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Leap Year
by Caroline (Higgins) Nyczak | Mar 7, 2016 | Placeless
The last leap year was 2012. That was the year I told myself I would take a photo every single day and create a chronological collection of three hundred and sixty-six snapshots.
I’m scared she gonna die
by Josh deLacy | Mar 6, 2016 | Michigan, Washington
I don’t do anything for the man who bangs on the church door and tells me about his probation and court date in Bremerton an hour and a half away and the company that let him go after thirty years to save themselves a retirement plan and the chronic pain in his shoulder and the botched knee surgery and how he just needs eight dollars and ten cents for the ferry or else they’ll throw him back in jail over a lousy eight dollars and ten cents and could I please, please, I know you’re good guy, please just give me eight dollars and ten cents for the ferry?
Girls in bikinis, boys doin’ the twist
by Alissa Anderson | Mar 5, 2016 | Placeless
There was definitely no dancing, underage drinking, etc. And the truth is, even if the setting was different, I’m more Rory and Paris than Madeleine and Louise. Pizza and The Power of Myth sounds way better than staying out late dancing and drinking… or whatever it is people do on spring break.
A Selfie Stick Could Just Save Your Life (Not Really)
by Ben Rietema | Mar 4, 2016 | Australia
If I were a man of principle, I would have shouted, “GET THIS DEVIL STICK AWAY FROM ME” and thrown it into a tree.
Imposter Syndrome
by Sabrina Lee | Mar 3, 2016 | Indiana
We aren’t who we should be, and that’s not ok. And try as we do, we can’t fix our ugliness. But that doesn’t mean we’re not loved, and it doesn’t mean we’re alone.
Busy Reading
by Jacob Schepers | Mar 2, 2016 | Placeless
If I sound whiny, forgive me. I’m cloistered amongst literal stacks of books with an academically sanctioned excuse just to read. That’s gotta be one of the most bourgy complaints imaginable.
How to Write a Break-Up
by Katerina Parsons | Mar 1, 2016 | Placeless
“Say nice things to me,” I pleaded with him once in desperation. “You’re beautiful,” he told me, which had once been enough, back when he was the first to ever tell me, “…and smart?” I felt myself slipping away.
A Small Oasis
by Josh Boerman | Feb 29, 2016 | New York
It’s a remnant of an earlier time, back when the High Line was simply an overgrown former elevated rail track and Gansevoort Street was stained red with the blood of slaughtered animals.
The Deceptively Innocuous Task of Teaching English
by Bekah (Williamson) Medendorp | Feb 28, 2016 | Placeless
Nothing is trendier or, as a teacher, more likely to get your story turned into a Hollywood film about how you helped an inner city kid become this century’s Twain than to be an English Literature teacher.
Saying A Sermon
by Brad Zwiers | Feb 27, 2016 | Placeless
Keep talking. Eventually, you assume, something will make sense. Pieces and parts of pieces will be put together, and the sense-making that has happened in your head will become public knowledge.
3 Grimm Fairy Tales that Didn’t Make the Disney Cut
by Nick Meekhof | Feb 26, 2016 | Placeless
Either the Brothers Grimm had a cunningly nonchalant attitude toward morbidity, or German children simply grew up with stronger stomachs in those days.
My All-Time Favorite Math Problem (And Why It Matters)
by Ryan Struyk | Feb 25, 2016 | Placeless
But mathematics at its best is a pursuit into the unknown, equipped with a few tools with which you are familiar and a solution that requires an innovative use for them.
So, You Just Broke Up…
by Lauren (Boersma) Harris | Feb 24, 2016 | Placeless
Be brave. Be smart. Make mistakes, but the smallish kind if you can help it. Call someone with high-waisted pants and have them buy you a milkshake.
They Don’t Want You to Win
by Michael Kelly | Feb 23, 2016 | Placeless
Their goal is to recruit you: to get you to sign on and give up. And many times, they get what they want.
