On The Beach
“We are obsessed with building labyrinths, where before there was open plain and sky. To draw ever more complex patterns on the blank sheet.”
-Gravity’s Rainbow, Thomas Pynchon
Into the Labyrinth: Tim Kent
February 2009 · 49 Comments
Lost in Transition: Fuzhou to the United States
February 2009 · 32 Comments
by Jimmy Lam
Jimmy's father, Lin Lam, as a teenager
“Jimmy, you think I’m like an American? Do you think I went out every day to waste away my life fooling around? I told you, my life was simple. If someone asked me to explain my life, I could explain it in one sentence: I worked. There is nothing more to my life. When I was your age, I did nothing but work, work, and more work.”
Let Me Be
February 2009 · 29 Comments
by Andrea Ramprashad
“In East Indian families, what children want is not important. East Indian parents use “guilt and shame” to scare children from developing into their own individual. East Indian parents are afraid that their children will pull away from their culture. I feel that all parents should have more faith in their children, and they should also have faith in their parenting.”
Interview: Life After Rikers Island
February 2009 · 22 Comments
by Edwin Rodriguez
You know everyone in there is tough. There are quiet dudes, but you can’t sleep on anyone. You got Bloods in there, Crips, Latin Kings and even gangs I never heard of like 6 Guns and Primetime. There are fights all the time. Over the dumbest shit, too. Like you got a muffin that someone finds pretty and they’ll rock you for it.
The Ability To Laugh
February 2009 · 12 Comments
by Mornier Rich
“Competition Time! On Sunday, November 9, at 12:00 pm, approximately 70 gymnasts gathered at The Athletic Club on Staten Island for a local meet. Kayla’s team started the competition with the vault. The first gymnast from her team ran down the runway, flipped over the vault and landed on her feet. Everyone applauded but her parents STOOD UP and applauded. I looked at her parents while they were standing and muttered, ‘Show-offs.’”
Living with the Enemy
February 2009 · 15 Comments
by Anonymous
“I used to think my dad was some sort of superhero like Batman or Spiderman with these supernatural powers because whenever I was sick he could make me feel cured instantly. I looked up to him until the day when everything began to change.”
