Do you ever feel like you’re stranded on an island and the only person who understands you is a washed-up volleyball with a face painted on it in blood? Maybe you call that volleyball “Wilson” and you talk to it about this book you just can’t put down or a Netflix show you watched an […]
Last summer someone gutted my new bike. Both wheels and the seat, gone. They left just the sad, lonely frame still locked to the bike rack, looking severely inadequate next to the other bikes. When I first came across it, I stopped walking and stared at it for a while, as if the wheels would […]
The American Writers Museum was recently voted the top attraction in the state of Illinois by a USA Today 10Best online poll, as well as one of Fodor’s 10 Best New Museums. In honor of that achievement, in no particular order here are the top ten reasons (plus one bonus reason) to visit the American […]
Totality is rare these days. A constantly on-the-go society has little time for completion. Even our thoughts and interactions are limited to 140 characters, not quite enough for a thought to fully develop. Hashtags. Text lingo. Sentence fragments. The closest thing approaching totality I’ve done recently is binge-watch an entire season of Silicon Valley in […]
This past December, during the frenzied buildup to Christmas, I was shopping for gifts for my brother when I decided to duck into a bookstore and look around there. He likes a good thought-provoking book and I like hearing about what he learns through them, so I figured this would be a good place to […]
“Welcome to City Lights. A literary meeting place since 1953.” So reads the hand-painted sign hung high on the wall in one of the many book-filled rooms in City Lights Bookstore, the famed San Francisco institution. I recently made a pilgrimage of sorts to this literary hub, founded by poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Peter D. Martin in […]
The do-it-yourself mentality is thriving. Websites like Pinterest offer everyday people the chance to create something all by themselves; from cute snacks and decorations for parties to necessary home improvements after that party. But what about that ambitious novel you’ve almost completed? Writers have stories inside them, which they turn into coherent words and sentences […]
As a young man trying to become a better writer, I’ve received many bits of advice from people along the way: “Don’t be afraid to create, because there is no wrong in creativity.” “Writing is all about the process, not the product.” “You do know you need money to pay bills and writers don’t have […]
Why do stories matter? A college professor asked our class this once. Why do stories matter? Why do we need them? Why do we keep writing, reading and watching stories, sometimes the same story over and over again? These questions have lingered with me for some time now. My basic reaction was to think stories […]
My oldest brother gave me a small golden retriever puppy calendar for Christmas. So thoughtful. When I opened it I thought my brother either wants me to always know what day it is or finally adopt a dog. Or he forgot to get me a gift so he scrambled and grabbed this at the checkout […]