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Framed by a Madman
“This is fricking insane!” I yelled at the paint on the walls periodically as I spent half an hour trying to place a single piece into my new puzzle. Jeezus, that paint wasn’t wearing well. Cracks everywhere. The slate color had always seemed appealing; mentally, I had complimented the previous owners for choosing a tone
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A War Story
This post is the second in a series of four guest essays written by my friend Diane, whom I met during our family’s year in Turkey: First, a bit about me. I was born in Boston and spent my teenage years wrestling with an urge to escape from the suburbs and get out into the
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Open Arms: Syrians in Turkey
This post is the first in a series of four guest essays written by my friend Diane, whom I met during our year in Turkey: First, a bit about me. I was born in Boston and spent my teenage years wrestling with an urge to escape from the suburbs and get out into the world.
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Navigationally Challenged
A couple of nights ago, we sat in a “preparing your child for high school” meeting at the middle school. Several times, the speaker referred to the date of an open house “which was in the email we sent out last week.” Leaning towards Byron, I whispered, “Did you see a date in that email?”
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I Recommend
This Little Red Hen has spent a great deal of the past year with her beak tipped to the clouds, anxiously clucking “The sky is falling!” I could detail the challenges of 2016, but we all know what happened. For some people, it actually wasn’t that tough of a year. Their presidential candidate won the
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I Suck at Badges. Reading Emails. Following Rules.
“Do you have your badge with you?” He smoothed his lapel, his gum chewing at odds with suit and tie. “Yeah, I do,” I assured him. “It’s buried somewhere in my bag, but if you hang on a minute, I’ll set this other stuff down and dig for it.” My arms were laden with folders,
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Walk of Shame Snow Woman
Three years ago, back in 2013 when good things still seemed possible, I started a serial on Facebook involving a snow lady we’d made in the front yard. Periodically, when we weren’t shoveling out from the latest blizzard or fending off mid-winter fluesies, I’d toss out another post about this snow lady and her imagined
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Heal
What I want is to tuck myself under the duvet and stay there, head covered, for four years. I don’t want to get dressed; I don’t want to leave the house; I don’t want to go to work; I don’t know where to find the performance energy; I don’t know how I’ll paste a smile
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Stumped
I don’t mean to co-opt his story. Then again, no story — even if its cast is a single character — can be told without rubbing up against someone else’s story. Indeed, even when there is only one character in a narrative, the way that person behaves, the choices he or she makes — those
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Halloween Thoughts
There is one holiday, and one holiday only, that I truly enjoy: Halloween. When I announce this to others, reactions vary. Some are confused — “Whaddya mean you don’t love Thanksgiving? How can you not melt into Christmas?” Others are interested, hoping for a psychological reveal — “Oh, yea? And why’s that?” Still others, and
