Knowing a father's amazing strengths - and his frailties

posted 07:10 AM 12/08
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All I remember is it was hot, and I was wearing my dad's shirt.

At the time, my head barely came up to his shoulders, and his striped polo must have gone down past my knees. I gaped at myself in the mirror. The fabric cocooning my small body rippled in a way that clothing shouldn’t. I was wearing a sail.

I hated getting all dressed up. My dad insisted, though, because of his then-exasperating belief that my favorite Star Wars T-shirt was not, in fact, appropriate for all occasions.

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Some candidates must be seen in their empty-eyed glory to be believed

posted 01:54 PM 11/03

The only fanfare I was awarded after being elected class president at my high school a few years ago was a garbled bulletin over the public address system. This was exactly the kind of prestige that had first attracted me to the position.

Agonizing leap from musically mute to the concert stage

posted 11:45 PM 09/28

All my life I’ve heard voices.

Responsibility of ballot choices weighs heavy on first-time voter

posted 07:06 AM 08/25

I couldn't help smiling as I filled out my voter registration forms the other day. This November will mark the first year that I am eligible to take an active role in our electoral process, rather than just snarling at bumper stickers or leaving angry, all-caps comments in response to online campaign videos.

Travel is exhilarating and enlightening beyond belief

posted 07:04 AM 07/21

LIMA, Peru — It is another day at the schoolhouse in Spanish-speaking Peru, and conversations are looming around me like strange hieroglyphics. There is a certain discomfiture about a setting that is instantly so familiar yet so dizzyingly encrypted.

It would be a perfect friendship if not for religion

posted 07:17 AM 06/16

One of my favorite people in the world is a charming young brunette named Bailey, who is almost as short as she is sweet. For clarity's sake, let me be blunt: Bailey is only a friend, nothing more. But a very dear friend.

Discussion with gun salesman brings surprising accord

posted 11:47 PM 05/11

In the wee hours of the night, every shadow or creak is always, invariably, a burglar.

Suspected thief has been transformed into a cult hero by some

posted 11:49 PM 04/06

There is nothing special about Colton Harris-Moore, really.

Which doorstep missionary is correct?

posted 07:04 AM 03/03

About once a month, a kindly woman in a medium tan coat sounds the mellow chimes of my doorbell, and waits patiently on the porch as I pull myself away from a generally spellbinding breakfast. I open the door, she opens her purse, and we exchange pleasantries as she passes over a pamphlet explaining one tenet or another of the Jehovah’s Witness religion. She donates countless mornings in this way, spreading salvation among the neighbors who are perched with varying degrees of precariousness upon the precipice of perdition.

People can only know you as the person you show

posted 07:09 AM 01/27

It's finals week at most high schools, and students are cramming like mad, myself included.