Tag Archive for: alphabet soup

Meteors remind us to cherish rare moments


Do you remember when you were five, maybe six, and held an empty pickle jar as if it were as big as the world? And it was once, cradled within the intimate embrace of your innocent touch, this gaping expanse entwined with naïve hope and small, clenched fingers. You scampered amidst giggles and lost breaths […]

Halloween brings out the best and worst


So tell me: Why was the skeleton afraid to cross the road? I must have used this joke at least 30 times each year to get my precious, long-awaited candy. Nearly every person who opened their doors demanded a joke before allowing me a handful of sweets and, loving the sudden spotlight as a comedian, […]

During childhood, ignorance is bliss


What is it about a child that makes truth a fluid, flexible thing? When I was a kid, I was lied to. A lot. I was gullible, impressionable and, in all honesty, my mind was like Play-Doh — easily molded by whoever got their hands on it. Was I weak in character? Was I an […]

An open letter to Wild Thing: I think I love you


Dear Wild Thing, In commemoration of the movie release of Where the Wild Things Are this Friday, I am writing you a love letter. I’m not sure if you can read this — is it discriminatory of me to think that a Wild Thing lacks literacy? — but I wanted you to know that despite […]

Rites of passage come in various disguises


Amid gold confetti, topless figureheads and raging techno, I experienced my first encounter with San Francisco’s LovEvolution last weekend. In an extravagant parade down Market Street, I saw pink elephants and cage dancers, penis balloons and some Amazonian wilderness. I even witnessed at least eight nude men, each posing for pictures with girls young enough […]

Standardized testing takes a toll on students


For a lot of people, sanity resurfaced at about 3:00 p.m. Saturday afternoon. The LSAT, a monster of an exam, came and went — and left thousands behind exhausted yet soothed and suddenly unsure of what to do with the open pockets of time they now saw in their schedule. It is ironic, then — […]

Next generation lacks literary imagination


When I was a kid, every story I read was as big as the world. People often reminisce over their backyards that spanned continents and decades — and yes, I was definitely that kid on the block who loved to play pretend. But more than anything, I remember the stories I loved — their pages […]

Childish antics follow through to adulthood


Sunday night, I was happily procrastinating in front of my computer. An oral presentation due Monday, hundreds of pages of reading and a new episode of Glee all sat in my lap, chaotic and demanding — but my eyes were right on an open, even more commanding presence: Facebook. There I was, buried in the […]