By U.S. State
By Country
The Iced Clover
by Michael Kelly | Sep 23, 2014 | Placeless
It was like a secret society that everyone was a part of…except for me. Password? “Yeah, uh, I’ll have a Triple Grande Blended Nonfat Caramel Macchiato with Whip and Hazelnut.”
Surveillance Generation
by Robert Zandstra | Sep 22, 2014 | Placeless
Today’s devices generate far more information about their users and are no less adept at broadcasting propaganda that encourages behaviors which support the powerful and their myriad injustices.
Travel
by Andrew Orlebeke | Sep 21, 2014 | England, Spain, Washington, D.C.
I was always driven by the idea of the adventure and seeing new and unique places—after all, Carmen Sandiego wasn’t going to find herself—and sought out all opportunities I could find.
BuzzFeed, Myers-Briggs, and the Typology of a Generation
by Gabe Gunnink | Sep 20, 2014 | Placeless
“Hello. My name is Gabe. I’m a proud Ravenclaw vegetarian with a tendency toward Monica-from-Friends-spirited lovers!” seems to lend greater depth and texture to who I am.
“…viele Mauern abzubauen”
by Mary Margaret Healy | Sep 19, 2014 | Germany
We were born, not in the shadow of a wall that divided nations, worldviews, and cultures, but into the sunlight streaming through its cracks.
Fantasy Football
by Matt & Laura Hubers | Sep 18, 2014 | Placeless
Fantasy football isn’t practical. It isn’t realistic or especially constructive or useful. But so many of us play it. It’s the fantasy fulfilled for so many sports fans, and I think it’s a precise way to define us.
Photo Booth
by Geneva Langeland | Sep 17, 2014 | Wisconsin
The video-photo-flipbook booth was a hit. Even my 91-year-old grandfather got in on the action—twice. Milling guests flaunted their flipbooks, the brief sequences looping like analog Vines.
Football
by Andrew Knot | Sep 16, 2014 | Placeless
Enter ethics. Step, for a moment, into the conscience of a football fan. It’s as ravaged as the gridiron after triple-overtime, as bumpy as the pebble-grained leather of each Wilson™ game ball.
wikiHow To Do Anything
by Cassie Westrate | Sep 15, 2014 | Placeless
So when we say we do not know how to do something, we do not accept defeat. We do not even sign up for Tae Kwon Do classes. We type “how to roundhouse kick” into the search engine of our choice.
Oh Snap
by Catherine Kramer | Sep 13, 2014 | Placeless
Do not snap pictures of people when they don’t know they’re being photographed (unless it’s funny. Then do it every time, obviously. Ten seconds of embarrassment is good for the soul every now and again).
Dominion
by Abby Zwart | Sep 12, 2014 | Placeless
But now that everyone and his mother uses them to serve cocktails and curl their hair, I think we have to put them under the microscope.
Scroll Down
by Elaine Schnabel | Sep 11, 2014 | Placeless
I can’t be the only one scrolling down so much because Pinterest is a thing and BuzzFeed is still publishing The Definitive Rankings of the World’s Hottest Gay Rugby Players.
Smartphone
by Katie Van Zanen | Sep 10, 2014 | Egypt
So, as is often the way of things, my words are both signifiers of my absence and presence. I am both absent and present. I am with those I love, via my smartphone. I am also decidedly far, far away.
Let Go and Let It Grow
by Bart Tocci | Sep 9, 2014 | Australia, California, New Zealand
Why was I so afraid of losing this thing? I thought of it as Sampson’s hair—when I grew it, I scored more goals in hockey, hit harder, was a better leader, made better jokes, talked to more girls…
For Sale: Huge Dead Fish
by Paul Menn | Sep 8, 2014 | Grand Rapids, Wisconsin
I am going to window shop for a while, wish that I knew what to do with a giant dead fish so that I could say I bought a giant dead fish, and then I will go and buy some delicious tacos.
Lena
by Caroline (Higgins) Nyczak | Sep 7, 2014 | New York
Ultimately, it is Dunham’s writing that makes Girls so enjoyable. It’s cringeworthy. But it is also realistic. Her self-doubt mingled with entitlement is intoxicatingly accurate.
Jesus Christ, Katy Perry
by Josh deLacy | Sep 6, 2014 | Placeless
Katy Perry supports gay marriage. Katy Perry wears latex dresses. Katy Perry shoots whipped cream from her bra and sings about booze and cocks and parties.
Let’s Do Brunch
by Alissa Anderson | Sep 5, 2014 | New York
Brunch implies slowing down, lingering over food with friends or family. It’s relaxed, unhurried. Everything the rest of the week, for many of us, is not.
A Pair of Brown Eyes
by Andrew Steiner | Sep 4, 2014 | Placeless
So what right do people like us have to write about suffering, and if we do have a right, what authority can we bring to the task? A couple things come to mind.
The Groupon
by Sabrina Lee | Sep 3, 2014 | Placeless
I’ve also dared to bring out four waters by hand instead of using a tray. And, I’ve started recognizing my customers, especially the Groupon-wielding bunch.
Finders, Keepers?
by Jacob Schepers | Sep 2, 2014 | Placeless
even I can lament the anticlimactic answer to the perennial question of our youth: “Where in the World Is Carmen San Diego?” She’s sitting in a café in Palo Alto writing a nasty Yelp! review.
Hipster Glasses
by Amy (Allen) Frieson | Sep 1, 2014 | New York
It took me a while to realize that glasses could be a fashion statement. (Granted, it took me awhile to understand the concept that wearing an all-purple outfit wasn’t a fashion statement.)
Theme: Thirty Things
by Abby Zwart | Aug 31, 2014 | Placeless
You might call it “stuff” or “junk” or “clutter,” but I know there are many of us in this world who take genuine pleasure from a fine teacup or an antique camera or a good pair of broken-in leather shoes.
The Body and Blood of Christ
by Jasmine Smart | Aug 30, 2014 | New Jersey
Another patient, we’ll call him Jay, has a delusion that he is Jesus Christ. He came into the room, holding his arms out wide and saying, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!”
And the World Spins Madly On
by Michelle Vecchio-Lyzenga | Aug 29, 2014 | New Jersey
I’m reminded each time I visit, call, Skype, FaceTime, Facebook, etc. my out-of-state family and friends that—as much as I’d like it to—the world doesn’t pause while I’m in dreamy limbo.
How We Learn
by Brad Zwiers | Aug 27, 2014 | Michigan
I realize this sounds rather impressive, a Hebrew “intensive” packed with flow charts, tense paradigms, parsing worksheets, and a severe lack of cognates.
Naked Italians and The Obnoxious Tourist
by Griffin Jackson | Aug 26, 2014 | Chicago, Spain
Much of the time this is not a problem. But with growing frequency, the nauseating and, often, gross social gracelessness is a deliberate act of rebellion and selfishness.
When My Parents Visit
by Greg Kim | Aug 25, 2014 | Grand Rapids, Kenya, Uganda
They’d gasp at the dishes stacked in the sink in my apartment, and my mom would chide me about how I hadn’t bought any fresh kimchi for so long.
Peter Panic Attack
by Lauren (Boersma) Harris | Aug 24, 2014 | Placeless
I thought that, to be a grown-up, I would have to know how to do my taxes. But I think growing up is when you listen more than you run your mouth. And it’s when you forgive someone. Again. And again.
Through Fire, I Do Wander
by Michael Kelly | Aug 23, 2014 | Massachusetts
The question still remains I guess. What has Tinder taught me? To be honest, not too much. But it helped me to take a risk. To fight against complacency. To turn fear into hilarity.
