Articles Archives - Page 8 of 11

The Method In His Madness

Thirty-five people work at the Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida. They spend all day surrounded by all things Dali. In the bathroom — Dali. In their offices — Dali. In the hallways — Dali. Walking up the stairs, they come face to face with Dali himself, in a Philippe Halsman photo, looking like…

Brave Hearts

More than a decade ago, my youngest sister, Amy, went through a divorce. It was a painful thing — the first in the family — and she was scared. “How will I live on what I earn?” she asked. “How will I manage everything that has to be done?” To me it was obvious. She…

Self Esteem: The Repair Kit

Janine Latus spent years looking for validation in all the wrong places–until the day she discovered it was hers to give all along. In high school I was voted ‘biggest flirt.’ (Look at me! Value me!) I justified it by saying I was being fun. When I got older that clamoring morphed into something more…

The Friendship Game

The first year after I first moved to my block on the south edge of Columbia, Missouri, I only knew my neighbors well enough for a one-finger-off-the-steering-wheel wave as our minivans passed. Maybe we’d nod in the grocery store, or make some kind of acknowledgment across the room in a restaurant. I remember once ducking…

For A Song

The brim of Emilio Nieto’s cowboy hat brushes my forehead as we bend our heads together and sing: Another Saturday night and I ain’t got nobody. Closing our eyes, we reach for the harmony that belies the words. I got some money ’cause I just got paid…. Nieto is singing and strumming to an imaginary…