Last Christmas (2021.12.25)
Dan and his family share their last Christmas with us.
Also, COVID.

Ritualized Inefficiency (2021.12.18)
Is the old way the best way?
No, but aesthetics.

Closer to Longview (2021.12.15)
Dan and his family are nearly gone.

Forty-One (2021.12.11)
I spend my forty-first birthday dinner contemplating paths taken.

It's Only an Island (2021.12.02)
My students' trauma overwhelms me.

Uncle George (2021.11.25)
My uncle dies over Thanksgiving.

A Little More Strangers (2021.11.18)
I don't want to have to miss my niblings.

Our Daily Tedium (2021.11.09)
Yes, work is boring, but who ever said my primary identification was as a teacher.

Boys' Night (2021.11.01)
My father and brothers have our last Boys' Night Out as New Yorkers.

And Another Thing (2021.10.24)
Amber and I have an argument because we are grumpy.

Take a Weight off (2021.10.20)
Don't comment on people's bodies.

Objectively Terrible (2021.10.10)
Why do I write about myself?

Kill My Darlings (2021.10.07)
People -- philosophically and literally -- want my students dead.

To Boldly Go (2021.10.01)
An inadequate boy thinks a date makes him Kristina's boyfriend.

Pryde in the Void (2021.09.22)
I tend to know my mental illness is being obnoxious. My superpower is acting as though I am normal.

Mass Disturbance (2021.09.15)
So, there is a riot my first week at work...

Teaching through Razor Wire (2021.09.09)
I experience culture shock beginning a new job at a high-security facility.

Alien Boyfriend (2021.09.04)
Kristina is single, but would probably prefer to date a human.

Masking the Papercut (2021.08.29)
I fight some Midsummer madness. (Fine, late summer.)

Death in Lake George (2021.08.16)
An orb is presented and an ailing Arthur passes.

Josie (2021.08.06)
I may meet a new friend who farms alpacas.

Domestic Strangers (2021.07.02)
Love looks strange in the dark.

Thunder Brewing (2021.07.01)
I get contemplative at a midnight thunderstorm.

Seeing Kei (2021.06.28)
I see Kei for the first time in years.

Goodbye Red Hook (2021.06.26)
I leave my job for the last time.

The Last Time (2021.06.21)
I will soon leave my facility for the last time, entering an uncertain future.

Mic Check (2021.06.14)
A make a new friend who has an uncertain past.

Newer Paltz (2021.05.05)
I feel revived in a town that rarely embraced me.

Writing in the Dark (2021.05.03)
I focus mostly on delving darkness for cash.

Vimes (2021.04.22)
I have been poor enough that I wasted money on survival.

Last Easter (2021.04.16)
This may be the last Easter that I spend with my niblings.

The Losing Side (2021.04.15)
My facility is sacrificed to Cuomo for a picnic. My car is dying.

Friend Zone (2021.03.30)
Oh, so friendship is like casual dating? I feel someone ought to have mentioned this before.

Putting the Damage on (2021.03.16)
Music can make me clinically crazy.

Potential Rescue (2021.03.09)
Owing to my writing, senators pass a bill that could keep my facility open.

Kiss in Dreams (2021.03.01)
A woman kisses me in dreams, possibly because I am not being kissed deeply enough in life. I would rather you want to tongue kiss my books, though. Just avoid papercuts and seagulls.

Not about That Life (2021.02.28)
One of my former students is murderer in the street.

Grunge (2021.02.21)
I get a new, paid writing gig.

Lone Star (2021.02.09)
My brother Dan may be moving to Texas and taking his children with him.

Inoculating Insecurity (2021.01.28)
The people at my job are giving up in small doses. I get the first of two COVID vaccines.

Executing Closures (2021.01.21)
The governor proposes to close my facility and displace me because he doesn't want to tax rich people and doesn't care that it may literally kill my students.

This Path with a Limp (2021.01.10)
Amber is unsure of her path.

Thomm Quackenbush is an author and teacher in the Hudson Valley. He has published four novels in his Night's Dream series (We Shadows, Danse Macabre, Artificial Gods, and Flies to Wanton Boys). He has sold jewelry in Victorian England, confused children as a mad scientist, filed away more books than anyone has ever read, and tried to inspire the learning disabled and gifted. He is capable of crossing one eye, raising one eyebrow, and once accidentally groped a ghost. When not writing, he can be found biking, hiking the Adirondacks, grazing on snacks at art openings, and keeping a straight face when listening to people tell him they are in touch with 164 species of interstellar beings. He likes when you comment.