Month: December 2017
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Six Grand
I’ll end 2017 on a high note. A mighty effort in the last weeks of December pushed my page views for the year over 6,000. That’s nothing compared to the many blogs who get 6,000 views in a month, a week, a day, but it was my goal for 2017. A sincere Thank You to…
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Uncle Sam, Matchmaker
I pictured myself in a Peace Corps-issue hammock on an island somewhere, or crossing high glaciers in the glaring Himalayan sun. Then the recruiter called and offered Malawi. Pointless to remind her what I’d written where the application asked my preference: ‘Anywhere but Africa.’ Before that call, a recruiter—maybe the same recruiter—offered another would-be…
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Mexico Time
We are waiting on a shuttle from the Cancun airport (CUN) to Puerto Morelos, half an hour south. The driver checks on some paperwork after shoving a couple dozen suitcases into the rear. Sweating in the sun, he reviews his clipboard, makes a call, consults his coworkers dressed in matching tropical shirts. The Americans behind…
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Sharing Short Fiction
Good friend, great colleague, and talented writer Linda McMullen had this short fiction published this past winter’s Solstice at Typishly. It’s wry, smart, and tight, and it begins like this: The Announcement by LINDA MCMULLEN He was the product of a torrid affair between an Edith Wharton novel and a J. Crew catalogue, with his wavy Titian…
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Like Cher
Cherish. Having the quality of a pop diva. Cherish. Cherish. Not quite a chair. More of a stool, really. Cherish. Cherish. An artificial flavor just short of cherry flavored. Cherish. Cherish. To lead, sort-of. Cherish. WordPress prompt word of the day: Cherish.
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What’s for Dinner? Butter.
The whole house smells like butter. And onions. Butter and onions. As well it should: our five-person assembly line this morning put together one full gross of pierogi. That’s 144 butter-filled, butter-fried dumplings. With 12 for dinner, that’s a dozen pierogi apiece. So what, exactly, is a pierogi? Depends who you ask. If you ask…
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Peace & Light on Christmas Eve
The word PEACE stretches out in silver letters beneath the lighted garland on our mantel. Tomorrow we’ll build a fire there and friends will gather round for warmth and cheer. The shortest day of the year has come and gone, & our side of the world now turns toward light. Will the light show our…
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Tactical Pens vs. Writers’ Block
As the growing scarcity of my trusty silver Parker Jotters drives up the price, I’ve been eyeing these tactical pens to replace them. For those who’ve used them—a few questions: Which do you like best? Does the ballpoint provide smooth action across the page? Does the ink hold fast, or does it smudge and blur?…
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This American Carnage
Just under a year ago we were promised an end to American carnage. Now, today, the wealth of the 99% is being ripped from our homes and handed blithely to those who already have so much. So how does the inaugural phrase “This American carnage stops right here and stops right now,” relate to signing…
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Vs. Newspeak
Vulnerable. Entitlement. Diversity. Transgender. Fetus. Evidence-based. Science-based. Susceptible. Privilege. Variety. Trans. Unborn child. Data-driven. Science-centered. Stay flexible. Be prepared.* (*wanted: substitutes for suspect terms—diplomacy, equality, literacy, peace, stability, investigation, special counsel, democratic, dissent. Facts).
Ben East Books 