palestinian
Poets I know and let them chat with her. This all took up about 2 hours.
She was laughing a lot by then. Telling about her life. Answering
Questions.
She had pulled a sack of homemade mamool cookies—little powdered
Sugar crumbly mounds stuffed with dates and nuts—out of her bag—
And was offering them to all the women at the gate.
To my amazement, not a single woman declined one. It was like a
Sacrament. The traveler from Argentina, the traveler from California,
The lovely woman from Laredo—we were all covered with the same
Powdered sugar. And smiling. There are no better cookies.
And then the airline broke out the free beverages from huge coolers—
Non-alcoholic—and the two little girls for our flight, one African
American, one Mexican American—ran around serving us all apple juice
And lemonade and they were covered with powdered sugar too.
And I noticed my new best friend—by now we were holding hands—
Had a potted plant poking out of her bag, some medicinal thing,
With green furry leaves. Such an old country traveling tradition. Always
Carry a plant. Always stay rooted to somewhere.
And I looked around that gate of late and weary ones and thought,
This is the world I want to live in. The shared world.
Not a single person in this gate—once the crying of confusion stopped
—has seemed apprehensive about any other person.
They took the cookies. I wanted to hug all those other women too.
This can still happen anywhere.
Not everything is lost.
I heard the announcement:
If anyone in the vicinity of gate 4-A understands any Arabic,
Please come to the gate immediately.
An older woman in full traditional Palestinian dress,
Just like my grandma wore, was crumpled to the floor, wailing loudly.
Help, said the flight service person. Talk to her. What is her
Problem? we told her the flight was going to be four hours late and she
Did this.
Shu dow-a, shu- biduck habibti, stani stani schway, min fadlick,
Sho bit se-wee?
She stopped crying.
She needed to be in El Paso for some major medical treatment the
Following day. I said no, no, we’re fine, you’ll get there, just late,
We called her son and I spoke with him in English.
I told him I would stay with his mother till we got on the plane and
Would ride next to her—Southwest.
Found out of course they had ten shared friends.
Poets I know and let them chat with her. This all took up about 2 hours.
Questions.
Sugar crumbly mounds stuffed with dates and nuts—out of her bag—
And was offering them to all the women at the gate.
Sacrament. The traveler from Argentina, the traveler from California,
The lovely woman from Laredo—we were all covered with the same
Powdered sugar. And smiling. There are no better cookies.
Non-alcoholic—and the two little girls for our flight, one African
American, one Mexican American—ran around serving us all apple juice
And lemonade and they were covered with powdered sugar too.
Had a potted plant poking out of her bag, some medicinal thing,
Carry a plant. Always stay rooted to somewhere.
This is the world I want to live in. The shared world.
—has seemed apprehensive about any other person.
This can still happen anywhere.
Naomi Shihab Nye (b. 1952), “Wandering Around an Albuquerque Airport Terminal.” I think this poem may be making the rounds, this week, but that’s as it should be. (via oliviacirce)
The Bittersweetest Thing: The Female Perspective in Game Development
I happen to be fortunate. My team of writers on Dragon Age currently consists of nine people— most of which are female. It’s reached the point that, when we consider new hires and transfers, I tend to joke “ummm, we could use some more testosterone in here…” and give a big goofy grin. Mine is…
4580 'Allegiance' breaks Globe box office records
The Balboa Park institution has announced that “Allegiance” is officially the highest-grossing show in the theater’s 77-year history, taking in $2.23 million since performances began Sept. 7.
“I’ve got to say, we are really indebted to the Old Globe, because this is a high-risk project,” Takei said. “(Internment) was a shameful chapter in our history. It’s not a happy story to watch or listen to.”
Takei and others involved with “Allegiance” are confident, though, that this is not the end of the story. They have sights set firmly on Broadway.
Jay Kuo, the musical’s composer-lyricist and co-writer (with Lorenzo Thione and Marc Acito), said that while plenty still needs to be worked out in terms of timing and financing, the goal is to open “Allegiance” on Broadway in late 2013 or early 2014.
The only bittersweet aspect for Kuo was knowing that some songs and scenes may have taken their curtain calls.
