Near where I live, a row of Japanese cherry blossom trees is thriving along the same line where the Wall once used to be. When the Wall came down, the people of Japan got so invested in the events in Europe that they donated hundreds of their favorite trees to the reunited people of Germany. These trees were then planted along the former inner-city border. Today, on a sunny afternoon, the lush life of the metropolis is bustling under them.

I started this blog to write about the life that takes place and flourishes where there used to be (or might once be) walls, borders, barbed wire, or barriers of thought. It is about the achievements of the public sphere, about what enables freedom of speech, expression, and thought, or freedom of movement in the digital and non-digital space. With a critical sense, I will unearth, tell, or re-tell all sorts of stories and histories with a cosmopolitan purpose.

This blog is an anthology – a collection of flowers – embracing occasional bloomers, enjoying cherry pit spitting with minimum distance and maximum reach.