I live by the fifth-most-dangerous intersection of roads in the state of Michigan. I once heard a car crash into a house across the street, and a woman shrieking no over and over again in the early hours of the morning. This is the only thing I dislike about where I live. When I walk […]
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“When can you start?” “As soon as I’m needed.” “Classes begin in two weeks. Faculty orientation sessions this week. I can print you out a copy of the schedule.” There are many things you’re left to discover on your own when signing on as an adjunct instructor. You need a parking pass that costs $350 […]
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By mid-morning, the sun had straggled above the river, and Carmen was again staring at one of the rich boys from Palo Alto. It was the middle of a sweltering and unstoppable summer, the Fourth of July in waiting. The light laked its way across the sidewalk to where the two of us sat, under […]
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I was born as an ode to this country—skin and sinew spun from the American Dream, from my mother’s stretch marks and growing pains. She chose my name because it means “blossom” in her language—because she wanted me to grow and climb and soak in the sun of opportunity, to bask in the privilege she […]
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There are mangoes now. There always have been, of course—just because something stops tasting good doesn’t mean it stops growing—but there are mangoes again. There are mangoes, and there is the cerulean sky, and there is sweet, sticky amber coating my palms and racing toward my elbows. In the winter, they grow Crayola yellow and […]
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In my memories of the baseball diamond behind my elementary school, it never rains. I’m sure it did—this was deep within California’s drought years, but there must have been muddy infields and cancelled practices. What I remember, though, is all sun and dry dugout dirt floating up to irritate our eyes and grazed elbows. We […]
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Chicken Hekka is a dish originating from the plantation era. It is a Hawaiian version of Japanese sukiyaki and is still popular today. Cook time: 5 generations and approximately 45 minutes Ingredients: 1. Boneless chicken breast 2. Dried Shiitake mushrooms 3. White planter elite to oust Queen Lili’uokalani 4. Canned straw mushroom 5. Long rice […]
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VAGABOND CITY 