Photos, floods, and stories over coffee

on losing artifacts and history Ever since I could remember, we always moved from one place to another: from the Philippines to Bahrain, then Bahrain to the Philippines then to Qatar; from one flat to another; from one job or role to another. Half of our belongings do not make it out of boxes and…

Beyond words

on friendships made immortal by memory This is part of a series called Stories Over Coffee, where I write about my memories of growing up in Bahrain and Qatar in order to preserve them. When we were in Bahrain, my mother had a best friend named Joy. She was Korean, and she wanted to learn…

Coming up for air

slowing down in the age of fast content These days, I feel like I am drowning in a sea of content. I scroll through screams on social media, binge on Netflix shows, and join so many readathons. My list of things to read or watch or follow keeps growing and growing and growing, and I…

Announcement: Margin Letters

a new blog feature for bookish content! Joining the bookish community, specifically book Twitter, is an exciting way to get back into reading and to connect with authors and bookish creators. I love reading everyone's perspectives, and it inspires me to join the discourse as well. I've tried my hand at updating my Goodreads account…

Mapping memories

musings on personal geography During this quarantine, I cannot count how many articles, tweets, or posts I've read lamenting the loss of "personal places"--seemingly normal nooks and spaces that hold no meaning until someone brands it as theirs. There are some that have closed their doors, some inaccessible due to lockdown restrictions, and some lost…