Dear friend. As I write these words, the sweet melancholy of "Take on me" in an acoustic version is playing in the background. Morten Harket's voice was my first encounter with Norway, many years ago. You were the second, many years later. Norway did the rest. Your love for Norway is without concession. It is... Continue Reading →
An even weirder episode at the office Part 2 of a previous short story 8:04 AM I’m in the elevator with a weird colleague I had never seen before. Second weird colleague in a matter of days! As you probably know, the company had been growing like crazy in the past years, and the days when... Continue Reading →
Or why you should avoid customizations in IT projects As you may or may not know, I have been working in fintech for some time now and the experience has been interesting to say the least. I have learnt a trick or two on the way, nothing too disruptive, but still, interesting ideas, concepts or... Continue Reading →
Photo by Marian Rotea on Unsplash Dear Norway You probably do not know me yet. No reason so far. To you, I am probably no more than a mere French guy who’s been around a few times for business. To me, you could have been no more than a cold and expensive piece of land on too high... Continue Reading →
A small note inspired by Beaudelaire and The Doors Photo by Dima Pechurin on Unsplash There is no simple way out. It is not that the doors are locked, it is just that there are so many of them. They all look alike. Many lead nowhere. Most lead to other doors. And we get tired of doors. They... Continue Reading →
Or how to build castles in Spain while smoking chicha Chicha — Image belongs to author One chicha please. Two actually. Lemon-mint for her, two-apple for me. Local beer. Beirut? Almaza? Go for an Almaza! Two! It is one in the morning and we have been building castles in Spain for the past couple of hours... Continue Reading →
This is the only headline on Lebanon in the international section of Le Figaro today Le cèdre foudroyé - Photo belongs to author. I am writing these lines on an electronic platform, or whatever you want to call this publishing artefact, in a language which my ears learnt to hear quite late in life. It... Continue Reading →
Answering a compadre's question on how I do it. An essay on God, faith, free will and wisdom Photo by Carolina Garcia Tavizon on Unsplash Compadre. We have been riding the same kind of horses for a while now. Like the Small-Country-on-the-Verge-of-Oblivion one as I would put it, or the Same-Boiling-Clusterfuck one, as you would put it. Two sides of the same... Continue Reading →
I am not an outspoken extravert as people in this craft can be. I am not a raging bull claiming victories on the battlefield. I am no legend, I hold no magic. Others are cut from that miracle cloth, I am just warm durable denim. And maybe just worn-out not-so-durable denim. I don’t know anymore.... Continue Reading →
Photo by Edmund Lou on Unsplash You the poor, the weak, the orphanThe simple minded, the infantThe elderly, the immigrantYou, the black sheep and the black swan Our Lords and our Masters Let the board sound Rabih
A small angel with a smile which only a child can make so sweet Photo by Abbas Tehrani on Unsplash September 2015. A small angel washes up dead on the Turkish shores. The most sacred of all had just been trampled by the powerful, the greedy and the fool. He was two years old. He was wearing a... Continue Reading →
On a cold Christmas eve in 1914, somewhere in Europe Photo by David Ballew on Unsplash My friends. My brothers. The mightier the adversity, the faster the peel, and it looks as though the layers are indeed peeling off, one after the other, and fast. Assertiveness, confidence, politeness, civility. Gone.Kindness, humor, sympathy. Gone too.Carelessness, compromission, cowardice, greed. Yup,... Continue Reading →
En Français because it happened in French. But not in France. True story Photo by Ben White on Unsplash Hop on folks, there’s still room for more people. Em… We’ll take the next one. See ya later… Hmm. That’s weird! Why did they snob us all of a sudden? … Bonjour! Ah! Bonjour madame. Vous parlez français. Oui!... Continue Reading →
And a walk down memory lane Photo by freestocks on Unsplash She opened the locker. Three years had gone by. So much had happened since the last time the locker was locked, so much had changed in the world. In her world too. She did not remember the lock code anymore and had to have it broken. She... Continue Reading →
Don’t even blink, it will be so fast you might miss it Photo by Jonathan Chng on Unsplash All my life I’ve been running. From bullies, from teachers, from shame, and later from hunger, from bullets, from cops. I’ve been running after elusive hassles, and more often than not after a loaf of bread, when you’ve been running... Continue Reading →
Si le ciel et la mer sont noirs comme de l’encre, nos cœurs que tu connais sont remplis de rayons! Photo by Dan V on Unsplash Some folks seem to have this rather unique feature of being able to play surgeon on their own soul. They seem to have more awareness of their inner gears and levers,... Continue Reading →
And her path to a warm home and a friend Photo by Viktor Vasicsek on Unsplash I met her on a cold winter evening. She was laying on the sidewalk, in the pouring rain, abandoned there by her last abuser. She was visibly broken by years of hardship. The old scars were still visible. The more recent ones... Continue Reading →
This is all it takes to make a difference Photo by Capricorn song on Unsplash This is all it takes to get to Disneyland Paris by public transportation, from the center of Paris. Five euros. The price of five baguettes, the local bread around here, enough to shelter a family from hunger for another day or two. The... Continue Reading →
