We’re only young once — “So scared of growing old/ I’m only good at being young.” -John Mayer Candy bar wrappers and Mountain Dew cans and packs of cigarettes we’d sneak down a Carolina back road. The days of our youth. You’re only seventeen once. The radio played I remember running through the wet grass, falling…

A 90’s pop-rock song taught me about death and moving on — The first time death blew its cold, violent wind through my forest I was 12. I soaked it in visually as my grandmother’s already small body withered into an unrecognizable mess of blankets and tubes hooked to beeping machines in a cold room. …

Graduations are more than goodbyes — I stood outside the church where our high school baccalaureate service had just taken place. We all wore our caps and gowns, which felt excessive because our actual graduation night was several days away. It was late spring, 1999. A year that ended a century and felt apocryphal in many…

Hua Hsu’s memoir shows us that college is more than getting a useless degree — I just completed Hua Hsu’s memoir Stay True. I would have finished sooner, but I found myself stopping every few pages to reflect on my college experience. Hsu’s book is largely focused on his college friendships. Because it’s set in the 90s, it revolves around a time (though slightly before…

Humans have a 100% failure rate — I’m a victim of Christian leader scandal rabbit trails. The other night I sat moving from one juicy story to the next. …

The King of Pop could make anyone feel like royalty — Somewhere in the awkward awakening of adolescence, a dramatic shift happens. You might think it’s puberty, but something else is at stake. Something greater than the force of burgeoning armpit hair and vocal cords that squeak at inopportune times. …

“Friends In Low Places” tells us getting over it just requires a few friends and a few drinks — In 1975, David Allan Coe wrote the perfect country song. Well, technically it was Steve Goodman, but the song “You Never Even Called Me By My Name” was released that year by Mr. Coe to mild radio acclaim. …

shell casings falling like hollow thoughts and prayers — Staring intently at this map 48 little countries with two more Perched unfairly at the lower left The ticking of the clock that we can hear the ticking of a bomb that we cannot Frays the nerves of silence Sandy Hook and Aurora have their own places in time, riddled with…

A helpful infographic —