A Tent in the Arctic
The story of my life, in dribs and drabs.
For years, I’ve had a fantasy of that tent, of sitting alone in a field of open white, buried in snow, with canvas walls and thermal underwear, invisible to airlines, surviving on beef jerky and reading books. Of all the images in my mind, this one resonates most strongly - the aloneness of the solo traveler, the person forgotten by the world, safe and free.
I was born August 11, 1974 in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, in the morning. I remember little of the event. My father was a playwrite and my mother was a puppeteer; both wrote poetry. You know how that goes.
Jan 28, 2001
·
Story
The train rattled gently. Once more his fists tensed.
Jul 9, 1998
·
Story
Holiday in the Arctic (finished)
Sep 27, 2001
·
Story
When the author was a pup.
Dec 27, 2000
·
Story
What happened when little was happening.
Dec 27, 2000
·
Story
A gloomy gus amidst the upstate snow.
Dec 27, 2000
·
Story
Coming to the city, and what I found there.
Apr 8, 1999
·
Story
Why the desire to network? Why the desire to shake hands and make connections?
Apr 4, 1999
·
Story
Celebrity! Who cares about it?
Jan 30, 1999
·
Story
A new job, with attendant hopes and feelings (I quit 6 months later). Rock, Paper, Scissors is a made-up name, by the way.
Jan 15, 1999
·
Story
Trying to get your life together when your life is not together
Feb 27, 1999
·
Story
I’m bored as hell, and I can’t take it anymore!
Mar 7, 1999
·
Story
An attempt at an elegaic tone, trapped at work at night feeling worn and bored
Mar 19, 1999
·
Story
Hours after Columbine, I wrote this
Mar 20, 1999
·
Story
The day after the Columbine murders
Jul 31, 1998
·
Story
Tolerance
Aug 1, 1998
·
Story
Shoes
Aug 2, 1998
·
Story
Meditation
Aug 8, 1998
·
Story
River I
Aug 12, 1998
·
Story
Zoom
Feb 3, 1999
·
Story
The funeral of my grandfather.
Dec 31, 1999
·
Story
An urgent memorial.
Jun 27, 1998
·
Story
Dear Reader
Jun 28, 1998
·
Story
A Love Letter to Consumer Society
Mar 26, 1999
·
Story
An old man, some music, and lots of e-mo-tion.
Apr 18, 1999
·
Story
Death in the family (again)
Apr 22, 1999
·
Story
Going out and coming unglued.
Apr 22, 1999
·
Story
Going out and burning out.
Apr 22, 1999
·
Story
A few thoughts on alcohol, the ambrosia of the terrified romantic
Apr 22, 1999
·
Story
Going on the road.
Apr 25, 1999
·
Story
May 2, 1999
·
Story
Love lost, boring goals.
May 6, 1999
·
Story
Chat with dad.
May 15, 1999
·
Story
Feeling all nervous like, trying to calm down, chest and heart and so on.
May 19, 1999
·
Story
The crank from Queens grabbed me on the train. Here’s what he said.
May 26, 1999
·
Story
I got drunk and went into a park.
May 26, 1999
·
Story
Meeting a woman and talking about getting taken from behind, and so on.
May 31, 1999
·
Story
Drug abuse and how it screws up your writing style.
Jun 11, 1999
·
Story
I can drink beer quickly.
Jun 20, 1999
·
Story
If Molly Bloom was I, and I was Molly Bloom, and we were trying to write for the Web, maybe this would be what we’d write. Maybe not.
Jan 4, 2000
·
Story
A half-antidote to spiritual failure.Muddle of desires.
Mar 12, 2000
·
Story
Here I come!
Apr 9, 2000
·
Story
I’ve got a bike. You can ride it if you like.
Apr 15, 2000
·
Story
A nice cat, gone.
Apr 11, 2000
·
Story
People find it curious that I grew up doing puppetry, but I swear to God it was a pretty normal childhood.
Apr 14, 2004
·
Story
Performing “the Gingerbread Man”
May 2, 2000
·
Story
The end is near.
Feb 19, 2000
·
Story
I ain’t famous, but won’t you think I am?
Sep 10, 2000
·
Story
Each time I check the Web, I expect bombing.
Jan 6, 2001
·
Story
A plain recollection
Jan 15, 2001
·
Story
In the morning, I brush with Fame.
May 4, 2000
·
Story
Focusing the narrative on its geographical heart.
Dec 18, 2000
·
Story
Going to the doctor for the first time in 5 years.
Dec 11, 2000
·
Story
Sorting through the sounds of words.
Jan 19, 2001
·
Story
A half-essay about dust and a small room.
May 3, 2000
·
Story
Short bio of the author of Ftrain.com, written by OCTAVE9, a computerized expert system
May 23, 2001
·
Story
I suck so bad.
Jun 3, 2001
·
Story
Don’t sit too close, I’ve got kulchur
Jun 15, 2001
·
Story
...the voices of the builders....
Sep 29, 2002
·
Story
I take my heart back from the East River.
Jun 18, 2001
·
Story
A quick moment
Jun 19, 2001
·
Story
Advice for young fellows who play with fire.
Jun 24, 2001
·
Story
The author is in good spirits but is also a frog.
Jul 3, 2001
·
Story
Come on, face it.
Jul 5, 2001
·
Story
Two photos from a long walk.
Jul 11, 2001
·
Story
Jul 18, 2001
·
Story
What he would be like, if I could have him
Jul 25, 2001
·
Story
American seeks floor and roof.
Jul 26, 2001
·
Story
Politics keeps me up at night.
Jul 30, 2001
·
Story
Responding to responses.
Aug 7, 2001
·
Story
Zoom, zing, zip.
Aug 9, 2001
·
Story
The wooden sheep is a red herring.
Sep 11, 2001
·
Story
I am so sorry.
Sep 17, 2001
·
Story
There’s still you.
Sep 21, 2001
·
Story
A walk to downtown Brooklyn, then over to downtown Manhattan.
Sep 28, 2001
·
Story
It was vermin.
Oct 26, 2001
·
Story
Found on a Brooklyn phone pole.
Oct 28, 2001
·
Story
An amateur’s chrestomathy.
Oct 23, 2001
·
Story
Nov 7, 2001
·
Story
A photo of a singer.
Nov 25, 2001
·
Story
A declarative story about my Thanksgiving holiday.
Dec 3, 2001
·
Story
A man in the park said, “squirrels find only 10 percent of what they bury.”
Oct 1, 2001
·
Story
Investigating the epistolary impulse.
Dec 31, 2001
·
Story
Pieces of the aural environment from Dec 30 to Dec 31, 2001
Jan 3, 2002
·
Story
Scott and I head over to Boyd’s and see his 3-D theramin.
May 1, 2002
·
Story
The puzzle piece with the frayed edges is the last one you need.