top of page
jamesp420
Oct 206 min read
The Scarred Beauty of Tragedy
My wife and I recently spent a few days in southeastern Wisconsin. We were supposed to enjoy this trip with a friend of ours visiting...
24 views0 comments
jamesp420
Aug 15 min read
The Derecho of 1980
It was a pleasant early evening in the middle of summer, about a half-hour before sundown. I was nine years old, tossing paper airplanes...
38 views0 comments
jamesp420
Jun 137 min read
“The Scientist” by Coldplay: My Emotional Rollercoaster Ride
And, how it became the perfect song for Jack and Pauline from Shrugging. Around the time my wife Melanie and I were stepping away from...
44 views0 comments
jamesp420
Jun 52 min read
Creativity as Addiction
Nail-biting. Overeating. Alcoholism. Drug abuse. Disorders that feel so good when one buckles under to those compulsive urges. Habits...
11 views0 comments
jamesp420
May 223 min read
The List
Here is the rough beginning to a story I poked at a while ago but never invested any time to finish—and probably will never finish? It...
6 views0 comments
jamesp420
May 104 min read
My Father's Tears
The kitchen table had become the nexus of creation for my father. That’s where he’d put perfect penciled lines to a scrap of paper as he...
47 views0 comments
jamesp420
May 78 min read
Dirty Vowels
A cute little story I wrote many years ago...Enjoy. ... ‘O’ can be a very dirty little vowel, especially when a female voice is stringing...
39 views0 comments
jamesp420
Mar 252 min read
A Corruption of Youth
“Here, read this,” my mother said and plopped a book down next to me. It was The Shining, by Stephen King. I was ten years old. A few...
13 views0 comments
bottom of page