View all NaNoWriMo entries … I came to slowly, rocked in the passenger seat of a slow-moving car. Night had fallen; the windows were rolled up and the heat was on. It was cozy. I knew that I was in danger, but for now, this car was cradling me, and whoever was driving it—probably the […]
Paul Seeman
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Little Village vs. NaNoWriMo: Day 15
View all NaNoWriMo entries … There was Stan’s gun, of course, but Rosso’s got a way of making you feel disarmed just to think of him. I reached under my seat and retrieved Stan’s piece, which suddenly felt flimsy, like a toy, while I struggled with Rosso’s simple question. Where can we meet? I ought […]
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Little Village vs. NaNoWriMo: Day 10
View all NaNoWriMo entries … Shit can meet fan in plenty of ways. Sometimes it involves a lot of screaming. In this case, it involved a sinking feeling between Stan and I that we were well and truly fucked. I like things predictable, I like things slow. That’s not on account of my health, not […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Little Village vs. NaNoWriMo: Day 5
View all NaNoWriMo entries … An amped-up darkness, a television’s idea of black, roaring quiet like an airplane cabin on descent, rocked into sleepiness, ears closed to the combustion shoving forward and down. I wouldn’t say I slept. Wouldn’t say I rested. More like I braced myself while I was out, and then somebody yelled […]
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Men at Work
Times being what they are, I recently spent a day in a homeless shelter.
Along with a dozen other visitors, I toured Chicago’s 133-year-old Pacific Garden Mission, which recently moved into a large new building. Our guide showed us the three stark dormitories in which guests sleep, the security desk overlooking the staging area in which guests are checked for “things of the world,” the “hot box” in which guests’ clothing is decontaminated overnight.
We met no overnighters, only sharply dressed “program men,” full-time mission residents who devote themselves to a two-year course of bible study and life-skills training.
During dinner, visitors were politely but firmly encouraged to sit in the middle of the mission’s dining hall. This helped to separate female and male residents, important for practical and religious reasons..
