As I stood with my sweetheart watching a ring of folk dancers on the island of Seurasaari on Midsummer’s Day, one leapt out of the circle and grabbed my hand, pulling me into the middle. In my red sweater, I matched their colorful costumes. He lifted me up and spun me around at the heartContinue reading “Midsummer”
Author Archives: Princess Manners
The Demon
It’s 2:00 p.m. on a Thursday. I’ve been in bed for about an hour, and this is the point when I decide to listen to the demon at his strongest and turn over, or make an attempt to defy him and get up. At 5:00 a.m., I was fine. Around 8:00, I began to beContinue reading “The Demon”
Poor Butterfly*
Although my camel coat was 2 sizes large, I hugged it tightly around my chest on the way into the thrift shop for my date at the opera. The suit I found was green boucle, a froth of fibers with 3/4 sleeves and an A-line skirt. While listening to my Sarah Vaughan CD, I pinnedContinue reading “Poor Butterfly*”
Santa
In the winter, Washington Square is a gauntlet of ice and snow, with pigeons peppering the walkways in their chest-ruffed beauty. Stanford White’s Washington Square Arch – the gateway between uptown and downtown for neighborhood residents – tells time with its shadow over the square. It was here that I met a man dressed inContinue reading “Santa”
Tugging Buddha’s Ear
The ruined temple town of Ayutthaya was wet from the afternoon rain. Many stone statues were pocked and headless from a raid one thousand years before. Buddhas, both with and without heads, were sashed in gold and orange and silent in their repose. But I had a question. At Ayutthaya with 2 companions, I movedContinue reading “Tugging Buddha’s Ear”
Xenophobia
In 1989, New York was a gorging city full of people chasing and catching dreams. One year out of college, I was the admin at a bespoke architecture group. Snow swirled in white pancakes in the updraft across Fifth Avenue, and I stood at an office window entranced by the hustling life and undeniable beautyContinue reading “Xenophobia”
The Beville Street Debutante
One fall morning, Carol took a last look at the white house on Beville Street. She had turned 17 that day.
Shelter in place
A couple of days ago while hanging out on the couch, I looked at the plants sitting around the room, snuck out to a crafts store for a large jar, and made a terrarium. Because what are we all, now, if not organisms living in closed worlds? Rhetorical question, but still. Maybe “shelter in place”Continue reading “Shelter in place”
I used to have another blog
Like a lot of people, I used to have another blog. It was called “Carbonara di Niente” and got very few hits. One Sunday morning in 2016 around 3:30, I deleted all the content out of anger. Cut to 4 years later, boy do I wish I still had all that content. You can, itContinue reading “I used to have another blog”
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