Photo by Daria Shevtsova on Pexels.com You can read my young adult, supernatural thriller, 27, chapter by chapter as I write it at 27. The novel opens in Venice Beach, California, with a young woman named Josie who has an unusual talent: when she sings, otherworldly things happen around her. She usually sings to the …
Ode to my Favorite Bars
I miss bars Not breweries Not "tap rooms" Not "gastro pubs" I miss bars Dark and dank (Deadwood) A "hole in the wall" they call it in the Midwest (Yacht Club) Worn-in seats (Foxhead) The smell of old, cheap, beer-stained carpet (Billy Joe's) The retro spinning carousel of horses on an ancient, dusty Budweiser display …
Burnout is officially a “syndrome.” What comes next?
The results of chronic stress in the workplace have been getting a lot of attention this week. First, we learned that the World Health Organization (WHO) officially redefined the term "burnout" as a "syndrome" resulting from chronic workplace stress in their handbook of diseases. Despite some reporting, the WHO previously included burnout in their handbook …
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27: Chapter 1
“You’re my good luck charm, little girl,” he tells me. “Your voice breaks open a window to heaven.” “Don’t call me a little girl,” I say in a mock-tough voice that’s barely hiding sarcasm. I pull the serape I grabbed from the back of his beat-up truck around my shoulders. The itchy material protects my …
A Mountainous Hike is Life
My husband and I took a hike together. And it became a metaphor for the way we live our lives together. We started out in a familiar area but on an unknown path. We made educated guesses on what the terrain would be like and hoped that our trek would end in a view on …
27: Chapter 2
Photo by Lisa Fotios on Pexels.com “I’ll take a grande, quad, nonfat, one-pump, no-whip, mocha,” the pretty professional lady says to me without looking up from her phone. She’s particularly fancy with a silky white blouse tucked into a hot pink pencil skirt. The color of her long acrylic nails match the skirt. “No problem,” …
27: Chapter 3
Photo by Dominika Roseclay on Pexels.com I did it. I finally made my decision. When I was helping Gary set up his exhibition at 18th Street Arts earlier this afternoon, it hit me right in the center of my chest: I’m singing tonight. I’ve been fretting over this decision for the last week. Ever since …
27: Chapter 4
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com My unwelcome passenger has been sitting next to me since Ocean Park and 23rd. Sitting next to me in Gary’s light blue pick-up truck as I drive home. He could’ve been there longer than 23rd Street but that’s when I first noticed him. I jumped and swerved when I first …
27: Chapter 5
Photo by Jason Toevs on Pexels.com I’m really hurt this time. “This time,” I mean since the second time that man ran into me. Or melted into me. I don’t know where he went. It’s been a week since he punched me in the stomach in my kitchen and disappeared. I’ve been so sick I’ve …
Brit Marling, The OA and Commoditization of Creativity
"At some point if you stop living a life of risk and failure and adventure alongside your storytelling life, eventually your storytelling only becomes about the art of storytelling." - Brit Marling, as-told-to Sam Fragoso Brit Marling is my favorite artist right now. She’s the creator, writer and actor in Netflix’s most interesting show, The …
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