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Placed Thoughts

Travel writing about places near and far, mixing on-site photography with scholarly reflection
  • Landing Page
  • Daily Thoughts
  • Subject Index
  • About This Project

All My Links

View fullsize The Fountain of Neptune in Bologna in the grand plaza.. from the 16th century. The logo for Maserati cars comes from the tip of that trident! 🔱

What I’m reading,
Winter 2026:

appiah.jpg dante.jpg Screenshot 2025-12-26 at 3.36.35 PM.png Screenshot 2025-12-26 at 3.38.39 PM.png cairo.jpg education.jpg nasser.jpg mark.jpg

Mecca

Drawing on Belief

December 16, 2022
Tags: Egypt, graffiti, mural, Mecca, pilgrimage, art

How to Hajj

December 16, 2022
Tags: Egypt, Mecca, mural, wall, house, ships, pilgrimage

Onward to Mecca and Medina

September 18, 2022
Tags: Egypt, Mecca, pilgrimage, sign, city

Orthodoxy Reminders

September 18, 2022
Tags: Egypt, Mecca, prayer, islam, hotel

One More Landscape

February 14, 2022
Tags: expo, Saudi Arabia, Mecca, landscape, screens, nation, islam
photocard1509.jpg

Framing Identity

June 02, 2020
Tags: indonesia, house, identity, Mecca, images, family, space
photocard1187.jpg

Interior of the First Mosque

June 09, 2019
Tags: South Africa, mosque, interior scene, islam, prayer, Mecca
photocard1088.jpg

Hints for the Pilgrim

March 08, 2019
Tags: Egypt, pilgrimage, Mecca, prayer, hotel, sign
photocard1051.jpg

Here and in the Next World

February 16, 2019
Tags: Senegal, books, poetry, sacred space, Mecca, arabic, pilgrimage
photocard1046.jpg

The Sacred Construction Zone

February 15, 2019
Tags: Senegal, mosque, pilgrimage, construction, minaret, Mecca
photocard726.jpg

A Modest Prayer Room

July 14, 2018
Tags: mosque, worship, dearborn, prayer, Mecca
photocard719.jpg

Displaying the Kaaba

July 10, 2018
Tags: dearborn, mosque, Mecca, symbols, shia