Ben East Books

Author: Ben East

  • Happy Publication Day!

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    Ben East
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    Happy Publication Day to all the contributors at the American School of Bombay! Over 80 students, parents, teachers, and staff added their voice to the first issue of ASB Musings — a collection of reflections of the world through our eyes — to make it a spellbinding repository of poetry, short fiction, memoir, photographs, journalism, and…

  • Other Jobs Feds Can Do for $0

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    Ben East
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    It’s our fourth week working for the Republic in exchange for no money. In these lean times ($0 income!) a few other jobs I can do for equal pay—but greater pleasure—have crossed my mind. These include: 10. Post reviews of my travels to TripAdvisor(dot)com 9.    Polish tombstones at my local cemetery 8.    Document…

  • Death Star

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    Ben East
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    We call this project the Death Star. The Death Star is going up across from my flat. Just outside our bedroom window, as a matter of fact. Here’s an eyewitness account of how they build the Death Star: After fielding an unusual duty call at midnight last night, I returned to bed at 01:00, badly…

  • Lit Mag Guy

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    Ben East
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    End of last year  I offered to help produce a school literary magazine, figuring I might be useful editing the 80 or so submissions. Yesterday I learned the organizers really need someone to pull the issue together, format it, give it that polished look. Why’d they turn to me? My inexperience coupled with their tight…

  • Mending Wall

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    Ben East
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    Robert Frost’s great poem, outwardly a critique on a pre-existing wall, arguably has little to do with the hypothetical wall being proffered today. But Frost’s wall stands for so much more, and the critique applies more universally than merely to stone piled on stone. The critique can be said to include any barrier that divides…

  • The Non-Business Plan

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    Ben East
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    Fellow blogger and author C.S. Boyack found the right word to describe what many might otherwise call a New Year’s resolution (he wisely disavows the concept). Rather, Boyack puts forward a ‘business plan‘ for the year ahead—which platforms he’ll look to and why, beta readers and critique groups, ideas for the next narrative, etc. With…

  • The Dharma Bums of Bolton Notch

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    Ben East
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    Earlier this week I climbed Pidurangala, a high cliff overlooking the forests around Sigiriya’s ancient ruins in central Sri Lanka. Painted numbers on a rough board indicated the climb would rise 628 steps, uneven and rough-hewn from wet stone. I counted hundreds more than that before reaching the Buddha in repose, just below the summit.…

  • Lucky Encounters in Serendib

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    Ben East
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    We greeted the New Year from a treehouse in old Ceylon. We rode the waves at Midigama and Weligama in Southern Serendib. We climbed to Buddha’s retreat at Pidurangula and looked out over forests surrounding the ancient ruins of Sigiriya. In Kandy, we spied the room housing the casket that holds the dagobas  wherein rests…

  • BAMF vs The Shutdown

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    Ben East
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    This next episode from life at the Bureau of Government Intelligence and Execution—aka BOGIE—introduces the Bureau of Administration, Management, and Facilities. DC may shut its doors on the public workers who serve the Republic. But that can’t stop the mofos in BAMF from installing new ones to protect its workers from America’s next shooting rampage. Also…

  • Essential Non-Essential

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    Ben East
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    Shutdown 2018 continues unabated, and so do excerpts from life at the  government’s Bureau of Government Intelligence and Execution—better known as BOGIE. What happens when DC’s ‘Fed Buffet’ closes its doors—and its payroll—on the public servants who work to prevent  America’s next tragedy? Furloughed, you say? Is this what you signed up for? “How do you arrive at…