One morning, seemingly out of the blue, I thought, I should call a colleague I have not contacted in months. I should call her now. I did. She said, so funny you should call, I was just thinking about you and wanted to ask you something important. I read a memo at work that mentioned […]
Author Archive
Knitting a muffler
I should have cleaned my bathroom this week. I should have answered work email, gone to the gym, attended a choral boosters meeting at the high school, brought my dog to get her nails trimmed or finished the last of my thank you notes from Christmas. Instead I spent most of my limited free time […]
Monkeyshines
I decided to make my nieces sock monkeys for Christmas. I am not sure why. My grandmother made them for us as children and they were naked, misshapen monstrosities that we hid under pillows. Perhaps it was because they creeped us out so much that I thought of them. My brother is a horror script […]
Mama’s come to jesus
I was waiting in line at Walmart. I had one tube of my favorite Garnier curl sculpting cream gel on sale for $2.00 off. Three families with full shopping carts were ahead of me. They must have been buying their entire Christmas: heaps of toys, clothes, electronics, kids running around, women digging in cavernous satchels […]
Harry at midnight
It is exactly 3:21 a.m. I am picking the last few kernels of popcorn from my teeth and wearing a homemade black t-shirt emblazoned with the words “I solemnly swear that I am up to no good” on the front and “mischief managed” on the back. I am home earlier than last year. I don’t have kids […]
Zombies
Overheard in the Bar at Chili’s: A: Did you see that movie, “Zombieland”? B: No. A: It’s really funny. B: I hate Zombies. A: Why? B: You can’t kill them. They just keep coming. They can’t die because they are already dead. A: You can cut off their heads or blow them up. C: Or […]
What happens in Vegas
It is almost too easy, like photos of kittens or a Sarah Palin interview. My head darts around like a hummingbird. My senses are Velcro: images stick, noises collect, scents fight for airtime. Sparkle! Ringing! Flash! Cheers! It is hard to be here alone. Hard to take it all in without spewing it back out, nudging, […]
Crash, Rinse, Repeat
The fence, graffiti, ramps and staircases remind me vaguely of a Sesame Street set. I realize this is not the look they were going for, but the urban edge feels constructed, assembled from pieces of West Side Story and Romper Room. I feel out of place. It is not my age, there are plenty of […]
Bad dream
It was in vivid high definition: some monster person with a melting face and a knife and doors that I could not lock fast enough. There was chasing and close calls. The stuff of horror movies I do not go see, under any circumstance, and yet can somehow recreate at a cellular level. I jarred awake […]
To vida, noxzema and chi chi, thanks for everything
I will break him out of school half day, slowing the car as he hops in. We will speed away, two people on the same road, age and authority disappearing as we sit side by side in the front seat. We will be alert and together, the excitement building as we approach our city, basking in […]
