Borrowing the Car

When I was eighteen, I could already drive a stick shift. Definitely. I had to learn to drive on a stick because that was the car my mom had. It was drive a stick or don’t drive. But I had never driven a European car– we had a Corolla. So at eighteen, I sat alone […]

This is the Place

In two weeks, I am flying to Rome. I’m going because if I died without seeing Rome, I’d be pissed. I am also going because I am very legalistic and proper, and Rome is the third in the tier of European cities that are must-see. And lastly, I am going because I am strongly identified […]

Shaking the Panda

In “Married Men” (a previous piece), I thought I was writing about how dangerously sexy I was, and how vigilantly moral I was, but as an astute reader pointed out, I was actually writing about loneliness. I couldn’t put the loneliness right out there, because if there’s one thing that’s not sexy, it’s loneliness. I […]

Loss of Life

I was mostly asleep when I heard that George Tiller had been killed, so I thought it was a bad dream. My dream self thought, that would be terrible if that happened. Shot in the head in the lobby of his Lutheran church as he waited there like a good usher to guide people in. […]