Tag: memoirs

  • Guitars, Cadillacs, freshly cut grass

    Guitars, Cadillacs, freshly cut grass

    16% of my childhood transpired in rural Maryland circa 1986–1989. Our split-foyer home was in a small development built during the previous decade. Lacking central air, we used box fans in the summer and the one-two punch of a wood-burning stove and kerosene heater as the temperature waned. Times were quaint as I waved goodbye…

  • Thank you for that question, councilwoman

    Thank you for that question, councilwoman

    For the greater part of my adult life, I’ve been reluctant to disclose my pop-punk roots to friends and acquaintances. At best, I would be met with a blank stare. At worst, a knowing smirk about an overhyped, juvenile genre with Green Day and Blink-182 at the forefront. Conceal my affinity, I shall no longer.…

  • You & Me at Coles Corner

    You & Me at Coles Corner

    Once upon a late aughts summer, a friend and I rode our bikes around Brooklyn — a rite of passage for certain people living in said borough at the time. As we pedaled past leafy trees and brownstone walk-ups…

  • Is this what adults listen to?

    1997 marked my first stab at a college education. Age 18, I left home, moved into my aunt’s house in the blue collar town of Coraopolis, PA, and enrolled in the Graphic Design program at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. I commuted to school via public bus or a ride from my aunt. It was…