Of the most distinguished homeless people in this country, one lives here in Fairbanks. I’ve written about him before, the character who speaks as though reading from a bible of endless passages written by a schizophrenic. And yet, in the midst of his signature style of oration submerged in an ancient grammar and spoken with…
As a pedestrian, I find it amusing how impatient drivers will sometimes use their vehicles as vessels for expressing their frustration at having to wait for me to cross the street. Mostly, this happens with drivers who are going to be making a right turn, as illustrated in the picture below, where the blue line…
Of all the dual-width alphanumeric combinations possible, my Anchorage-bound flight departed from the explosive gate C4. Still, I felt that if death by aircraft was to be my obligatory end, I would rather go out at once in a big bang than plummet to earth in a nauseous descent. It is important, especially on longer…
I’m making an effort to keep an even lower profile than usual because lately I’ve increasingly felt myself becoming a tempting target of violence and robbery. Steps I’ve taken towards this end: 1. I’ve stopped carrying my backpack. I leave it in my locker, together with most of my other things. I exit the shelter…
My mom started crying at the airport. It was very uncomfortable for me to be around. I quickly left them all after completing the mandatory embrace. The flights went smoothly. No delays, plus both planes flew at roughly half capacity, nice to have a whole row of seats to myself. The picture below depicts the…
I went to the writing center on campus and printed Bawd Blue Cohosh, but was dissatisfied with the results. It was readable, but not without some difficulty. The imprecision of the printer yielded blurred words. Simply throwing all the paper away seemed a wasteful and uncreative solution, so I walked across to the library, climbed…
There is often a wait associated with common errand locations: the post office, the bank, the grocery. In anticipation of having to wait, people entering these premises allocate themselves an amount of patience. Allocating patience is like cocking a gun; the patience should be discharged before too long. Most people discharge their patience in small…
Many objects serve multiple purposes. This is often strived for in the name of efficiency. An object serving two purposes will sometimes do so simply by means of reciprocal actions. For example, a needle & syringe can put drugs into you or draw your blood, depending on the direction of the plunger. One rule that…
Unless there is animosity between them, coworkers who happen to see each other by chance at the store, on the street, or elsewhere other than their workplace, will be inclined to smile. I think there are two things happening. 1. Identifying a familiar face from among the faces of countless strangers who populate a person’s…
There’s a section of the local paper called community snapshots, where the pictures featured depict usually two individuals, one handing the other a check. The people pictured represent their respective organizations, sometimes non-profits, sometimes banks, etc. The money exchanging hands, with the check posing for the photo between the grip of the two individuals, is…
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