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Remember when you first heard that Coke actually had cocaine in it, in the early days of i's existence? Well, that would account for the addiction that people had to it then, but what about now? What's my excuse? I have been drinking this stuff like water lately! I can drink about 5 cans a day. Some of my friends can drink even more! I feel like I should stop but I can't. Well, I'm off to fill my glass full of this highly addictive drink, good day!
Living in Transit: The Thinkers of a World in Turmoil
War looms over Europe, uncertainty seeps into everyday life, and the weight of history presses upon the present. The world is burning, and yet—there are those who seek understanding, those who bury themselves in the quiet refuge of books, the dim glow of libraries, the solitude of knowledge.
This series captures the introspective minds of young academic women—readers, thinkers, seekers. They wander through old university halls, their fingers tracing the spines of forgotten books, pulling out volumes of poetry, philosophy, and psychology. They drink coffee, they drink tea, they stay up late with ink-stained fingers, trying to decipher the world through words.
They turn to Simone Weil for moral clarity, Hannah Arendt for political insight, Rilke for existential wisdom. They read Baudrillard to untangle the illusions of modernity, Byung-Chul Han to understand society’s exhaustion, Camus to grasp the absurdity of it all. They devour Celan’s poetry, searching for beauty in catastrophe.
But they do not just read—they reflect, they question, they write. Their world is one of quiet resistance, an intellectual sanctuary amidst the chaos. In their solitude, they are not alone. Across time, across history, across the pages they turn, they are in conversation with those who, too, have sought meaning in troubled times.
This is a series about thought in transit—about seeking, reading, questioning, about the relentless pursuit of knowledge when the world feels on the brink.
Where the Thinkers Go
They gather where the dust has settled,
where books whisper in the hush of halls.
Pages thin as breath, torn at the edges,
cradling centuries of questions.
They drink coffee like it’s ink,
trace words like constellations,
follow Rilke into the dusk,
where solitude hums softly in the dark.
Outside, the world is fraying—
war threading through the seams of cities,
the weight of history pressing forward.
Inside, they turn pages, searching
for answers, for solace, for fire.
And somewhere between the lines,
between time-stained margins and fading ink,
they find the ghosts of others who
once sought, once wondered, once read—
and they do not feel alone.
Three Haikus
Night falls on paper,
books stacked like silent towers,
thoughts burn in the dark.
Tea cools in the cup,
a poem lingers on lips,
war rumbles beyond.
Footsteps in silence,
the scent of old ink and dust,
pages turn like ghosts.
ooOOOoo
Reading as Resistance
These young women do not read passively. They underline, they take notes, they write in the margins. They challenge the texts and themselves. They read because the world demands it of them—because, in a time of conflict and uncertainty, thought itself is an act of resistance.
Their books are worn, their pages stained with coffee, their minds alive with the urgency of understanding.
1. Political Thought, Society & Liberation
Essays, theory and critique on democracy, power and resistance.
Chantal Mouffe – For a Left Populism (rethinking democracy through radical left-wing populism)
Nancy Fraser – Cannibal Capitalism (an urgent critique of capitalism’s role in the destruction of democracy, the planet, and social justice)
Étienne Balibar – Citizenship (rethinking the idea of citizenship in an era of migration and inequality)
Silvia Federici – Caliban and the Witch (a feminist Marxist analysis of capitalism and gender oppression)
Didier Eribon – Returning to Reims (a deeply personal sociological reflection on class and identity in contemporary Europe)
Antonio Negri & Michael Hardt – Empire (rethinking global capitalism and resistance from a leftist perspective)
Thomas Piketty – Capital and Ideology (a profound analysis of wealth distribution, inequality, and the future of economic justice)
Mark Fisher – Capitalist Realism (on why it’s easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism)
2. Feminist & Queer Theory, Gender & Body Politics
Texts that redefine identity, gender, and liberation in the 21st century.
Paul B. Preciado – Testo Junkie (an autobiographical, philosophical essay on gender, hormones, and biopolitics)
Judith Butler – The Force of Nonviolence (rethinking ethics and resistance beyond violence)
Virginie Despentes – King Kong Theory (a raw and radical take on sex, power, and feminism)
Amia Srinivasan – The Right to Sex (rethinking sex, power, and feminism for a new generation)
Laurent de Sutter – Narcocapitalism (on how capitalism exploits our bodies, desires, and emotions)
Sara Ahmed – Living a Feminist Life (a deeply personal and political exploration of what it means to be feminist today)
3. Literature & Poetry of Resistance, Liberation & Exile
European novels, poetry and literature that embrace freedom, revolution, and identity.
