The Narrative

On the Funeral Song: An Unexpected Goodbye

January 17, 2012

                        Play your life backwards as you would an old vinyl record & perhaps you’ll hear a hidden meaning. Premonitions. Timelines. Lost opportunities & endless regrets. I last saw my Mother early November 2009 at my brother-in-law’s engagement party in Chicago. We had breakfast at [...]

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On World B. Free & Why You Should Be a Reader

January 12, 2012

                      No matter the disappointment, no matter the ridicule & rage, you’ll thank me for what I pass to you – this losing record, that last second folly, the endless blooper reel that will be your life as a sports fan. You’ll have moments, no [...]

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on john denver and the saab-full of secrets

May 12, 2011

Call me crazy, but have you noticed how men who drive Saabs always look like John Denver? It’s true. Look it up! Next time you see a Saab, you’ll see John. Even the women who drive Saabs manage to look like John Denver. Our pastor drove a Saab. Thing is, Pastor John Denver- I don’t [...]

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on a glimpse into the future

April 16, 2011

I cannot help how I’ll misrepresent this place to you. I’m afraid I know no other way. I’ll try, I will, but I’ll fail, as I always do, to explain why the closer we get to Cleveland the more awkward I’ll become. I’m ashamed of this shame, I am. Mine was a happy childhood- I [...]

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on running

March 22, 2011

                        I run not just to soothe my golden retriever soul, not just to chase down whatever conceptual or emotional problem scrambles my brain, not just to fall in sync with that carefully selected song or simply to fade away and find myself three, [...]

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on the death of a parent

March 10, 2011

This isn’t the story of how, at age 34 and two days into mourning the loss of my Mother, I found out I was half Jewish. Let’s stay on track, okay? This isn’t about that, not yet at least. It’s about the funeral. So let’s pretend you’re there on that miserable January day, trudging through [...]

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on the b-sides narrative

March 5, 2011

You’ve already heard the A-Side, the story of the sheltered Presbyterian-raised Midwestern boy who leaves behind his insulated world and moves from city to city, adept at avoiding conflict, at ease amongst strangers, and in search of anything and everything. You’ve memorized that story- if not this one then some variation. You know about how [...]

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