I understand the appeal. Really, I do.

Every kid has an astronaut phase. I was no different

Every person has some favorite sci-fi movie about space aliens. Personally, I enjoyed Star Wars. Well, Return of the Jedi specifically. I know people say that is the worst of the original trilogy but I don’t care. I thought the Ewoks were cool, even though I think it would have made sense if Chewbacca was...

Sixteen-ounce drip coffee, splash of cream, no sugar, blueberry scone, two chairs away from the window, back to the wall.

That was Tim. Some might call it boring or predictable. Tim felt it was comforting.

It would happen every so often someone else would sit in the second chair from the window. Tim did not make a fuss. He simple found another chair with his back to the wall. San Clemente is a...

The lettuce was green

The bacon was crispy

The bun was fluffy

It had melting Swiss cheese

The commercial was enticing

Aired right at lunch time

That burger was more delicious

Than this sandwich of mine

The bag handed through the window

The fries smelled filled my car

But the burger in my hand

Was different than the one that I saw

This one was greasy,

Flat, and floppy

The ad looked so sexy

This...

I love performing. I am at peace with myself and feel at one with the world. The orchestra, the costume, the audience, my movements…all slide into perfect harmony when I am on stage. Everything just makes sense. I do not worry about school, or parents, or boys, or my phone, or the news. I am alive and present for every beat of the music, every sway of my body. Nothing else matters. It’s as if the ...

The smell of beans seeping wakes me

The pot brewing, it shakes me

Now I am ready for today’s events

The lure of sugar invites me

The vending options excite me

I am ready for these final meetings

The dishes have been put away

Ice cream, shower, toothpaste, PJs

The usual end to my crazy days...

He was so ashamed of himself. If all of pain and suffering he has caused others throughout the centuries were all put together, it would not equal the remorse he felt now. There was only one being in the entire world he loved during his 1,700 years of walking this planet. Ever since he traveled with Helena to the Holy Land and stole the True Cross from the mother of the emperor, Eusebius had been ...

“Get out. See different cultures. Meet interesting people.”

Sure, that’s what the brochure said, and that’s what the recruiter said, and that’s what my parents said.

But no one told me how it would REALLY be.

I don’t understand how anyone can live where it is this cold! I really do not know what color the buildings are around here because everything is constantly blanketed in white. You can’t rea...

The Kereit and the Tayichiud were two tribes constantly fighting over the best pastures. The nomadic peoples practiced exogamy, which often resulted in stealing brides from the other clans inside each tribe and even between the warring tribes themselves.

Borte was the daughter of a chief in the Kereit tribe. Her jet black hair would lay straight to her waist if it was not in the traditional braid ...

All that glitters is not gold

The most precious things are not things to hold

Health and love and trust

They stay true when gold grinds to dust

Do not tie your value to your bank account

For money is just numbers, and forever they count

Who you are, not what you have

That should be the motto throughout the land...

I was told I only had six weeks to live. I was told the chemo was ineffective. I was told the cancer had traveled. I was told the headache was a sign the end was right around the corner.

Six weeks.

That’s not even two months.

High school football seasons are longer than the prognosis.

I did not wallow in self pity. I did not allow my family and friends to mourn my death before it even arrived.

I...