A recipe to help with knot tying

Tomorrow one of my friends is getting married (this post is for you, you know who you are).

And, as a testament to our friendship, I'm actually going to the wedding.

Included in the invitation envelope was a recipe card, with a wrapper that stated:
"We would love to have one of your family's favorite recipes. Please fill out the card and bring it to the wedding."

Yeah, like I cook.

So instead I thought I would create a recipe for a successful relationship.

Oh, the irony. Jane Austen would appreciate it.

So here goes:

Recipe for a successful relationship:

A whole bunch of friendship
A handful of shared interests
3 cups love
A handful of disagreements
3 huge vats of communication
1 cup flour
3 T. butter
2 T. sugar
2 bay leaves
Salt and pepper
Favorite spices of your choice


Put chosen vessel on simmer on a back burner. Pour in friendship and shared interests, slowly add love. Stir gently. Toss in disagreements, followed quickly by communication. Add actual food ingredients whenever you want (these can be modified). Choose spices and season according to taste.

There you have it.

In honor of this particular friend, here's Amanda Palmer's Ukulele Anthem:





Good luck and happy life together, y'all. And in case you need to ever do this again, you can have my idea: running off to Vegas to get married in "Venice" at the Venetian. It's not like I'm ever going to use it.

The bus stop

A long sparkling river of cars streams from a trapdoor in the sun, a blinding metal mirage of hope and hopelessness.

The sky is a burning lake. I breathe water.

My soul is sweating. My scalp is on fire.

Time has become endless, warped into meaningless digital numbers on my cell phone. Eternity passes in a second.

Space has narrowed down to this: I will never leave this spot. I am not really where I am.

The universe has shifted.  I am stuck here on the side of the road, under the hot sun, waiting for the next crowded smelly space ship to arrive.

I don't know where I'm going.

Letter to the editors of Tin House

MEMO RE: Tin House, Volume 15, Number 1


Dear Editors,


Thank you.


Sincerely,

me.




(please see the Letter to the editors of the Paris Review post if more explanation is needed)