Category archives: cogitations
Dispatches from La Plata, Missouri
The train has stopped in rural Missouri, where cell phone reception covers the countryside like disintegrating tissue paper. In front of me, a woman is having a Sunday morning Baptist service with her cell phone. I’ve heard “Yes Lord” nearly… continue reading »
Let there be no doubt that I’m an old soul
Sometime in July… Hoagy Carmichael croons from my apartment like he hasn’t since the ’30s and ’40s. What prompted that? This McSweeney’s video mixing writing process with roasting beans. Our farmer’s market is hot – no, torrid – for a… continue reading »
The difference between writer and person
Writing-wise, I share things on the page that would mortify me if they came up in casual conversation, but these seizures of self-disclosure are triggered by the imminence of tongue-loosening deadlines and vertiginous health insurance premiums and should therefore not… continue reading »
What’s in front of me
A scruffy, old man in ball cap and overalls, clutching a copy of Mark Twain’s “Roughing It,” stops by for coffee. A dog follows him unleashed, one that may or may not be his. As he ducks in for brew,… continue reading »
Flying on the Fourth
Scene at Moe’s in Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport There’s a young woman, no older than 22, paying me more attention than usual. She’s a few tables away, wearing a multi-colored dress and far too many bracelets. I’m just trying to scarf… continue reading »