Posts by Jacquelyn Mitchard
For the love of explosives
Where I live is the sort-of birthplace of America, where the “shot heard round the world” was fired in the Revolutionary War. Thus, Massachusetts is a fireworks-loving (and of course, a fireworks-prohibiting) kind of place. Where I lived before, In Madison, Wisconsin, the annual July 4th festivity called Rhythm and Booms was a million-dollar community…
Read MoreBattle of the ballet flats
Recently, I sold some shoes. They were lovely, but they hurt – a kind of (very, as in $200) expensive leather ballet flat that I saved up for and purchased in the full knowledge that they would hurt me. They are advertised as the “eight-hour shoe.” This would pertain only if you were asleep with…
Read MoreUnintentional
By the time she left Victor, it was too late. She did not have a decisive nature. It was not so much that she second-guessed her choices, she tended not to make choices at all. She’d had qualms about Victor. Still, didn’t everyone have qualms? Which qualms were red flags? Which were only annoying? Was…
Read MoreBest friends
I don’t have many great friends, and of the four or five I do have, most of them live far away. Virginia Woolf once asked, apropos friendship, can you really call someone a best friend if you see that person only eight times each year? If I saw the people I consider my best friends…
Read MoreSwell shelves
Once I had a closet, and it was very swell. It was a walk-in closet with many hanging racks at various heights, and in the middle? A sort of carrel for all my shoes, and around the top of the shelves, places to store boxes and bags. I loved my closet as you might love…
Read MoreMy Marbles
Most people who lose their marbles don’t expect to. Most people who lose their marbles would, if asked, assure you that they would be the last people to lose their marbles. Many people who lose their marbles used to be fiercely smart. This is why I became so terrified when, the other day, I lost…
Read MoreSpectral
I would want to see a ghost. I think. It would depend on the mood – not of me, of the ghost. If this were a wistful spirit, even one with something left unfinished this side of the veil, that would be fine. If this were a spirit bent on vengeance, out to punish and…
Read MoreAn Anthropologist at Trader Joe’s
I am a recluse, so I don’t go many places. When I do go places, because I have to cook for a sizeable number of people, those places often involve groceries. When I want ordinary groceries, like milk, I go to the ordinary grocery store, Stop and Shop. When I want to feel wealthy, I…
Read MoreTrue Tales of a Writing Gadget Slut
Why am I such a slut for gadgets? I don’t know why, but I am. Why am I such a slut for gadgets? I don’t know why, but I am. I never met a Kitchen Aid or a Ginza I didn’t like and crave. And when it comes to the tools of my trade (that…
Read MoreKiller Chic
When I was young (and I’ll grant you, this was a long time ago) people sometimes wore real fur coats, including leopard skin – although even then, many viewed this profligacy with horror. A lot more people carried bags made to look like faux leopard and tiger skin, but this was just seen as desperately…
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