The holiday season is when memories and tradition reign supreme, from that odd ornament ya made in kindergarten to when you eat Christmas dinner. And every family has their own rules of engagement. My Ma laid down a rule decades ago that stands today as one of the pillar elements of ...
In my head, I have two pictures of myself. One of the person I am, and one of the person I want to be. And more likely than not, when I make a decision, I am doing so based on the person I want to be. If I didn't do that you wouldn't be reading this right now. So, many months ago, I started ...
Let me start by saying that I can take the cold much better than I can take the heat. As my Ma is known for saying, 'You can always put more clothing on, but you can only take so much off.' Okay, so, traditionally my Ma turns on the furnace on November the first. This happens regardless of ...
As you may know, I am one in which anxieties tend to grow and fester. And I have a story, which I believe justifies my said anxieties. What you're about to read is a story that has come to be known as The Baby Food Incident. Okay, so we have a friend of the family, a couple. And this couple ...
Well, I have had a week. And in this week I have learned that I stay calm and in charge during an emergency — as long as I am the one having said emergency. Let's go back to last Wednesday, 9 p.m. I start to itch. My eyes start to itch, my forehead, my arms, my neck, my back, everything. I ...
My first short story acceptance letter hangs framed by the back door. My first 100 or so rejection letters hung for the longest time in the living room, under a comic strip of Snoopy writing a letter on his typewriter. The letter that Snoopy writes reads, "Gentlemen, Regarding the recent ...
I am like a dead tooth when it comes to horror movies, almost completely desensitized. And there is a reason for that. So, between my parents, and not ever really enjoying the outdoors, I got a good movie education as a kid. I'm not sayin' we sat around talkin' Fellini or the themes of ...
One of my favorite living artists is Johnny Sampson. He's known as the "Last Idiot Standing," because he is pretty much the last artist creating original artwork for Mad Magazine. Mad started mainly reprinting their classic comics a few years back, but Sampson still creates a new fold-in for ...
The thing about my Ma is that she can get along with just about anybody. This is a quality that I do my best to emulate. For example, my Ma works for the Department of Corrections Residential Facility in Marshalltown. She has for over 20 years now. People from all walks of life have passed ...
They say in preschool, I hated art. I detested coloring, and whenever the subject came up, I threw a fit. My parents say that when I came home from school and they asked about my day, I'd grotesquely spit out the words, "They made me color!" Strangely, my art journey started with TV. ...