A blackout poem I created from a few pages of Louisa May Alcott’s novel, Little Women.
*
People, you know, envy girls fond of luxury
Man of the Sea learned to carry her without complaining
So light
Good spirits
Blue neck-ribbon, dressing her hair
looking nice, pretty or not
Bits of fun now and then Read More
Something to do if you ever come across writer’s block.
I wrote this poem in 2008 when I worked at a dog boarding kennel. It’s about remembering the dog I grew up with.
It smells like her, that collar
Once tangled in fur,
now a decoration to my room
and a memory for my heart
Foggy, but I can remember
the first time I saw her
Like a frightened bear cub
hiding under kitchen table
A short article I wrote in my journalism class at SUNY Purchase on Valentine’s Day 2011.
The total spending for Valentine’s Day is expected to hit $15.7 billion this year, according to the National Retail Federation. On average, a person will spend over $116.21 on the holiday.
For SUNY Purchase students, there is quite a range on what they’ll do, and the amount of money they’ll spend on their sweetie, for Valentine’s Day.
“Tonight, my girlfriend and I are making pizza,” said Nick Sciretta, junior drama studies major. “It’s a cheap and fun dinner. We don’t need to go overboard. Spending time together is special enough.”
Phil Gallo, SUNY Purchase alum said, “I’ll probably spend about $75 on gifts for my girlfriend. Maybe a little more.”
Below is my essay that was published on This I Believe.
Besides for my stuffed purple chick with one foot and a crooked beak, my brother Eric was my first best friend. My crib became his eleven months later, and eventually we shared a small room together. Our beds were so close, we’d jump from one to the other in our footed pajamas until my mom’s exhausted voice shouted up the stairs to lie in the beds and not jump on them.
Everyone outside of our family assumed that we were twins. I’d always point out that I was taller. Aside from my longer hair, that was the only difference. We had the same chocolate eyes and the same shade of brown for hair; we’d make the same facial expressions—usually silly ones.
I would moan and complain and curl up on the couch when I had what my parents called “growing pains” in my legs. When it came to Eric, he would giggle, run to the refrigerator, and try to figure out how big the gap was between his head and the freezer door. There was never a reason for it, besides the fact that it excited us, but my father would take out his measuring tape and tell us how many more inches we had to grow until our heads reached the freezer door. I’d chase after my brother just to make sure I still had height on him. Read More
An old poem of mine that I recently rediscovered while cleaning my room.
Maybe they’re hard to tame because
they’re invisible
I feel them living in me
On me like a bad itch
in a difficult place
I want to pick them off
like fingernails
But my brain is an
addict
and my heart thinks they’re
important
A sickness I wish I was immune to Read More
A friend’s scene that another friend and I acted in. Starring Nathaniel Lynn as Andrew and me, Nicole DiGiose, as Stella.
Watch the video of a scene I directed (for the first time – it’s obvious) from my short story, It Was Always There, here:
It’s so bad, it’s good!
Starring Matt Riegler as Jake and Mateo Morel as Damien. Shot by Tommy Roach.
Below are two scenes from It Was Always There (including the scene above) in screenplay form.
FADE IN:
INT. MEG’S HOUSE – DAY ARRIVAL
MEG and JAKE are on each side of Meg’s window, waiting for DAMIEN to leave the property.
DAMIEN
Meg?
DAMIEN taps the window’s screen twice
DAMIEN
(laughs)
Meg? It’s me. DamYou00.
JAKE
What?
MEG rolls her eyes.
MEG
His stupid screen name.
DAMIEN
Are you ladies in there?
JAKE scrunches up his face.
MEG
He knows I’m not alone, remember? He probably thinks you’re a girl.
JAKE
That piece of shit. Read More
The Yoga Health Academy at Purchase College presented their juice bar kickoff last Wednesday. According to students and staff, not only is the juice beneficial to the body, but it is surprisingly cheap.
The kickoff was held in the Dribbles room in the gym. Behind the curved bar in the classroom was a Jack LaLanne juicer, surrounded by a variety of cut up vegetables, including cilantro, celery, cucumbers, ginger, carrots, beets, kale, rosemary, and plenty of sliced red apples to add sweetness to the mix. Set up across two tables next to the bar were colorful fruit and vegetable platters. There were an abundant amount of melons, grapes, pineapples, tomatoes, celery, and broccoli, along with dip and pita chips. Hanging on the wall across from the platters were three poster-sized sheets of paper, all containing the benefits of the ingredients used in the juices.
Julie Broglin, faculty advisor for yoga health, set up the juice bar in order to inform students about their health. In her yoga classes, she always saves time to show films about the importance of choosing nutritional foods and keeping your body healthy. Read More
A feature interview I covered for SUNY Purchase’s literary and arts magazine, The Submission Magazine, in April 2011.
A row of eye-catching canes hanging across the open closet are revealed as the brown apartment door opens. They’re vibrant oranges, blues, purples, and greens, each in different patterns and sizes. From behind the door peeks senior graphic design major, Nicole Wynn, with her hair pulled back and glasses half way down her nose. After shutting the door, she walks by the collection of canes and heads for the living room.
She jokes that she took over the “messy” room as she looks around at the patterned canes and walkers up against the walls. A wheelchair is between the two couches. It was once black, but is now covered in an abstract design of the sun, its rays bursting. In total, there are 40 fashionable medical aids, most of them being canes that Wynn has designed for her senior project, along with a self-published book about her collection titled, Raising Cane.
Since birth, Wynn has been living with Multiple Hereditary Exostoses (MHE), a rare genetic condition causing multiple bony lumps and tumors to grow on all of the long bones of her body, most of the bones being irregularly shaped. According to Wynn, one in 100,000 people suffer from the condition, which comes with lots of pain and fatigue.
“The main reason I walk with a cane is because I have no hip sockets,” Wynn says. Instead, she has tumors growing in there. Read More
Nicole DiGiose 