I’m surprised when people ask the internet questions like: when does a potato go bad? I’m surprised because it seems like the kind of knowledge any adult American should possess. We’ve all […]
Potatoes for the People, Free Palestine
The Best Thing That Can Happen to a Writer
If you’re a writer, it may be that no single thing came to mind when you read “The Best Thing That Can Happen to a Writer,” because the truth is, we need […]
A Brief History of Associated Writing Programs Conferences
2002: New Orleans My first AWP was a road trip with other cream city review editors from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Creative Writing Program. We rented an entire house in New Orleans […]
Pruning
All I can do is keep the memories of my blossoming years in my heart, and hope for a return of summer.
Four Grief Myths
gods, monsters, and dreams you don’t have to believe in 1. There are only 5 stages of grief, and they’re linear. Nope. Actually, the original describer of those stages, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, came […]
How to Get a Democrat to Vote for Nikki Haley in One Easy Step
Nominate her. That’s it. Just nominate Nikki Haley as your Republican Party candidate for president, and I’ll vote for her. You have my word. Why would I vote for Nikki Haley over Joe Biden? Because […]
A Meditation on Crying, Margery Kempe, and the Gift of Tears
We were exploring the old Spanish Quarter in St. Augustine when it happened. We had just stepped out of a quaint clothing shop and back into the Florida sunshine when my cell […]
The (Bonus!) Destination, Part 6: Eorzea by Way of Las Vegas
After the experience we had traveling through Europe with teenagers, it’s probably a wonder I ever left my house with them again. But I did . . .
Build It and They Will Come, One Woman’s Dream
For the past twenty-five years, my mother has been manifesting her dream to build a Christmas wonderland farm. On five acres on the outskirts of Dallas, just across the Fannin County line, […]
The Destination, Part 5: Rome
So it shouldn’t have been a surprise to me when my younger child told me off in the middle of the Vatican. But it was.
The Gloria Sirens 