Olivia Cothren
At this point in the semester, when I am teetering on the edge of sanity from the acute combination of physical, mental, emotional, and of course museum fatigue, Iris Morales’ visit was the energizing boost I needed to make it to the end. Teeming with the New York aplomb I desperately miss but will soon […]
Read more "A Work in Progress"After reading, discussing and generally obsessing over The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, I decided to see what other Sherman Alexie gems my local library might have. His 2007 book Flight was the very first book in the paperback section. The cover’s primary colors and the story’s first sentence—“Call me Zits.”—suggested that this […]
Read more "An Intense Flight"On an impromptu night out last summer, two friends and I descended upon the Stonewall Inn in New York’s West Village. As soon as we entered the bar, a drag queen named Enchilada ushered us upstairs to watch her performance. Enchilada put on quite the show: she sang, she danced, and she roasted some of […]
Read more "Now’s the Time to Quit Stonewalling"Last week’s discussion on domestic abuse made me think about a particular pastime of mine. On a lazy day, I can often be found plopped on the couch, fanatically engulfed in a marathon of real life murder mysteries and unsolved missing persons stories on my favorite TV channel, Investigation Discovery. They play the same episodes […]
Read more "Hide Your Wife"In the winter of 2009-2010, a single photograph dominated the New York City subway system. For me and all the other antisocial strap-hangers desperate to avoid eye contact with a real person, this picture provided a reliable distraction. It was a photo of Tina Turner in all her glory—mouth open, makeup brassy and fabulous, hair […]
Read more "Acid Queen, Rock Royalty"The institution of the home has spawned countless feel-good adages, including such vernacular standards as “home is where the heart is” and “there’s no place like home.” Home denotes comfort and safety; questioning that supposed truth provokes unease. In Uncle Tom’s Children and The Ways of White Folks, Richard Wright and Langston Hughes use their […]
Read more "You Can’t Go Home Again"“It all started with the Imp!” proclaimed t-shirts at my great-grandmother’s 100th birthday party in 2006. Mary Schubitsch arrived in America as Maria Imp, a teenager from Austria. Excluding her bold choice to divorce an alcoholic spendthrift husband, her story of life in America is a fairly common one—but my family’s pride is so strong […]
Read more "Obscurity vs. Notoriety: An Immigrant’s Dilemma"
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