Category: February 2012

Editor’s Notes: February 2012

The February issue is live! This issue may feature a photo of heart-shaped ravioli on the homepage, but don’t let that fool you: this image is attached to a story about a would-be romantic dinner where our author opens mouth and, instead, inserts foot–not pasta.

The Second Education by Michael Milburn

Every year my middle school students ask me why I became an English teacher. They appear to respect my colleagues and me; one or two might even admit to considering teaching as a career, but the tone of the question is usually incredulous.

Dust to Dust by Emily Johnson

africa road and sky

That day in mid-August in the Congo was late in the dry season— the sun a seared-copper disc, a cigarette burn on the sky’s perfect palate of skin. I stepped off the boat at the “port” into the sucking, ankle-deep grey mud. I lost a sandal.

Junk an’ a Po by Kirby Wright

silouette of father yelling at son

Our father told us he was worried about our mother because she was older and sometimes having a baby later in life made giving birth risky. He said another worry was they’d given her a room on the eighth floor and that, if there was a fire, she wouldn’t make it out alive.

The Coast by Noriko Nakada

Stormy day at the pier

I sit under cloudy skies on a seaside pier where the cool air is heavy with salt. I wrap my arms around the thick rail and rest my chin on the edge. My girls’ size 8 shoes hang, tiny, above the foam of waves crashing against the columns of the pier.

Review: Happy Chaos by Soleil Moon Frye

Happy Chaos Covern featuring soilel moon frye and her two girls on a bed

Now, I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not one to run out and buy the latest celebrity memoir, but when I was offered the chance to read and review Soleil’s new parenting book, Happy Chaos: From Punky to Parenting and my Perfectly Imperfect Adventures In Between, I wasn’t about to say no.