With all that goes on in this country, the heat of July and August is what shakes my resolve most. It’s what makes me question my commitment to being an explorer of Beirut and her sister cities and boroughs.
I’m currently typing this from a table in Arab Image Foundation’s library after a 7 min walk under the noon sun. It’s taken a good half hour to cool down and stop sweating and the heat is why it’s taken almost a month to come back here. It’s not because it’s hot at the library, they’ve got AC. It’s because it’s hot everywhere else so getting from point A to point B in Beirut, regardless of where either point is, is draining. I’ve spent at least 20 summers here and I still forget how slow they make me. Another downside to this heat: it’s all I talk about for 2-3 months. Here I am doing so in the intro of this newsletter.
The humidity fog lingers and maybe that can explain all the mirages I encounter as an independent creative. Opportunities that are born from fleeting enthusiasm vanish before they fully materialize and the oasis that does exist is evaporating. Substack is my waterskin. I believe I’m on the right path but sometimes the wind changes and it feels like I’ve gone in a circle. It’s tough to trust my certitude when nothing is solid.
And like an electricity current that hums beneath our conversations and daily grievances, the demolishing of Gaza and the South continues. This is next one of our olive groves.
I forgot to share this here: I submitted two essays for the longform writing category and one was longlisted for the 67 Pall Mall Global Wine Communicator awards. Five finalists per category will be picked this month with the winner chosen in September. We’re all afraid of jinxing good things 🧿 but this is me making sure I appreciate and share even the little wins.
BITS OF BEIRUT
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AT LEAST 10 LITTLE LINKS
“Then, suddenly, the soldiers decided to let me go. Apparently, I had convinced them I wasn’t a terrorist—just a journalist, which, in Israel’s eyes, is almost as bad.” from Mohammad R. Mhawish’s “I Heard a Machine Gun Being Loaded”: A Harrowing Escape From Gaza for The Nation.
I binged season 3 of The Bear and will be doing a slow rewatch soon because it’s the best show ever. A ritual I have with TV is reading all the tweets and hot-takes that flood out after something airs. I consume television faster than most of my circle so I need to find discourse elsewhere. I won’t say anything but I liked this review and loved this tweet. Other good TV: The Brothers Sun.
The book about the widow Clicquot was adapted into a film to be released on the 19th. And this makes me want to buy a copy of another book for every kiddo in my life.
Last week I went to a small exhibit on Baalbeck Studios at UMAM’s Hangar which was part of their relaunch of their online archive, UMAM Biblio. I left this out of June’s Grapevine because it was ending on the 30th but it’s just been extended so you can still visit (by appointment). There’s more to see online though so check out the site. From the footage collected from the now-defunct Baalbeck Studios, Radio Karantina & Love and Revenge created Faqir.
Some stacks: “I Regret What's In My Camera Roll” made me reconsider how I’ve been documenting my life for the last +10 years and I silently nodded over and over while reading "living Danishly" isn't the solution we think it is” by
. writes a chilling and brave account about her experience with gun violence. Click through Adriana Gallo’s zine via .Apparently Lebanon is a goldmine when it comes to ancient amber and birding is rising in popularity in Palestine. Aanab Issue No.3 photographer Rita Kabalan shares vignettes from the Yacoubian building. An ancient lost city has been unearthed in the UAE.
Two poems about tomatoes: one by Joy Sullivan and the other by Rani Ban and a Substack quote from
’s latest on Perennial Roots Farm:
“This is the beauty of growing a tomato, having a pot of herbs on your balcony, tending a seed all the way to harvest. To put it a bit more tritely, be the change that you want to see in the world: plant a tree, tend your garden, care for those in your community, challenge yourself in big ways, as well as small.”
PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS
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Thanks for the mention! And I just LOVE Joy Sullivan's tomato poem too. 🍅