What is Fiction, what is Not?

I open at random one of my favorite books of Nonfiction, Gloria Anzaldúa’s Borderlands.   Page 41: Half and Half There was a muchacha who lived near my house. La gente del pueblo talked about her being una de las ortras, “of the Others.” They said that for six months […]

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The Blue House, Episode 2: Proportions

Beth Kephart: It’s one thing to take a measuring tape to a set of architectural blueprints and announce a series of dimensions. It’s quite another to think and write of a house proportionately. What was small and what was large, and in relationship to what, precisely? Think of the work […]

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The Blue House, Episode 1: Intro

“Installed in the moment. Awash with history.” That’s what writer Beth Kephart says about our childhood homes. And it is the line pushing me to post about this topic.   A quick authorial note, I did not just happen on the article. But our instructor, and fellow doctoral student at […]

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dream job

Dream Job(s)

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 […]

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life lessons

Notes on recent life lessons

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 […]

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618. “What Would You Risk Your Life For?”

In response to The New York Times article “650 Prompts for Narrative and Personal Writing.”   618. “What Would You Risk Your Life For?”   In Zorba the Greek, Nikos Kazantzakis writes that there are two ways to live: as if every moment were your first, or as if at […]

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609. “How Green Are You?”

(Image from Miniature Photography)   In response to The New York Times article “650 Prompts for Narrative and Personal Writing.”   613. “How Green Are You?”   Yesterday we lost a plant. His friend the Golden Devil and I mourned with our fingers in the soil. Dolefully we entered a […]

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589. “What’s Your Sunday Routine?”

In response to The New York Times article “650 Prompts for Narrative and Personal Writing.”   589. “What’s Your Sunday Routine?”   Sundays are holy. Sundays are sacred. Sundays are my favorite days.   Friends call me disciplined. My family talks about my routines. But to me, I just find […]

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526. “Do You Like to Exercise?”

In response to The New York Times article “650 Prompts for Narrative and Personal Writing.”   526. “Do You Like to Exercise?”   “Yo, bro, can we work in a set with you?”   “Yuh, jus give me a sec.”   We’re in the downtown YMCA stepping down from the […]

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513. “What’s Your Favorite T-Shirt?”

In response to The New York Times article “650 Prompts for Narrative and Personal Writing.”   513. “What’s Your Favorite T-Shirt?”   Ode to my favorite shirt: “Follow me to EL COSMICO,” it says, and features some Hindu divinities (Vishnu with a pair of Laxmis). They ride an orange and […]

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