Writing Through the Fog

Audio for part one of this post. I wrote an outline of my parallel universes at the start of this year. The beginning: 1. My mother and father, both born in the Philippines, move to the United States and meet one another, or 2. My mother (or father) moves to the United States, but my father [...]

(Intended Title: Fleeting Love in the Time of Ambiguous Cinema, Part III) Audio for part I of this post. The first time I watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, years ago, I didn’t like it. The film—about two people who go through a procedure to erase each other from their memories—was made well, and [...]

Audio for the first half of this post. I’m standing in front of a gray EDLAND nightstand, tracing its edge with my finger. I glance at the tag dangling off its side. 32 1/4 inches long. I stare off. At nothing in particular. I’m in the bedroom showroom at IKEA; it’s overwhelming, just as the living [...]

Audio for this post. When I was four years old, my best friend Malia lived two blocks away; I rode my bike to her house, and we sped off to explore our neighborhood. In high school, all of my friends lived within a fifteen-mile radius; we coordinated hangouts over the phone, we sent beeper messages [...]

Audio for the first section of this post. I moved to Montreal on a hot day in May. I felt summer in the air, saw it on the streets. Gorgeous women in sundresses. Blocks of Boulevard St. Laurent closed to traffic so food carts, funky clothing vendors, and DJ booths could set up on the [...]