Truth Wrapped
My goal for 2024 was to tell you one true story every month. I reached way back for some of them. Others arrived on my doorstep wrapped up in bad news. I got...
Love Song
I got a sublet when I moved to Brooklyn, so that I could find a real apartment. It wasn’t actually a bedroom; it was long and skinny with two doors and a...
Tell me one about Joel.
An old friend of mine died recently. I’m at the age where this starts to happen more frequently, but still young enough to be upset at the news. Joel and I...
Bath Poutine
My ex had a gaming group over for a long evening of Changeling or Vampire or Mage; some WhiteWolf game he loved and had crafted for the glory of it. I wasn’t...
The Feast of Ralph
A loaf of Roman Meal wheat bread, from the before times. The dinner guests lounged on their sides, their mouths stained with the grape. They speculated on...
Day of the needles
When I still lived in the Bay Area, I was married to a librarian. His library served one of the richest communities in America, and an alarming percentage of...
Halfway between your birthday and mine.
My mom’s best friend lived with us through most of my teenage years. It was the only time I knew my mom to have a real close friend, a ride-or-die, inside...
Winged lions and #2 pencils
Before I dropped out of high school, I took a lot of AP classes. I wasn't dropping out because of school. Like most people, I had to drop out because of...
Hello Kitty
Moreno Valley is brown, hot, and sixty miles wide. Living there as a teenager was hellish: isolated and isolating. Summers were by far the worst, with...
The Mouse
I’ve never had mice because I’ve always had cats. There are all those studies that explain even the laziest house cat is an ecological disaster, eating up...
The Great Christmas Tree Caper
My mom loves pranks. Back when I lived at home, I watched her pull them on people she loved and people she hated. The degree of meanness and inconvenience...
This isn't even my final platform.
TinyLetter is dying. This is the platform I liked the most, the simplest free version of what does this job. And soon it will be no more. The loss of...
This isn't even my final platform.
TinyLetter is dying. This is the platform I liked the most, the simplest free version of what does this job. And soon it will be no more. The loss of...
Yellow leaves, dripping eaves.
I moved into a new apartment in Brooklyn this week. My windows are on the ground floor, and look out on to the big red front doors of a church. The grey...
Yellow leaves, dripping eaves.
I moved into a new apartment in Brooklyn this week. My windows are on the ground floor, and look out on to the big red front doors of a church. The grey...
I bought a one-way ticket to New York City.
Some projects are easy to tell you about. I think I've mentioned my horror novel about dentists a handful of times over the last year, even though I've only...
I bought a one-way ticket to New York City.
Some projects are easy to tell you about. I think I've mentioned my horror novel about dentists a handful of times over the last year, even though I've only...
Majestic dignity and grandeur.
August is an adjective. It's a good one, meaning something grand and fancy and dignified and admirable. That's always struck me as funny. It's the month best...
Majestic dignity and grandeur.
August is an adjective. It's a good one, meaning something grand and fancy and dignified and admirable. That's always struck me as funny. It's the month best...
Summertime Sadness (Remix)
I'm sadder about the death of Twitter than I'd like to admit. It's brought me some of the most precious relationships in my life and strengthened others....
Summertime Sadness (Remix)
I'm sadder about the death of Twitter than I'd like to admit. It's brought me some of the most precious relationships in my life and strengthened others....
Nothing lasts forever.
I've been in Berkeley for the last couple of weeks. I'm caring for the world's most adorable cat (I've paid my tax, see above) while I get to see old friends...
Nothing lasts forever.
I've been in Berkeley for the last couple of weeks. I'm caring for the world's most adorable cat (I've paid my tax, see above) while I get to see old friends...
Sharp about everyone but yourself.
I had a song stuck in my head. When I get a song stuck in my head, I go and play it loud. It's the cheapest form of exorcism— Spotify bills me monthly and...
Sharp about everyone but yourself.
