on graduation

(Thanks to Shehz for the pic & for letting me steal his identity)

I’m sprawled comfortably on the grass, head propped on my backpack, while a fat squirrel noses suspiciously around my legs. I don’t linger here often, but Associates Park is one of my favorite places on campus: it’s a pretty, grassy little area with trees and benches and a convenient diagonal path that I always use for shortcuts. It’s Squirrel Central as well as a human thoroughfare, and its bushy-tailed residents make pleasant company.

acquaintances & almost-friends

It’s a universal phenomenon, unavoidable on a planet of 7 billion people. You meet someone, you talk briefly, and there’s a spark—not necessarily a romantic one. Just a sudden awareness of connection, like the raw ends of two wires in your brain have just been put together and oh hey, this could mean something. Electricity flows from your smile to the hollow in your chest where the potential energy coils in a heady blend of hope and anxiety. Yes, this could be something. 

on cosmetics and self-image

My mom trots into the hotel dressing room, eyes skimming the sea of lavender-swathed bridesmaids, all dressed to the nines. Her glance searches impatiently, doesn’t find. “Where’s Ann?” she calls. I look up at her, sitting less than five feet from her, and raise my hand pointedly. She does a double take. “Ann! I didn’t even see you, hun. You look so much older! And so elegant.”