Cancer: A Love Story by Rachel Fox Who reads books about cancer? Especially when it’s a given that a main character — with whom the writer will do their best to help you fall in love — will inevitably face a long-fought and often-painful death? Cancer rides high in our collective consciousness, as more people every […]
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Of Heroes and Talking Trees by Andrew Collins Edge of Tomorrow Edge of Tomorrow — the latest Tom Cruise-as-demigod vehicle — is one of those films that does not have a single original element but manages to combine familiar tropes in entertaining fashion. The pieces are Groundhog Day (repeating day), Ender’s Game (humans vs. hive-mind aliens), […]
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The Best Tea for… Making Friends by Heather M. Surls “Come, Heather,” Malika says, the first syllable of my name rough with Russian, “come drink tea.” We are walking through the parking lot of our apartment complex after taking her son to kindergarten. She is not feeling well today—something about her heart (and she’s only […]
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Genre Smoothy by Stephen Simons Occasionally something comes along that so defies all categorization that it loses its rightful place of recognition or prestige. No, I’m not talking about the XFL. But like the XFL there are many things out there that can’t decide what they are — is it football or WCW wresting, boat or car, manta […]
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O Captain, My Rom-com by Andrew Collins The flirting begins with a word game — each player tries to think of a word with more syllables than the last. Jack Marcus (Clive Owen), a top-notch prep school English teacher, has the obvious advantage, but Dina Delsanto (Juliette Binoche) is a stubborn New York art instructor. […]
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The Nerds Are Back in Town by Ruth West It’s finally here! San Diego Comic-Con 2014. Months of planning does not truly prepare you for what’s in store at the convention until you walk through those doors and behold the thousands of people around you, all dressed in elaborate costume. Since this is my first year […]
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The Best Tea for…Having a Baby by Heather M. Surls I am 36 weeks pregnant and afraid of being induced. Some women plan inductions, but I’ve realized I’m the ‘crunchy’ type (perhaps I should have recognized this long ago, what with the homemade yogurt and vinegar-water to clean the bathroom), and I want to have […]
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Instead of Fear by Jack Simons I don’t believe I was really awake when General Douglas MacArthur gave his famous speech at West Point to accept the Sylvanus Thayer Award on July 12, 1962. I had graduated from high school 35 days earlier, and was more interested in girls, Fords and Chevies, college in the […]
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The Meat Whisperer by Kathryn Dean A short ferry ride from the modern, frenetic city of Seattle recently took me to an island where more rustic ways of life hold sway. Here, the brightly colored paint and white trim of beach homes stand in stark contrast to the peeling earth tones of inland farmhouses. In […]
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The Importance of Being Earnest . . . But Not Too Earnest by Stephen Simons Hi, my name is Stephen, (hi, Stephen) and I am (sigh) a Moulin Rouge fan-boy. I still remember the fever with which I called friends and family to tell them, “best movie . . . ever.” (sigh, again) That one movie has discredited me, to […]
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