I thought that the term “skinny” is being used nowadays as a buzzword only in the worlds of fashion and weight loss. There’s apparently something called skinny jeans, which I surmise are designed for skinny people. Or maybe because they make the wearer’s legs and bottom look skinny. In any case, skinny is also something […]

The image of Baghdad shown by the media in recent years hasn’t been pretty, especially since the wars of the late 20th century. It shows a city in Iraq that is torn apart by war and civil unrest, and it’s easy to forget that it has a rich culture and history. Still, it was the […]

Japanese literature is replete with themes that revolve around nature, science, spirituality, yet a lot of it is written in such a way that makes romantic and evocative use of words. One of the most beloved and respected of all Japanese authors was Miyazawa Kenji, who was trained as a geologist but whose literary works […]