To Ty and Lou
Later in the year, by then good friends, we learned that we had actually met much sooner, as naked toddlers in a bathtub. If I had known this earlier…
Beach Bah Humbugs
But if I’m being honest, I kind of hate the beach. If I must go to the beach in the summer, I prefer going before 9 a.m. or after 7 p.m. You know, with the runners or the couples.
Wisconsin’s Own Phox
I’m 24. I’m old now. I have a bedtime. I pay for health insurance. I drink hot tea to prevent kidney stones. But these tickets were free, and I liked the group, so why not?
That’s Where We Want to Go
I knew it as soon as I saw it on the map with all the little pins. This was the worst. Kokomo, Indiana. It’s basically Pawnee without Leslie Knope there to keep it afloat.
Burn
Reading what people would save and why is such an intimate peek into their lives that sometimes it even feels like prying. People bring photos of their wives and collars from dogs who have died.
Why We Wander
As a writer, I want to say I’m haunted by this question—why do we travel? In reality I’m not “haunted” by the why of travel so much as annoyed by its insistence on being answered.
The Wedding Dancer
Though self-conscious in the great majority of situations, I am a dedicated wedding dancer, so even at more subdued nuptials, I feel a sense of commitment to the boogie.
Somewhere in Middle America
We drove into the night, and every five to ten miles, we’d see a light in the distance. A farmhouse, no doubt. People live there, no doubt. Where do they get water? Groceries? Where do they go to school?
Paul’s Summer Mixtape
7. Less Than Jake – “Short Fuse Burning”. I will never not love Less Than Jake. Plus, every summer mixtape needs a punk rock song about feeling misunderstood and lost.
Boyhood
When the main character proclaimed with confidence that the best movies of the year were The Dark Knight, Tropic Thunder and Pineapple Express, we were the most tickled people in the theater. Oh, 2008.
