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. ...
Anyone who watches TV with my Ma is more likely to kill her than if they weren't watching TV. The reason for this is because my Ma constantly talks, riffs, jokes, and comments on whatever is on the screen. And the worst part is, over the years, I've started to develop this habit too. Quiet ...
Alright, to tell this story, and all that happened Saturday night, I have to back up a couple of weeks. If ya didn't already know, I am an artist, and over the summer I have been working on a couple of big projects. They are wood cutouts of cartoon characters of my own design, something ...
The question I get most frequently about my work with the paper is, are those Magic Mike stories really true? And the answer is yes, all of them are 100% true. But still, people have trouble believing that, I don't know if these situations are specifically unique to my family because we are ...
My Ma has carried a purse for as long as I can remember, and all that time, her purse has been a thing of legend. Just about anything could be inside it. I often joke that I once saw her take a potted plant out of it, but that's not far off. First of all, the thing is huge. My Ma has gone ...