Essays, Interviews, Observations, Pop Culture, Stories, and other Dodginess

Posts by Liffey

The Busiest Toilet in the Dorm

Posted on October 14, 2015

“Talk Bosnian to me.” It was the third time I asked Fadila to speak her native tongue into my ears. But she would have none of it as we walked through the quad on an unseasonably warm fall afternoon at our Midwest college. I was about to ask her a fourth time when I noticed her gaze off to the right and above. “Why is there always someone in that window?” she said. I knew why and I couldn’t tell her. The window in question was on the second floor of my dorm. It overlooked the quad, and it was different from other windows in that nobody appeared to ever be in them, and they never appeared to open. And when someone was in…

Coming Soon: The Busiest Toilet in the Dorm

Posted on September 20, 2015

You have to read it to believe it. Consider it part of “The Young Martens” series. Which you can read here. Among other things, is it true the leader of a well-known band wrote a song in this particular stall? Is this tale going to be dodgy? Probably. In the meantime, here’s a photo Liffey took on the Chicago’s southside while on a bike jaunt waiting for a bridge to lower near Lake Michigan. Nice urban graffiti. Cheers! Will be up by Oct 10!

Doc Martens on a Bike

Posted on August 31, 2015

Or “I Kissed a Girl at the Iron Ore Wall” I don’t know why it took me so long to get a bike again. I always rode a bike in middle school and high school. I had one in college for a while but I got drunk and ran into a wall while on it. My first French kiss came when I was on my bike. I was in junior high. It was in front of my house. It was night, and I just got done riding with my best friend and neighbor “Dutch” Andy. My older sister’s friend Carina was in front of our house smoking a cigarette. She was a junior or senior in high school. Very tall, very pretty, very intimidating.…