Annie Ernaux – The Years (a groundbreaking memoir that blends personal and collective history, feminism, and social change)
Olga Tokarczuk – The Books of Jacob (an epic novel about alternative histories, belief systems, and European identity)
Édouard Louis – Who Killed My Father (a deeply political and personal exploration of class struggle and masculinity)
Bernardine Evaristo – Girl, Woman, Other (a polyphonic novel on race, gender, and identity in contemporary Europe)
Maggie Nelson (though American, widely read in European academia) – On Freedom: Four Songs of Care and Constraint (a poetic, intellectual meditation on freedom and constraint)
BenjamÃn Labatut – When We Cease to Understand the World (a deeply philosophical novel on science, war, and moral responsibility)
Michel Houellebecq – Submission (controversial but widely read as a dystopian critique of political passivity in Europe)
4. Ecology, Anti-Capitalism & Posthumanism
Texts that explore the intersections of nature, economics, and radical change.
Bruno Latour – Down to Earth: Politics in the New Climatic Regime (rethinking ecology and politics in a world of climate crisis)
Andreas Malm – How to Blow Up a Pipeline (on the ethics of radical environmental resistance)
Emanuele Coccia – The Life of Plants: A Metaphysics of Mixture (rethinking human and non-human coexistence)
Isabelle Stengers – Another Science is Possible (rethinking knowledge and resistance in an era of corporate science)
Kate Raworth – Doughnut Economics (rethinking economic models for social and ecological justice)
Donna Haraway – Staying with the Trouble (rethinking coexistence and posthumanist futures)
The Future of Thought
These are not just books; they are weapons, tools, compasses. These women read not for escapism, but for resistance. In a time of political upheaval, climate catastrophe, and rising authoritarianism, they seek alternative visions, radical possibilities, and new ways of imagining the world.
Their books are annotated, their margins filled with questions, their reading lists always expanding. Knowledge is not just power—it is revolution.
There's a myth that koalas don't need to drink water, they get all their nutritional needs from gum leaves. That may be the case normally, but during prolonged drought last year the leaves were so dry that this koala descended from a tree and climbed into this storm water drain near my work, to get to the trickle of water.
Luckily it was so dry there was no chance of a flash flood.
Hyper Japan isn't strictly a food and drink festival, but Tasting Britain keeps getting reinvited due to all the delicious food and drink on offer. Also we seem to be getting all âculturalâ these days. Anyway, for those who don't know stuff about Hyper Japan, it's probably the UK's biggest Japanese culture festival. Three days of anime, J-Pop gigs, sake tastings, people dressed as Naruto, video gaming, martial arts demos, sushi and me and my friends (which is not actually an âattraction' but I'd like to think we're attractive anyway).
Hyper Japan started in 2012, and by its own description is 'curated by local Japanese people, with the intent of introducing the âeclecticâ Japan to the UK'. As of this year (I think), has been held at the O2 Arena in Canary Wharf. However, what youâre looking at here, Hyper Japanâs Christmas Market, is a little different. Christmas themed, for a start - visitors are invited to âenjoy a Tokyo shopping experienceâ - and it really is more retail oriented. The atmosphere is vibrant, the weather is cold, the people are kawaiiiiiiiiiiiiii and the atmosphere isâ¦atmospheric (*dramatic music*).
Highlights from the event this year included a Kawaiicore band (this exists) called Lady Baby making their European debut. And The Eat-Japan Sushi Awards 2015 - supposedly the longest running sushi competition. This competition sees five sushi chefs (each repping their respective restaurant) taste testing various unique sushi creations on a willing (600 strong) audience, and whoever wins the popular vote wins the competition. 2013âs Sushi Awards winner, Yoshihiro Motohashi, was running the show at this yearâs Sushi Bar - serving up his award winning âHyper Rollâ (oh baby wanna see my Hyper Roll?). This yearâs winner? Henryanto Aloysius of Genji - and his 'Spicy Crunch sushi'.
Also good to see: interactive demonstrations and workshops such as Ippudo's ramen cooking session. And I must also mention the inaugural Sake Cocktail Awards (which you can see some pictures of the heats for). We got to try some of
Marco Rosina of Chotto Matteâs Chotto Jelly cocktail (Saturday), Marie Ariga (of Wazen)âs âOne Piece' and a third one, (a name I did not get! Turns out Marco won that round but I honestly believe the aforementioned third one was the true winner here (just take my word for it - thatâs the one with the guy pouring what looks like yoghurtâ¦. delicious yoghurt). All in all, Japanese culture is alternatively baffling, fun and amazing - and the Eat Japan food court never fails to deliver (on variety in the very least!). We will most certainly be back - arigato...
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Monday
December 27, 2010
Went out for a drink at Shangrila hotel. The view from the last floor is really amazing. But the bad thing is that it was a rainy cloudy day. Another day I'll go back again (and with a bit more money).