The Morgue, the Merrier
Satchmo, of course; the Marsalis family, naturally, even Ann Rice, and her vampirish underground. But me living in Louisiana? You’ve got to be kidding! I got here on subways and BART trains, sidewalks, public parks, and noise made by people, not insects whining for hours in the summer heat loud enough to drown out a […]
Movie Review: Latest Trek
We are God’s Infidels driving to Pecanland Mall on Sunday morning (everyone’s in church) to see the new blockbuster, Star Trek into Darkness, purchase tickets, wait inside an abandoned food court, eerie as a Klingon vessel. Only a small group in brown plastic chairs, a couple whose two sons have anointed their crew-cuts, turquoise and […]
Hazardous Turnips: 4
“…she was short on sleep and in no mood for bad news.” There was no other way to tell her except for straight out. “Was the whole crew laid off?” “They said they needed a more experienced operator.” “Who said?” Since the baby had arrived, Judy was short on sleep and in no mood for […]
Hazardous Turnips: 3
“There you are. I thought maybe you went home to plant watermelons.” Mark climbed out of a truck. “What’s bugging you? You told me to check the readings. I did.” “Great. So what does it look like at the ponds today?” “Slime and black pockets of water. It stinks to high heaven.” Rotten eggs. The […]
Cancer Survivor in the City
The city etched her face into a pie chart wedges of a nose, mouth, eyes shadowed, each an escapee from the big picture, a radioactive half-life not counting piano bars hidden beneath subways, black keys minoring in months, until Central Park at a water fountain, she leaned her mouth close in for a single sip as her parents […]
A Doll Goes Shopping at Walmart
For weeks, I had been reading up on Walmart, absorbing everything from Sam’s biography to reports about how the global chain was destroying labor guarantees put into place by the New Deal. I wanted to understand how Walmart had evolved from a variety store to an international behemoth hated and loved by all. Call it […]
Song for Guns & License
Paper mill town closed down. Sporting goods store the big draw. Hunters shop for camouflage, a new barrel gauge. Deer season. Six months here, I’m in a red chair with a red number, clutch a California driver’s license, my ID for forever. Insurance says I have to turn myself in, time to cheer for the […]
Note to Google: Honey, Not Tonight. I Have a Headache…
Don’t get me wrong. If I need to find something on the Internet, I know how to type a few keywords inside a search box. But remember those almost bygone linear search days when all we had to do was to scan a list of blue links and choose one or two or maybe three? […]
The Mustang
I’m on vacation from Chicago and visiting my girlfriend in Louisiana. Joy and I met in college. The plan is to drive to New Orleans the following weekend for the Jazz Festival. She let me borrow her car so I can pick up a few things for our trip. She says to watch out […]
To One Young Enough to be in a Car Seat
Always dangle tangerine peels over your brother’s head until he agrees to roll down the window. Always keep a small house in the kitchen where ants can tell each other stories about the worms they’ve run into, a place with an umbrella to protect them as they gather bread, honey, and all the dinner you […]