At the entrance of the fallen obelisk,the Silver Knights were under siege:an electric cloud creature had wandered inshocking the party with its tentacle attacks.Fire, slash, shoot, whack, stab, hack—the party valiantly chipped away at the awesome armor of the floating foe.Elre summoned his magical stallionand challenged the monster by chargingwhile Adoril cast a spell to deliver… Continue reading “Silver Knights and the Search for the Lost Orb”: A Krendiri Battle Poem
Author: Conan Kmiecik
Top 10 Posts from the Past Two Years
The other day, as I was preparing a new post for my blog, I noticed that WordPress had congratulated me on 100 blog posts. 100 posts? Seems like only yesterday that I arrived in Doha and started writing my original blog, My Days in Doha. In recognition of my 100 posts milestone, I thought that… Continue reading Top 10 Posts from the Past Two Years
Experiments with Cinemagraphs
Only photography has been able to divide human life into a series of moments, each of them has the value of a complete existence.Eadweard Muybridge Museum of Islamic Art and West Bay at night (Doha, Qatar) Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall (Taipei, Taiwan) Overlook at Kenting National Park Forest (Kenting, Taiwan) Dusk at Baisha Beach (Hengchun,… Continue reading Experiments with Cinemagraphs
Song and Dance in Doha
While thinking about what to publish for this week's blog post, by happenstance, I was looking through the few videos that I had saved in Google Photos. It then occurred to me to curate a few of these videos and share them. So, after upgrading my WordPress account, once again, I was able to upload… Continue reading Song and Dance in Doha
The Unceasing Horizon
Who wept on the breast of the other?Only the wet shirt knows the answer Abboud al Jabiri "At the Door of a Lonely Heart" One of the first things to gowas the belief that my sons would always sleep underneath the same roof as me—the divorce dashed me of that delusion. After my weekends with them,as… Continue reading The Unceasing Horizon
My Days in Taiwan (Part 4)
The first part of my trip to Taiwan was spent in Taipei with my friends from grad school, Simon and Amanda, and Becky, Amanda's mother. The last part of my trip was spent with a former student, Ken Ning, whom I advised while working at my previous institution of employment in the US. Ken also… Continue reading My Days in Taiwan (Part 4)
My Days in Taiwan (Part 3)
you had better not appear -you, superfluous moonthe sky already is too crowdedtruth is I'd rather be aloneon the nightest nightthe night without a starlooking at you looking at mewe don't really exist [cont.] everything can and cannot be seenon a night like thiswhat I'm touching is not you -I can almost feel- is that… Continue reading My Days in Taiwan (Part 3)
My Days in Taiwan (Part 2)
Attachment is the source of all suffering.Buddha During the third day of my trip to Taiwan, I continued to spend time with Amanda, Simon, and Becky (Amanda's mother). Like I mentioned in my previous blog post, Amanda and Simon are my old friends from graduate school. They are leaving Taiwan on June 14th in order… Continue reading My Days in Taiwan (Part 2)
My Days in Taiwan (Part 1)
Located off the southeastern coast of China, Taiwan is about the same size as Belgium and was named Formosa Island by Portuguese explorers in the 16th century due to its stunning natural beauty. [...] Due to its historical mixture of influences, Taiwan has its own distinct culture."23 reasons why you should book your next trip to… Continue reading My Days in Taiwan (Part 1)
Photos from Souq Waqif
Until land was reclaimed along Doha's waterfront in the 1970s, the waters lapped at the entrance to Souq Waqif, where traders were just as likely to arrive by boat as by camel. The first semi-permanent shops here were built around 250 years ago. Before that, vendors stood and sold their wares from makeshift stalls, as… Continue reading Photos from Souq Waqif









