You’re More Loving Than You Think You Are
I cried last night. Everyone did. Three a.m. and drunk, overcaffeinated.
I Sing the Body Collective
These millions are saving civilization, constantly and everywhere, because they are civilization.
Freshman Orientation
Will Montei made me feel infinitely better about moving to college and leaving everyone behind, simply because no matter how sad and alone I felt, at least I wasn’t him.
Crotchpot
I recently discovered the healthy, frugal, “have my shit together” magic known as a crockpot, specifically, a brown-and-tan, floral relic from my parents’ wedding that in a roundabout Oedipal way, led to the traumatization of my penis.
Toxic Masculinity
In urban, educated America, masculinity is fashionable only with a veneer of irony.
La La Life
Mia, waitress, wants to be an actor; Sebastian, broke musician, wants to own a jazz club. But La La Land’s biggest tension happens outside the screen: an unspoken, unreferenced standoff between itself and the twenty-first century.
Salt and Undertakings
A trip back usually means I’ll carry firewood into the house, splash through mud, and help with some project that involves concrete, sawdust, or grease.
A Song Sadder Than It Used to Be
What could have been? What would have been, always debated. Again and again, the future and now, and tears, but only hers.
Why I Believe
I believe because I don’t believe in soundbites, How to Win Friends and Influence People, diets, morals of the story, or myself.
The Tinder Boys
I just realized I met everyone here through Josh’s online dating.
Mary-Veronica
She isn’t actually Mary-Veronica. First she was Veronica, and then, after I gave her $140 but before she gave me her address, she became Mary.
andy and emily and markus and me
The apple tree shines, and someone puts on Springsteen before the fireworks start. New girlfriends, new jobs, new lives.
As a Mother
You know that saying, “Mother knows best”? It’s a saying for a frickin’ reason. We’re the backbone of every decent household in America.
Going Green
Ten-foot-tall green letters shout 21+ MARIJUANA to every northbound vehicle on Martin Luther King Jr Way. The arrow that runs beneath the letters points across the street to a stubby building marked by a green cross. 21+ Recreational Marijuana! hangs in the front window.
Playing Hot Potato With Kindness
I want selfless people to have blissful, perfect lives. When I argue with someone about selfishness, I want to point to loving families and say, “See? This is possible. This is good,” but I can’t.