“did you notice i cleaned the car?” said the mother to her three kids, piling into the SUV. “did you notice i need braces?” the eldest daughter replied. –parking lot, outside my office

“so, jen, do you know what your hair needs?” “what?” “it just needs more time to become jen hair.” –clearance rack, american eagle outfitters

descending the 101 freeway, i saw him again. it was the second time in two weeks that he was walking the sidewalk with his right hand clutching a book and his left hand snuggled in his pocket. i recognized him because he had short legs. where was he going at exactly 5:43pm on a thursday […]

“i hear you had a birthday, i hear you’re getting old,” said the man with salt-and-pepper hair. “aren’t we all?” asked the middle-aged restaurant owner, wiping counters and circling tables. he paused, then added, “i’m sorry. i wasn’t implying that you were.” “i’m not getting old,” the other man answered. “i’ve been old for a […]

he alternately let out “fuck!”s, “beautiful”s and sighs, while flipping through the LA Weekly on the sunlit patio. his greasy blond hair grazed the top of his black wire-rimmed glasses. his denim jacket draped over his chair looked exactly like the one my brother had in the 1980s. it was Guess[tm]. –The Coffee Table

“i like this song,” i thought, so i turned up the volume up-up-up and then he passed by. a man in white sneakers and rolled-up jeans and a brown sweater. he was plugging his ears – a finger in each – and holding a crumpled nestle crunch wrapper. “what is it that he’s trying to […]

two men exchange handshakes and papers beside a white car parked in my driveway. they are not my upstairs neighbors. they are not supposed to be there. i turn, once, to let them know i see them. i turn again, to let them know i am watching. and then i go inside, peeking through the […]

on the drive home from san diego, i saw a man hiking up a hill on the side of the highway. it was a straight path at a 15-degree angle and i had no idea where he thought he was going. it looked like a road to nowhere. –5 freeway, somewhere between san diego and […]

the lady who sat at the table beside me is my new hero, not because she had a mess of curls atop her head, not because she had red specs that matched her ruby lips, not because she was writing in a moleskine notebook. no. it is because she ordered a t-bone steak and ate […]

the lady who sat at the table beside me was replaced by a boy who talked so loudly i had to turn the volume on my headphones up. way up. remind me to tell you about the time in paris that he did way too many drugs and fell ill. “that was a long time […]