NAPPED My soul mate had one eye, one kidney, seizures, arthritis, high blood pressure, back problems, little to no hearing, the scar of a severe but healed abscess under his chin, and gingivitis. He got this way at a relatively young age and, for much of the life I had with him, I knew that I would be content when
The Great Sphinx Has No Wings
The Great Sphinx is more than 4,500 years old. He rests in the dust of work and hardship kicked up by the sandstorms of irrelevance. Today, right now, you or I can go stand at his feet because he has stayed put for that long. Many people stood before the Great Sphinx today, and more will stand before him tomorrow
The Most Open House
About four blocks away from these typing brown fingers, there is a townhouse with swastikas inlaid into a custom hardwood floor border. I was not invited in, but I was in that house and I walked over the glossy unmistakable emblem that marked each corner of the empty living room with my own feet. The functional fireplace sagged between a
Halloweirdo
I’ve always loved Halloween. I was about 13 years old when I discovered I loved it an inordinate amount. My mother was startled by what I considered brilliantly thrifty decorations. I used all sorts of ordinary household items to create an interactive haunted house in my room. I stuff plastic bags into my black tights, to make thin, frail, crunchy
12 Rounds, 13 Miles
My first race was a 5K, during which I nearly strangled myself with my own scarf and tripped twice. Attempting a half marathon this month was remarkable because I shouldn’t have been able to finish it. On the other hand, the term “boxing match” was coined for the Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Genneday “GGG” Golovkin fight, scheduled for the night
Fear Some
Step by step, I followed the chubby two-year-old legs up the loft ladder. Her father belayed her climb clutching her firmly, as we tested how far she’d go, how high up fear waited for her. She’d spent the better part of an hour circling back to the foot of the ladder to plant her black sparkly shoes on its first
This Happily Ever After
This week, my husband and I are celebrating ten years of marriage, a.k.a. “happily ever after.” This is the Picture-Story of whatever the hell that means. That was Then and This Is Now… Weddings are a very strange beginning. We’ve found that nothing about ours translated into real life:
Runaway
When it’s very windy, I run into the gust and jump a tiny bit. I let it carry me for a moment, a fraction of an inch, and I’m free of every weight. I started an activity I refer to as “run-walking” some months ago and floating this way is one of the reasons I’ve kept up with it. Other
Homies
Day to day, it seems that my most intimate relationships are with homeless people. I’ve lived within a crowded single-square mile city across the Hudson, called Hoboken, for six years (in an apartment). Every day, I take the same walk to and from at approximately the same time, running into these familiar address-less locals who know better than I do