Category: louisiana

After clocking far too many hours on my laptop this semester, I’m happy to say that I’ve been chosen to read my original work “Blue Laser Beams” at the University of New Orleans’ Yeah, You Write series. If you’d like to listen to me attempt to not stumble on my own written words, check out the event this Thursday night. My non-fiction story is about a teenager whose fashion choices alienate her from the rest of her classmates. She wants to stand out, yet secretly wants to fit in as well. Here’s a sample:

         

Baker’s neon sign was a laser beam cutting through my fog of teenage angst. I was a product of the 1990s grunge era: a crushed velvet dress, worn with a flannel shirt tied around the waist, and clunky shoes is the look I lusted after. I blended in at school about as well as a duck hunter sporting a safety orange vest on Wall Street. “Sassy Magazine” was my fashion bible, but the clothes featured in the editorial spreads were either too expensive or unavailable to me. Shipping costs were deemed a waste of money in our household, so catalog orders were off limits as well. Little did I know that my shoe fantasies would be fulfilled at Baker’s. And sure enough, tucked away in a forgotten corner of the store were the flashiest shoes I could find and they were seventy-five percent off! Of course they were deeply discounted; no one in my town would be caught dead wearing platform lace ups with the veneer of a diner seat booth. The baby powder blue vinyl, embedded with a million holographic sparkles, reflected the joy I felt in being  one sales transaction away from being just as cool as my rock star idols. The white platform rubber soles with the wrap around faux blonde wood would proclaim my status as someone more worldly than my suburban roots. Everyone I encountered would think “That girl! She listens to Mazzy Star and Nirvana and would pierce her nose if her mother let her!”