PODCAST-MAISON MAGIQUE Photo Courtesy of M.J. Tangonan 0:00 / 0:00 Maison Magique MAISON MAGIQUE was published in Streetlight in April 2024. I have a five-year-old grandchild who lives in Paris. Recently, she informed me that when she plays tag at her schoolyard, to avoid becoming “it,” all she must do is scurry to a […]
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PODCAST-THE DAY THE VIRGIN MARY APPEARED ON MY CAFETERIA WALL Photo Courtesy of Gaetano Cessati 0:00 / 0:00 The Day the Virgin Mary Appeared on My Cafeteria Wall The Day the Virgin Mary Appeared on My Cafeteria Wall was first published in the Blue Ridge Anthology: Poetry and Prose of Central Virginia Writers, 2010.
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This essay won first prize in the Golden Nib for non-fiction and just appeared in the 2023 edition of The Golden Nib, an anthology of the work of Virginia writers. 0:00 / 0:00 Love Is Blind-ish Last winter, we bought a car that came with many safety features, including a blind spot monitor. Unfortunately,
AMERICAN SYMPHONYMOVIE REVIEW 0:00 / 0:00 American Symphony If you can watch American Symphony without crying at least once, then you might need to have your tear glands checked. The documentary is about musician, Jon Batiste, and his wife, Suleika, a bestselling author and Emmy Award-winning journalist. Around the same time Batiste decides to compose a symphony
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DEAR SANTA 0:00 / 0:00 Dear Santa Dear Santa: As you might remember, when I was seven, all I wanted for Christmas was a live horse and a real gun. I envisioned myself patrolling our neighborhood, on the lookout for bad guys. I didn’t intend to shoot the bad guys, only brandish my firearm, telling
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PODCASTBENEDETTA’S LENTILS 0:00 / 0:00 Benedetta's Lentils Benedetta, my grandmother, made the best lentil soup, food that warmed body and soul on many a cold winter evening. She’d send it home with us in a Mason jar, frequently accompanied by a delicious loaf of bread. As hard as I’ve tried, I’ve never been able to
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SAFETY, ITALIAN STYLE 0:00 / 0:00 Safety, Italian Style When I was eighteen, my cousin Giovanni visited us from Italy. I sat in the passenger seat of Giovanni’s rental car as he sped through a red light at a busy intersection. I shrieked, “Stop. Stop. You’ve got to stop!” Giovanni smiled and said,
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NO HARD FEELINGSMOVIE REVIEW 0:00 / 0:00 No Hard Feelings Jennifer Lawrence is a good actress with broad range. If you don’t believe me, check out one of her earlier, pre-fame films, Winter’s Bone. The movie is based on a gritty book by Daniel Woodrell and portrays the desperation of extreme poverty. The actress gives
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FIRST KISS Debby and The Gorilla at High School Play 0:00 / 0:00 First Kiss Names are changed to protect the guilty. My first kiss was planted on me by a seventeen-year-old guy in a gorilla suit. My junior year, our drama club decided to perform Murders in the Rue Morgue. Mrs. Sardi, the
SINKING Photo Courtesy of Stormseeker 0:00 / 0:00 Sinking (Originally published in Streetlight Magazine.) I attended a state university that required you to pass a swim test to graduate. I will not mention the name of the institution because I’m about to malign them. When the orientation materials arrived by snail mail, included