Dears, David’s friend Natalie is having a birthday party today. She lives just a few minutes and buildings away, so we walked over. On the way, I thought that which seems normal to us — crossing desert sand in the middle of the city — would make a very telling photo essay. So, here’s the trip…

Dears, I’m gonna need a diplomat or an attache because I’m in the midst of a very strange cold war. Perhaps it’s more of a tepid war. Actually, the temperature of this conflict depends upon whose side you are on. Hence the need for an intermediary. In one corner we have NSB — a hotblooded American woman whose blood has…

Dears, The mood in me, and the UAE, has been grim since the terrorist attacks in Paris — which came on the heels of a tragic targeted murder here last month, among many other incidents around the globe. During an emotional lunch break this afternoon, my Muslim workmates spent a long time talking, both loudly and ruefully,…