Let’s play a little detective/sleuthing game.
Examine this list of names:
Doria Aura, Mitzi Laquanda, Damien Louis, Deon Cantrell, Janna Loise, Ami Despina, Nobuko Stephen, Towanda Bronwyn, Farah Drema.
OK, what do they have in common? Or to put it another way, what do those names say to you?

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Paris seems to be about eating as much as anything. Sure, culture, history, fashion, ideas, government, all those matter. But most of them seem to amplified or explained or resolved … over a slow, leisurely meal.
I am no gourmand.  But I know what I like, and this is what I look forward to eating when […]

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My newspaper, The National, here in Abu Dhabi, has one of those “most-read” lists on its website. One for each department. News. Business.
Sports.
These lists are handy, whatever the news outlet. It allows you to discover quickly which stories are getting clicked on most often, and lets you catch up to stuff you might not […]

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Some people can’t pass a mirror without taking a glance. Some of us like to look at old photos, when we were younger and other people were still around.
Those are big topics.
This is a small pleasure that I would like to share with you. A look back.

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Today, May 23, is World Turtle Day. But I suppose most of you already knew that.
Turtles rank high on the list of most-huggable animals. Though you really wouldn’t want to, and the turtles will give you a pass, as well. The little ones that the senior citizens among us remember buying to live (albeit briefly) […]

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Did I mention this the other day? We have reached the time of year when we don’t really look at the weather report anymore.
It’s just going to be degrees of “really hot.” Don’t need some national weather service for that. Hey, the high today, 104. Down from 106. That changes how I will approach the […]

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Time for a list!
I didn’t do a survey on this. This is a hunch sorta thing.
Who are the 10 best-known active American athletes in … the United Arab Emirates?
Who travels? Who rates? Who stirs interest?
Who plays a sport that a country that is mostly Indians, Pakistanis, Arabs, Filipinos and Britons (in that order) … might […]

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Give me another six months, and I’ll come up with 10 more.
10. Indian food. India has 1.1 billion people. It has all sorts of cuisine. I do believe we have ‘em all here, somewhere in town. Indian has replaced Mexican, in my universe.
9. Trash removal. Garbage. Rubbish, as the Brits would say. Every street has […]

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What’s hot in sports, right now, on the shores of the Arabian Gulf?
I knew you were dying to know. And that is where this list comes in.
This is a purely subjective list … based on following media coverage here in the United Arab Emirates, and on conversations with local residents (as well as observing what […]

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A reality of blogging: It’s bloody difficult to do one item a day, every day, for two blogs. And hold a full-time job. Try it sometime, and a year later let me know how it’s going.
The second blog is my quixotic World Cup Countdown blog. And part of that deal is a promise to write […]

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