Standing on The Edge
Child
- Pretending to be an explorer in the hills, caves, and cliffs around the family home in Death Valley.
- Four years later I am now an explorer among the mountain trails, trees and streams of Grant Grove.
- Life lost in a sea of six siblings.
- Driving through the desert to Las Vegas to watch Dr. Zhivago and Camelot.
- Teenage life as a girl with ADD. Also know as “In the Red” by Mr. Machoian.
- How to become a super social person and make friends with everyone.
- Driving my German grandfather around in his 1050s Chevy Deluxe during the late 1970s.
- Sipping vodka from an orange through a peppermint straw. Country living at its finest.
- Skipping school to float down the river on an inner tube with an ice chest of beer floating in its own inner tube.
- Miss Morgan and Miss Silverstein beloved PE teachers. Where are you now?
Trouble, Trouble
- Conflict: A 4-year-old girl is left at a train station in a snowstorm.
The Players: The girl, a 2nd family, and a park ranger
Change: The child no longer feels “safe”.
- Conflict: Out of control teenage girl makes her 2nd trip to rehab.
The Players: Teenage girl, adoptive parents, soccer friends, and rehab staff
Change: A quiet house without a wild teenage girl.
- Conflict: State representative spanks child and gets taken to court.
The Players: Child, politician, judge, mother, sibling of child, general public
Change: Mr. politician goes to therapy and becomes a “better” parent?
- Conflict: American housewife moves to Bulgaria.
The Players: Wife, husband, neighbors, various store proprietors
Change: American housewife grows to understand how it feels to be an immigrant.
- Conflict: 16 year old Hispanic male truant from school because he is helping his parents by being their translator and taking care of siblings.
The Players: 16-year-old male, parents, siblings, court officials, school officials
Change: 16 year old becomes disenfranchise and loses hope.
Busy Body
“I live by myself and I have no friends”
I heard this while riding behind another cyclist that was talking on his phone.
Review
- Story: A tall jogger wearing a purple tie-dye shirt and a turban is a murder suspect. He will end up solving the case and finding the real murder.
- Essay: Politicians and the press keep repeating that George Floyd’s murder was the worst thing they have ever seen. What about all of the victims that came before? How do they or their families feel hearing that this is worst that has happened?
- Poem: Adirondack chairs sitting on the back lawn under the rustling green leaves of a maple tree.
- Essay: Instagram started out as pictures. What happened? The influences are shaping our lives from what clothes we wear to where we go on vacation.
- Poem: The lines of palm trees off in the distance as I ride my bike down a straight road lined with bushy green trees. Brand new houses are to the left and dusty field with the occasional dilapidated farmhouse are on the right.