Fiction, Essays, and Other Things

  On September 11 th , 2001, I still had no idea where my life was going to lead me. It was my first year of college and it is safe to say my vision for the future was hazy at best. I had my aspirations and I began college with a declared major, but the realities of life were already making themselves known. The world held no promises. If my life plan was in chaos my country was about to be shaken into a darkness without a clear path forward. And yet, when the mist cleared or nation found its way, in the process rising as a new land of stronger people. In the year following the attacks I began to learn the name of some of the people who rose to heroism when a whole city was torn apart. It was not until more than twenty years later, however, that I first heard the name of Rick Rescorla, an Englishman who seemed destined to become a legend long before he even came to America. In the year since I’ve been learning about the Brit who became an American hero, Rescorla has become an ins...

  It’s no McRib in that in Dr. Frankenstein’s of the food corporate world resurrect it annually nor is it the Choco Taco that went away with much fanfare leaving behind more than a few broken hearts. No, Dunkin’s sugar raised donut became a beloved item by embracing simplicity. How best to describe it? It’s not hard. Think of the glazed donut with the sugar used on the jelly donut. That was all it was and that was all it needed to be. It was the perfect offering for when you just wanted a simple donut with added sugar. Looking back, my favorite donut said a lot about me as a child. My palette for dessert was simple. Soda was generally not brought into my home, I only ever saw Coke or Pepsi in our fridge when my parents were expecting company, and fast food was a rarity. No wonder I never developed a throbbing sweet tooth. Nonetheless, Dunkin Donuts was a frequent stop for my father who needed his caffeine before heading out to the construction site. I still recall our little in...

  Glasgow I will need to revisit. I saw too little of it, but what I saw made me want to get to know it more. I arrived too late in the day to appreciate the city’s pulse and with little time to explore. What I did observe are its differences from Edinburgh, its rival for the title of Scotland’s “true” city. Glasgow is the new city with a preference for the cosmopolitan. The Holiday Inn Glasgow on West Nile St., where I stayed, was surrounded by departments stores, a movie theater and the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. The night of my arrival, I found a hip Italian restaurant within walking distance from the hotel, ASK Italian and the night before my departure visited a more rustic Italian diner, DiMaggio’s, neighboring the hotel. But to the question, though, which city represents the real Scotland? I thread here with hesitation as a visitor and one that saw far too little of Glasgow at that. What I can say is that these questions come up often when the city of national icons and ...