I’m not what you’d call a patriot or a nationalist. I’m not proud of most of the things that the US has done in the name of freedom and democracy, especially lately. If I ever do celebrate and sing America, it’s in a very tempered way. I’ll quietly think to myself or remark to friends [...]
The story so far: Thou shalt not tell, part 1
…At one point, I did make a sincere effort not to tell on my brother. Admittedly, this strategy was born not out of any effort to live a nobler life, but because I had been tattling too much. My protestations were being met with, if not [...]
I currently work at a well-known graphic design firm doing officey stuff. I’ve never trained in design beyond reading a book or two out of casual interest, and the only art class I took in college was ceramics, which is kind of the opposite of the precise, clean, corporate creative work that this firm produces. [...]
A few weeks ago I finally maxed out my iPod — a two-and-a-half-year-old 40 gigger named Ishmael (think: “Circumambulate the city …”). Somehow the little fellow has managed not to kick it just yet. The battery’s worn, the surface is scratched, and more than once I’ve been tempted to retire it to an old shoebox that I hope one day to fill [...]
Many years ago, I considered training as a drama therapist. I was particularly inspired by a woman who counseled abused children and used play therapy to help them work through their experiences. In a workshop, we tried out one of her exercises.
First, we had to draw a monster and describe its features. Mine had an [...]