Blog
Our shopping carts
At Ogletree’s supermarket I lost half my childhood.
Mom was painfully slow with her selections and I was bored. I’d hitch myself to the front of the cart and sing the tune for Busch Beer. Mom would cover her embarrassment with a smile and nod to the other shoppers.
At Lidl I saw a young girl doing the same thing, except she was singing a theme song for yogurt.
On display
I walk by the mirrored head of Kafka several times a week. I tend to catch him before he starts to spin.
At the top of each hour, tourists gather and start recording him. Hundreds of digital copies of his self-doubt are memorialized. Minutes later only empty cups of coffee and bubble tea remain.
I’ve thought about selling tickets.
Breakfast choices
At the bakery I felt a bit indulgent and ordered a cappuccino.
She looked like she needed a break from her own body. She parked her granny cart and sat at the table next to mine. A bottle seal cracked. She tilted her head back and gulped down the vodka.
She smiled at me as if I hadn’t seen it.
Have you been convinced?
I was convinced my rock tumbler could create precious gems. Surely no one else had one, and so I was going to make all us rich.
I asked AI to proofread an article I wrote the other day and to make sure the logic was sound. Paragraphs became oddly consistent and analogies were stripped. Dull.
“Just like the rocks from my rock tumbler,” I thought to myself.
How I found out
It’s impossible not to spot something as big as an A380. It was almost floating. But it shouldn’t be here, at least not at this time.
I pulled up the avgeek’s best friend. In bright red: Flight EK212 from Houston to Dubai diverting to Prague. Then came another A380. This time from Athens.
It clicked. My heart sank.
It's telling you something
It was supposed to be an ordinary Tuesday.
Except I woke up with a tugging sensation I couldn’t shake. A voice in my head implied that someone who was with us now would not be with us by evening.
Then the news came that this time he had let go.
A truth-sized Chihuahua
She caught my attention first. Like all dogs do.
She had a pink cast on her right hind leg, which struggled to do its job. Still, she managed to walk with immense pride for being so low to the ground. Then I noticed her human with the same limp, same leg.
I laughed inside. I guess it is true.
Don't waste our time
At the bank I was hoping to find a person empathetic to my 25 years with them.
Instead, there was a sigh and a “bohuzel.” Unfortunately, no. Turns out it was my fault for their merger and my account being grandfathered in.
Then came the automated email: “Dear client, did you know you can manage your account in our app?”
Head first
It was our honeymoon. David had seen an advert for the Seychelles on TV. I wanted to give him everything so where we were going had already been decided.
Jemma at the Mango Lodge warned us of the deceptive waters that lapped at La Digue. He dove off the pier, I lost sight of him. Then I saw his hands and bloodied head waving. For life.
I dove in after him.
No class reunions
My high school years were the unhappiest of times. And my favorite teachers saw that.
Mrs. Rivers would stand behind the lectern every Friday in her UNC team gear, brag about barbecue, and give the hardest tests. She also talked to me about the nuances of The Awakening. When I wanted to know what it would be like to travel at the speed of light, Dr. Clayton stayed after school. Even though most kids said she was a robot and had no emotions.
They kept me curious.