poorboyoftroy

Riot Police Near Galatasaray High School on October 19 There is a manic exuberance to the always congested Istiklal Caddesi that is as enjoyable as it can be overwhelming. Conceive of Istiklal as a frenetic pedestrian rush hour that never ends. Tourists and Istanbulus alike traverse it at all hours of the day and night. Hipsters idle in its traditional and more European-style cafes. The country's over-abundance of teenagers move in tiny scrums down it and guard the entryways to the many intriguing side streets that feed it, smoking cigarettes and playing on their smartphones. Young families displaying various levels of Islamic religious observance walk down it in small yet formidable phalanxes. The iconic Tünel-Taksim tramway stutter-stops down the middle more slowly than a pedestrian, serving more of an ornamental purpose (a welcome one at that) as Istanbulus jump on and off it, exploiting it as an apparent break from walking. Somehow, cars, including taxis that really should kno...

"I'm really going to do  it this time. I'm going to write a blog!" he said with a feigned assertiveness, like some deluded, perennial failure over-compensating for his crippling insecurity and paucity of accomplishments. Think Willy Loman or, better yet, "The Simpsons'" Willy Loman analogue, Gil Gunderson. "This time it'll work out for old Nullprof! You'll see!"  I've started at least five blogs in my lifetime. Three never earned more than two posts. One was a text-intensive Tumblr that quickly devolved into a standard, image-intensive Tumblr (that's easier than writing, it turns out). One was a Posterous that was active for almost a year until I unceremoniously abandoned it. Earlier this year, Posterous' new owner, Twitter, killed it dead along with all other blogs on that service. So, yeah, I've had a bad history with blogs/blogging.  Regardless, I'm going to try to start again. I have things to say, and judging b...