I had a song stuck in my head. When I get a song stuck in my head, I go and play it loud. It's the cheapest form of exorcism— Spotify bills me monthly and...
I'm your number one fan.
Today's the day my book comes out. This book, Number One Fan, came from a lot of places. It came out of a night when I got drunk and got into an Uber and...
I'm your number one fan.
Today's the day my book comes out. This book, Number One Fan, came from a lot of places. It came out of a night when I got drunk and got into an Uber and...
It's been a year.
The last time I sent one of these out was July 2021. We were still calling it "hot vax summer" back then, not thinking we'd still be hot and cold a year...
It's been a year.
The last time I sent one of these out was July 2021. We were still calling it "hot vax summer" back then, not thinking we'd still be hot and cold a year...
I'm crying cuz I love you.
Somewhere in the lost year of the plague, a person who is very dear to me had a baby. She did this on the other side of the country, where I could not visit...
I'm crying cuz I love you.
Somewhere in the lost year of the plague, a person who is very dear to me had a baby. She did this on the other side of the country, where I could not visit...
The bookstore is in the desert.
It's the reason nobody comes to Vegas, but there it is: one of the most beautiful bookstores I've ever seen. The trellis on the ceiling holds back a...
The bookstore is in the desert.
It's the reason nobody comes to Vegas, but there it is: one of the most beautiful bookstores I've ever seen. The trellis on the ceiling holds back a...
Death and vaxxes.
We got to the church right after 3AM. We stood in a loose knot, none of us sure where we were supposed to be. The building takes up a city block, and there...
Death and vaxxes.
We got to the church right after 3AM. We stood in a loose knot, none of us sure where we were supposed to be. The building takes up a city block, and there...
Good yurt and good luck.
I rented a yurt, just to get out of my bedroom for a minute. It's almost been a year that I've lived and worked and written and slept and danced and paced...
Good yurt and good luck.
I rented a yurt, just to get out of my bedroom for a minute. It's almost been a year that I've lived and worked and written and slept and danced and paced...
Let's pretend.
Pick up the clock. You need to slide your hand up behind it the way you scoop up a long slice of pizza. It's hot and melted, but it knows how to hold...
Let's pretend.
Pick up the clock. You need to slide your hand up behind it the way you scoop up a long slice of pizza. It's hot and melted, but it knows how to hold...
We were dancing in the streets.
I wake up early. This is something I do every day, but people are often surprised by it. Especially on a Saturday, especially when I am away from home,...
We were dancing in the streets.
I wake up early. This is something I do every day, but people are often surprised by it. Especially on a Saturday, especially when I am away from home,...
Howling under a full moon.
Of all the seasons I've lost this year, this one hurts worst. Let summer be sucked into a hole. Let the hot days drip down the backs of someone else's...
Howling under a full moon.
Of all the seasons I've lost this year, this one hurts worst. Let summer be sucked into a hole. Let the hot days drip down the backs of someone else's...
Missing you.
Things I never thought I would miss: -The sticky tabletops and noise and general mess of a Taco Bell at lunch time. I walked into one the other day, to the...
Missing you.
Things I never thought I would miss: -The sticky tabletops and noise and general mess of a Taco Bell at lunch time. I walked into one the other day, to the...
Let me show you eternity.
William Blake promised he could show you eternity in an hour, but I can do you one better. I only need ten minutes. These last few months have been, for most...
Let me show you eternity.
William Blake promised he could show you eternity in an hour, but I can do you one better. I only need ten minutes. These last few months have been, for most...
Sixty days in quarantine
I had my birthday in quarantine last week. It's often a difficult day for me. It's hard not to lament the passage of time, to consider all tha has not been...
Sixty days in quarantine
I had my birthday in quarantine last week. It's often a difficult day for me. It's hard not to lament the passage of time, to consider all tha has not been...
A book in a time of no bookstores.
When my first book came out, I hand-sold a lot of copies. I used to keep a stack of four or five in my bag, and if anybody showed the slightest interest in...