The picture here was taken only after about two or three days in Bulgaria as a Peace Corps volunteer. It was July 4th and I hardly knew any of my fellow volunteers. Over the next 2 years perhaps we got to know each too well in some ways and not nearly enough in others. Seventeen …
Continue reading The Past Is a Discovered Country But Poorly Understood
When I say to her, "That's a pretty bracelet," she says, "Thanks! I bought it from a Christian jeweler!" When I say, "I like the painting over the fireplace," she says, "Thanks! I got it from a Christian painter!" And I confess, I want to say, "Oh, well, thank heaven it wasn't a Muslim or …
I walked toward the door of Joe's thinking my worries were over. Not that my stomach didn't twist a bit. That Guy might be there. But that was silly. He'd had one disagreement with the owners, been accused of bothering female customers, it is only in my writer imagination that he'd be in there. I …
One of my students has decided to write a novel. He's 20 and French. His novel is a thriller with a dash of sci-fi. The premise is great, and the writing can really come together if he gives it the attention it deserves. I've never had a student want to write a novel. Or at …
My son and I walked up the concrete steps after spending about an hour walking around a nearby pond, taking pictures of action figures, and watching a woman and her sons try to get a frisbee out of a tree. The sun had come out from behind the clouds turning the air sticky. The walk …
When I tell people I teach English as a second language, they usually say, "Oh. You speak Spanish?" "No." I wait a beat. "Most of my students don't speak Spanish either." My students come from Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Spain, France, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Turkey, Pakistan, Taiwan, …
I scan the parking lot and don't see the car I think That Guy drives. My friend, E., and I walk into Joe's, and we see our friend K. He's finishing up a short story. I look around. I look around again. No. That Guy is not here. At the counter, the barista asks me …
I try to live my life like a reasonable person. No, I don't want any melodrama with my latte, thank you very much. But part of my brain runs as if it were trying to write its own melodramatic novel. In Bulgaria, I used to ride trams that had accordion sections connecting the compartments. When …
Continue reading Ordinary Mind and Melodramatic Mind Duke It Out
Almost 2 years ago, my son and the girl next door, L., had an art show in the breezeway between our apartments. They invited the other neighbors, and while L. didn't want to sell any of her work, my son was happy to sell his. He seems to think selling art is normal. L.'s mom …
I asked friends to meet me at the coffee shop because I didn't want to deal with the guy on my own. I wanted friends to hide behind. And I went an hour later than usual in hopes that he'd be gone by then. My stomach knotted as I parked, a tangle of anxiety (I …
Marta Bacon 