“I trusted you,” I said to James. He sat across from me, head hung, sitting in a small room coming to a plea bargain. Lawyers waited outside for us to finish our personal business. “I thought you were my man, my assistant, my James. You were the one person who I knew could go through […]
E is for Emergency
When the nurse carted Jimmy back out from whatever examining room, I was anxious to know what the next move was. He had taken a bad tumble on the basketball court, and something was wrong with his knee, but we really didn’t know. Having offered to go along with him and one of our resident […]
"Overtoasted" Part 6
Several days later, and things had changed. James was gone, back to work. I had no leads, no human suspects, no idea what would happen next. All I had was the yellow liquid before me, and in my stomach and blood. “’ey, Aaron, ‘ows it goin’?” Lizzy stood before me, with her basket of apples […]
Being Here
In the final months of high school senior year, I felt like I was constantly pushed into the academic celebrity by the rushing crowd, unsure of whether I would get an autograph. J Strothers Moore, William Dement; these were the pioneers of their fields, the people whose work is now in everyday living, though perhaps […]
"Overtoasted" Part 5
“No doubt about it, it was the shock that killed her,” he cackled. Julian was a good friend of mine—and by good friend, I mean I thought he was positively loony. He once told me that it had been his dream since elementary school to be a mortician. But it’s a good fit. He’s very […]
Kronos Plays Sun Rings
At Julie’s suggestion, I, along with two of my dormmates, made the harrowing 3 minute bike ride to Memorial Auditorium to watch the Kronos Quartet play Sun Rings. To be honest, I had never heard of—much less heard—the Kronos Quartet before, but looking at their program, it seemed like something cool and new. The program […]
Having It All
I arrived back at my dorm three hours ago from a dorm trip at Lake Tahoe. A common activity among Stanford dorms, Sno Trip is a weekend spent skiing among the wonderful mountains of NorCal (North California). And I have my sob story about skiing. I lived in Canada beginning in my mom’s womb through […]
"Overtoasted" Part 4
He brought a plate of pastries into the room where we sat, and I eagerly helped myself to one while he began his discourse. “My name ees Raoul, and I knew Rachel very well. I should have known zees would happen. “Rachel came to me several deys ago, telling me hair toaster was trying to […]
New Year’s Hopes: 2008 Edition
Just like last year, I have another set of hopes. I call them hopes instead of resolutions because I feel that that term almost has inherent failure by tradition. Besides, it’s not a whole-hearted resolution; just a plan. How did I do on the one from last year?Exercise More. I could’ve picked up a book […]
Recap on Shanghai
I flew back in at around 1:00 AM, just after New Year’s. We were supposed to come in around 8:00 PM earlier that night, but a luggage mis-arrangement and snowstorm later, we were still on a plane as the year turned. At least we had a good view of the whole city’s firework. The flights […]