jungle flashes

* Travel was the first mind-altering medicine I ever tried. The west of Ireland practiced patience with me, Paris threw glitter on my creative mind, Uganda shook my joy loose, and London danced with me. Travel fosters presence, and people everywhere were accepting and generous with their time and humor. Every moment presented a chance … Continue reading jungle flashes →

celebrate good times, come on

I’m the luckiest girl on the planet. I get to live and write in Los Angeles, and celebrate with my friends. For the 7th year in a row, Dani will be here. She's flying in from Berlin this evening. I got to talk to my mom today, and she retold my birth story, which begins … Continue reading celebrate good times, come on →

pardon my hallucinatory dust

Writing about my wild experiences in Peru drinking ayahuasca, the preferred psychedelic brew for the 21st century man or woman. Coming soon!

death!

What if the soul is no more than the success with which we envision one another? What if you make me and I make you, and we need each other to make each other? Couldn’t that be beautiful? Maybe our impermanence makes our love all the fiercer—since we are each other’s Gods or artists. --Max … Continue reading death! →

appellations

I have a complicated relationship with my name. It took me a long time to feel connected to it. Over the years, I heard comments circling the stereotype of “Britney’s.” Let’s start there—Britney Spears and I share the same first and middle name. Britney Jean and Britany Jean. Twice a month I hear, “it’s Britney, … Continue reading appellations →

Prince and a Poetry Reading Let’s paint the whole world purple: This leafy quinoa wrap, These translucent watermelons, White cheeses, soda pop, Every fountain Should be filled With ping-pong balls, All sputtering in time to “Let’s Go Crazy” 5, 6, 7, 8, If I have to build a wall Give me symbols and purple brick, … Continue reading →

travel vignette

Lima, Peru. Summer 2015. 8:30am. A faint thread of fish is loose in the air, unraveling from the sea a few blocks away. Cars whistle by sounding runaway horns. Peruvians move between them when red lights favor. A few run the sidewalks; mostly women, clicking by in their heels, bags slung over their shoulders, clutching … Continue reading travel vignette →

travel vignette

Still in Uganda: I climbed into bed at 2am last night, and I could hear the neighborhood dogs barking. Then a man’s voice, yelling passionately in Luganda and English, “I WILL NOT DIE!" Everything seemed to stop, even the dogs. Out of the silence the voices of men and women rose in the most delightful … Continue reading travel vignette →

travel vignette

Uganda, 2014. In a van, full of strangers: Thatched roofs cap mud huts. One cow, flayed and hooves crossed, horns of pride attached by rope, strapped to the back of a boda boda. A man sold a newspaper with a headline that read, “I was paid 100M to poison so-and-so with a hyena’s liver!" A … Continue reading travel vignette →

grandpa poetry

Freddy read poetry to me. Freddy is my grandfather, but his name wasn't Freddy, it was James. He was too young to be called “grandpa,” so that's what he chose instead, after some character off a TV show I can never remember the name of. I would sit on the dining room table, all … Continue reading grandpa poetry →