AT 16½ WEST WATER STREET, Franklin leaned against the frame of an open window in his second floor apartment. He was watching the snow fall onto the city park below, a glass of Corby’s Whisky rested in his hand. At a nickel per bottle it was undrinkable to most — the kind of stuff that would twist your guts up in a knot — but for Franklin it did the trick just fine. The frigid winter air whistled past him, but he neither felt nor concerned himself with such sensations anymore. …
Here’s How (And What I’ve Learned)
On a whim, I decided in January to read 100 books this year. Or, rather, to try to read 100 books.
Why? Well, for one, I love to read.
That said, I’m behind, by some standards. I’ve spent most of my adult life exclusively reading historical nonfiction or self-help; for whatever reason, I wasn’t interested in fiction. And because I attended a trade program for my last two years of high school and didn’t attend college, I missed out on quite a bit of “required reading.”
Since I’ve fallen in love with the art of storytelling itself over the past…
A Quick Preface
During my early teenage years, I was absolutely obsessed with World War Two history. I collected two entire sets of vintage combat fatigues and field gear—complete with M1 Garand rifle and a sidearm revolver—and participated in World War Two battle reenactments whenever possible.
Since I was probably the youngest person in the universe with a desire to take part in historic battle reenactments, I was mostly running around a field with middle-aged guys in American and British military uniforms, shooting blanks at middle-aged guys in German wehrmacht uniforms. (Side note: shooting at Nazis is fun regardless of situational context.)
I…
Want to get your crush’s attention and win them over? These five simple tips will take you from frozen orbit in the outer reaches of their universe to blasting into their guts like a rogue meteor in no time.
1. Be Up-Front And Just Tell Them
No one is going to do this. It’s a ridiculous notion. We all know that the best way to verbally tell someone you like them is to do it in your head when you’re fantasizing about the interaction hours later. If you truly want to succeed at winning someone’s affection, you need to put in the work. Keep reading.
2. Like Every Single One of Their Posts on Twitter and Instagram
*SPOILERS AHEAD*
Hello. I am a thirty-year-old man who, only days ago, made frightened squeaking and gasping noises at my television as I repeatedly slammed the back of my head into my couch like a boxing glove into a punching bag. I blinked in disbelief, muttering “no, no, no, no” in delayed chorus with the television speakers.
Afterward, I spent a moment in suspended consciousness, my mouth roughly the shape and size of a melting hula hoop, trying to process what in the fuck had just happened.
The next episode automatically started to play. How could they think that we would possibly…
Throughout the course of my life, I’ve suffered through my fair share of hardships. Breakups, financial missteps, drifting friendships, and even minor physical trauma. But few experiences weigh so heavily on my memory as the “Soap shoes” incident of my sixth grade year.
I had an older cousin who lived in a neighboring state. One summer she came up to visit and brought her boyfriend Ryan along. I thought he was the coolest dude in the universe. He was a skateboarder, BMXer, and, as I would soon discover, a “Soaper”.
In the late nineties, a company called “Soap” started making…
Tom Edwards
Writer, musician/producer, traveler, and marketing professional. Lover of the outdoors and floppy-eared dogs. www.planestrainsandbrokenstrings.com
