The Promise of Karaoke - Ploughshares
In the beginning I had asked some of my writer friends to come on the nights when Andrew was playing, but they found the music cold and repetitive; they preferred conversations in bars or living rooms. They didn’t stay out all night. They did not see the freedom I saw in music with few lyrics. I sensed their skepticism and their judgment of my incr
... See moreEmily Witt • Health and Safety: A Breakdown
I do this sort of tango with fear perhaps more often than most people because of illness, but we all do a version of this, don’t we? You go through a bad breakup and swear off romance because you feel like you won’t be able to survive that kind of heartache again. You get a rejection letter, and the sting is such that you vow to never put yourself
... See moreSuleika Jaouad • The Book of Alchemy: A guide to the art of journalling
Ten years later, I still think of that arena tour and the nauseous mix of revulsion and yearning it produced in me. I was more comfortable with the former than the latter, fancying myself closer to a “critic” of Hollywood than a hopeful. But looking back, my yearning made sense; to be spotlit would suggest (maybe) a public alignment between what I ... See more
#221: “The tension of staying too long”
That night I eat a giant plate of pasta at the hotel bar for dinner and drink a martini and text with old friends. I sit on a couch in the lounge, half reading Mary Karr’s On Memoir and half watching people who are inexplicably younger than me living lives there is now no chance of me ever knowing except in this one little moment that I am watching
... See moreJessi Klein • I'll Show Myself Out
