My daughter Zoe is going to college this fall. It will be impossible to survive her leaving, but at least we are determined to have as much fun as possible before she goes. Well, she and her brother are. I am in a season of loss—my true-love cat, my paddleboard fin, my Apple Watch, my lotion, my first born—but Max and Zoe are gathering up good times. They have a four-and half-year age difference, which means sometimes they’re closer than other times, but right now, they’re close. Every morning, they go to Dunkin for coffee. I ask them to bring a reusable cup. They say they will; they never do. Zoe can afford these fancy drinks because she works many hours at Chipotle. For breakfast/lunch, Zoe makes green smoothies. Max makes ramen. They go to the Athletic Club. Later, basketball practice for Max, work or hanging out with her friends for Zoe. But they’ve done some non-routine hanging out, too. One day, she took Max and his friends to the tunnels. Max taught Zoe what I call the wiggle-knee dance. It may have another name—possibly Billybong? Max and Zoe drove to Lake Mary to swim. Zoe sent a Snap about it, and her friends said it was weird.
“Why’d they think it was weird?� I asked her.
My former student went to see the Subhumans in Phoenix late last fall. I’ve loved this punk rock band since I was twelve-years-old. Their dark point of view satisfied me. Their song “The Cradl… Read moreImpossible individualism: Us fish must swim together
I didn’t mean to fall in love with Brine Shrimp. In 2017, for my birthday, my friend Angie gave me an ecosphere—an egg-shaped glass enclosure in which three brine shrimp swam among oxygenating… Read moreNicole's Impossibly Possible Ideas: Brine shrimp
I have a confession to make. I adopted two new kittens. After Zane the cat got lost last April, I couldn’t stop missing him. Zane, half Maine Coon, half koala bear, was my person. He slept bet… Read moreNicole's Impossibly Possible Ideas: Impossible Hospitals
On June 30th, I took a trip with my friend Beya and our youngest boys to Clear Creek Reservoir to paddleboard. The wind was strong. The water was murky. The sun was hot. We managed to make it … Read moreNicole's Impossibly Possible Ideas: Impossible College
I was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. The nouns in that sentence define nearly all of my writing. My hometown, paradoxically named, shaped my aesthetic. I write from a first-person point of view… Read moreNicole's Impossibly Possible Ideas: One and done
Newly elected governor Katie Hobbs, in her inauguration speech, vowed to repeal the universal vouchers, officially known as Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESAs) â€� double-speak for if you’re… Read moreNicole's Impossibly Possible Ideas: Boot Straps
It was precisely 97 minutes ago that we wrapped up Spring Semester 2022. By the time you’re reading this, it will be September 1 and Fall Semester 2022 will be well underway. They say there’s … Read moreNicole's Impossibly Possible Ideas: A wormhole summer
