Orientalist and Autistic

Recently I’ve gotten interested in reading blogs from various parts of the Middle East. Why? I don’t know. It’s certainly not any sort of political interest - yesterday I read something about “Bush, Cheney, and Rice” and my first thought was a Homer-esque, “Yummm, rice.” Maybe at heart I’m just an old-fashioned Orientalist who likes reading about people’s exotic, fascinating lives (thank you, Kim Mills). Some of my new favorites are:

- Saudi Jeans - life and times of a university student in Riyadh
- The Religious Police - if I were funny, this man has the sense of humor I'd want
- Baghdad Burning - a blog so good, it was apparently turned into a book
- A Star from Mosul - jury still out, I just started reading this one
- Tell Me a Secret - I don't like the music, but incredible stories
- Anoniblog - a website which explains how to blog anonymously

It’s scary to think that there are still places on earth where something you write might get you thrown in jail, beaten, or killed. Actually, even though my logical brain knows this is true, the whitebread solid-middle-class American part of me can’t really wrap my head around it. Even as I was writing, “it’s scary to think blah blah blah”, I felt more “this is how I should feel” than “yes, it is truly scary and I do in fact feel sorrowful for people who are oppressed in this way.” Expected emotion rather than actual. That’s autistic tendencies, I suppose. It’s just words. I suppose I can say this because of my complete lack of talent with (or even control over) them.