My teammates and I usually say a prayer before each tournament begins. We stand in a circle in which one of us leads the prayer, after which we say amen or amin under our breaths. (Seeing my Muslim and Christian teammates praying in the same circle is quite a remarkable thing.) Sometimes I find this...

I take Literature (in English) in school, and it’s supposed to be one of the more flexible subjects in our education system. At this point, we’re studying the poem The Way Things Are by Roger McGough, and that got me thinking about creativity—but that’s a separate story altogether. We’re pretty much free to write whatever...

I joined a storytelling competition when I was in primary school. The story I chose wasn’t particularly spectacular—it was one of Aesop’s fables, and all I can remember about it was that it involved a man, his axe, and his reflection in a river. I remember seeing the other participants dressed up as trees and...

In one of my dreams, I could move in air. I was propelled by an upward trajectory movement that was controlled by my mind. No wings or feathers. Clean and simple, and I wonder if it has anything to do with being a minimalist. I could go up or down if I wanted to—when I...

Frankly, I find James Franco to be quite fascinating. For Franco-newbies, he is largely known as accomplished actor, having starred in films such as James Dean, Spider-Man (all three!), The Pineapple Express, Danny Boyle’s 127 Hours—a role for which he garnered an Academy Award nomination—and most recently, Rise of the Planet of the Apes. But...