“What is the worst thing that ever happened to him?” her sister asks her. And the answer is nothing ever has. “That’s the problem,” she says. “He’s just a nice boy from Ohio. He has no idea how to fix something like this.” - Dept. of Speculation, Jenny Offill In a commencement speech, Joseph Brodsky,... Continue Reading →
At the Chime of a City Clock
I can hear the closing of the day. There's an abundance of memoirs - fallen words inside my coffee cup, unlit, unscented candles, the red postbox at the end of the street, and knots in my hair, golden and burnt each with a story to relay. The windows are closed, one by one, in steady... Continue Reading →
Fields of Gold
A few days ago, I had a thought about Elizabeth Gilbert and Cheryl Strayed. One that I forgot. Something about them being soul sisters, except that they are not. I didn't make a note of the thought, maybe because I was sleeping, too knocked out to actually give a fig or because I was binge-watching... Continue Reading →
Like a Prayer
Tiny Beautiful Things There was Wild starring Reese Witherspoon. Before that, there was this piece on BrainPickings about how to write like a motherfucker. Before that, there was an overwhelming expansion of the heart while reading Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar. And much, much before that was the dear... Continue Reading →
All of Me
Day (n - 11) A Moment of Immense Joy; 3:19 pm Receives a set of books from a dear friend. 97 books from 97 different countries. Feels cared for. Feels like someone is listening. Day (n - 10) Map Hunting; 11:45 am Scours the Internet for a good world map to start the book reading... Continue Reading →
Upside Down
In an episode of The Big Bang Theory, Howard is asked to throw the first pitch at a baseball game. Woefully incompetent at anything remotely related to sports, he turns to taking lessons from Bernadette and Raj. When he has doubts about his ability to throw even that one ball, he calls his colleague with... Continue Reading →
Summertime Sadness
"I get really, really scared of how this is going to go." ... "And you know what? Nobody wants to hear that stuff. Nobody wants you to talk about being afraid, or in pain, or being scared of dying through some stupid, random infection." - Me Before You; Jojo Moyes I have a dull pain... Continue Reading →
Book of Days
I knew exactly how to feel. I had done it before. The knot had tightened in my chest, my stomach rose to meet my throat. First, the affection surged, and then the pain, both at once forming a coagulated mass of unrecognizable emotion that no one has been able to pass along into routine vocabulary. It was always left... Continue Reading →
Dark Paradise
According to the Greek mythology's myth of philosophical creation, everything was borne out of Darkness and Chaos. Darkness existed first, from which Chaos came into being. "From a union between Darkness and Chaos sprang Night, Day, Erebus, and the Air."¹ And then, from a union between two of these four, and their various combinations, everything... Continue Reading →
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