writing Tag

Record 31: Monterey, Sunday, July 5th, 2015. Day. Old John does his crossfit exercises on the wharf’s edge. He does them at sunup, not only for the sake of adding a, yes, hint of drama to the retelling of his daily crossfit undertaking, but, he will tell you, because he is infatuated with the sun, and its location relative to him mid-burpee. When asked why the sun is so arresting to him, he will tell you to think of a world with no natural light. A world artificially lit inRead More

On part 2 of my “Big City Poetry” series, I examine the intellectual heart valve that is Washington D.C. I pretentious it up with a bit of lame-ambic pentameter (see what I did there?) based on my experience visiting the Capitol city. Big City Poetry: D.C.’s the Brain The August recess makes this public sector hotspot feel oddly ghostlike. This isn’t the real D.C., it’s not alive enough. For an authentic experience you must wait until the leaves change. It’s then you’ll know… When bureaucrats strut through awakened streets withRead More

Ah, it feels great to be back. After a many month hiatus from the world of Writtalin, I have returned to try my hands at something a bit different. Poetry. On a recent trip to the Apple of Bigness, I decided to wet my chops in this field, and am looking to turn ‘Big City Poetry’ into a series of chronicles from cities around the states. Although I’ve never done this before, I figured it never hurts to try a hand at something pretentious. Enjoy. The Air of NYC JulyRead More

Record 30: Temecula, Friday, July 5th, 2013. Day. On the weekends we ride our Schwinn mountain bikes through the park and smile. Mother is the leader of the Schwinn bicycle trips and she signals where to turn left and where to turn right. She does this because she is the leader, and leaders of Schwinn bicycle trips know where we turn. We all smile. And follow. We sip from our individually customized plastic water bottles during our rest period at the alcove, shaded by California sycamore trees. Father explains toRead More

Record 29: San Francisco, Saturday, July 5th, 2014. Day. Here ye here ye all you radders ‘n rollers! Dat Bar: BAR is straight opening its doors TONIGHT for an unofficially and totally incomparably lit 4th of July after-soiree! That’s right, it’s that summer season of sippin’, so trip on in for a coupla brews and kickback with Dat Bar: BAR’s in house groove dude, DJ dubblaLICKAbron! He’ll be lettin that bass drop all nite dear brahs and brahdesses, and word on the street is DJCM’s crushin’ the illest brat-pop dubwaverRead More

Record 28: Sacramento, Friday, July 5th, 2013. Night. The locker room is a church at halftime. Winning or losing, it doesn’t matter. It’s where we come together for reassurance. For motivation. Hope. At least, this is what I’m told I should believe. There’s the smell of sweat. Old Spice. Axe body spray nonsense. Cedar from the open window. But this is all familiar. Tonight, there’s a sting in the air. Something sour in the space between our heads and the cement ceiling. My players, the kids, they’re sucking air inRead More

Record 27: Six Flags Magic Mountain, Saturday, July 5th, 2014. Day. Today 4:34 PM haha gurl i just puked onn some kids bugs bunny stuffed animal thing lol…relax tho. i bought her a new one 😛 n e way imma hit up superman soon, at like sundown cause we wanna see th fireworks (aiden said their still lighting frieworks off tonight even though the 4th was yesterday) so if u dont wanna go thats cool, but just tell me whats up. u didn’t show up for tatsu an i knowRead More

Record 26: Bakersfield, Friday, July 5th, 2013. Day. On Fridays this summer we go to the Aquatic Center where I do activities in the pool. Today is a Friday and so today I am having my swimming lesson while my mom and Francis eat hot dogs and drink diet soda at the barbecues. They are wearing their swimsuits but they don’t get in the pool very often, and it makes me wonder why I have to be the family swimmer. Right now I’m on my stomach with my arms stretchedRead More

Look, I know I’m a writer on the internet, but sometimes I just hate the internet. Sometimes it just makes me want to kill myself and rip all my hair out at the roots. I’ve compiled a list of things I hate that you really only see on the internet, maybe to release some of my frustration. Or to make me really focused on how aggravating my non-problems are. It could go either way. 1. Click bait-y headlines Did I just use a click bait-y headline? Yes. Do they stillRead More

  Record 25: Malibu, Saturday, July 5th, 2014. Day. in the coffee bean today. it’s the afternoon. i don’t feel well. there’s a crumbling that starts in my forehead. it spreads to the back of my skull, and charges down my spine like lightning. i don’t want to lose again. last game was a wrecked train. 42-6. and it was cuz of me. coach said. i remember this and feel upset. today is another day. i drink my venti iced white mocha latte and do my stats homework that iRead More

Phoenix Skylark needs no introduction. As the world’s foremost non-author, he’s made headlines since his first foray into the literary community some 5 years ago. Now, it’s hard to imagine a world without him. Our News Feeds are so cluttered with articles from “10 Reasons Traveling is Right for Your Relationship and You Won’t Believe What I Say” to the “Puppy That Will Restore Your Faith in Humanity” to the tides of BuzzFeed quizzes that the barrage sometimes threatens to overwhelm us. Luckily, pioneers like Skylark have stepped forward andRead More

I’m not in the mood to write a big introduction, so too bad. #NoIntroZone (#TheyKnoooowBetter) 1. You rely on the sheer size of the internet to shield you from attention, kind of like how the last place anyone would notice you would be in a huge throng of people. Actually, it’s exactly like that. It’s paradoxical, but it works…except for when it doesn’t. 2. When it doesn’t work, you’re like, “Damn, how’d they find me?” But I mean, the answer is pretty fucking obvious. They found you in the sameRead More

Record 24: Death Valley, Saturday, July 5th, 2014. Day. John Shane sits in a cowboy-cool diner in Death Valley. The sun hangs low in the sky. He knows this, because he can see the sky outside the window. The window has smudges on it. And like a rush, he remembers: this is a dream. This never happened. Nothing is real, except smudged windows and cowboy diners. “Why am I here?” John thought, in his head, where thoughts the coffee shop, the wooden booths and sawdust floor. Slow spinning ceiling fansRead More

I am obsessed with order, symmetry, perfection. I hate gray areas, in-betweens, grounds of ambiguity. Last year, I strove for an all-or-nothing “balance” that I thought would regulate and organize my life. However, what I’ve realized is that balance is not about “extremes” leveling each other out. It is not always about saying a hard yes or a hard no. It isn’t about making a definite decision. Rather, a true balance is about finding the middle ground that I have hated so much. Last year, in an effort to maintain aRead More

  Record 23: San Diego. Friday, July 5th, 2013. Day. There was a jacuzzi at the bed and breakfast that no one used. It sat in its faux-plastic glory beneath a stained red awning, shriveled and crusted from rainfall and neglect. The water was the coolest blue you could imagine. Like 5 star hotel swimming pools. You could see to the bottom without debris clouding your vision, or obstructing your view in any way. That’s what Maddie thought. That’s what Maddie told Cool Josh the night before the wedding, inRead More