By U.S. State
By Country
Do You Trust Me?
by Griffin Jackson | Oct 26, 2014 | Placeless
But if that’s true, how long will it be before we stop riding the train of mere suspicion and arrive in the new, dim empire of total social, political, and spiritual agnosticism?
Celebrating My Birthday
by Greg Kim | Oct 25, 2014 | Uganda
As we took turns praying, my father, mother, and brother would say a special prayer for me. Hearing them say sentimental things about me was embarrassing, but I tried to keep my eyes shut.
Hello, My Name Is…Hochstetler
by Lauren (Boersma) Harris | Oct 24, 2014 | Placeless
…yell things like “Heyyyyy Burrito!” to which we would yell “guacamole and cinnamon twist!” get up to swing a couple dance moves, then continue to eat our raisin bran as if nothing had occurred.
Uncertainty
by Andrew Orlebeke | Oct 21, 2014 | Washington, D.C.
I’m not sure what the secret is to knowing you’re in the right place or on the right track. I’m not sure there is one. The song helps to remind me that it’s okay not to know exactly what I want yet.
Good Enough
by Gabe Gunnink | Oct 20, 2014 | Placeless
I simply cannot call something finished, whether I’m re-checking a final exam for the fifth time or strategically placing a seventieth sprinkle on a Seurat-inspired Christmas cookie.
You Already Time Travel
by Mary Margaret Healy | Oct 19, 2014 | Placeless
What if I told you there is a way to travel through time instantly using only items you already own? What if I told you that you probably already time travel several times a week?
More Feminist Confessions
by Matt & Laura Hubers | Oct 18, 2014 | Placeless
I want to defy convention. Break molds. And at the same time I want to be with my husband. And have children. And bake lots of cookies. And I hate shoveling the driveway.
A Muttering of Ducks
by Geneva Langeland | Oct 17, 2014 | Michigan
I fill a basket with crisp lettuce and Swiss chard. A raspberry finds its way into my mouth. I close my eyes, breathe deep, and finally feel my shoulders relax.
Things That Have Happened in Austria Since I Left
by Andrew Knot | Oct 16, 2014 | Austria
A herd of cows killed a hiker in Tirol. This might not seem newsworthy, but the hiker was German, which necessitates at least a small degree of suspicion of foul play.
Potato Salad Diaries
by Cassie Westrate | Oct 15, 2014 | Placeless
September 18, 2014. I can imagine the dinner conversation now: “Is it just me, or does this macaroni salad have more parsley in it than usual?” My bad.
The End of Things
by Will Montei | Oct 14, 2014 | Grand Rapids, Washington
Things are always ending and beginning, simultaneously and separately. It’s not that an end leads to a beginning—an end is a beginning. They are the same.
Picking at the Past
by Catherine Kramer | Oct 13, 2014 | Placeless
I used to play the guitar. Never well, but I used to play. I did it because I had to—during the application process, I ticked a box that said “I know a few chords.” My fate was sealed.
Homecoming
by Abby Zwart | Oct 12, 2014 | Grand Rapids
I miss the energy. The companionship. The routine. I miss the rah rah school spirit and the constant activity and the sense that I was always accomplishing something (seemingly) important.
Feminist Confessions
by Elaine Schnabel | Oct 11, 2014 | Placeless
Somehow, years before, I’d put myself in a box. I could either be pretty or a bad-ass soccer player, not both, and it was obvious which the superior choice was.
Tongue Twisted
by Katie Van Zanen | Oct 10, 2014 | Egypt
In English, I am precise and quick with words. In Arabic, I am earnest and confused, funny not because of wit but because I am fumbling a language everyone else understands.
I’m No Better
by Bart Tocci | Oct 9, 2014 | Chicago
If you’re someone who doesn’t like to help people, who is selfish, and who is like me, you hate reading this stuff. “SO what, Bart? Make me feel bad for walking past a homeless person?
Andrew W.K Is My Role Model
by Paul Menn | Oct 8, 2014 | Placeless
To be honest, I’m not even that big a fan of his music. But here is the thing about Andrew W.K.—he is such a relentlessly positive person that you can’t help but love him.
Saturdays in Brooklyn: A Series of Snapshots
by Caroline (Higgins) Nyczak | Oct 7, 2014 | New York
I invite him up to my apartment after our french toast so he can tell me if our apartment is crooked. (Water spilled last week and began running swiftly towards the front door.) It is.
Hot Food Makes Me Happy
by Josh deLacy | Oct 6, 2014 | Scotland, Washington
But this is efficient, I tell myself. Hot food requires a stove, and a stove requires money, and I am a sophomore trying to backpack Europe on a budget. Food seemed like the best place to cut corners.
When You’re In the Thick of It
by Alissa Anderson | Oct 5, 2014 | New York
As a student, especially as a student new to this community, this is a fast-evolving and confusing situation to be caught up in. I feel the need to guard what I say and be very careful with my words.
A Message From the Emperor
by Andrew Steiner | Oct 4, 2014 | Placeless
Somehow in the concision of this story, Kafka manages to touch eternity and in doing so touch what has always, since childhood, freaked me out about eternity.
Brute Friendship
by Sabrina Lee | Oct 3, 2014 | Italy
Elena’s need for the “dazzling, terrible” Lila is so powerful that it can be felt in the writing: if some parts of the novels drag, it is because Elena, without Lila, is herself dragging.
Preschool Survival Guide
by Jacob Schepers | Oct 2, 2014 | Placeless
13. DO NOT FORGET THEIR LOVIES IN THE LOCKER! You will have to drive back to school in a panic!
A Mild-Mannered Subversive
by Amy (Allen) Frieson | Oct 1, 2014 | New York
imperfection and yes, ickiness, are byproducts of exactly the system we are supporting: small farmers rather than industry giants, produce that flaunts its small-scale origins instead of hiding in plastic packages.
Instantly Vintage
by Michelle Ratering | Sep 30, 2014 | Placeless
We no longer live in an analog world. Our bulky cameras have been slicked into thin rectangles, a conglomerate of phone and camera and gameboy so small that we forget we carry it with us.
This is NOT a Blog
by Kyric Koning | Sep 29, 2014 | Placeless
Blogs are a compression of life, but in the condensing, much is lost. The world consists of indeterminate shades of gray (though definitely not fifty), which the structureless blogs cannot capture.
Nick Miller
by Brad Zwiers | Sep 27, 2014 | Placeless
Nick’s life is a mess, he knows it, and yet he moves through. Cynicism lurks behind almost everything he says (“Don’t trust your government, kids”), but it never dominates his character.
The Abbreviators
by Griffin Jackson | Sep 26, 2014 | Placeless
Hear me, please. I like America. I like English. I like being a millennial. But, really, if I hear the word abreves again in serious conversation…
Infographics: Sexy and Smart
by Greg Kim | Sep 25, 2014 | Placeless
For our minds to keep up with the data deluge, we require tools like the infographic, engineered to squeeze the gap between our complex environment and our curious yet limited cognition.
Why You Should Watch Game of Thrones
by Lauren (Boersma) Harris | Sep 24, 2014 | Placeless
I have a theory that we don’t really learn much of anything by watching a bunch of characters who espouse the same values, worldviews, and ideas that we already believe.