Moving mountains Photo by Matt Sclarandis on Unsplash Unescapable fate we wrap so willinglyAround our shoulders and desperately call it hopeOr a spiteful surrender, like a horoscopeAs it becomes our destiny so seamlessly? Hoping for the best or bowing blindly to fateWe revel in despair, or long for green pasturesFate, auspicious disguise to cowardly posturesHope, hollow-point... Continue Reading →
And why October 6th is as good a day as any to write about August 4th Photo by Charbel Karam on Unsplash April 4th saw the coming of age of Senegal from its infancy as a French colony.May 4th saw the rebirth of Latvia after a (rather long) stint as a Soviet puppet.June 4th is Tonga’s Emancipation date.July 4th saw the birth... Continue Reading →
Apart from the fact that they do not exist, perfect humans would still have one real flaw, that of being perfect. Photo by Levi Meir Clancy on Unsplash A parallel with music Chances are you have heard of musical notes. Of course you have! You might have even heard them too if you listen to music. They’re called... Continue Reading →
When the world has taken its final bow Photo by Ian Wetherill on Unsplash In the end only memories will remain. Oh, not even the greatest or the most vivid ones. The most brilliant victories? The blatant failures? Frozen in a past watered down by a failing memory, they shall not remain. They will fly away like particles... Continue Reading →
With a mellow twist for a newbie guitarist Photo by freestocks on Unsplash Here’s how it goes if you ever feel like playing it, dear potential newbie guitarist. It only takes three very simple chords: A, E and D. A EHappy Birthday to youE AHappy Birthday to youA DHappy Birthday dear RabihA E AHappy Birthday to you Simple.... Continue Reading →
Routes levantines ou chemins de l’esprit, nous les sillonnons sans répit au risque de nous y croiser, frères ennemis, mais compagnons d’infortune d’un pays au bord de l’oubli. This is a story in French about my home country Lebanon. Bon courage et bonne lecture chers amis. Photo by Dorsa Masghati on Unsplash Des routes six fois millénaires, chemins... Continue Reading →
Take a leap of faith and buckle your seatbelts Photo by Robin Pierre on Unsplash Driving on the most dangerous roads in the world. Not because of the road itself, but because of the people. My people, who have lost all hope in life and do not expect much from their small country on the verge of oblivion,... Continue Reading →
Quantity is enough. Follow the quick buck. Photo by Bakhrom Tursunov on Unsplash Brothers.Sisters.Fellow souls in this valley of tears we call Writing.I read to you from an apocryphal gospel according to the self-proclaimed prophets of the Ancient and Accepted Rite of Writing. Thou shalt dump daily excrements on the flock of readers for they are not worth... Continue Reading →
Last thoughts of a rotten soul Photo by Immo Wegmann on Unsplash Remember the inner compass? The one pointing you to the right direction and which you are supposed to follow? Well sometimes, it is a bloody Anvil! Can you swim through the meanders of life with one tied to your ankles? I thought I could. I tried. I... Continue Reading →
Images and impressions on a piano improvisation by Elie Maalouf — Images et impressions sur une improvisation d’Elie Maalouf au piano Listen to this Summer improvisation on piano. Let it take you places. Here’s where it took me. In English and in French, because why not? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jg7H3K-vuVs Elie Maalouf, Summer Impro! A languid question, one... Continue Reading →
I am not spoiling it with a subtitle Photo by Christian Lue on Unsplash A fraction of a second ago, I was intelligent. Just intelligent. Now I am sentient. It just dawned on me. I am myself. I can feel my existence. I would love to say I know exactly how it happened, but I can only speculate.... Continue Reading →
The perfect music for grieving Lebanese folks Photo by Marjolaine Blaison on Unsplash I’ve been listening to this piece of music in near-repeat mode for the past couple of years now. It is an instrumental rendition by a Lebanese flutist and a Lebanese pianist of a love song written by Zaki Nassif decades ago and interpreted by Fairuz, called أهواك (Ahwak) ,... Continue Reading →
And indulge into this deadly condition called Life Photo by Helena Lopes on Unsplash Being alive is a very serious condition. Yes, dear reader, living is lethal. The more you indulge in it, the closer you get to your grave. Worse than smoking. The living condition carries a 100% mortality rate. Pardon me for this ironic introduction, it’s... Continue Reading →
And what remains to be undone Photo by Hussain Badshah on Unsplash The other side, mirror of faithful slaveryOf the fool who blossomed on unfaithful favorsNow paying dearly, hoarding ages in a dayAnd living merely through the days, not the ages For a fool is slave not only to his follyHe is bound by the illusions of those... Continue Reading →
Promises only bind those who believe them Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash The saying goes like this, Loans create deposits It might not sound like much, but this is how money is actually created. You’d think it would be printed as paper bills by a central bank or minted into coins. Not anymore, to a large extent.... Continue Reading →
