Jenn and I were walking along the path, underneath a patchy canopy of trees that bordered the coastline. In a clearing of burnt grass and exposed earth, we encountered Matt, a groomsman from our friend Bob’s wedding. He was sitting alongside a faded green Ford Escort that likely dated
Stories
The flight attendant gently shook me awake. “Sir, we’re about to land. Please return your seat to the upright position.” It took several moments for me to process her words, I had been sleeping so deeply. On this leg of the flight, I was fortunate enough to have a
School
I was several days into working on my current painting, a duplicate of a Claude Monet seascape, an exercise which was intended to provide hands-on experience with that artist’s application technique. Professor Blackburn quietly slipped behind and observed me for several moments. He broke the silence by talking to
Journaling
I sat down at the computer, armed with a steaming cup of instant coffee. In the midst of my morning routine of simultaneous web-surfing, podcast downloads, and lacing up of my running shoes, I saw evidence that Jenn had once again failed to sleep through the night. My RSS feed
Last Friday, on May 2, 2008, our sweet-sweet guinea pig Nilla passed away. She was my first cavy, having been introduced into my life by way of Jenn, her “Big Momma”. Nilla could not have had a better one, either. Each day that Nilla graced our lives was a day
Time Capsule
Everything was loaded in my truck Kilgore. I returned to my vacant apartment to perform one last survey and ensure that I didn’t forget anything before hitting the road to Austin, my next in a long string of hometowns. Just as I thought, nothing remained — except for my time
Stories
I forget their names, but back in the day we had some amazing next-door neighbors when we lived in Southlake. The husband was pure Texan, tall, handsome, well-mustached and born wearing his Stetson. His wife was homecoming-queen gorgeous, and together the two of them had three adorable children. It was
Jenn and I spent most of the morning digging up our backyard, attempting to get it ready as McKinney’s number one bird attraction. Now that the soil is turned over and my arms are only 50% jelly from trying to wrestle the beastly gas-powered tiller, I took the rest
Stories
Everything was hazy. “Matthew,” called a muffled voice, “time to wake up.” My surroundings, although fuzzy, would come into slow, painstaking focus as the voice gently called to me. “Matthew, how do you feel?” I was cold, despite the thick blanket draped over my listless body. I was sitting in
Micha
I drove into Round Rock for a regular visit with Micha. One of the first things I noticed in her living room was a shiny new electronic component prominently displayed atop her television. She explained it was TiVo, a brand-new product called a digital video recorder (DVR) that recorded live
Stories
As I hit the outskirts of Shreveport, screaming down westbound I-20, it suddenly dawned on me that the national championship game was being played at that moment. In fact, it was within the state I was currently speeding through. It was LSU versus Oklahoma. Although the former school didn’t
Stories
The day before Christmas is a big day in my family. It’s usually the one day where the entire family is in one place, and there was one year long ago that included myself and my older brother, mother, and father. While we were sitting around, the doorbell rang.
School
I got home from school, went straight into my dad’s office, and fired up his computer. Within moments, the system was up. A few swift keyboard commands fired up the internal modem. And chirps and clicks of static noise confirmed a successful connection to one of the many bulletin
Some important news I wanted to make sure everyone was aware of… Jessica Birge, an one-time Bruceling, has gone missing in central Texas. Those of you who lived at Bruce Hall should find her familiar: a one-time resident, she later became a popular RA while studying theater. It appears that
Dad
“To have and to hold…” One day early in their marriage, mother was talking on the phone with one of her many girlfriends. The instrument she used was an old-school Bell desktop, with 12 gray plastic buttons jutting out of a beige casing, complete with a receiver so hefty and
Bruce Hall
There was a knock on my room door. It was Reece. “Want to go with me to donate plasma?” he asked. Being that kind of college kid who hadn’t yet learned to think things through, I said, “Sure.” I put down my bowl of ramen, slapped on my Birkenstocks,