into the weird
The US Monster Islands
This week, my therapist suggested I should wait to start dating again. I had only been single and sober for a brief period of time, and she thought I should focus on myself before I let new people into my life. I considered following my therapist’s...
My New Roommate Is a Ghost
When I tried to set up a wifi in my new apartment, an internet service provider's customer service representative said I couldn't, because there was already an existing account in my apartment. I called my super, and he said the previous tenant had...
The Year My Volcano Exploded
In retrospect, I shouldn’t be surprised I broke up with my boyfriend the same week I got a tattoo of a goddess holding a severed man's head in her hand. This change was a long time coming.
This Must Be the Place
Waking up from the night of destruction that made me decide to get sober, I was surprised I was alive. After I got over my hangover, I was excited about sobriety. So was my partner, so were my friends. But we were ignorant about what my recovery meant.
Taco Bell and Broken Hymens
My relationship with Brad started at Taco Bell. Taco Bell was a big part of our love. Fast food was a huge aspect of my relationship with Brad in general. For example, after Brad broke my hymen, we decided to go to the Waffle House. This is when our...
A Prayer for Wild Pussy Cats and Island Girls
I originally got my Tennessee Williams tattoo as a prayer for myself. As I become healthier and stronger, I see the tattoo as a prayer for others. All the pretty pussycats of the world curled up in a cage waiting for some nice human to come along and...
Hurricanes and Projectile Vomiting Painkillers
I had thrown up before during Hurricane Marilyn, but this was when I was seven years old, and drugs and alcohol were not the cause. Rather, it was the sounds of my childhood home crumpling on top of my family as we huddled in a closet that made me...
Into the Weird — Alcoholism and American Flag Parachutes
Legacies are different for those who die from a blackout suicide, drunk driving accident, or drunkenly consuming too many drugs. I’ve been jumping out of a plane every time I’ve used alcohol for sometime now, and my shoddy parachute has collapsed.