confessions of a reformed tourist
He’d had a passport but it got wet – ruined – in the hurricane. The day of the storm he’d gotten home and found the contents of his house afloat and the dog perched atop the refrigerator. Bean’s father – though he was not yet Bean’s father, had not yet even laid eyes on Bean’s [...]
His after work ritual began as soon as he walked in the door, when he’d sit down on the chair in the verandah that looked like wicker but actually was made of fiberglass. He’d slide his fingers under the laces of his sneakers, which were invariably sparkling bright, white and clean. Slowly, deliberately, he’d pull [...]
This photo of my mother was taken in 1970. She was a year out of college and teaching biology at Cathedral High School in New York City. She was born and raised in South Bend, Indiana. Living in Manhattan was an enormous challenge for her. That first winter, she tells me, she got herself a [...]
Once upon a time, I was liming at my favorite Grenadian beach bar, throwing some darts. (“Liming” is Caribbean slang for “hanging out”.) A friend was teasing me. I don’t remember what about, precisely, but it was probably the fact that I always had a book with me. Always. Even whilst drinking. Generally I’m a [...]
Another notebook excerpt. I wrote a story about this one, but it still needs some serious trimming/editing. I’ll post it when/if I manage to edit it down to fewer than 1000 words. The super-short version is: Back in 2005 when I first got to Grenada, I was a total mess. Like so traumatized by the [...]
I crossposted yesterday’s “on accents” to my Tumblr, and two of the responses (reblogs) I got were so interesting I can’t resist quoting them here. The first to weigh in was adsinfinitum, who wrote: Another point of interest for me is how people are so determined to assign you an accent. How they feel the [...]
Ziggy Marley’s Love is My Religion. The original version of this tune isn’t bad at all. But acoustic turns it to gold. [Audio clip: view full post to listen] I’m reminded of a conversation I had once had about Bob Marley. It was maybe two months after I first got to Grenada. I was with [...]