Shakespeare at the Y: The 7 Stages of Male Nudity
by Matt Medendorp | Feb 22, 2016 | Placeless
All the world’s a men’s YMCA locker room, / And all the men merely exercisers; / They have their exits and their entrances / And varied levels of clothing, / And one man in his time wears many towels.
Morning in Middle America Featuring Kanye West
by Andrew Orlebeke | Feb 21, 2016 | Placeless
Kanye West didn’t say anything as his shovel joined the early-morning chorus. He liked his neighbor and might have greeted her, but he was still groggy and would have preferred to stay in bed.
Muggles and the Moral Imperative of the Magical World
by Gabe Gunnink | Feb 20, 2016 | Placeless
The wizarding world finds itself again divided on an issue as deep and recurring as blood: what to do about the Muggles.
Choose Your Own Monday
by Mary Margaret Healy | Feb 19, 2016 | Placeless
If you pick a banana, some honey, and a bowl of instant oatmeal go to 5. If you choose an everything bagel and heaping serving of cream cheese, go to 4.
Miracle Drug
by Ben DeVries | Feb 18, 2016 | Placeless
There are other rules too, in addition to these. Sit tight. Speak clearly. Press CALL if you need anything. Know your medication (Trivora, prednisone, plaquenil, Tylenol). Have insurance.
#blessed
by Geneva Langeland | Feb 17, 2016 | Placeless
The word was used to translate the Latin benedicere, or “to speak well of,” which was used to translate the Hebrew brk, or “to bend.” To bless, then is to bend toward holiness.
Seeing the Mountains
by Andrew Knot | Feb 16, 2016 | Austria
Vielkind fancies himself a portraitist. He sculpts the mountains many faces as a 19th century artist might have rendered a royal patron. His concern is showing the mountains at their best.
Good and Broken
by Cassie Westrate | Feb 15, 2016 | Placeless
You’re always wondering what it means to live a good life. Someone sat at a table the other day, watched you wipe down a counter, and asked you if you want to serve coffee for the rest of your life.
Imponderable
by Will Montei | Feb 14, 2016 | Washington
In the tops of the leafless bushes that stood shoulder height along the path, a sea of spider webs swayed in the soft wind—hundreds and hundreds of webs, perfectly spun and glistening with dew in the morning light.
Ladies Celebrating Ladies: Galentine’s Day
by Catherine Kramer | Feb 13, 2016 | Placeless
“Galentine’s Day is about celebrating lady friends,” said the holiday’s founder, Leslie Knope of Pawnee, Indiana. “We leave our husbands and boyfriends at home and just come and kick it breakfast-style.”
The Heavens
by Abby Zwart | Feb 12, 2016 | Placeless
On the outskirts of town, there’s no telling where the snow ends and the sky begins. It’s hard to hear the glory today.
Day 237: The Kitten Chronicles
by Elaine Schnabel | Feb 11, 2016 | Placeless
But the bottle cap has disappeared into the space beneath the big, cold, white box. She has long since learned that is a dark place from which bottle caps do not return. She does not mourn its loss.
thesis, conclusion
by Katie Van Zanen | Feb 10, 2016 | Placeless
The tutor listens quietly. The anxious student is her seventh of the day. It’s a decent paper already, and convincing the student to restructure might be more trouble than it’s worth.
Chief
by Bart Tocci | Feb 9, 2016 | Placeless
He walked around naked in the locker room because that’s what the older boys did. He seemed to be naked more than other people. He was the Chief, after all.
Bests, Mosts, Worsts: A 2015 Retrospective
by Paul Menn | Feb 8, 2016 | Placeless
While Reeves is rightly lambasted for his wooden acting, sometimes he surprises you, as he did in the horror thriller Knock Knock. His rant about free pizza is a genius, Oscar-worthy performance.
Report Card
by Caroline (Higgins) Nyczak | Feb 7, 2016 | Placeless
On Wednesday, your child turned in a list of ideas for creative writing assignments instead of the assigned argument essay. On Friday, I collected a love note from your child to another student in the class. It said…
