You have paid a man to sketch your portrait at the foot of Montmartre, because it seems like the only thing left for you to do.  His strokes are quick and easy, and he does not complain when you decide to let your eyes wander—an act, or non-act, that you appreciate.  You have made up [...]

The state of Iran called it an enemy of the state. Three former Secretaries of State call it home. The State Department calls it the best bang for its buck. Its International Relations program ranks top five in the country. Foreign presidents visit regularly. Stanford University is a beast of an organization. In 2010, the [...]

They sat slouched staring at the damp asphalt being eaten up in front in the car while beautiful countryside was ignored in the darkness and forgotten. Outside the car the bilious sky with sharp clouds like cirrhosis mirrored the frank reckless strength of these men, like the face of a wild animal or an inhuman [...]

As Justin Torres walks up to the podium, he doesn’t look at all like I expected. He is thin and young. He is wearing jeans and a plaid button- up shirt, tucked in, revealing his dark brown leather belt and the metal buckle that gleams in the light of the stuffy room as he rounds [...]

I’m charming. I like small talk and I can engage you easily in that kind of inconsequential conversation. I ask you questions and pay close attention to your answers, which have absolutely no bearing whatsoever on my personal welfare. I do this because it’s important to listen, so it seems like I care. When I [...]

National Poetry Month is over, but my insistence on writing about it is not. Becaaaaaaauuuuuse…. For a while now, without any of us really being aware of it, the soul of 21st century poetry has been teetering between two movements – one that writes badly, and one that writes boringly. These aren’t judgments, by the [...]

Although it may have seemed innocuous, the most interesting rhetoric from Obama’s announcement of Bin Laden’s killing, in my opinion, was when he stated that Bin Laden was killed in a “compound deep in Pakistan.” Because saying that it was a compound deep in Pakistan is a bit like saying that a gated mansion in [...]