Author: Ben East
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Eggnog Around the World
The first year I cooked eggnog, the result was a combination of lumps and slime. Not even the high-proof white lightening we poured in–the Malawian jungle juice known as Powers No 1–could cure the stuff. We were Peace Corps Volunteers celebrating Christmas in the back of beyond. We had most of the right ingredients, fresh…
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Surf Report
a low and diminishing will to push out and paddle, there will be no board wax today
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Holiday Travel Writing Tip
Most of us in this parallel economy already have some version of BuyBux—cash rewards for paying with credit. MyBux© takes it to a whole new level, consolidating all loyalty programs under one umbrella. And because I’m a novelist, not a productive entrepreneur, the MyBux© loyalty program exists safely within the confines of my unwritten plot.
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Review: If You Turn to Look Back
We’re with him now, vibrant present looking back at blurry past, teased as much from this vital trip as from old photos, journals, and letters. He has three more stops to make.
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Knife fight
This is a knife. This is the dumbest knife in the kitchen. This knife is so dumb it does not even know it is a knife. I suspect this knife thinks it is a spoon, which is about how sharp this knife is. Sharp as a spoon. I would like to thank the even dumber…
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mixture is not confusion
This is Mixture. Mixture is delicious. Mixture is not the same as Confusion, which does not always include peanuts, raisins, cornflakes, and other ingredients prepared as below. To make Mixture, fry three red chilis with two dozen curry leaves until they darken, and when they cool, grind them up! To this powder add sugar (2…
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watch out for puddles
I walk slow and careful through the dark rainy morning to keep my socks dry. The traffic splashes past the bus stop on the soaked street. Not all the kids have an umbrella. I stand under my umbrella, keeping dry, except my backpack. I dread wet feet all day. The yellow bus with the flashing…
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A universe of content
My glorious moment today came from the Longform podcast. Aaron Lammer interviews New Yorker writer Sam Anderson, who puts into concrete form the struggle I’m up against. I’m grappling with a super-sized project involving tens of thousands of document pages and dozens of hours of interviews and interview transcripts. This, an entire universe of content,…
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What is mine to do?
God Holds You offers a chronicle of hope. As we entered the Pandemic Wilderness in March 2020, progressive Lutheran pastor Sarah Scherschligt began publishing daily reflections about adapting to the new constraints. Written with her congregation in mind, these real-time posts transcend the self and her faith community to form a relatable narrative that is both…
Ben East Books 