TEMA TOWN BABY Written in May 2020 As a kid, my Uncle Ron made a big impression on me. At the time, I lived with my family in Ghana where my father worked as a medical researcher. In the middle of our four-year stay, Uncle Ron joined us in West Africa as a Peace Corps volunteer. He taught in a small village, Anum, a few hours east of the capital, Accra, where we lived. Curious about his life in Anum, I decided to spend my spring break with him shortly after I turned nine. My parents dropped us off by the side of Accra's motorway and, thumbs out, we were soon picked up by a yellow … [Read more...]

Throwing Out the Fortune Cookies Written Oct 22, 2020 Painting by Grace Cavalieri You have two dozen in your kitchen drawers. They fold into mouths ready to speak. Baked to brittleness, they taste like sweet nothings and whisper sweet nothings. They aren't worth eating when you can't order anything deep-fried and must always say, "Hold the rice." Somehow it seems petty to say, "Hold the fortune cookies." You toss the little mouths into the big mouth of a trash bag. They make a sound between a rustle and a thud. Why read them? You know everything they have to tell you. Half of … [Read more...]

The Intermingling of Souls: Why I Write Letters Written Jan 2021 Photo by Sheba Amante (www.photosbysheba.com ig: @photosbysheba) "To write is human, to receive a letter divine." - Susan Lendroth "How wonderful it is to be able to write someone a letter," wrote Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami in his 1987 novel Norwegian Wood. "To feel like conveying your thoughts to a person, to sit at your desk and pick up a pen, to put your thoughts into words like this is truly marvelous." I know that feeling well. I have been scribbling letters since I was a kid. I moved around a lot during … [Read more...]

Despite the Pandemic, Art Model Photography Continues! But How? Patty Hankins and Bill Lawrence explain how their art model photography business works remotely, and the value of shooting art nudes during a global pandemic. Patty Hankins and Bill Lawrence are photographers living just outside of Washington, D.C. in the Bethesda suburbs. They met in college, Duke University, in 1982. Though Bill earned his degree in biomedical engineering and Patty hers in history and public policy, they share an avocational passion: art model photography. Art model photography is a form of portraiture … [Read more...]