Scattered

Scattered

Marquez has straddled numerous state lines. He loves being in multiple places at once. Enjoys feeling scattered. Though, lately, he is restless and feeling … whole. So here he is at the famous intersection of Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico, lying on the...
Pastrami

Pastrami

Photo by Alexander Reitter / Shutterstock.com This is a story of grease, and the bonds it forms. We were three good Jewish boys, Flatbush yeshiva bochurim, and when we went about breaking the law of our forefathers, we did so thoroughly and with care and diligence....
Flying Over the Hudson

Flying Over the Hudson

There’s a photo I love to shareI’m flying over the Hudsonin a tiny planesporting giant headphonesa blonde side braidJohn Lennon shadesa toothless grin. Out of framemy pilot friend observeswhat he perceives as peace. Later that dayafter we landin a Jersey fieldorder...
After Watching a Couple Hug Goodbye at the COS Airport

After Watching a Couple Hug Goodbye at the COS Airport

Photo: EQRoy / Shutterstock.com The Woman was exiting the Springs Marketplace with no souvenirs—because she had already gotten stickers and a postcard of yellow aspens in downtown Colorado Springs—when she locked eyes on this couple embracing for their cliché goodbye...
The Whale Burns His Own Body

The Whale Burns His Own Body

What always shocked the Moby Dickheads was a whaleboat’s flimsiness, how squat the gunnels, how thin the planks separating whalers from depthless ocean and the 65-ton sperm whale they’d stabbed. All yesterday I’d been stuck working the whaleboat exhibit. That meant...
My One and Only, Moonbean

My One and Only, Moonbean

Photo by Anna Sui The Moonbean café, unyielding and un-air-conditioned sits right at the border of Kensington Market in Toronto, Canada. For as long as I remember, which isn’t too long in the grand schemes of things when the scheme is the scale of Toronto, it’s been...