Essays & Opinion

Scrawl Wars in a Virtual Land

Two and a half years ago, I started Halfthoughts by drawing on a metaphor. I compared blogging to cave art. In both...

Leak the Truth, but not Speak the Truth?

For some people, the internet does not exist. For others, the internet is not a free, anarchistic haven but is instead carefully policed...

When Words Fail

The limits of language might, on first consideration, seem a curious topic to write about. But then, like all topics, if not discussed...

Bonkers Bond Bloodshed

Imagine the scene. You have had a hard enough day already, captured by the enemy after karate chopping and shooting just about as...

21st Century Etiquette

Time was that if you wanted a manual for manners, you simply turned to a guide from Debrett's. With the rise of interweb...

Friendships from Afar

I have a friend, named Lucinda. She is 11,639 kilometres (7,232 miles) away from me. Fourteen years ago, we met in a...

Into the Blue with the Terminal Blues

Wait, hurry up, who are you? Belt off, hurry up, wait. There was a time when air travel was associated with glamour;...

After The Voting Was Done

In celebration of the birth of a new style of British politics, and the overdue education of the British voter about how their constitution...

The Ballad of Election Night

In memory of Britain's anachronistic electoral system, which hopefully died on May 6, the evening of the 2010 General Election. I. He did not wear his...

The Real Bigot is Brown

Move on. Everyone makes a mistake. Nobody is perfect. There are three phrases you will not hear Peter Mandelson, Harriet Harman,...

Souled Out

Congratulations to GameStation, high street and online retailers of computer games, for knowing how to spot a bargain. It seems most of us...

Art + Data = Darta?

I arrived fifteen minutes late to the V&A's Decode exhibition. As ever, my friend Meng Ni Beh was already there, patiently waiting for...

About Halfthoughts

This website showcases content created by Eric Priezkalns, who also uses the pen name Ray Blank when writing science fiction. It includes stories, essays, poems, short films and audio recordings.