Kid Stuff

“The curator of the refrigerator door can’t be too ruthless. When Dad de-accessions a new finger painting overnight, Dr. Burton said, ‘the child quickly learns that this art that they’re making is very ephemeral.’ In other words, worthless.” — “Mom, You’re One Tough Art Critic,” Michael Tortorello, New York Times In elementary school, we made […]

Lost & Found

Since I go to church every Sunday like a goody-two-shoes, people often express their God-fearing to me. Like, oh, God must be mad at me. I never do any religious stuff! Actually, I don’t have insurance against trouble by going to church. It might mean I am more of a mess, that I feel I […]

Performance

In the 80’s, it was hard to find a Broadway show to take kids to. Maybe “A Chorus Line” wasn’t appropriate, but what was? Broadway was for grown-ups. As was Times Square, where we were offered cocaine, impressing the hell out of me. The city! Its dangers! I saw “A Chorus Line” on Broadway when I […]

Annotated Bibliography: Autopsies

The purpose of my reading has been to taste and digest the greatest novels, hoping that their calories will build my writing muscles, and that I’ll better know how to taste my own work, what spices to add as I’m cooking up my own stories. Some things, though, I just can’t develop a taste for. […]