December 24, 2009 – 11:51 am
A version of this story has also been posted on our writing blog, Tips on Writing. When I was twenty-three, I moved to Los Angeles with a dream and everything I could fit into a bright orange Ford Gran Torino station wagon that I bought for six hundred dollars and named Stanley. (Two points for [...]
October 1, 2009 – 9:08 pm
I once bonded with a complete stranger I met at a party over mayonnaise. We were friends for years after that. She also made this odd faux sweet potato dish with boiled, mashed carrots, but that’s not the important issue, here. What’s important is that we bonded over our mutual, excessive and probably psychologically worrisome [...]
August 23, 2009 – 5:49 pm
Steve (my writing partner for those who haven’t kept up with my posts here) and I used to play Scrabble® a lot. He used to get all the best tiles. In how many games can you get a “J” in the first few rounds, when there is a perfect double or triple letter spot open [...]
Okay, so I had a heart attack in January. Don’t worry, my health is improving. I was treated in a local hospital where, as I had just recently given up my insurance as a cost cutting measure (timing is everything) they made sure I was going to live, put me on a ton of medication [...]
January 1, 2009 – 11:13 pm
Dear _______, I apologize for writing this email to you, but I need to express it to someone and you are as good a person as any. I am a little in my cups at the moment and you can completely ignore this message if you want, I don’t mind in the least. Over tea [...]
September 28, 2008 – 12:12 pm
On a radio show recently, the question was put forth, “does art have the power to change a life?” Although I’ve always thought a life without art is a dead life and a society without art is a dead society, I’d never considered the question quite in that way. It started me thinking about my [...]
August 14, 2008 – 1:13 pm
I am surprised when people I meet don’t know I’m gay. How could they not figure that out? I am also surprised when I meet someone and they do know. How can they tell? It’s a little schizophrenic, I guess (no disrespect intended to any of my schizophrenic readers) but both are true. I have [...]
August 7, 2008 – 12:11 pm
My mother had several things that she considered treats, things that she parceled out to us as if they were diamonds. Lox was one. If you are unaware of this rare gem, it’s sort of a marriage between smoked salmon and salmon sushi. Good lox, the best lox, melts on your tongue like sweet, smoky [...]
Many years ago I got into the habit of answering the ubiquitous question, “How are you?” by saying, “Dandy, how are you?” Most people just smiled and said they were fine. I was working in a law office in Los Angeles at this time and there was one lawyer who worked there, a junior partner, [...]
I was at the gym the other day, getting a good shvits in the steam room after my workout. It was billowing and very hot, so I put my little towel over my head, sat back and enjoyed myself. After a few moments of that I heard someone complaining, full voiced, which is odd. Usually, [...]
