The Junky's Wife Explained When I was in my late teens and early 20s, I was a spectacular train wreck. I used coke, a lot, sometimes for days on end. I cut myself. I hated …
September 13, 2007
North America
Junky's Wife in Charlotte, North Carolina
Junky's Wife in Charlotte, North Carolina
A Spoon He called and asked me to bring him a pair of shorts, his sketch pad, a soda, and something to eat. He made a big deal about how I shouldn't look in the …
September 6, 2007
Blood is thicker in Canada
Heymatt: Mt boyfriend is from Canada, and he claims that when people move from a cold climate to a warm climate, their blood gets thinner and they are more sensitive to cold. Huh? -- Terra, …
August 9, 2007
Melissa Plaut in New York City
I Hate Second Avenue I went back to driving a cab after a hiatus of six months. When I showed up at the garage for my first shift, my buddy Sam updated me on the …
August 9, 2007
Melissa Plaut in New York City
The Five-Nine The 59th Street Bridge was a wreck. I knew because I called a few of my taxi buddies one night while they were driving their cabs. I was on an "extended hiatus" and …
July 26, 2007
Copley Press sells nine newspapers in Illinois and Ohio
On April 11 of this year, Copley Press, parent of the Union-Tribune, sold nine newspapers in Illinois and Ohio for $382.5 million. Now we know: those papers were losing money. The buyer was GateHouse Media …
July 19, 2007
Claire Litton in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Flashbulb anticipation The Jonestown massacre was responsible for my growing up bereft of popular culture. Not because I was orphaned by Kool Aid--drinking parents or because I belonged to a cult, but because my mother …
June 28, 2007
Claire Litton in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
My Body is my paintbrush Everyone asks the question: "How much money do you make as a professional belly dancer?" The "baby" belly dancers want to know because they've got dilated dollar signs in their …
June 21, 2007
Where Were You...
If you follow the National Hockey League, you'll remember where you were on April 18, 1999, the day Wayne Gretzky scored his 2857th and last point. If you like college basketball, you'll remember that day …
June 21, 2007
Melissa Plaut in New York City
Sex Drive I was having another long, disjointed night, which is normal when you drive a yellow cab in New York City. But this night in particular it seemed like everyone had sex on the …
June 19, 2007
Claire Litton in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Art makes me uncomfortable So, a guy -- let's call him Mr. Teacher -- at the school where I often pose nude for figure-drawing classes asked if I would be willing to work with him …
June 14, 2007
Claire Litton in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania There's a rumor circulating among my friends that you can't be popular in the belly-dance scene unless you "party." Not like the Nevada brothel Moonlight Bunnyranch's iteration of the word. I mean the …
June 7, 2007
It's a Drummer's World
Raised in greater Detroit, Evan Demko left the University of Michigan with a degree in industrial engineering at a bad time. "Factories were moving out, and plants were closing down [in 2005]. All that's left …
February 8, 2007
Mexico's Tuscan Spirit
"It's kind of a geographical expression of how I'd love my life to be!"
Ollie: a Navy enlistment gone wrong
I wasn't always in trouble or on drugs when I was in the Navy. But I did report to the boat with two black eyes, a busted lip, and mangled nose. My new chief took …
January 18, 2007