Jokers: Annotated Bibliography On God, Q-Tips, and The Tip of Your Tongue

I. “Those who (while visiting a foreign country) have lost the end of a Q tip in their ear and have been unable to explain the problem….Any person who has lost a urine sample in the mail…. Women who gave up the accordion because of pinched breasts… Anyone whose knees have been ruined as a […]

How

I had a migraine yesterday, and I came back to work shaky and tired, so when a kid this morning murmurred, “I hate her,” because I wouldn’t let her turn off the air conditioning and roast us all in our own juices, I murmurred to myself, “I hate you more.” Not so she could hear me or anything. Just under my breath, in the style of someone wildly immature or completely insane. I don’t hate her as a general rule. I just hated her in that particular moment.

Grand Canyon

When I was a senior in high school, two boys I liked invited me to the Grand Canyon. It was a Sunday, a spring afternoon. One boy had a sexy accent, and the other had a sexy mind and his parents’ gas card. I turned them down because I had a delicate balance with my […]

The Keys

When I visited, I met prison guards and leaders who reeked of peace like a Zen master. And guards who seemed edgy. If there’s anything a prison needs, it’s peace. A lot of people are in there because their peace meters ran on empty too long.