In Sunnyhaven, we were all equally unique—and we’d been that way for years, the morning the New Girl arrived. Now, any of us would’ve admitted it: Sunnyhaven wasn’t perfect. There were no public parks or pools, no families walking their dogs down ash-lined greenbelts.

On September 28th, 2023, Art the Clown from the Terrifier movies accompanies me to poet Jane Hirschfield’s reading at the Anchorage Museum. Sitting next to me in a blue, padded fold-down theater seat, he wears his usual outfit.

During my tenure as a Portland metro-area resident, I’ve had memberships at my neighborhood video stores, including Hollywood Video (RIP), Blockbuster Video (RIP), Clinton Street Video (RIP), and most recently, Great American Video & Espresso.

Four thousand two hundred years ago, an ancient Egyptian scribe named Ipuwer lived through the end of the world. Old Kingdom Egypt, one of the world’s first states and a paragon of balance and order, was collapsing into chaos and violence.

my lover has peculiar tastes;
her cravings are unnatural.
she apologises for her appetite