Reading’s for chumps. Listen to this MP3 of today’s story. » Read the rest of this entry «
#102: Christmas Tree-nity
December 21st, 2012 § permalink
Yes, the minister explained to his suffering congregant in the Starbucks, God will let you get out of that holiday party you don’t want to go to. » Read the rest of this entry «
#101: The Fallen
December 19th, 2012 § permalink
The sirens sped up to the Thompson Center as a suit-wearing type on the sidewalk next to me swore about the traffic that would cause.
I thought the sirens were for the spectacle unfolding in the State of Illinois building outdoor plaza, where under bright lights several men recited names to rows of chairs piebald with a few scattered seat-fillers here and there. » Read the rest of this entry «
#100: The Hundredth Story
December 17th, 2012 § permalink
A young man in a long coat and short-brimmed fedora stood on the sunny sidewalk, looking around while writing on a folded sheet of paper he braced with a book. He caught me peering so I made up a lie about being interested in what he was reading. » Read the rest of this entry «
#99: Death and the Warehouse
December 14th, 2012 § permalink
“They make their money in garbage chutes,” she said as we walked through the darkened warehouse. “Plastic garbage chutes.”
“Like when they’re re-doing a roof at a place and they toss the shingles down it?” I asked.
She nodded.
Krystle and I talked about death. » Read the rest of this entry «
#98: “Do You Feel Safe?”
December 12th, 2012 § permalink
On a cold, clear December afternoon where the dark makes you think it’s night until you remember to check the time, under trees festooned with pale yellow bulbs and past storefronts decked in reindeer, two cops walked in tandem past Loyola’s downtown campus. » Read the rest of this entry «
#97: Forms of Man
December 10th, 2012 § permalink
In the window of the gallery, under dangling Christmas ornaments the size of small dodgeballs, the figure sat.
It was a sculpture of a human form, with clocks carved in its head and the base of the Eiffel Tower protruding from its abdomen because Art, that’s why. » Read the rest of this entry «
#96: Sole Dressing
December 7th, 2012 § permalink
Gently so gently, the balding man of indeterminate ethnicity traced the edges of my shoe with a wet, black brush.
He was intent on his work, on not touching the worn leather he had just buffed and burnished, evening out the sand-colored scuffs and chestnut wear into an allover rich umber.
I asked what was on the giant toothbrush gently tarring the rubber edges of my shoe. He mumbled something. I asked again.
“Sole dressing,” he said, looking me in the eye. » Read the rest of this entry «
#95: Banjo Battles and the Uke-clear Explosion
December 5th, 2012 § permalink
The slender bearded white man on the sales floor didn’t even have to check with the slender bearded white man behind the counter or any of the slender bearded white men in the halls of the Old Town School of Folk Music — it’s still banjos. » Read the rest of this entry «
#94.5: The Show, Live!
December 4th, 2012 § permalink
On Aug. 15, I participated in Story Lab Chicago’s August show with a group of amazing live lit performers, including Lindsay LaVine, Debbi Welch and Scott Whitehair. » Read the rest of this entry «
