Stories of Suspense with a Sense of Humor
I went to The Blind Pig this weekend to hear a band. Unexpectedly, I had to confront two of my greatest fears. The Blind Pig, if I haven’t mentioned it before, is a smallish bar on the northeast edge of downtown Ann Arbor. There’s a raised platform at one end used as a stage, a … Read more
Here is a short, true story: I am four years old and just finished washing myself in the bathtub like a big boy. I watch the whirlpool at the drain and, when it’s all gone, I step out of the tub dripping wet and towel myself dry. Mom has left clean jockey shorts for me. … Read more
Fulton Avenue in Cleveland runs along the top of the hill overlooking the valley carved by Old Man Creek. There’s a fence in the brush at the top of that hill, and my father found a hole in that fence. I don’t remember how he found it, or if he heard about it from some … Read more
Broken systems have been on my mind of late—transportation, public health, safety—which reminded me of my father and his system for cars. He had a penchant for cheap, used cars. His favorites were both cheap and used. His heyday for crappy cars were the 1960s through the 1980s, a period when even new cars were … Read more
Last week, I was at the box office of the Miller Auditorium picking up my tickets and the guy at the next window was pissed. “I spent three-hundred dollars,” he boomed at the young woman on the other side of the window. “What do I get for three-hundred dollars?” She shrugged. It was like a … Read more