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Michael Wray May 1, 2023 |
AFTERMATH
Two Steps Forward, One Step Back At the dawn of 2023, I was feeling that things in the world had been showing signs of improvement. First and foremost, at great sacrifice to its people and infrastructure, Ukraine had managed to repel the invading Russians from its heartland and seemed poised to launch an effective counter-offensive to its east…
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Michael Wray March 9, 2023 |
GREEN TURNS TO BROWN
Time, he’s waiting in the wingsHe speaks of senseless thingsHis script is you and me, boy Time – David Bowie Now and Then I’ve been thinking a lot about the relativity of time lately – as one does upon reaching a certain age or point in one’s life. How the summer days seemed endless as a schoolboy,…
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Michael Wray February 6, 2023 |
Earthquake in Turkey, February 6th, 2023
Not Again! In Turkey the Unthinkable has happened again – a devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake shook the southeastern part of the country and Northern Syria at 4:17 a.m. last night, leaving more than 60,000 dead at the latest count. It is the strongest earthquake to have hit the country since 1999 when almost 20,000 people lost their lives…
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Michael Wray December 10, 2022 |
Winter In Istanbul
It Sure Beats My Hometown This year marks the 28th winter that I’ll be spending in Istanbul, and after growing up in a small town in Northern Ontario, I couldn’t be happier. Today is December 10 and it’s a balmy 18 degrees with gray skies and a high probability of rain. Compare that to my hometown of Sault…
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Michael Wray October 23, 2022 |
GOD SAVE THE QUEEN?
I Don’t Get it I was watching Mike Myers go on about the Queen’s passing on The Tonight Show the other evening. He was expressing his sadness and thoughts about the Queen vis a vis his Canadian heritage. It reminded me of the posts I had seen online by Canadian friends back home – one even blacked out…
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Michael Wray October 8, 2022 |
YOU CAN NEVER GO HOME AGAIN
Really? Never? I’ve spent the past couple of months processing my trip home to Canada this summer and have mixed feelings about the title of Thomas Wolfe’s posthumously published final novel. On the one hand, I love my adopted country, Turkey, and can’t imagine going back to live in my homeland. On the other, when I do…
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Michael Wray June 23, 2022 |
THE SECRET LIVES OF THINGS 2
Previously… In my first installment of The Secret Lives of Things, https://laserwraypublishing.com/2021/12/22/the-secret-lives-of-things/, I spoke of my passion for art and the stories which each item in my collection whispers to those with ears to hear. Last November I travelled to London to pick up a ceramic bowl by a talented artist named Ian Thompson, whose works don’t just…
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Michael Wray June 23, 2022 |
Green Turns to Brown
Watching aspirations blow away upon breezes of despair and I can’t help wondering where all the time went. Once I was young and the days stretched before me like the proverbial gold paved highway of opportunity. Yet the seconds ticked away and were carelessly spent. The days added up into years until… One day I awoke in fear,…
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Michael Wray June 10, 2022 |
The Sweet Spot
“If you’re sad today, just remember that the world is 4.4 billion years old and you somehow managed to live at the same time as David Bowie.” Simon Pegg Long Ago and Far Away My best friend and I often discuss how lucky we both were to have been born in 1960. We are united…
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Michael Wray May 26, 2022 |
America, Whither Goest Thou?
The Fall of Rome I’ve often wondered if the normal citizens of Rome realized that their civilization was on the verge of collapse before it finally came to pass. We’re told it was attacks by the Goths and Visigoths that precipitated Rome’s downfall but what if the mechanisms of state had their own demise hard wired into the…