KAREN
I was walking into Lowe's the other day. A father and his two young sons were walking out. He was probably mid-forties. The kids were maybe eight and ten…. One of the little boys said nothing at all. For the purpose of our story, he might as well not have been there, other than the fact that his presence broadened the impact of the event which had just taken place. "Why did you call that woman Karen," the older child asked his dad. "Was her name Karen?"
O'NEILL
AIRBNB
If I were in the Netherlands right now, as I thought I might be this weekend, I would be driving my rental car back to Brussels from a venue known as Megaland in the Netherlands. It's right next to Aachen, the first portal into Germany for the US Army in 1945. My ears would be ringing from a Bruce Springsteen show almost four hours in length. The euphoria would linger.
WRITTEN WORD
I make my living writing books, so I get understandably nervous when prognosticators make bold statements about print being dead. What else would I do? In my heart of hearts, when I hear about AI or a more video-centric world, I pray a little prayer that books hang around for at least forty more years. I'll be 102 by then and most likely out of stories to tell.
A WAY IN
ONE THING
MOTHER'S DAY
The boys are of an age where luring all three home at one time requires a special reason — Christmas, Thanksgiving, Mother's Day. The BBQ is supposed to start at 2 but they know we're not going anywhere, so they will arrive with fiancées and girlfriends and gifts and dogs whenever they feel like it.