• On Life

    Atmospheric Personalities

    They’ve named a hurricane after me, my husband says and he sounds proud. It was only a tropical storm this morning, he adds, but I’m sure it’s a hurricane now. We Google his atmospheric namesake and learn that tropical storm…

  • On Life

    Legs

    According to certain people in my life, I don’t exploit my feminine charm as much as I should. I guess I’m just one of these women who prefer being appreciated for other qualities, etcetera. But I must admit that on…

  • On Life

    Underworld

    I’m re-reading Don Delillo’s Underworld. The first time I read it, I was twenty-two. I liked it yet thought it was overabundantly American. I still think that, but now I also think it’s a masterpiece I can never live without. The…

  • On Life

    Unsubtle Dream

    I dreamed I was living in a dystopian world in which culture had become suspicious and men were not allowed to read anything unless it was written by a woman. I recently re-devoured Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. Often, my dreams…

  • On Life

    The Era of TV series

    We arrived by elevator on a moon-shy night. Two pretty boys in ripped and burned-out T-shirts led us into an anteroom where a doctor was sliding on medical mittens. She was tugging at the latex with her teeth. We were…

  • On Life

    Zwarte Piet / Black Pete

    It’s Sinterklaastijd in Holland. Literally this means “The period of Saint Nicolas” – not to be confused with Santa Claus. In reality it’s an excuse for throwing all dietary restrictions out of the window. Children and adults alike are consuming…