I tore my skirt tonight

I tore my skirt tonight.
Trying to escape the feeling of
everything Europeans want Americans to be
everything Americans in Europe want Americans to be
everything society wants me to be
everything I want to be.
I tore my skirt tonight
Trying to escape the feeling of
everything I think I should be
everything our budget says I should be
when all I want to be is me.
In my most honest, intellectual me.
The most absorbing, accepting me.
The me I want to be.
I tore my skirt tonight.
And it was not all that was torn.

Carnival

The local carnival came to the end of its six week run a few Sundays ago. Since it was two blocks from our apartment, Peter and I went to check it out on its last day. The weather cooperated just long enough to get us on the Ferris wheel, where we snapped some pictures whenever the wind died down.

Expectations

For those who have never read “Melinda Makes Herself,” which I’m assuming to be quite a few people, let me explain that this is more of a writing experiment for me than anything. You’ll find opinion columns, journal-like entries, photo essays, literary critiques, sports play-by-play and just about any other stylistic deviation from straight news reporting you can find.