10 am Sunday January 26, 2020. A helicopter crashes in Calabassas, California. I am in Toronto stuffing five dollar bills into red envelopes. I double check my head count, there was a pregnancy announcement at the last family gathering, wait that was in November, my numbers are good. The family Chinese New Year’s dinner is a joyous time, we celebrate our roots, connect with the ones we only ever see once or twice a year Read more…
Perfection is a curse. My father was a draughtsman. He made a career of drafting the engineer’s plans. He was meticulous. He was exact, rendering exquisite works of precision. I loved watching my father wield his pen, whether it was his signature on a check or a calligraphy acrostic for a family member’s birthday, the result was always a work of art. My father was also a man of ideas, but not ideas that he Read more…
Oh myopia! Delta and Bank of America are bothered about a tree while standing in the middle of a forest. They huffed off with their funding and missed the point completely. American Express clarified that they made no financial contribution to, nor do they “condone the interpretation of the Julius Caesar play.” Well to me that is more troubling. The interpretation? The Public Theater’s current production of Julius Caesar couldn’t be more faithful to the Read more…
Shinae would never understand how a body could wear so many clothes every day. Even the biggest bird could not carry the feathers in this coat. But the boots were the worst; waterproof lead weights that they expected her to run in and not fall. And the falls weren’t even cushioned by the pillowy snow. It crunched on impact, as if each flake were enrobed in ice. Even the sledding was more discomfort than thrill after ten minutes. Read more…
Nana said it was only a matter of time. A body could only take so much but a mind was a whole other matter. Genny was a strong woman even though she didn’t immediately look it. She wasn’t tall but she was solid; squat and solid and she could set her heels in like a mule when necessary. Genny’s skin was thick and she flinched at little. Everyone marveled at what she endured but Nana Read more…
It doesn’t look like much, it could easily be mistaken for a lump of dirty soap floating and bobbing in the increasingly tepid water. The skin on her upper arm flesh starts the poultry pucker. The shape is crudely reminiscent of a boat and it floats. Dad’s toy boat. The knife marks are still visible after all this time, roughly whittled it looks like a torpedo or strange nut shell that has been flattened on one Read more…
The feud had been going for three generations. Mindy didn’t understand why Ed didn’t just sell the stupid house and move them to the city that they loved. There was absolutely nothing special about the old wood paneled rooms other than their size. The plumbing was shit, the new central air and heat system had failed them two summers and two winters in a row and the garden never got enough light to sustain a basic of Read more…
The bed sags and bites. Sherene takes the old woman’s advice and wraps a garbage bag around the mattress and puts the stained sheets over it. There are six of them in the room, Sherene shares the bed with Ziad but the old woman doesn’t have to share her bed with anybody. Sherene promised their mother she would make sure Ziad learns the language of their new country. Every morning and every night they review the same Read more…