My father’s wake was three days ago. I’m still in varying versions of shock and horrified grief, often in an alternating cycle. But many of you were unable to attend the wake, either in person or online, and have asked…
A Wake for Donald Clayton (1948-2023)
We are holding an informal wake and open house for my father on Saturday, July 8th, starting at 2:00 PM. It will be at the house he made so beautiful, 1514 Silver Avenue SW in Albuquerque. All are welcome to…
Donald Clayton (1948-2023)
My wonderful, loving father died of a heart attack on Friday night at the age of 74. He was in his beautiful home, with his wife of 44 years, talking to me on the phone when he collapsed. I am…
Anatomy of a Weekend: Chronicling a Whirlwind Trip to See the Mariners in Toronto for Wild Card Game 2
The cast: Storey, your narrator, a long-suffering Mariner fan who remembers every triumph and despair in three decades of fandom. Alex, his wife, who has rooted for several years of hopelessness, near-misses, and very recent success. Graham, their son (21…
Brownie (2013-2022)
Brownie the Rabbit (~April 2013 – July 20, 2022) Last night, surrounded by her family at Mt. Laurel Animal Hospital, Brownie crossed the rainbow bridge. She had a long full life that spanned at least three states and multiple loving…
5/24/22
It is not lost on me that the day my family committed, on paper, to live in America until 2052, 19 children were gunned down in their elementary school. That is what 5/24/22, a date we wrote over and over,…
2022’s COVID Capitulation: The Crisis of Individual Response to Collective Problems
The US has given up trying to fight COVID. Buoyed by the still somewhat speculative notion that the Omicron variant is so weak as to pose a substantially reduced threat, exhausted by nearly two years of half-hearted and poorly-implemented attempts…
SEPTA September
I have a new job, and have for the last forty days, helping faculty in Drexel’s School of Public Health write and submit their grants, keep their grant budgets straight, report on their research when it’s over. It’s rewarding and…
Game 162, 2021
The Seattle Mariners are three years older than I am. I’m older than anyone on their roster by four years, but most of the team is much younger. Their manager, Scott Servais, was in Little League when two new franchises,…
Upstreet Publishes “The Thirteen Mythological Ways I Almost Died”
This week, the award-winning print literary journal upstreet published my list essay “The Thirteen Mythological Ways I Almost Died.” The essay strings together dangerous and frequently retold moments from my life, from near-death experiences in infancy to my suicide attempts…