Discourse: source of inspiration

But this point made it home for me: where does one get inspired? And not just where, but when? I thought about it a little bit...

Discourse: stages of exhaustion

For all those of you, dear readers, that dwell in the northern hemisphere, the spring is rolling in hard, with sun, warmth and budding nature. Yet something opposite of wake-up happens, perhaps not to all, but to some of you for sure: exhaustions. The inexplicable wish to stay in, curl up and hibernate, no matter …

Discourse: in freedom, vigilance

In light of the recent Cambridge Analytica and Facebook case, my head is filled with a lot of thoughts, dear reader, that give me pause. The first one being: do we really need to watch Black Mirror show, or can we just turn on the news? Then comes annoyance: do I really have to delete …

Discourse: spirit animals

A bear, a crow and a coyote come into a bar. There's an otter behind the bar serving drinks to a wolf. Bear orders a glass of Omega 3 oil, breaks the glass and licks it off the counter. A crow orders a glass of water, but starts pecking and splashing it around, earning an …

Discourse: 100 years and optimism

As you may not know, dear reader, I come from a small country in eastern Europe with a long and relative history of medieval and renaissance greatness and a sad series of downfalls. Regardless of brutal oppressions, social and mental castrations and our figurative teeth removal, we as a nation managed to survive, keep our …

Discourse: on writing fantasy

So, dear readers, as most of you know, Fabula Nox is often in the business of writing fiction in fantasy setting. We have some characters, we have a world, we have situations and give you snippets into that world every now and then. I have recently been thinking of the writing itself, the process behind …

Discourse: Attack on Humanism, 2018 edition

First things first, definitions - so we would all be on the same page. Humanism is defined as "a philosophical and ethical stance that emphasises the value and agency of human beings, individually and collectively, and generally prefers critical thinking and evidence (rationalism and empiricism) over acceptance of dogma or superstition." (Nicolas Walter Humanism – What's in …

Tale of Self-improvement: Books

If there were ever any doubts, dear reader, I am, in fact, a book fiend. I read something all the time and times in my life where I haven't been reading something were some of the darkest moments. My rule of life is simple: if I'm reading, I'm ok. Books enrich me in the same …

Tales of Photography: The Meaning

This piece is a follow-up to the previous entry about photography and the importance of content. Because Fabula Nox has two aspects to it - photography and creative writing - I've noticed a certain, and often overlooked, relationship between the content of the picture and its meaning. So the saying goes that a picture's worth a …

Tales of Travel: Istanbul (I): Fearless discourse on freedom and equality

I’ve been traveling again, this time to a place that I can safely now cross off my bucket list: Istanbul. Former Constantinople, Constantinya, the Golden Horn and many other names this city had over the centuries. There’s undoubtedly a sort of energy here, something deep, old and pounding, like a heart under your feet that …