rachel oscar

The Zimm Sisters | Rachel Oscar

Rachel Oscar is the Director of Programming and Community Engagement for Campus District, Inc., a community development organization in Downtown Cleveland. She recently received a Masters of Urban Planning and Development from Cleveland State University in May 2017. Rachel graduated from Kenyon College in 2011 with a BA in history before returning to school worked for Case Western Reserve University. Rachel loves hiking and in the summer of 2016 hiked the John Muir Trail in the Sierra Nevada mountains. If […]

Théodore Pavlich

Why I Don’t Use Arnica | Théodore Pavlich

Théodore Pavlich is a Cleveland-based writer and theatre artist. He hopes to hear and tell as many stories as possible in his time on this earth, in addition to petting as many dogs as the limits of time, space, and introversion will allow. Most days, you can find him doing one of these three things at the various local coffee shops on the near west side. You can find his writing, fiber arts, and shameless self-promotion at http://www.theodorepavlich.com. If you […]

Ian Whippie

The Crazy Scotsman | Ian Whippie

Ian Whippie hails from the distant land of New Hampshire, which is famous for its trees and alcoholism (it’s all the alcoholic trees). He studied creative writing at Colby-Sawyer College with the ambition of writing fiction, but was told by his Memoir-Writing professor that he was a nonfiction writer, which he took in stride. With deep roots in Improv and College/Community theater and his recent relocation to the far and distant shores of Lake Erie he naturally became involved in […]

black superman

Black Superman | Josie Woodall

I had a framed photo hanging prominently in the entrance of my apartment. Most people recognized that the photo was taken in the Oval Office of the White House. They also recognized the two old, white, jovial men flanking the black man in the middle as George Bush Sr. and Ronald Reagan. But then, “Is that…” They took a closer look at the man in the middle, “Is that your dad?!” My dad wore many hats: politician, social justice warrior, social […]

Flawed | Susan Fee

I married a male version of my mother. If you believe Murray Bowen, the father of family therapy, we choose partners to help us work through unresolved conflict with our parents. Weird. But, then again, maybe he was onto something. Here’s a snapshot of my husband, Allan: “You wanna drive to Baltimore today?” he asks me. We’re waking up on a Saturday morning with no plans. “Baltimore? Why?” “For a ballgame. The Orioles have a great park.” “Isn’t that kind […]

book

The Gift | Margy Weinberg

A bayonet knocked on the door. A Filipino servant answered. The Japanese soldier asked to speak with Mr. Harry N. Salet. Mr. Salet was expecting them. It was January 5, 1942. Mr. Salet was my grandfather. During the previous nights he had buried his WWI ceremonial saber and any remnants of his service in the US Marines under the house. The Philippines were under constant bombardment just 10 hours after the disastrous destruction of Pearl Harbor. My family’s house shook […]

skirt

New Family | Jenny Hatchadorian

Meeting the matriarch of my husband’s family came as a bit of a shock to me. When we visited them over Christmas, a woman dressed in head-to-toe in lilac hugged me and presented me with a gift: a jewelry box made from balsa wood that she’d glued shells onto and hand-painted turquoise. I held it in my hands as she smiled at me; this was Grandma Evelyn, Aaron’s mother’s mother. She was so foreign to me, so seemingly not real […]

How the Hibernation of One Led to the Insomnia of Another | KC Esper

I work as a marketing writer for a financial firm that provides factoring services to small businesses. It doesn’t sound too interesting because it’s not; regardless, I keep convincing myself that my job equips me with a ton of skills that I’m sure will help me with whatever I end up doing in the future. The nice thing about working a very right-brained position in a very left-brained industry is that my coworkers allow me certain liberties during my shifts, […]