Here are true tales from the writer’s life, as well as essays and wild meditations.
In response to The New York Times article “650 Prompts for Narrative and Personal Writing.” 2:31 PM. Brooklyn cafe, big windows. Lots of sunlight, rain and snow flakes. A friend of mine commented on a guy she likes and said he only concerns himself with his work. “I want […]
(*Borrowed lines from Reality Hunger, by David Shields) In response to The New York Times article “650 Prompts for Narrative and Personal Writing.” 434. “What Personal Essay Topic Would You Assign to College Applicants?” *In antiquity, the most common Latin term for the essay was experior, meaning “to […]
(“En el fondo lo único que ha dicho es que nadie sabe nade de nadie, y no es una novedad. Toda biografía da eso por supuesto y sigue adelante, que diablos. Vamos Johnny, vamos a casa que es tarde.” — Cortázar, El Perseguidor; lo mismo se puede decir de una […]
In response to The New York Times article “650 Prompts for Narrative and Personal Writing.” 410. “Have Your Ever Been Humiliated by a Teacher? How Did it Affect You?” I normally did not do my homework, but this time I had. In pre-Calculus we were assigned homework […]
(Feature photo: “The Guidonian Hand,” a mnemonic device to aid the learning of sight singing; a precursor of Tonic Sol-fa; devised by the Guido di Arezzo.) In response to The New York Times article “650 Prompts for Narrative and Personal Writing.” 403. “What Would You Like To Have Memorized?” […]
(Art by John Millar Watt; “Why, oh my, Madam School Year, the pleasure is all mine.”) In response to The New York Times article “650 Prompts for Narrative and Personal Writing.” 375. “What Are You Looking Forward To, or Dreading, This School Year?” This is my last year […]
In response to The New York Times article “650 Prompts for Narrative and Personal Writing.” 353. “What Words Do You Hate?” The Cambridge University Press textbook we use to teach English to intermediate students has a list of the top 500 most used words in the English language. […]
(Image taken from “La cueva de las manos,” the Cave of Hands in Santa Cruz, Argentina: a site which would look like an act of vandalism, or the product of a children’s arts and crafts class, unless carbon-dated to 10,000 years ago.) In response to The New York Times […]
In response to The New York Times article “650 Prompts for Narrative and Personal Writing.” 346. “What is Your Most Memorable Writing Assignment?” In eleventh grade our English teacher assigned us a 20 page paper due at the end of the month. “On anything you want,” she answered […]
(Feature Image: Henry Miller Memorial Library) In response to The New York Times article “650 Prompts for Narrative and Personal Writing.” 323. “What Are the Best Books You’ve Read This Year?” Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (art by Tzviatko Kinchev) Reading this novel, for Professor James Lasdun’s “Form […]
In response to The New York Times article “650 Prompts for Narrative and Personal Writing.” 315. “What Are Your Favorite Video Games?” The games that took up a lot of my youth were the massive-multiplayer-online-role-playing types like Tibia, Ragnarok, and Age of Empires, which were all fantasy, and […]
(Art pulled from El Tiempo) In response to The New York Times article “650 Prompts for Narrative and Personal Writing.” 306. “What Movies Do You Watch, or Reference, Over and Over?” Cinema is an art form meant to be enjoyed in groups, and referenced thereafter. Music can […]
(Cover image pulled from Oliver Russell) In response to The New York Times article “650 Prompts for Narrative and Personal Writing.” 290. “What Are the Best Things You’ve Watched, Read, Heard or Played This Year?” Should you ask, I will say there are many “bests.” I am the […]
In response to The New York Times article “650 Prompts for Narrative and Personal Writing.” 277. “What Are You Listening To?” https://soundcloud.com/begun/bearoid-at-your-funeral-begun-remix “Listen to this,” my buddy Andrew said, handing me his right headphone piece. The plane had taken off moments before. From the window you could see […]
In response to The New York Times article “650 Prompts for Narrative and Personal Writing.” 264. “How Real Are You on Social Media?” Hah. Well, I only use Instagram regularly, and Facebook once a week. Is this website social media? I’ll admit, I use Facebook for […]
In response to The New York Times article “650 Prompts for Narrative and Personal Writing.” 244. “What’s So Great About YouTube?” My buddy Greg keeps me up to date on much new music. Earlier this week, he sent me a Spotify link to the Mono No Aware compilation […]
In response to The New York Times article “650 Prompts for Narrative and Personal Writing.” 237. “Do You Experience FOMO When You Unplug?” No. I’ll admit that one of my inner aches is FOMO. Not from unplugging, but in general. Every once in a while, I find […]
(Art from fanpop.com) In response to The New York Times article “650 Prompts for Narrative and Personal Writing.” 224. “What Are Your Attitudes Toward Money?” Here are a couple of dollar bill paragraphs and a wallet always full: We are what we eat. And I’ve consumed […]
(Art by Florencio Molina Campos) In response to The New York Times article “650 Prompts for Narrative and Personal Writing.” 217. “Have You Ever Tried to Hide Your Racial or Ethnic Identity?” Yes, embarrassingly enough. And my subterfuge tied itself to language, I must confess. Around […]
(This was a hard question to answer. I pray my reflections lead you to your own.) In response to The New York Times article “650 Prompts for Narrative and Personal Writing.” 213. “What Does it Mean to Be ‘a Real Man?’” My dear friend Brittany Reeber, film […]