The Urban Resident

Category: Authors

  • Search Me, oh God of Angel Armies

    Search Me, oh God of Angel Armies

    I was shocked to see a fresh layer of snow on the car.  Already struggling with the bitingly cold temperature and running a few minutes late, I held an apple between my teeth and stepped out my front door.   The street lay quiet and clean in the snow, and was relatively empty save for…

  • The Pursuit of Suffering [redux]

    The Pursuit of Suffering [redux]

    [Originally published in 2008.  Today marks Sonia’s 29th birthday.  Happy birthday, Sonia; we still miss you.] I watched the grainy, blocky video in silence. My friend was singing “Landslide” and I felt a certain tautness in my eyebrows and a peculiar heaviness in the corners of my mouth. By now it had become a familiar…

  • To Save Much People Alive

    “Who are you going to jump?” I asked sharply.  “Look me in the eye and tell me.” He couldn’t do it.  We kept talking in circles, getting more and more frustrated.  There was big talk earlier about it, about banding together with friends to beat up some kid.  I had confiscated a stick that he…

  • I Voted! / He Votado!

    Hi! Fellow urban dweller here, guest blogging for the DISPLACEMENT series. In light of the Prez’s upcoming re-inauguration, here is a reflection on my first voting experience in North Philly, originally written this past election. I received invites from two bloggers named Dave (one in Delaware, one in California) to write about the location where…

  • The Dunkachino Deception

    “A-dunk-a-dunk-a-dunk-achino!”  The kid did some 70’s move as he sang and swiveled his knees.  I was a little stunned.  “Have you ever seen Jack and Jill?” he asked.  Still stunned. “Uh, no?” “You know Al Pacino?” “Uh, yeah?” “In the movie, he does this commercial for Dunkin’ Donuts, and this thing where he goes a-dunk-a-dunk-a-dunkachino.…

  • Part 2: On Hope

    After a brutal series of Christmas shifts in the ER, I had finally come home for the holidays.  My mother and I were in the kitchen, talking like we used to.  We had seen and loved the new Les Miserables film, and so I brought up an interesting question from an interview with Samantha Barks,…