At night, for more than a week, I heard their sounds outside. Laughter mostly. Music occasionally. Fortunately, they have always been considerate about keeping the decibel level down for the old folks in the neighborhood. You know. Those of us over the age of 20. And they were content, sitting around the fire pit, often […]
Argyles
The clothes make the teen (man) There was the suspender phase. And the bow-tie phase. And the tie-dye phase (which has yet to end). Ripped jeans? Ever in fashion. Likewise, the torn and worn leather jacket. Apparently, one has moved on to a taste for preppy classics: neat sweaters (to my relief) and strangely, argyle […]
Giving Shape to Invisibility
Giving shape to invisibility. I plucked those evocative words from a writer I’ve recently discovered, Wolf Pascoe at Just Add Father, and the reference comes from this: When I was eight, my father died suddenly. My mother never remarried. As a result, a good part of my life has been defined by what was missing. […]
Essentials: Anything Goes in the Name of Art?
Health + Family + Relationship + Work. Essential to a good life, don’t you think? Of course, you may wish to rearrange the sequence to reflect your circumstances or values. Some of you may add in “faith” or spiritual inclination. As for myself, I would include a roof overhead and food on the table, without […]
Dental Dam(n) and Cool Whip
Your eyelids are swollen shut and you’re trying to pry them open and feeling for your glasses which, oddly, aren’t in the place where you put them every damn night but somehow they’ve gone AWOL when you’re running late and you can’t see anyway because (a) you can’t find your glasses and (b) your eyelids […]
Fiction
Here are the moments as I live them: Sheets of freezing rain are battering the windows. The chill is bone numbing and I cannot find its source. The thermostat is mysteriously broken again and I flick it, to no avail. As for the noises I was hearing, for now, they’ve stilled. It’s not yet daybreak, […]
01-01-11
Come on. It’s a cool number, isn’t it? 01-01-11? I love when dates dive into delicious and satisfying strings, when digits fall into obsequious and obedient order, when they arrange themselves into a poetic pattern that pleases me. Who doesn’t notice the tidy affectation of 1-1-11? Or the distinct delight that comes at certain hours […]
Open to the Future
It’s been quite a year. On every dimension that I value or that keeps this household afloat – emotionally, physically, financially – I will say it again: it’s been quite a year. Last year I dared to write a letter to the new decade, imploring the universe to grant a bit more light. This year […]
Ordinary Days
Aren’t we a culture that professes to value individuals? A society that goes wild over the stand-out: exceptional performance, particular charm, something – anything – distinctive? And don’t we oo and ah over beauty? And yet. The distinctions we seek – in professions and in personal style – are increasingly conventional. As for beauty, who […]
People Pleasing, Big Bellies, Weird Facts
What better time of year for a story of a ho ho ho big belly? No – I’m not referring to Santa Claus, Saint Nick, or any other variation of bearded man in a red suit. However, while researching sneezing the other day, I ran into the following juicy tidbit. Thank you Guinness Book of […]