Little Epiphanies

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  • The Milonguera

    The Milonguera

    Her embraces were the stuff of legend. They were of the full-on, milonguera-style variety: no empty space left between the bodies, no crevices ignored, nothing held back. I found myself gravitating towards her in spite of myself, inventing excuses to swing by. When I walked into the milonga, she was at the entrance in conversation…

  • “Good Night and Good Milonga to You”

    “Good Night and Good Milonga to You”

    The man stood in the bathroom at El Beso, gathering up his belongings. He had just risen from the chair that is always left in bathrooms at milongas so that you can change in and out of your dance shoes in privacy. Now he was putting his dance shoes into a cloth bag and tucking…

  • Creation is Celebration

    Creation is Celebration

    You made me beautiful, she answered, after seeing the photos. In my world, there could be nothing more fulfilling than hearing those words. To find beauty – even better, to help someone see their own beauty – is the highest act, the greatest good. For me, creation is celebration. I celebrate this world as it…

  • When the Argentines Stopped Talking

    When the Argentines Stopped Talking

    I’m mostly a bus kind of guy – I like the hoi polloi. But I was running late and grabbed a taxi across town. The driver seemed genuinely glad to see me. I soon learned that he was gladder still that I didn’t have a cell phone in my hand. I’ve been studying the porteño,…

  • A Bold Love

    A Bold Love

    BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – I want a bold love, the kind that flows like a steep mountain river, roaring over the rock bed, pushing fallen branches and stones out of its way. I want a love that overflows and missteps and clamors back, a little wiser for its mistakes. I want a love that throbs…

  • The Raw Joy of Living Through Words

    The Raw Joy of Living Through Words

    SAN FRANCISCO, CA – At the back of a closet, in a box that I was sure had been lost, I found a treasure trove of old diaries. As I write in my journal most every day, come rain or shine, depression or ecstasy, I have plenty of old journals lying around. But these were…