they are tearing down the building next door. for the past three years, the dilapidated structure has been home to graffiti messages and trash, the remnants of which are now on the sidewalk: an unplugged electric fan blowing in the wind; a beat-up orange eames chair; dust clouds every time someone walks down the sidewalk. […]

when they began to sing, i shook like a leaf. i looked up at the moon and told myself, “focus on something, something other than them,” so that i wouldn’t cry. tonia and i promised each other we would not get sappy, but that pact went out the window when i stood there, watching one […]

i hardly recognize myself. i’ve got a green thumb and a gym card on my key chain. i get tipsy after two sips of gin. i dream about homemade spaghetti sauce with freshly torn basil and black iron coat racks. i haven’t gotten a proper hair cut in 6 months. i rush home so that […]

what is the lowest common denominator? what is the least amount of detail necessary? what is the one thing that captures this very moment? god, i am really craving ice cream cookies & cream or peach? i wonder if this is the part of the meal plan i miss paris someday, i am going to […]

i bought a new watercolor set yesterday. while working on my latest project, i realized that i’d been using a set i bought four years ago, when i took my first (and last) watercolor class. the color was dwindling. the brush bristles were shedding. i am so used to Making Do that i didn’t stop […]

“she’s a cling-on,” e. explained. “oh, she is?” i asked. “didn’t you see her outfit?” “yeah, i just thought she dressed funny.” –comic convention, san diego, calif.

dude, he said, leaning in close to his friend, that could be us if you just got off your frickin’ ass. by that he meant the duo strumming and singing for the audience. his friend, eyes never leaving the stage, just laughed nervously. –kings of convenience show, troubadour, west hollywood

the boy with the loose hips and coke-bottle glasses turned out to be a king of convenience. we saw him at josh’s crepe party last night; you couldn’t really miss him, because he was bouncing and shaking all over the place. gangly arms and infectious smile. i thought, what a funny little boy. when he […]

did i tell you about the boy at the movie theater? he parked across the street from me and sat one row away. i had no desire to talk to him, i just wanted to watch him from my seat. i wanted to see if he laughed at the same parts i did. i wanted […]

the thing about right now, about Lately, is that it’s not very interesting. i don’t know what else to tell you except i’m starting to think that’s the way it’s supposed to be. this is the part in the book you skip to get to the part where it starts to get good again. there […]

so: i still do that thing where i get all quiet nervous schoolgirl on people i really admire. a thousand compliments and questions and marriage proposals swirl in my head as i’m waiting in line to talk to you but then, when you are there, in front of me, they fly out my ears and […]

comic book boys: those who make them and those who read them, oh, and even those who live in them. i love them all. you may think they're all just a buncha big fat nerds, but i tell you, they are sweet (sometimes dreamy!) boys who are giddy about something they adore, and i of […]

the 4-year-old boy had been flirting me from the moment he sat down at the reception. his mother said to him, “do you even know how old she is?” he peered up at me. “12?” we laughed. “um, no. i’m a little older than that,” i said. he paused and furrowed his eyebrows. “45?” –wedding […]

if you, like my friends and i, are constantly asking each other “remember that one band…?” then you will be thrilled to discover vh1's artists a-z as a top notch resource. just yesterday, i was submitting a song on mixmatcher, a crush i confessed long ago (scroll down). the playlist topic: cigarettes. naturally, the song […]