(re-run) Holly moved from San Francisco to the East Bay and missed her old classmates. The smart kids and the popular kids had already established their cliques. She was an outsider. Holly had no close friends with which to share her excitement and concerns at Bishop O’Dowd High School, even though she was kind of… Continue reading His Baby, She Wrote Him a Letter
Category: best
The Pilot and the Petite Percussionist
(re-run) He played the trumpet in community college. She played percussion. He was a sophomore; she was a freshman. He was short, she was shorter. He saw her get out of the car every day, with her boyfriend? No, it was just her brother, Jack. George was a pilot. She liked pilots. “Do you want… Continue reading The Pilot and the Petite Percussionist
Do You Want a Cookie, Little Girl?
(re-run) Pam ran a personal ad in the Contra Costa Times: Single white female looking for single Asian man. Her two previous boyfriends had been Asian. James called and left a message with his phone number on a Friday night. The next morning Pam checked her phone messages. She liked his voice as she listened… Continue reading Do You Want a Cookie, Little Girl?
Oh No, Not the Warriors!
(re-run from 2018) Last week I took Sis to the hospital for a Barium Swallow test. We had just settled into the waiting room when an elderly woman with a cane came in the door. She had to go around Sis’s wheelchair to get to the check-in window. “Am I at the right place?” she… Continue reading Oh No, Not the Warriors!
Letting Go
(re-run) My cars sit out every summer since there’s no way they can go into the garage. Fires are burning north of here and have been for weeks. The Bay Area air is smoky. I look at the blue plastic tubs of flammable clothing and think, “It would take days for all of this to… Continue reading Letting Go
Hold the Crunch
(re-run) Jim’s job was to put the crunch in Jif, the new peanut butter to rival Skippy. One machine chopped the peanuts into slivers, and another machine used pistons to plug the slivers into the creamy product. Jim also had to taste-test peanut butter that had been sitting on a shelf for three months in… Continue reading Hold the Crunch
Here Comes Trouble
I picked up some bathroom tile today, and Mark, the warehouse guy, told me that the floor tile for my bath reno was on back order. “It’s not that special,” I said. “It’s a bunch of colors spattered across the tile. I liked it because it’s forgiving and I have three dogs.” “I sure miss… Continue reading Here Comes Trouble
Chemistry is Everything
(re-run) Sharon was a Sigma Kappa at U of Cal, Berkeley, in her junior year. As she stood outside her sorority house, chatting with the house mom, a guy that she knew from Kappa Sigma crossed the street. “Hey Sharon, do you want to go to a pinning party with me tonight?” “Okay,” Sharon said,… Continue reading Chemistry is Everything
How my Bug Collection Changed a Generation
When my new science teacher announced on the first day of 7th grade that no one would get an A in his class if they didn’t make an insect collection, I was like, “NOOOOOOOO! I hate bugs!” My mother hated bugs. Her mother hated bugs. They hated mice, snakes, and dog poop, too. I walked… Continue reading How my Bug Collection Changed a Generation
Oh No, Not the Warriors!
(re-run) Last week I took Sis to the hospital for a Barium Swallow test. We had just settled into the waiting room when an elderly woman with a cane came in the door. She had to go around Sis’s wheelchair to get to the check-in window. “Am I at the right place?” she asked no… Continue reading Oh No, Not the Warriors!
FIRST DATE, WORST DATE EVER! 