Collected Essays (1997)
A little while ago, my dad unearthed some of my early “work” while clearing out the garage. Included among various sticker-based arts was this small...
Category: personal essay
When Nothing Happens
I consider myself extremely fortunate to have never been the victim of sexual assault or abuse. That doesn’t mean I have always felt safe. There have been...
Empathy for My Teenaged Self
Memory is a mysterious force. Today I was cooking some cheese-stuffed pasta shells for dinner. It’s a dish I haven’t made as an adult, but one I did...
Out of Body
There’s something about choosing an inanimate object as a Halloween costume that simultaneously amuses and unnerves people. When I was a kid I was fond of paint...
Me, You, and Everyone Too
Me, too. Of course, me, too. I struggle to imagine what sort of woman has never been harassed or assaulted. This theoretical woman would probably be the type to...
A Special Request and a Long Rant: Coda
After the response I received to last week’s post, I feel I am obligated to pen some form of update. First, I want to say that my network of friends/acqua...
On Fluency: Spanish, BYU, and All the Words
My first Spanish class in college was during the fall. It was my second year at Brigham Young University (a year which was unexpectedly abbreviated due to havin...
Sweet Dreams are Made of Monstrous Alien Creatures
I think that I normally have shitty dreams. I don’t know this for certain. I cycle through phases of dream-remembering and dream-forgetting. Perhaps it is...
Panic: A Retrospective Essay
I remember the first time I had a panic attack. Of course, at the time, I wouldn’t have called it that. I was four years old—maybe even three, who knows—a...