Every so often I read a book that overturns my entire view of the universe. A book that I share with everyone I know. A book that I leave in cafés for strangers to read. Ishmael: An Adventure in the Mind and Spirit by Daniel Quinn is one of those books. In the novel, the main character, Ishmael, ...
It was 4 AM on April 5, 2009 at the San Francisco International Airport. A group of groggy teenagers gathered at the check-in line. I greeted my friends, grateful that I had decided not to attend prom the night before. My parents had given me a choice: Go to junior prom or fly to the Galapagos Islan...
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin tells a remarkable story made even more astonishing because it is true. In the early 90’s Greg Mortenson, after failing to climb K2, promised one village in Pakistan that he would build a school for them. The book recounts how he made his ...
“You’ve been told in order to write, you need to be inspired. That’s a load of bull. You have all the inspiration you need inside of you. Just unleash it.” These were the words of my teacher, Traci, on the first day of my creative writing summer school. My first assignment last summer was t...
While an afternoon tea break was a normal occurrence for ladies in Victorian England, it is a rare treat for me and my friends. Last summer, my friend, Hilary, who lives in an old Victorian house, complete with a parlor and an old-fashioned bathtub, invited me to a tea party at her home. It was deli...
My life is not a book
and I am not an author
Fate and Chance write our stories
without happy-ever-afters
If the world spun around me, my secrets, my rash, traitorous actions,
would spell out tragedy,
not daftness— oh, I can write the turning point
but I cannot claim the rapture
In...
13. You must NEVER wear designer labels. Throw out anything with an insignia on it, unless it’s political. It’s preferable that you don’t care about clothes at all because, of course, that would be an admission of superficiality.
12. Speak with impeccable grammar ALWAYS, be...
“Acceptance. What does it mean?”
“Acceptance. What does it mean?”
She asked with eyes troubled,
reflecting an ocean glazed with glass.
“In a universe where we can’t connect
always alienated by separate minds
in separate worlds at separate times
I guess ...
Locked Out
There’s a lock on the door
to the land of the free
always before it opened
the path to opportunity
It’s beginnings weren’t as noble
as we innocently pretend
We stole the land from its people
and never made true amends
Since then the unexplored vastness
magnetically d...
It was mid-July, and the overcast sky covered the horizon from one end to the other. I stepped outside the warm car into the harsh chilly air and smelled the salty breeze. I gazed around at my friends and parents who were also climbing out of the car, reading for an energetic day of hiking and bon...
The little things add up in the end.
Who would have thought all those memories
could mean so much more than I did intend?
I look at them together and see a blend
of colors, voices flying past in a breeze.
The little things add up in the end.
The smiles I give, the letters I send,
will me...
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