My hero

Fax machine mafia

The assignment: Same as previous, imitate another writer. This time it’s Grace Paley.
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FAX MACHINE MAFIA
I stared down at the fax machine, my hands braced on either side of it. Check paper size, its digital display read. I called Jimmy over and asked him what that meant. Since when do fax [...]

Watching this hurts my knees

This video makes me feel like a very stiff, out of shape old woman. It’s pretty cool nonetheless. Watch it on YouTube and rate it. My brother is one of the crazies featured and also the one who edited it together. Our old pond and wooden swing even makes a cameo…

There’s [...]

Pedal to the metal

The assignment: Imitate the style of one of the writers we’ve studied this week. I’ve chosen Junot Diaz who wrote The Sun, the Moon, the Stars in the New Yorker. See instructor comments below.
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PEDAL TO THE METAL
I’m not a bad driver. It’s all the other jerks on the road who [...]

Winter’s dawn

The assignment: Write about a place you’ve worked without actually saying what/where it was.
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WINTER’S DAWN
My boots cracked the frozen straw with each step as the weathered mahogany door creaked shut behind me. Moonlight filtered through cracks in the warped beams, catching the spirals of warm breath as they floated upwards [...]

Thought du jour

I was asked today what I did over the weekend. I couldn’t come up with much, but for the first time in a long time, I was thrilled with what little I did accomplish. Namely, I spent an incredible amount of time each day at the gym with my fitness fanatic brother and to our [...]

The little red button

The assignment: Listen to two people have a conversation and take note of their dialog, the way they speak. Cast them into a fictional scene and create dialog for them in their own voices.
Writer’s note: Two of my lucky coworkers became the subject of this short piece after I decided the only place I could [...]