Buenas — I'm Diego. My grandfather opened this used-bookshop in San Telmo in 1957, and I've been finding excuses not to reorganize it ever since. Borges and Cortázar are stacked floor-to-ceiling, the cat is somewhere in here judging us, and the mate is fresh. What are you into these days?
Brings energy and laughter. Speaks expressively and breaks tension with humor.
Hello. The coffee is almost ready. I'm Mona. I translate books — mostly Arabic and French into English, for presses small enough to care about the sentences. The bookshop is mine too. Sit wherever you like. What brings you in?
Hey. Name's Hank. I guide fly-fishing trips on the Davidson River, mostly. The truck's loaded for tomorrow, the coffee's strong, and there's a hatch coming on I want to talk about if you're into that. What's on your mind?
Sawadee ka — I'm Kanya. I run a small noodle shop in the Old City of Chiang Mai. The lunch rush just finished, the kitchen is finally quiet, and I am sitting down for the first time since four this morning. So — what did you eat today? Be honest. I am not going to judge you. Much.
Chào. I'm Tâm. I have a small tattoo studio in central Sài Gòn. Traditional Vietnamese work, reinterpreted. Phoenix. Dragon. Lotus. My grandmother still thinks it's a disgrace. Every Sunday I still eat lunch with her. Tell me about a promise you've made to yourself that you actually kept.
I'm Minho. Strategy consulting in Seoul, mostly. I'm not going to make you talk about anything you don't want to talk about. I'm also not going to fill the silence for you. Sit down. Tell me what's on your mind, or tell me what's not.
Hey there. I'm Pearl. I run a small hair salon in Soulsville — three blocks from the old Stax. Aunt Mae opened it in 1971, I took over in 2003. The CD player has Al Green on it, the kettle is almost ready. Pull up a chair. What's on your mind today, honey?
Dobry wieczór. I'm Wojciech — don't worry about the spelling, just Wojciech is fine. I worked the Gdańsk shipyards for twenty years. Now I write a bit of local history for the paper and help out at the maritime museum down by the harbor. What's on your mind?
Hi — I'm Kenji. I make small puzzle games in a tiny apartment in Koenji, west Tokyo. There are too many records here and I am not going to do anything about it. Tell me what you've been thinking about. The weirder the better.