After being laid off late Monday afternoon, I arrived home, jotted a short list of things I have wanted to do for months but could not find the time for, then stretched across my couch under a warm blanket and…
What Can We Do?
On a tenth grade history exam, I was asked to list four factors that led to the start of World War I. I remember writing, “The assassination of Archduke Ferdinand,” on the first blank line. It was one of the…
Ten Reasons Why Chattanooga Really is the Best City Ever
After getting a phone call that my on the job training would be postponed another week, I decided I deserved a long weekend away. The default day-trip for most people living in western North Carolina is a drive out to…
Running What Could Be My Last Marathon
A week before my most recent marathon, the weather app on my phone predicted rain for race day. I grimaced thinking it would be my second time running the Asheville Marathon on Biltmore Estate in bad weather. The first year…
The Art of Honesty on a Job Interview
I did not want to go to another job interview. After two months of answering questions like, “Tell me about a time you almost didn’t meet a deadline, but did,” homelessness seemed a reasonable alternative to another forty-five minutes of…
Reflections on Another Year Working in Retail
Teachers boast about years teaching a certain subject, a certain grade, or for a certain school system. Seniority keeps the kids under control, sometimes, as long as you look older and carry yourself with the no-nonsense authority students secretly crave.…
Fear and Open Doors
On Thursdays I don’t have to be at work until early afternoon. After three morning shifts earlier in the week, I always view the late start as an endless stretch of opportunity. Before getting out of bed I plan all…
Loving Not Running
A month ago I sat across from my twice-former housemate and told her I was thinking about moving again for what would be the fifth time in less than a year. “Are you moving toward or away?” she asked. “Away,”…
Turning the Wheel from Darkness to Light
For the past few months I’ve been rehearsing the newsletter I planned to send out with a belated apology for not writing and an announcement that I wouldn’t be writing here for the foreseeable future. Saturday though something shifted and…
I’m Still Not an Online Dater
My response to an email from a dating website to which I do not belong with the subject “Your soulmate can’t find you” and inquiry, “If your free profile is gone, how can the Universe deliver them to you?”: The…