Distance

When I was zipping through a practice exam to use with my students, I slowed way down to read Ralph Ellison. I don’t really know anything about him. I’ve never read Invisible Man. Strange as it seemed, I was enjoying reading a passage on a test. I immediately went back and ordered it from Amazon, […]

Weightless

When I was eight, I decided to be an astronaut. I wrote to NASA. Wasn’t real mail exciting? They sent me a whole packet of information the way the shuttle worked from toilets to booster rockets. I devoured every word. Through my elementary school years, I was a great scientist. I mixed household substances to […]

Deleted Scenes

I’m storytelling on Sunday as part of America, Now and Here. My yarn is about being abroad and mouthing off. Because my time is so limited, I offer a few subplots that will, regretfully, be omitted: When I was visiting London, I picked up this child. I mean, I chatted up this guy, and it […]

The End of the World

As you may have heard, the world is ending on May 21. All the teachers, and all the students, are like, no way! Not before school’s out! The world will end on May 21. I believe that. The world ends every day. I was on the rooftop of a building downtown. They had a little […]