Prints
It’s the Department of Motor Vehicles, so no one is really crossing any items off their Bucket List around here. The lack of enthusiasm shows in glum faces, distant stares, … Continue reading
Why My Nieces Get Books for Christmas (And My Eerie Paul Street Boys Coincidence)
The influence of early books is profound. So much of the future lies on the shelves… -Graham Greene. A Sort of Life. On my last trip to Europe, one of … Continue reading
You Can Lead Your Friends to Water, But You Cannot Make Them Mmm.
The girl is drilling her classmates, a circle of international students sharing at a table at the university food court. She wears black hipster glasses and a puffy coat. Her … Continue reading
Give It Away
They arrive in a giant collection truck with the charity name printed on the side. When the man throws open the back door, it is already half-full of bags of … Continue reading
The Top Ten Search Terms: Seek and Ye Shall Find
Last year, I posted the most frequent search terms that led people to my blog. It used to seem quite random–for example, “Chuck Norris Drowns a guy in Rice” led … Continue reading
Visiting Hours
At the prison outside Vienna, Austria, the visiting room is an open space: a sort of junior high craft room with long tables and church-like wooden benches. There is no … Continue reading
Cheers.
At the border crossing from Croatia into Bosnia, my bus pulls to a stop next to a bus parked and pointed in the opposite direction. There’s an elderly couple in … Continue reading
The Hamam Opt-Out. Istanbul.
Because the idea of sitting in a hot room and being scrubbed by a stranger sounds more like Dante than vacation, I’m parked in the waiting room of the Turkish … Continue reading
Charge!
The most pernicious aspect of procrastination is that it can become a habit. We don’t just put off our lives today; we put them off till our deathbed. Never forget: … Continue reading
Poll: What Might Make The Nice Thing Nicer?
This week I realized that The Nice Thing About Strangers has been up and running for just over two years. Glory! I started this project hoping to get some use … Continue reading
Sweet Kids. The Airplane Edition.
Before we board, the mother in the pink Adidas t-shirt leaves her two daughters with her husband as she storms away to take a call, announcing to the gate area, … Continue reading
Without a Hitch
You only get married for the first time once. –Zlata’s Diary. Zlata Filipovic
Places I’ve Gone on Account of a Book
I read a book one day and my whole life was changed…Where were the kindred spirits with whom I could talk? Where was the country in which I’d find the … Continue reading
Just Enough
Post-fender-bender, the two men pull into the bus station parking lot to inspect the damage. Those of us waiting for buses watch with delight any activity that may pass the … Continue reading
Tell Me.
There was a storytelling code of solidarity—you did not sabotage someone else’s narration if it was satisfying to the audience, or you could expect one of your stories to be … Continue reading
Split Scenes
The teenage girl wears a tshirt that reads: “Love My Smile,” but she isn’t smiling. She stands next to an ad for shoes where none of the models are smiling. … Continue reading
Groove, Death, Italians
“Groove is in the Heart” is on the radio and the Italian tourists are certain that we’re all going to die. For me, the pace and aggressive passing of Croatian … Continue reading
Follow The Turtle
I’d lost track of how many bridges I’d crossed, which was not my first mistake, but one among many. I thought I had been retracing my steps, but must have … Continue reading
And Are You Happy (As You Wait)?
Sometimes your heart’s desire hung from the highest branch of the highest tree and you could never climb high enough to reach it. Or else you just waited patiently and … Continue reading
Consolation
I love that if you’re writing in a notebook in public, everyone thinks you might be a spy. A spy of sorts, I suppose, but not a very glamorous one, … Continue reading
The Nice Thing About Strangers 