Writing
Margaret Atwood Talk @ TX Book Fest 2015
I was the plus one on a special “friends pass” to hear Margaret Atwood in the Texas State Capitol during the book festival. I’d heard other writers speak at this venue before, but always from the nosebleed section. While rifling through her things to get notebook and pen ready, my friend dropped one of my business-card … Continue reading
Lurking Below
I am the thing lurking below your bed underneath your goody box of condoms, lube, porn and sex toys. What you don’t dare shove into your closet among a sea of skeletons gets secreted beneath the bed, adding to my power and causing you a fitful night’s sleep. Every night, I seep into your head, … Continue reading
Genius or Madness
Geniuses are innovative thinkers who break from conformity, doing things no one has ever dreamed of doing before. Problem is, so are the mad. How to distinguish one from the other? Usually, it’s a matter of money. The rich are eccentric. The poor are crazy. Poor people live day-to-day in crisis mode while rich people … Continue reading
Water Hiccup
The uncontrollable spray of water from a partially buried pipe behind the leasing office in my apartment complex foreshadowed the water shutoff in my apartment. Nonetheless, I made no effort to save any water in large pots. Instead, I brooded about how much more I’d have to pay for water in October. Unbelievable. I used to … Continue reading
Ch. 14 of The Adventures of Infinity & Negativa
This painting comes from chapter 14 of my second novel, The Adventures of Infinity and Negativa. At the end of the previous chapter, the main character, Nuru, has just drowned in the Caribbean Ocean, off the coast of Honduras while attending a 24-hour, underground music beach party. The title characters, Infinity and Negativa are twin … Continue reading
Beestung
Around the turn of the 21st century, a bee stung me. My entire right hand swelled. Mom recommended I make a paste out of meat tenderizer and put it on my affected hand, but a few sun salutations had a more dramatic effect. The extra fluid pulsed and coursed through my lymphatic vessels during that yoga … Continue reading
What Are the Odds
We are all winners! Born into this world already having defied tremendous odds. Don’t believe it? Consider this: healthy men can ejaculate between 40 million to 1.2 billion sperm cells and healthy women will ovulate between 300 to 400 eggs during their reproductive lifetime; so the fact that we’re all here means we’ve already beat … Continue reading
Handmade Laundry Bag
Last Memorial Day weekend, we entered the fifth straight week of heavy rains, flooding and tornado watches. What a wonderful opportunity to craft! Graduation season was right around the corner. I researched popular items to give a high school graduate and jumped on the opportunity to make personalized laundry bag for my niece. The plot … Continue reading
Injury Reunion
Every physical trauma I’ve experienced in my younger days have returned to reminisce in my middle-agehood. Blissfully forgotten skinned knees and elbows, deep wounds embedded into my bones, muscles and joints, aging me from the inside out. I may not look my age, but I feel it with every mysterious new pain. The faint echo … Continue reading
Amazon Gender
Some say the word “Amazon” derived from Greek, meaning “without breasts.” Others prefer to derive “Amazon” from Armenian, meaning “moon-women.” Of course, I didn’t know any of that when I was six and wanted to be an Amazon when I grew up. I was fascinated by their strength and fighting skills. A few years later … Continue reading