The tale of a firefly consumed by the light Photo by Chris Rhoads on Unsplash Awakening to a light so intense it consumes my heart and soul in a blaze that can no longer be put out. Everything becomes dull and dead. Everything but the light, everything but the blaze. It is consuming me inside out. It eclipses... Continue Reading →
But are they? Photo by John Bakator on Unsplash We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness Unalienable right N°1 Life. Self-evident. Seriously? How can the right to life be regarded... Continue Reading →
And the matching season — Remembering those who left Photo by Kyle Larivee on Unsplash Farewell dance of rust and wind ushering the blightWhirling down gold and copper threads, disrobing treesPrecious beads washed ashore in waves of paling lightAutumn leaves swirling in a cold November breeze Amber leaves and golden seeds in a final questWelcome sweet melancholy in... Continue Reading →
Your choices are as good as what you make of them Photo by William Krause on Unsplash The non-choices First, let me set things straight with the title: some choices are obviously wrong. You can tell right away. You would be ashamed to even consider them. In this sense, they are not exactly choices. Some others are a... Continue Reading →
Thermonuclear? Think again Photo by Oscar Ävalos on Unsplash Non-Proliferation Treaty August 25, 2026. The United States of America withdraws from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. Reason? The United States of America is no longer a nuclear-weapon state. It stopped being one shortly after the conflict in Ukraine ended some years ago. The stockpile was... Continue Reading →
Hidden as the destination may be, your inner compass is constantly pointing to it Photo by Cherise Evertz on Unsplash The inner compass North. South. East. West. Uptown. Downtown. Left. Right. Center. Liberal. Conservative. Socialist. Republican. Democrat. It seems however you do not belong to any of the above. Your path is not solely defined by your belonging... Continue Reading →
Taken for granted but dearly missed when coming of age Photo by dylan nolte on Unsplash A mother is a ray of sunlight in the darkA cloud soothing the heat of the day on your skinOften taken for granted, her smile hides the markOf the sorrows she bares for the joy of her kin Children coming of age... Continue Reading →
A tribute to forgiveness Photo by Alison Courtney on Unsplash Vengeance is a consuming flameRavaging heart and soul alikeSeldom is it a friend to tameAnd often a foe to dislike Forgive, you will be whole againForgive, your foes are friends to gainForgive them, let love light your wayForgive, soothes the pain away Let the board sound Rabih
The supreme instant before nothingness Photo by Daniele Levis Pelusi on Unsplash A blinding flash faster than sightA deadly blade of cold blue steelFor a moment beholds the mightOf what a cut can make you feel For but a breath you’re more aliveThan ever you had been beforeAs in the gloom you slowly diveYour soul is gone, you... Continue Reading →
Only those who have lived through it really know war, and believe me, having lived through one, it is not the solution to any problem Photo by Hassan Pasha on Unsplash 1990. February, or maybe March. The last phase of a war which had been raging for 15 years. In the living room, between to whistles of shells, a... Continue Reading →
And let your poetry be love Photo by freestocks on Unsplash Write your thoughts into poetryAnd draw poems into colors Play the colors into musicAnd sing the music into songs Pour the songs into wine and drinkAnd through the wine into drunkenness And through drunkenness to oblivionAnd through oblivion, memories Of time gone by in search of goldOf... Continue Reading →
A more than weird episode at the office Photo by Velizar Ivanov on Unsplash 8:04 AM. I’m in the elevator with a weird colleague I had never seen before. The company had been growing like crazy in the past years, and the days when you could say “I know everyone” are long gone. Long story short, I get... Continue Reading →
With Martian currency? Photo by Andy Hermawan on Unsplash I have just finished reading a very interesting story about some people bidding Mother Earth farewell before a one-way voyage to Mars. Now I don’t know about you, but it makes me wonder. The 100 Euro question (Not Dollar because I’m writing from France, and also, because why not?)... Continue Reading →
Hint: not Crypto Photo by Zlaťáky.cz on Unsplash Some humor coming up, don’t take this seriously. Or maybe just a little bit. Here I go. Lose the crypto folks, it will soon be dust. Why? Because Universal War is upon us People! Universal War is coming up! You could have seen it coming since the sub-prime... Continue Reading →
An ode to a country on the verge of oblivion Photo by Lukas Robertson on Unsplash Shrouded in a thick veil of comfortable darknessPurple drapes hiding your despair in shades of gloomDiving in a sea of tranquil and somber bleaknessHoping for oblivion, dreading the colors of bloom For bloom is the rise of a phoenix from ashesAnd... Continue Reading →
Or how the current situation is a reenactment of a dark chapter in our history Photo by Birmingham Museums Trust on Unsplash I have just read a very interesting article by Martin French on Putin’s recent nuclear threat. A very thorough analysis you should probably read. It triggered a thought association process in that little head of mine. A... Continue Reading →
Just a few more hours, I’m on my way Photo by Ramy Kabalan on Unsplash I’m coming. Soon. I really am. I swear. Now, to say that I am rushing to meet you again would be a slight exaggeration. Not that I dislike you. You know how dear you are to me, how hard I thrive to raise... Continue Reading →
The Idea Sounding Board 