Being a kid is always characterized as this agonizing journey--and it definitely was--but I can't say that adulthood has been much better. It might even be worse, this second and more ruthless puberty, but I'm trying to maintain a clear perspective and remind myself that everything always seems better when it's in retrospect; that it's always easy ( Read more... )

The next morning when we woke up, we had reached our hundredth day on the road. We were woken up abruptly two hours before check-out time by an angry maid who, when I answered the door, asked if we were checking out. I tried to remind her that check-out was at noon and we weren't leaving until then. She let out a loud, long sigh, leaned against the ( Read more... )

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I'm sitting inside of a mall right now all by myself. Rotterdam Square Mall; the mall I used to spend every single day of my mid-teen life in. Everything's closed down inside of it now. Not even the McDonald's or Lids survived, replaced by shops dedicated to tacky ceramic goodies for old ladies to decorate their stagnant houses with. Payphones have ( Read more... )