It begins with a very beautiful teenaged girl. I'm at the grocery store one day. She's walking straight towards me in the parking lot. Maybe it was how she filled out her sundress, maybe her impeccable taste in sundresses, or it could have been her smile too, so genuine and caring, aimed now right at … Continue reading Epstein
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Initiation
Johnny Lipp was a year older than me in grade school and furthermore this kind-of male counterpart to Ms. Piggy. He was loud and influential and porky in aspect. Johnny Lipp, which of course wasn't his real last name but damn near close, was all that, plus he was the school bully. Nobody tried tackling … Continue reading Initiation
Rough draft
Dear __, There's a guy on the Facebook who pops up once in a while. It's an older clip, looks like, and he looks kind of like a creepy version of the old Verizon commercial guy, the can-you-hear-me-now guy. Which is why he seems like a rather unlikely guy to be asked the question, Do … Continue reading Rough draft
When I swam with Juan Peron at the “Hotel of the Dictators”
The 1950s and 60s were notable for the political and military upheavals in South America. Every other week it seemed, there was another coup somewhere, with dictators either assassinated or fleeing their countries. But where, one wonders, does a disgraced dictator flee when he’s been deposed? Oddly and improbably enough, I can answer that question. … Continue reading When I swam with Juan Peron at the “Hotel of the Dictators”
Anatomy of a civil war
When I think of young, I think of a few things: no responsibilities beyond just taking care of yourself. And if you're young and bit by the idealism bug, which many are, you've got a ton of time to be idealistic and thus maybe even suicidal for your cause. You'll at least sleep on strangers' … Continue reading Anatomy of a civil war
Lie down in darkness
There are the suicides we understand. The terminally ill, the obvious addict, the flagrantly depressed, the murderer or criminal. Even the overdramatic teenager. But there are others that throw our whole perception of reality off axis. The singer Chris Cornell, comedian Robin Williams before him. Both enormously successful and widely adored. Why would Williams, who smiled so much and elicited even more … Continue reading Lie down in darkness
A wish
I remember that one night when my dad was stabbing his new girlfriend with his romance. He was around the same age I am now. I was downstairs watching tv or something. The bed creaked and squeaked. I was an odd mix of cheerleader and grossed-out kid and anxious seeker of an ages-old answer I … Continue reading A wish
What’s the alternative?
She and I are sitting in my living space that's undergoing a lot of construction. It's right before we peel each other's clothes off or maybe right after, I can't remember now. I'm fairly practiced in this scenario by now, the one in which a girl's actions and a girl's words don't quite line up. … Continue reading What’s the alternative?
Anatomy of a civil war
My boss is chubby and a red neck. Same chubby, same redneck as when I was his boss. Instead of puffing on the cigs these days he's got this flasky-looking vessel he fills with oil or syrup that makes it impossible for him to take his mouth off of it. If that's not enough, he's … Continue reading Anatomy of a civil war
Six on six off
https://videopress.com/v/Cm5G02zi?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true On my first day back on the water, we putter by the Time Bandit on the way out the harbor in Homer, AK. The sky is beginning to show. Seagulls are joyful or fussy I can never tell. I look it up--Time Bandit is the boat that featured on the Deadliest Catch for years. … Continue reading Six on six off
Things Men Carry 