A few years ago I discovered a very secret skill that I possess, and should I ever find myself unemployed I may just find myself in a new line of work—that of the cat burglar.   It happened like this…   One day while I was walking home from work, slowly winding my way through our sleepy little downtown, I happened upon my mother about to enter my father’s jewelry store.  If you don’t know my family there would be absolutely nothing strange about this. Seeing that my parents, however, had been divorced for more than a few decades and very rarely talked with each other it was, to say…

A few years ago I got it in my head that I needed turn my art/music/junk room into a dedicated writing space.  I had become tired of lying about on my bed or the couch and typing away.  It was just so unimaginative, so pedestrian, and just a bit lazy.  Moreover, laying down to write in a cozy bed or couch has some obvious impacts on productivity for someone who loves to nap as much as I do.  I was similarly dissatisfied with the small writing space I had cleared out in my art room amidst the canvases, paints, and spare mannequin head.  How could I write like this, I…