“I know there are changes coming to the show,” said Kuo, noting that a private “lab” staging of the piece is in the works in order to make revisions based on what the team learned from Globe audiences.
Click through to read the rest of the article.
via Kate Elliott. This is great news!
17 What Happens Next: A Gallimaufry: Rape Culture In Gaming
About a week ago, I wrote a post on Penny Arcade vs. Rape Culture, which sent my blog traffic skyrocketing after it was linked on Reddit. However, both in comments on the post itself and elsewhere on Reddit, quite a few people seemed to be missing the point: or, more specifically,…
Another great post by Foz Meadows, but difficult to read & exhausting emotionally (re: rape culture)
1133 
Just recently discovering the amazing George Fouquet. His design is completely captivating, hybridizing the organic and the human-made. This is from 1902, so not sure whether it was still in collaboration with Alphonse Mucha, or just shows his influence.
Fouquet winged chimera brooch with enamel and pearls
I gave my first ever commencement speech to the graduating class of 2012 at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.
I think I told them everything important that I knew about going out into the world and being an artist, so I may never need to give another one.
Amazing commencement address. Absolute required material for anyone who creates.
(Source: vimeo.com)
Our real first gay president
The new issue of Newsweek features a cover photo of President Obama topped by a rainbow-colored halo and captioned “The First Gay President.” The halo and caption strike me as cheap sensationalism. I realize airport travelers look at a magazine for 2.2 seconds before moving on to the next one. I grant that this cover will probably get Newsweek a 4.4 second glance. I also understand that Newsweek is desperate for sales. Nevertheless, I doubt that the Newsweek of old, before it was sold for a dollar, would have pandered as shallowly.
The caption is a superficial way to characterize an important development of thought that the president — along with the country — has been making over recent years. It is also entirely wrong. Like the mini-furor a couple of months back about the claim that Richard Nixon was our first gay president, the story simply ignores that the U.S. already had a gay president more than a century ago.
There can be no doubt that James Buchanan was gay, before, during and after his four years in the White House. Moreover, the nation knew it, too — he was not far into the closet.
Today, I know no historian who has studied the matter and thinks Buchanan was heterosexual. Fifteen years ago, historian John Howard, author of “Men Like That,” a pioneering study of queer culture in Mississippi, shared with me the key documents, including Buchanan’s May 13, 1844, letter to a Mrs. Roosevelt. Describing his deteriorating social life after his great love, William Rufus King, senator from Alabama, had moved to Paris to become our ambassador to France, Buchanan wrote:
I am now “solitary and alone,” having no companion in the house with me. I have gone a wooing to several gentlemen, but have not succeeded with any one of them. I feel that it is not good for man to be alone; and should not be astonished to find myself married to some old maid who can nurse me when I am sick, provide good dinners for me when I am well, and not expect from me any very ardent or romantic affection.
Wow. I never knew this about Buchanan!
A distant relative of mine. (My paternal grandmother was a Buchanan.) FWIW, Family legend confirms.
As an interesting side note, James Buchanan was descended from those Buchanans, which means my family is responsible for three civil wars—Scottish, English, and American.
Never give me a civil service job, is all I’m saying.
Neat.
MARMALADE CHRONOFILE: Game of Privilege
Over on his blog, Scalzi offers a resonant metaphor for Straight White Male privilege:
Imagine life here in the US — or indeed, pretty much anywhere in the Western world — is a massive role playing game, like World of Warcraft except appallingly mundane, where most quests involve the…
Thinking about this, brewing response to OP.
50 
Scott Bakal
Most of my work over the years deals with current events and is largely based in some sort of reality. Jobs that come from a fantasy and fictional point of view are sometimes a nice relief to that. It gives me the chance to get lost in a world or visual that can go anywhere - like a girl sitting in a bathtub moments before she explodes the tub…with her mind! I loved the story, ‘At the Foot of the Lighthouse’ written by author and game designer Erin Hoffman. It was written with such wonderful visuals so it was easy to pick a powerful and surprising moment in the story to illustrate. Please visit Tor.com and give it a full read.
Very cool to see all the reblogs of Scott’s wonderful art.
(via epentesis)
