I did not raise my glass in toast to the passing of Gene Hackman.

There is inherent loneliness in the mountains.

Catholic guilt burned a hole in my palm and hidden in a bag, inside another bag, I lowered it into a dumpster like burying evidence of dead nuns. 

I felt his absence slowly growing and absorbing me like a black hole. 

The freedom is almost overwhelming.

You were compiling something and the itch for alcohol had blocked all business until you’d gotten up, checked the stove, and left.

Other people when they have a sore throat and can't sleep: "I have a sore throat and can't sleep."

Me when I have a sore throat and can't sleep:

+

It’s been 3:20 in the morning for ages. I

Gangpile on my belly.

Telling my wife was hard. Telling my best friend was going to be hard. Telling my family was going to be hard. But leaving was right. And I was raised to do hard things that were right.

You are only who you are to him. Waitresses treat you weird and ask questions..

I don’t fully recall when I realized that the smoke detector was going off

You didn’t want to manipulate me like you did the others. Should I feel bad for the others? 

Other times it’s about motels in Nebraska or 
gum ball machines or a close-up of a woman’s 
face.

But reach for it . . .

I suggested we arm wrestle as I did with every boy. I was a pick me and for my spreadsheet.

The room smelled like beer and sweat and crushed velvet. The air seemed to hum, hot and full of dust particles and guitar feedback. 

Tempestuous is the language we carry in our head, the music of new words and lovers, the cities we dip into on a lost weekend. Jeanne, the eponymous narrator of Arielle Burgdorf’s novel Jeanne,

They always think I’ll wave to them.

While many struggle to adapt to the largeness and complexity of NYC, Escobar thrived and used it to inform her work.

It is the night before I will meet my future ex wife. Neither of the mirrors are skinny.

But also, the clock . . .

She wasn’t cruel. She smiled when he refilled her water glass. She asked about his mother. They had sex with the lights on.

I’m talking to Siena Foster-Soltis on a patio overlooking the lights of Los Angeles. The hillside home, in the ultra-luxe enclave of Bel-Air, is an apt location for Siena’s latest play, Over the

That sudden clarity pierced through her: the baby’s soft blanket; the Frappuccino sweating in her hand, the grocery list in the diaper bag. All of this could change and when it did, she would cease to exist.

Some girls become Liz. Some girls want to be her. Some just want her. A fictional short story about Liz, Richard and an anonymous anti-hero.

Ten years ago, my work bestie at the job I had and the life I had at the time, Tedrick, rubbed me down in cruelty-free coconut oil. He said, “You’re a beautiful mess.” I shone in holiday light. 

I