Month: February 2016

Driving to the island in the rain, I make the mistake of taking Nora’s Furby with me, out of kind consideration, this being her new toy. She is coming in the other car with the boys later. For those of you who don’t know what a Furby is, it’s a toy that talks to you in a loud obnoxious voice and it is stimulated by movement. There’s no real way to shut it off except to pull its tail for eight seconds and keep it still. This is what I didn’t think through. If you’re driving and have it in…

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I stare at two posters on the ferry terminal message board and they both look like the inside of my head: so many colourful ideas and lofty ambitions all crammed into one tight space. In short, utter chaos. It makes me laugh. At least I’m not alone in the ol’ creative process here. I am half way through my first draft of Holy Mo! A Christmas Show! and coming to the island to write. This red crazy poster is for…a dance…? a Buddhist chaplaincy while returning to Alawi? A fundraiser? Meeting an alluring woman I “can’t forget”? Eating cupcakes? African women…

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Coming back from dropping Nora off at school I see a big brown stuffed recliner out in the rain on twelfth street. A sign is taped on it, “Allah is the only legitimizer.” I chuckle to myself and imagine Allah, sighing, “How many times have I said not to shop at the Brick? The furniture breaks in a year and a day, and public litter is so not cool.” I muse over a sign I might add, “Will Allah also take this chair to the dump?” Legitimate. What a powerful word. Don’t we all want to be the real deal….

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My heart is sick with a family matter and I wander the house, sleepless and headachy from ending my love affair with coffee. Why does a person feel so ill when they’re trying to get healthy? Oh I know. I know. All those terrible toxins are leaching out. Sexy. I bend down over my Valentine’s bouquet to sniff a fading rose. How can I write when I cannot think? The rain discourages me from a walk. I should go, regardless. Get in my 10,000 steps. The last great hike I went on was on Bowen. I came across a stand…

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I unexpectedly find myself lying on a bed of amethyst crystals while listening to Whitney Houston implore, “When you believe” in the background. No, I am not filming a My Little Pony episode. Let me back up. I was offered a free haircut by a master stylist who owns her own salon, really sweet lady, and she gave me a great cut. My fellow had helped her with a flat tire in our church parking lot (because he is Fellow and saves people even on his day off) She wanted to thank him, but she looked at his shaved head…

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