Blue Monday (A Tribute to Tom Petty)
For a moment, I wondered if I should be embarrassed. Then I remembered that loving Tom Petty is not embarrassing.
On Owning Guns
Whenever I tell people about this hunting trip, about my family’s tradition for the past ten years, I share it with a blend of defiance, pride, and defensiveness.
Figs, Deferred
North Lawndale is a food desert.
Piano Hands
My hands are social. They will say “I love you” before my mouth is ready.
Teaching Myself to Read
I’m discovering that if one is to read aloud, one should pick up a murder mystery.
Settling for Less
We can understand being present by distinguishing between two types of activities we engage in on a day-to-day basis: telic and atelic activities.
I Am Not the Funny One
It’s not that I don’t have a sense of humor—with close friends and family I joke, laugh, and make others laugh. But there’s an unshakeable earnestness to it.
The Funny One
Making friends, it turns out, meant finding people I didn’t have to be funny around—those I could trust liked me even when I wasn’t confident or cracking jokes
Sunday Mornings for Apostates
“Why weren’t you in church this morning?”
I still haven’t told her.
Bootleg Baby
We’ve since come to realize that there’s no perfect way to feel while pregnant. There’s not an emotional experience you’re supposed to have.
