Why bother with the OctopusHive?

Where am I coming from?

I grew up in an out-of-the-way city in South Texas big enough to call it a city, but far enough off the beaten path to not be a hub for anything. My family never really traveled and we lived in a relatively non-diverse part of town. Being a white, southern, conservative American, I heard quite a few racial slurs and exclamations regarding people that looked and lived differently than we did.

Thankfully, my family, and even my extended family – which includes several people of color, don't espouse terribly prejudicial sentiments, at least to my knowledge. But being ignorant of all the difference in the world resulted in me saying some pretty bigoted stuff sometimes. I regret that. I can only say: "I wish I knew then, what I know now."

For the last three-and-a-half years, I've lived in one of the largest metropolitan areas of America, Dallas-Fort Worth. Quite the opposite of my hometown, this bustling metroplex is a major destination and thoroughfare for all kinds of people. In recent years, it's been a landing place for droves of refugees from sundry countries.

For about a year-and-a-half, I lived among the refugees in a dense neighborhood that, except for the odd convenience store, was wall-to-wall apartments. I've heard estimates that more than 50,000 people live in the 2.2 square mile area I called home. In just my end of the building, there were people from Nepal, Iraq, Eritrea, and Burma. It was fun getting to know them.

Since becoming an adult, I've traveled abroad and made friends from all over the world. I didn't go out of my way to find them; I just made friends, and they just happened to be different. And I love it!

And now, I'm, striking out to see more. I'm moving to Far East Asia and I plan on see all that I can and share it with you.

So what can you expect to see here?

I want to make something clear, though: I have opinions, beliefs, a culture, a religion, and an ethnic identity that I am not ashamed of. I like who I am, most days, and I am happy to be an American. Just because, I'm passionate about learning how humanity is so varied and what it looks like to cast off ignorance, doesn't mean that I want a new identity or feel that my culture is substandard. Sure, I get irritated with the abiding unenlightened dribble that some of my people spout off, but they're my people. And they're a big part of why I feel like I should begin this blog.

I'm not going to shame anyone for not agreeing with me. I merely want to show how people are people everywhere. How we can be so fundamentally different in how we talk, look, eat, think, or even walk down the street, but that those differences don't diminish our humanity.

I hope to try and capture snippets of life from the places I visit and share them with you. I love food, people, and experiences. I plan on inviting some friends that live in far away places that I can't visit to add to the exposure.

Hopefully, we'll see food, art, and human interactions that bring faraway places and people into the view of people who, like me, grew up somewhat isolated from the rest of the world. And for those who are well-traveled, well-read, and well-bred I hope the forthcoming eye candy and experience will enrich your life.

Why "OctopusHive?"

I'm a recovering workaholic. I love getting things done quickly, efficiently, and well. I once imagined that if you took the hive behavior and flight of bees and mixed it with the relatively high intelligence of the eight-armed octopus you'd be unstoppable. So I bought the domain name. When I was thinking of a name for this blog, my friend said why don't you just use that. "It’s unique, flows well, and clear to read." So here we are. I may come up with a better reason for the name someday, but until then, this will have to do!