I belong to a book club that usually reads fiction, and I’ve read a lot of good stories that I would never have otherwise: Circling the Sun by Paula McLain, Empire Rising by Rick Campbell and Istanbul Passage by Joseph Kanon, to name a few. But most of the time I prefer nonfiction, books like …
January 2017 archive
Jan 18
Coffee Shop Chronicles: On staying and leaving,
Starbucks Cherry Hill, NJ October 2002 I’m shaking from hitting the curb as I pulled in. I don’t see any damage, but I’m uncontrollably jittery. It’s a good thing I brought my journal tonight. My mocha Frappuccino will just add caffeine to my jitters, but the journal, well, that’s relaxing. I hope. It’s an older …
Jan 16
Let Me EntertainYou
My husband asked what I was writing about this month. After I answered him, I could tell that he wasn’t impressed—probably not even slightly interested—with my subject. “Finding iPhones,” I said. He smirked, and I knew he was thinking: boring. So, I gently reminded him that “I’m a writer. If I do my job well, …
Jan 15
Summer Camp – Part Two
Still on two week National Guard duty at Phelps Collins Air Base in the 1960’s, I was a lowly Airman Second Class manning our medical infirmary late at night. Sometime after ten o’clock, with the outside floodlight casting a harsh glare over the parking lot, several cars pulled up. Anyone arriving that late could …
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Jan 23
In One Ear and Out the Other
A waitress at a nice restaurant my wife and I like to frequent said, “No Problem,” after I thanked her for topping off our water glasses. I asked her, “what would be a problem?” She just stared at me. I asked her, “If freshening my water isn’t a problem, would sending back my meal …
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