The fetus was minute - a congregation of loitering cells - and as with anything that informal, there was a good chance that it might disperse.
The fake slap invariably makes contact, adding the elements of shock and betrayal to what had previously been plain old-fashioned fear.
The approach of Christmas signifies three things: bad movies, unforgivable television, and even worse theater. I’m talking bone-crushing theater, the type our ancient ancestors used to oppress their e...
That, the chief counselor said, is what happens to people who play around. If this was the punishment for a boy and a girl, I felt certain the penalty for two boys somehow involved barbed wire, a team...
That all is right with the world. Man, oh man, he’ll say in my memory, lifting his glass and taking us all in, isn’t this just fantastic
Standing in a two-hour line makes people worry that they're not living in a democratic nation.
Sometimes, when I find it hard to sleep, I’ll think of when we first met, of the newness of each other’s body, and my impatience to know everything about this person. Looking back, I should have taken...
Some of my additions to the list were things that Ronnie wasn’t familiar with. We’re all going to the same place, for instance. This is what novice fliers in group five say when they get caught trying...
She's afraid to tell me anything important, knowing I'll only turn around and write about it. In my mind, I'm like a friendly junkman, building things from the little pieces of scrap I find here and t...
Right, I breast feed baby camels in my backyard just for the freaking fun of it. Just tell me where you live, Pinocchio, and save the baloney for lunch.
Perhaps I’ve grown less likable over the years, or maybe I’ve just forgotten how to meet people. The initial introduction — the shaking-hands part — I can still manage. It’s the follow-up that throws...
Opinions constantly shifted and evolved, were fluid the same way thoughts were. Ten minutes into The Exorcist you might say, This is boring. An hour later you could decide that it was the best thing y...
On my fifth trip to France I limited myself to the words and phrases that people actually use. From the dog owners I learned Lie down, Shut up, and Who shit on this carpet? The couple across the road...
Occasionally I’d tune in to a music station, but I always preferred the sound of people talking, even if the subject was something I didn’t care about
Nothing irritated her more than these high-and-mighty vegetarians who ate meat sometimes and then decided that it didn’t really count.
Neither were we allowed to choose what we ate. I have a friend whose seven-year-old will only consider something if it's white. Had I tried that, my parents would have said, You're on, and served me a...
Neighbors would pass, and when they honked I'd remember that I was in my Speedo. Then I'd wrap my towel like a skirt around my waist and remind my sisters that this was not girlish but Egyptian, thank...
My first boyfriend was black as well, but that doesn't prove I'm color-blind, just that I like big butts.
Most people would have found it grotesque, but when you're in love nothing is so abstract or horrible that it can't be thought of as cute.
Most often, our water is shut off because of some reconstruction project, either in our village or in the next one over. A hole is dug, a pipe is replaced, and within a few hours things are back to no...