Memoirous

Not sure when it will go live, and not certain if part of the anthology or only online—or both. The editor said June 15. I’ll be gone on my bike ride so will post this now. It is a piece called Missed Connections, inspired by missed connections at Craigslist. A few years ago I got into the habit of reading missed connections. Some of the posts could be raunchy, some were lonely and pathetic, but most seemed like people just trying to reach out to the universe. There is a sense of possibility, a hope that there is logic behind randomness. The piece gathers up a lot of things: desire for connection, grief in the midst of unexplained loss, making sense of the world. A tall order. So glad Eyedrum Periodically , an arts and culture magazine out of Atlanta, GA, liked it enough to publish it.

I’ve had experience traveling with my bicycle. The hard part is not packing the bike (taking off pedals, turning the handlebars, taking care to wrap forks and derailleur) but cutting the red tape surrounding extra fees. In 2015 I paid $70 to fly with my bike to Jacksonville, FL using Southwest who have generous baggage policy. The last two times I’ve used Air Canada, who though involving passing through either Montreal and Toronto for connecting flights has been very good in regards to my bike showing up at the same time as me and in good condition. I’ve checked the bike as my one piece of check-in luggage and paid $50 for special handling. This time it is a bit more convoluted. I booked the ticket through a third party (what most people do) who conglomerates tickets getting customers the cheapest rate. It seemed at first like I would be using a single carrier but with all the mergers and airline alliances it was . . . Delta going out and KLM upon return. They are part ...

Writing is a journey. Every time we sit down to begin a piece or write the first chapter or the first line we are venturing into uncharted territory. We never know how it is going to turn out. Oh, we have a certain idea, like most pioneers or explorers. But, these journeys can take detours; we have to react to circumstances and often go with our gut. 365 Affirmations for the Writer is about listening to those who have gone before us and letting them guide us with their insight, their own trials. They know the terrain, how harsh it can be; they know where we can find water, shade, and rest along the way. By reading what others have said, we can survey the path before us, count the cost, and plunge ahead. My motivation for compiling 365 Affirmations for the Writer is to offer light along the way. From day to day, week to week, we are getting further inside our writing, further down the path. The book is 365 days of inspiration—quotes from writers and writi...

We all have heard about the memory of elephants—they can retain info for a long, long time. But lately there have been experiments on: Snails “Memory transfer has been at the heart of science fiction for decades, but it's becoming more like science fact. A team successfully transplanted memories by transferring a form of genetic information called RNA from one snail into another. The snails were trained to develop a defensive reaction. When the RNA was inserted into snails that had not undergone this process, they behaved just as if they had been sensitised. The research, published in the journal eNeuro, could provide new clues in the search for the physical basis of memory. RNA stands for ribonucleic acid; it's a large molecule involved in various essential roles within biological organisms - including the assembly of proteins and the way that genes are expressed more generally. The scientists gave mild electric shocks to the tails of a specie...

Cloud of Witnesses By Jane Hertenstein “The stars and black sky closed over me. I was not Pip with the hope of great expectations, just an eighth grader looking for a lucky break.” Book cover Clouds of Witnesses by author Jane HertensteinRoland Tanner is looking for a benefactor, someone to rescue him from his family, the sorriest characters he’s ever met: a sister who works at the Curl Up and Dye salon, a brother who takes motors apart in their front yard, a grandmother who flashes him the evil eye from her ragged vinyl armchair, and a father who keeps him at arm’s length. Tested as gifted, Roland gets bused from his poor, rural home to the middle school in town, where his new classmates only see him as a hillbilly. He is desperate to reach out beyond the power lines that crisscross the hills surrounding the family’s trailer in southeastern Ohio. Yet he’s afraid to step outside of himself to ask Patty to the dance, to stand up for his friend Hassan, to see that his ...