Outer Lands – 1915
John said so, even before we built our home in the Outer Lands neighborhood by the ocean — there would be nothing but wind. It gusted so hard, and often, the effect was comical at first. We’d laugh at the extremity we faced, so that I loved to say the word “wind.” Sometimes I’d sing it, whisper it, my breath blowing on my sister’s new baby’s cheeks. The big girls would dance crazy and free with me; we’d turn Ma’s living room into a field. That’s why they loved me. Called me Aunt Wind. I was not long past child yet, my legs a gust...
Read MorePancakes Cure Cancer
“What are you doing to that poor cat?” I parked my doctor’s bag next to Nida’s briefcase. Curled at the table, my wife tucked old Bella’s forepaw into her fragrant teacup. “Give me a kiss, Aloysius. I’m bathing her infected claw with chamomile tea.” “Why don’t you take her to the vet?” I pecked Nida’s bony nose. “She’d waddle away if she didn’t like this.” “Couldn’t get far.” Our two crammed rooms abut an intake to the Queensboro Bridge. Lead-lined curtains and roaring air conditioners hide the traffic, but our living room unit drips into a bowl: tick,...
Read MoreFaces in Odd Places
I thought I saw John Lennon peering from behind a palm frond on a Hawaiian shirt once. I’d been rummaging through a table of men’s clothing at the Millwood Church’s annual bazaar. His bespectacled, contemplative face seemed so clear for that instant, but when I looked closer, it was only part of the overall busy, splashy pattern. I didn’t buy the shirt, but I would have if I hadn’t been mistaken about the face. It’s funny how we look for faces in inanimate places. One of the marbled floor tiles in front of my refrigerator camouflages a distinctly overweight...
Read MoreEach Time
Each time where he walks, the world is slightly different. Fields burst into bloom. We were lying on the hill outside Springfield, the one with all the little blue flowers. It was just the two of us, and the sky was very blue. There were some clouds above us, and the sun hit them in a way that they lit gold, instead of white. We didn’t talk or move for what felt like forever, and at some point I wondered if we were dead. I thought, If neither of us coughs, or sneezes, or moves to scratch an itch at the bottom of our feet in ten more minutes, it will mean we’re dead. He lifted up his head...
Read MoreReview: Go Get Some Rosemary
Directed by Ben and Joshua Safdie Starring: Ronald Bronstein, Sage Ranaldo, Frey Ranaldo, Abel Ferrara, Lee Ranaldo According to FIPRESCI Jury Zoran Gojić, Špela Barlič and Radmila Djurica of the 20th Ljubljana International Film Festival (LIFFE) in Slovenia, the jurors made up their mind pretty fast to award the International Federation of Film Critics Award American to Go Get Some Rosemary, directed by Ben and Josh Safdie. “Josh and Ben Safdie brothers tell a simple story about a complicated family — which is their own. Inspired by the New York independent film tradition, it...
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