A Writer’s Creed
It spoke to Plath the suicidal, Keruouc the drunk, Hemingway the shotgunned, and—Snyder, voice of Buddhist Beats, who did not die of lead or alcohol, but found peace in tin cups and axe handles.
Tonight, on “Murder, She Wrote”
I’m three days into the semester, and I’m dreading the day my academic load catches up with me and I can’t sit down and enjoy some crime at the end of the day.
There and Back Again
But like Bilbo returning to Bag End, sometimes you return home and your neighbors are rifling through your linen and walking out the door with your cutlery.
The Wrong Altar
I check the box. I type my name. I submit the application. Because time is up—I have to grab my apron and rush off to work; I have to pull on my boots and walk the dog.
Trivia Crack in My Mind
In my mind I’m goin’ to Trivia Crack/Can’t you see the questions?/Can’t you just feel the Wheel spin?/Ain’t it just like a friend of mine/To beat me from behind?
Surprise/Not Surprise
I sit there in the dark, in front of the cake and ice cream and prosecco, feeling like I’m doing something wrong, listening intently and wondering when I’ll be joined.
Cinema of Bodies, Cinema of Ghosts
A bigger problem is that these blockbuster heroes are not allowed to die, and they are never in any real danger of dying. We know they will always pull through and live.
Steam
FACT ALERT: Anything invisible that doesn’t seem to be trying to kill us is just one major breakthrough away from being found out as a villain.
The Golden Age is…Now?
What I wouldn’t give to walk the halls of Downton Abbey in the early 20th century, drink tea with Jane Austen, or ride a train down the coast of California with John Steinbeck.
Bait
“You might have heard that you should punch the shark in the nose. This is probably not a good idea…. In many situations in which large predators are attacking you, the advice is to ‘play dead.’ This doesn’t work against sharks. Also, it’s hard to do in the water...
