Here are true tales from the writer’s life, as well as essays and wild meditations.
This exercise comes from the James Scott Bell’s plot book, but it hit me so hard I decided to treat it as something separate. Basically, Mr Bell takes the old adage, “Write what you know,” and makes it, “Write who you are.” It sounds almost Julia Camerom-esque. When you invest […]
My favorite thing to do is think. I know a lot of people don’t like to. But I was the kind of kid who would quickly put together his Lego set, just so he could lie on his tummy and stare at the pieces. I learned late in life that […]
In a few words: wtf. Let’s just start by saying Instagram misses me and I miss Instagram. I can’t even bring myself to reply to my meme groups, because I don’t have the energy to sift through related pages these days and report. Plus it was so fun to […]
When I was a kid, I dreamed of being the main character of a video game. The game was about saving a princess, helping helpless villagers, and destroying the evil green-faced bad guy, who would stop at nothing to gain absolute power. He was powerful enough as is, but he […]
An open letter to a fifteen year old. Dear you, Look me in the eyes. Are you happy? The answer is No. I’m going to do my best to transmit to you, through space and time, a message of hope and encouragement. Hope because we need to unleash […]
“Make mistakes.” This was my boss’s first piece of advice to me. It felt strangely familiar, knowing we must lose a few tokens to win the big chips. When I told him I appreciate his wisdom, he shook his head. “It’s not my idea. I just follow the principle.” Now […]
Roberto Benigni does a fantastic job in his film about the years before and during WWII, La Vita E Bella, showing that humor can save a child’s life, or at least get you through tough times. Now, I won’t spoil it, if you haven’t seen it, because you must. But […]
Indian flute music plays in the background. Chest breathes heavy, then soft, lungs seeking incense that isn’t there. My tongue, tingling, takes the hot iron straw of the yerba mate and draws in the vibrant green liquid. I look out the window at a beautiful Bucharest dawn, today a paisley […]
This can’t be love, because I feel so well,No sobs, no sorrows, no sighs.This can’t be love; I get no dizzy spells,My head is not in the skies. –Nat King Cole I often wondered why being in love made you want to stand on top of a mountain, shouting […]
Men gripped wrists two at a time. Then hugged. Together, we were. After ye ole UK my brother and I hopped a flight a few time zones eastward, with the friend we had always planned to meet at Heathrow, around the midnight hour. “I got us lounge entry,” […]
I was walking down one of those M.C. Escher stairs, in a museum, when I reached the end. From where I stood I could hear a young boy below, sobbing. The sound wasn’t echoing, as it should have been in such a large space. Fortunately, some of the railing was […]
No. No-o. Nope . . . No-o-o-o. No! No-u-u-u. NO! We shouldn’t complain. But here is a list of things that make me snarky, anyway. Some I am guilty of committing myself, while others are pure abstractions. At any rate, it’s what I’ve come up with and would like […]
The following is about the last two weeks, at times a Herculean effort on Ela’s part, while at times an Ovidian exile for me. Now that it’s over, I think Ela’s mother put it best, when she said, “You two will always remember getting married.” In her own witty way, […]
Dear Charlie Kaufman, After an hour of thinking about what to write, I’m ready. Why I am writing this letter is because you wrote two of my favorite movies, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Adaptation. You’re up there with Tarkovsky, Linklater, and Noe for me, […]
I feel like someone has to slap me across the back of my head to get me to write about this. My eyes shoot for the horizon, yet I look down at my feet. I can only see the here and now, can’t imagine some other later, just yet. […]
Feel free to fail. You are climbing over a stumbling block. That’s one. What are other, recent life lessons? Some silly things. I feel like I am holding a hot ginger tea and wearing pajamas as I explain things or muse, like some youtubers I saw recently. But on […]
Some months ago, my graduate department asked me a similar question in an interview. Now I’m thinking why not expand a little, let my hands hopscotch over the keyboard a little, improve a little. I think my answer remains the same: Vronsky and Levin. But, adding some meat to the […]
Outside in Bucharest the clouds pour gentle, warm buckets of rain. Button-up shirts look three shades darker around the shoulders and back. Hair, too. The smell of flaky, crispy pastries finds its way through the wetness of morning. It is still early, but not for long. One reads. A […]
The list, the log It helps to return on occasion to the list of books you’ve read; granted, if you keep such a list. Remember how in elementary school teachers asked us to keep a “log” of titles and page numbers, maybe a summary? Students earned stars. Parents were […]
The next book is called They Lived They Were at Brighton Beach. And this post is a respite from feeling like I have to work at it. Thank you post! What else compares to the chasm between inching forward in life and looking back to see how far one has […]