(Featured posts)
I don't like how lists have pervaded the modern consciousness – how we think and present ideas have degraded into lists.
by Jack Fisher, Jan 07, 2008
But for a few of us, On the Road mattered. Perhaps I was rebelling against myself, against a Protestant guilt, a strict family culture, a Sartrean existential need to define myself through the reflections of others – or just a desperate need to break out.
by Jack Fisher, Aug 07, 2007
I keep dreaming about this idea. I had it in Zhongdian, where we were so close to Tibet and a couple of days away from Kashgar, the beginning of the Road. I had it in Turkey, at the other end, the eastern gate of the trail.
by Jack Fisher, Jul 14, 2007
I feel like this is it. Once we pass the late twenty-something stage – we're on the cusp here of settling, foundation-building, whatever — we're close to figuring it out... but once we pass this test, that's it. Easy sailing.
by Jack Fisher, Jul 10, 2007
And like tired sadhus under the bodhi tree, we scrambled passed past present future to that jibber-jabber, frightening, and gorgeous hollow where understanding came through silence and strings became waves...
by Jack Fisher, Jan 16, 2007
I suppose there is the need to have serenity is more urgent when suffering seems closest at hand. I'm not surprised that this is the origins of the philosophy of detachment, or karma, samsara, dharma and guans.
by Jack Fisher, Nov 15, 2006
Or maybe we think interestingness comes from the interests themselves. I may not be into photography that much, but if I keep up with the photography blogs and social networks and e-mags, it can seem like that I really am into photography.
by Jack Fisher, Oct 18, 2006
And then again, there are times like when I met Carmine, Tan, and Natalie, and in a brief stretch of a day, we'd blazed past the usual muddled interactions of polite traveler-talk and sped up time to the point where it feels like we've known each other for ages.
by Jack Fisher, Sep 04, 2006
It's been awesome to have Joe come out – and for three weeks! – cause I think Thailand is one of those countries where there are so many touristy things to do that having a buddy along for the ride makes it all the better. That and he's bailed me out a couple of times.
by Jack Fisher, Aug 28, 2006
Traffic jams in Asia mean: meandering cows, impatient goats, scared chickens, apathetic ducks (and geese), snooty yaks, curious water buffaloes, noisy sheep, and the occasional grunting snorting sneezing wholly pleasantly pleased with themselves - pigs.
by Jack Fisher, Aug 25, 2006
Well, finding transportation is like embarking on a quest to find a lost relic. You have to have faith that a way exists, but you can't shake the feeling that maybe it's all a myth, shrouded in local lore and legend.
by Jack Fisher, Jul 12, 2006
The experiences have been varied, but they seem to further exaggerate my identity rather than to change or alter in any significant ways. I still have a penchant for naiveté, for childish humor, and for drama. I am traveling because it is an extension of who I am now, not who I will be.
by Jack Fisher, Jul 12, 2006
After I've had some time to think about it, there are a lot of scenarios in my head. What ifs scenarios, hindsight projecting Matrixed views, psychological musings that were never there, and not just a little bit of self pity.
by Jack Fisher, May 25, 2006
I was lost. I had covered about 8 kilometers. "Shit, Fish," I told myself, "Climbing up that wall next to that brook was a brilliant idea. That wasn't a path, you idiot."
by Jack Fisher, May 15, 2006
Tropical thunderstorms are gorgeous, especially after a day scorched by the spinning sun. It hit me as I watched the rain from the Temerloh bus station, waiting to connect to Jeremut, that I've got my travel mojo back.
by Jack Fisher, May 11, 2006
Bought a tom yum soup (second of the day) and suddenly God pops into my head. He wasn't decked out in a beard today... just sort of a white blob.
by Jack Fisher, May 10, 2006
Nowadays? I'll just mention yesterday. Yesterday, my achievement was a green Thai curry.
by Jack Fisher, May 02, 2006
Ha Giang was going to be an extended weekend away from Hanoi for Vinny and I. Roads that hugged the mountains. Motorbiking up above clouds. Verdant valleys.
by Jack Fisher, May 02, 2006
Imagine a behemoth, something like a hippo or a walrus, or a sea lion, in his full glory, his massive weight sagging into the ground beneath, his movements lethargic under the midday sun.
by Jack Fisher, Apr 27, 2006
Know your enemy, says Sun Tzu, and in a Vietnamese market, it's a battleground where the test of wills, craftiness, and determination come into play. I have yet to know my enemy.
by Jack Fisher, Mar 15, 2006
There is a little girl practicing her violin nearby. The notes waft out into the alleyway from above. I think it's Mozart's Concerto in G major.
by Jack Fisher, Feb 07, 2006
I've been hesitant to write anything thus far about Vietnam, because I don't quite have anything coherent to say about it – yet. It's infuriatingly disappointing but so tantalizing with potential and sparkling with moments of brilliance all at once.
by Jack Fisher, Jan 21, 2006
Beijing is grand in the largest of ways and humble in the smallest of ways. Like an aging actress who refuses to bow out, the city hovers between desperate modernity and the crass awkward displays of a bumbling sycophant.
by Jack Fisher, Jan 05, 2006
I'm turning reminiscent as New York fades from view. So to borrow from NY Metro, I've made my top 2 reasons of why I love New York.
by Jack Fisher, Dec 22, 2005
It's a brilliant model, the porn industry. Get your consumers addicted to the freebies like Pictures of the Day and 30 second clips and keep them coming back for more
by Jack Fisher, Oct 29, 2005
Took the subway. It was raining, a mad searing rain. Rain popping off the sidewalk like machine gun fire rattling. Rain pouring down through the pavement cracks onto the train tracks – like leaky faucets scattered through the underground.
by Jack Fisher, Oct 11, 2005
It was such an exhilarating afternoon, one that made me want to belt out a throaty hoot as the promise of autumn hit me in the jaw. The trees bent to the sidewalks as their creased leaves tugged and pulled the graying branches towards the ground in their annual journey to dirt and roots.
by Jack Fisher, Sep 30, 2005
I went to Philadelphia this Saturday. Decided to go to the Live 8 concert. Claudia joined me stumbling onto East Broadway at 6:45 am in the gray morning
by Jack Fisher, Jul 02, 2005
