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Twosday, February 22, 2022

If you donated to my GoFundMe two years ago, your name and a thank you note is in the appreciation section of my sci-fi/coming of age novella, RIGIL. Guess what I’ll do this time if you got just two bucs, two day…?

First chance…

Let’s have some wordplay, wordflow fun, because Two-day is Twos-day. My favorite day of the week because I felt like it.

I’m in Istanbul, Turkey, writing so much, I can’t keep up with sharing photos and videos because I’m between two books, article writing, and soon editing for The Black Estate Magazine’s Spring Issue.

Go subscribe to that, and now! Especially my Portland family and friends.

I feel like my writing comes off as long Facebook posts.

Why do people hate on TikTok? My feed is full of inspirational speakers, spiritual motivators, quantum physics lessons, stuff about consciousness, boxing, basketball, and world history. I see very few viral videos and stupid people.

Besides the flat-earthers.

Who I actually pay attention to because through many rabbit holes of research, not one of them has convinced me we’re on an ice-cream cone.

Did you know that those who’re asleep, don’t see those who are woke?

Ok, bye bye.

Before touching down at Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen International Airport, I felt something, like a hunch. It’s hard to explain through TheDigest. I planned a weekend here but the feeling I felt grew. Long story short, I cancelled my plans for Mardin, Turkey, and decided to settle in a decent neighborhood here in Istanbul.

Two days ago I met a friend. She tells me this place is magical.

Two days later, today, the sun’s shinning through my [current] apartment window, as views of the Anatolian Side of Istanbul is canvased by sunbeams. Which are the same sunbeams I saw in Santorini.

Like this.

And those beautiful triangular anticrepuscular sunrays is one of the many theories around what initiated constructing the pyramids.

Before I go run, I’ll conclude with this story.

A young boy stares at me the entire time I’m getting situated at the check-in counter for Pegasus Airlines. A cheap airline. He watches me show a bit of frustration after learning I’d be paying 100 euros for not only extra baggage, but the extra kilograms.

I get through security and run into the boy while ordering a salad. He shouts, “Hey, my boy, hello, it’s you!”

And so I say, “What’s up,” and chuck two fingers at him. Peace.

I gotta’ eat.

Sitting at the gate waiting to board, the boy walks up to me, shy and compelled, asking, “Hey, I just gotta ask, and I’m sorry to bother you, but are you American?”

I tell him, “yes, I am.”

His eyes brighten up just as mine does when I see an airplane. Because I like airplanes.

In our boy boy conversation, he tells me he’s never met or seen an American, but knows soo much about the US because of TikTok and YouTube.

He’s from Iran. So their social media platforms are different. It was interesting the way he explained it to me. I’ll write about that later.

While conversing with him, a sixth grader, I feel people staring, then I see people watching. I ask the boy where’s his parents and they were right there, silent. They didn’t speak English so I could only say hi.

When we were boarding, the boy never stopped staring. At one point during the flight he turns around from his seat to search for me.

He waves. And I solute him.

No, not you, flight attendant…

Through passport patrol in Istanbul we cross five times. The line was long. Each time we pass he says, “Hi, my boy, it’s you again…”

I’m leaving out so much in this story, including two long conversations I had with a guy from Spain and a lady from London, who suggests I visit Dubai.

What’s up Alfredo.

What’s up, the doctor from the UK, whose husband is also a doctor.

My sister’s a doctor. She’s got two boy boys.

The moral of the story with the boy, as one TikTok user suggested to a famous person I won’t mention, is that for every ten likes, you got 100 viewers.

Drop that two below 🙂

-Budd