Ramblings Category

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

Others notice it, or recognize the absence of it.  That silent “R” that Bostonians leave out when speaking.  When you hear it, or don’t, that’s when you know you’ve stepped into the greater Boston area.   You’re now in “Boston Strong” territory. I have no problem screaming at the top of my lungs that I was born and raised in California.  We’re all from somewhere, and yes, I’m extremely proud to be a California Girl, but there’s something about saying I live in Boston that causes a smile that I didn’tRead 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

As a 24-year-old, standing in front of my classroom full of high school sophomores is not something I find too difficult. I haven’t been far removed enough from high school to be completely out of touch. I still keep up with the latest pop music, Internet sensations, and relevant slang. It helps that my younger siblings who are still in high school help me stay “with it.” Of course, it is only natural to compare this new generation of teens with my own, but I think it leads to someRead 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

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

Thank you for honoring your oath to protect and serve, and continuing to put on the uniform that sadly has made you a target. Thank you for walking the thin line between life and death to keep our streets, towns, and cities safe. Thank you for doing right by even those who have done you wrong. Thank you for risking your lives to protect ours, and for suffering inconveniences to defend civil liberties. More importantly, thank you for risking your lives for those who misjudge you and villainize you. ThankRead More

I am the biggest sucker for sunsets, and Los Angeles particularly seemed to know that. My first time there was enough to have me stumbling over, in love. The term “takes my breath away” has always been a cheesy one. Walking into the sunset is clichéd. But that was exactly what LA was – sheer beauty – and no other way to describe it. LA punched me, slapped me – enamoured, enthralled me. I gazed with glassy eyes over sunsets brighter, bloodier than any I had ever seen. I stumbledRead More

There’s something about engaging in a (slightly) revolting activity in the presence of an attractive individual that is not preferable. By presence, I specifically mean sitting one inch away from a nice-looking Canadian man on an airplane, and by revolting I mean unwrapping a half-devoured, room-temperature burrito in your lap from a mock “Chipotle” in the Dallas airport and spilling black beans on your shared armrest. Excuse me, sir, care for a luke-warm lentil?  I had four more hours of traveling next to my burrito and this Canadian man andRead 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

Dear Mommy,   I’m sorry I don’t write more often, but it’s difficult to put a pen to paper or tap the keys on my laptop at times when I think of you. It’s almost Christmas and that was always your favorite holiday. You decorated the house the day after Halloween before disregarding Thanksgiving went mainstream. You were always ahead of the trends. This will be the third Christmas without you, but the first one that I’ll say out loud, “Mommy’s not coming back.”   I thought about you today.Read More

Lunch Break   Blah Blah Blah Change. I notice some loose conversation going on near me. I look up from my tuna salad sandwich that I brought with me for my short lunch break to a harsh realization – it’s almost 2015. This is around the time people start to reflect on the year that they have just survived. It’s around the time where people begin to point out the failures of the past twelve months, usually while cradling a bottle of vodka and sobbing to the music of MarvinRead More

Record 22: Palm Springs, Thursday, July 5th, 2012. Day. Jake and his bro Ajax rode golf carts on the casino’s course every Thursday at 8pm. They never played golf. Casino and hotel patrons would often ask: “why?” The question was a fair one, says this guy here. Jake and Ajax, they didn’t like to respond to any such inquisition. Instead, they’d glare at the casino and hotel patrons from the casino and hotel bar, and when perturbed by dyspeptic tourists or slot-addicted regulars, they’d ask: “What are you doing inRead More

It was one of those classic San Francisco mornings.  In other words, I was hungover and there were homeless men sleeping outside my 6-floor building downtown.  I liked where I lived.  It was “different.”  Moreover, it was my first studio apartment and when I lifted my murphy bed back into the wall, I could dance in my underwear by myself or with a special friend, depending on the day of the week.  I had left suburbia and entered a city where I could sort of see my entire future unfolding.  TheRead More