I was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. The nouns in that sentence define nearly all of my writing. My hometown, paradoxically named, shaped my aesthetic. I write from a first-person point of view and from a place that defined and shaped that I. I am more Salt and Lake and City than I am a plain I. Salt is a noun, but here, it is an adjective, describing a kind of lake. It also describes a kind of writing, irreverent, maybe even sailor-like. The lake part is a misnomer if the word “lake� means potable water and schools of fish. The lake I grew up near is an undrinkable one. The word “city� doesn’t seem to capture the feel of the town. Tumbleweeds still roll down State Street. Its streets are laid out on a grid, in a perfect square, each road big enough to turn an ox-cart around. The city seems like more like a map of a city than a city itself.
In 1847, as the wagons emerged from Emigration Canyon, into what is now called Salt Lake City, a band of silver blue water streaking across the western horizon. The pioneers must have been enchanted by the promise of a lake, a refuge from the arid trek they’d made from Missouri. Soon enough, they realized that the lake was too salty to be of agricultural use, but still, this valley held to its word. Rivers that ran from the mountains provided fresh water to build the homeland they desired. Although Shoshone and Paiute peoples had practiced irrigation for years, they began in earnest to divert that fresh water to their crops and homes and eventually, businesses and mining operations.
My former student went to see the Subhumans in Phoenix late last fall. I’ve loved this punk rock band since I was twelve-years-old. Their dark point of view satisfied me. Their song “The Cradl… Read moreImpossible individualism: Us fish must swim together
I didn’t mean to fall in love with Brine Shrimp. In 2017, for my birthday, my friend Angie gave me an ecosphere—an egg-shaped glass enclosure in which three brine shrimp swam among oxygenating… Read moreNicole's Impossibly Possible Ideas: Brine shrimp
I have a confession to make. I adopted two new kittens. After Zane the cat got lost last April, I couldn’t stop missing him. Zane, half Maine Coon, half koala bear, was my person. He slept bet… Read moreNicole's Impossibly Possible Ideas: Impossible Hospitals
On June 30th, I took a trip with my friend Beya and our youngest boys to Clear Creek Reservoir to paddleboard. The wind was strong. The water was murky. The sun was hot. We managed to make it … Read moreNicole's Impossibly Possible Ideas: Impossible College
I was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. The nouns in that sentence define nearly all of my writing. My hometown, paradoxically named, shaped my aesthetic. I write from a first-person point of view… Read moreNicole's Impossibly Possible Ideas: One and done
Newly elected governor Katie Hobbs, in her inauguration speech, vowed to repeal the universal vouchers, officially known as Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESAs) â€� double-speak for if you’re… Read moreNicole's Impossibly Possible Ideas: Boot Straps
It was precisely 97 minutes ago that we wrapped up Spring Semester 2022. By the time you’re reading this, it will be September 1 and Fall Semester 2022 will be well underway. They say there’s … Read moreNicole's Impossibly Possible Ideas: A wormhole summer
