A catalog of the stuff in my apartment
I’ve been living in Cambridge, Massachusetts, for 5 years now. That’s as long as I was a resident of New York City, where I lived before moving here. I relocated with my husband, Frank, when he got a new job. I’ll admit the change required a period of adjustment. Our previous address was in Harlem, […]
There’s a certain kind of boring person I find admirable—the kind with the confidence and consistency of character to put an insipid personality on full display without worrying about what others think. Some might see a lack of self-awareness in such a person. I see courage. I was at a get-together once, for example, where […]
For Christmas, my mom gave me a new wheeled carry-on suitcase. She also ordered a personalized luggage tag engraved with my initials, ZKT. The tag I got, though, bears the letters LMA. I concluded that must mean the suitcase’s name is Louisa May Alcott, so that’s how I refer to her. I assume someone out […]
I lost a pair of prescription sunglasses when I was back home in Arkansas for Christmas. The last time I remember wearing them was when I paid a visit to my middle sister’s house. We went outside so she could show me a walking trail that her husband had recently cleared on their property, and […]
Paper money from the U.S. has such a distinctive smell I somehow know what it tastes like even though I have never, to my knowledge, had a dollar bill in my mouth. It’s an unmistakable odor combining mustiness, ink, and sweat. I’m sure the taste is salty and earthy yet also chemical. Is this grossing […]
Not long ago, I ran out of reading material during an out-of-town trip, so I dragged my husband, Frank, who was with me, inside the next bookstore we encountered. I asked him to pick out something for me, ‘cause I didn’t have access to my Books to Read lists and was therefore incapable of making […]
The most versatile thing in my home—aside from the sexual tastes of its inhabitants—is the kitchen stool I sometimes use as an end table, a TV dinner tray, a clothes drying rack, a stepladder, and even, on rare occasions, as a kitchen stool. The item dates to the year my husband, Frank, and I lived […]
When I look back on my experience as a moviegoer thus far in life, I feel like I’ve seen a bunch of films. But if that’s the case, then how come whenever a movie comes up in conversation, I haven’t seen it? Or, to put it another way, when exactly did everybody watch The Matrix, […]
The thing that honey tastes best on is a Martha Harp dinner roll—a fluffy, buttery delicacy sold in the bakery section of Harps grocery stores, a regional chain based in my hometown of Springdale, Arkansas. Martha was the wife of the onetime owner. They’ve both gone to that shopping cart corral in the sky by […]
I have recently come to the conclusion that turtlenecks suit me. Maybe that’s because I have a thin neck and the fabric supplies an illusion of bulk. Or maybe it’s that, when worn with my glasses and habitually severe expression, a turtleneck seems to complete what should perhaps be my signature look: a visual homage […]
Indirect Objects 