“Into the Memory Hole”

    I. The weeds need pulling—for the sake of the crop.  The little two-by-five foot plot at the edge of yard, in the only section that gets any dependable light, is overrun after another week of neglect.  Grasping handfuls of the unwanted shoots I wonder the purpose of weeds, if they are knowingly belligerent,…

The Reluctant Sailor, Chapter I: Soft Mad Children

written August 11, 2004   Chapter I: Soft Mad Children                                                                      September 11, 2001- April 23, 2002   The anti-beginning was on a Tuesday, but of course nothing has been the same since then. An English Lit. class was begining soon, at 9:30, and I was on Western Illinois Universoty’s campus more than an hour early. …

Kickball Injuries and a Flock of Pint-Sized Geese

written May 8, 2012     I had not yet subbed at Jefferson Elementary, an out-of-the-way school in a quiet residential neighborhood of Collinsville, west of the downtown.  I immediately thought it looked like a smaller version of my own massive, red-brick elementary building built in 1892.  But it seemed to be deserted.  I went…

A Fresh Rub

Written April 19, 2016   If I asked myself how I felt about a subject, and just wrote, what would come of it? This. So these are deep thoughts as they came to me about a serious subject. The jokes are because I can’t discuss anything like an adult: My sun-burned unease at my part-time…

Wash (Not the Bon Iver Song)

“City Eats Review by Me” written April 10, 2014 “Wash (Not the Bon Iver Song)” written April, 29, 2014   An Explainer: During the spring of 2014 I worked at a small independent cafe near to my apartment in St. Louis.  The work seemed appealing as it did not require grading or calling the homes…