Blog
Asking questions can lead you to new places. Writing helps bring you to answers. And more questions.
Here, I’ve collected writings on a number of topics. Sometimes they’ve been published elsewhere, and other times they’re just for this blog.
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The snow, a tall patch, unplowed, stood straight ahead on the highway. No time to brake. Two hours east of Boise, it was too late, and I was too tired to think. I pushed in the clutch, held the wheel straight, let the van hit. It all started to spin, and soon van’s rear end…
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Note: This article appeared in the April 26, 2015 issue of The Reporter-Times and has been republished with permission. By James Figy | Correspondent MOORESVILLE — After 60 showings, Chris and Jenny Nugent finally found a buyer for their former dream home. It comes with 2.5 acres on the outskirts of Mooresville, just inside the Monrovia…
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I have some big news to share. At least, it’s big to me. It seems that every year the news gets bigger, and life gets harder yet better as I get older. Faster than you or I or anyone can keep up with, life moves on. And it doesn’t stop. Thinking back a mere five…
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Hello pasta my old friend…
I’ve come to talk to you again. North Carolina Pastor Alan Martin is reaching out to poor souls—that is, if they’re handing him a bowl of spaghetti. In September, he bought an Olive Garden never ending pasta pass for $100. Only 1,000 people total bought the pasta pass, and any one of them could break…
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Places that haunt me
When the tour guide said Emily Dickinson’s bedroom was under construction and therefore off limits, I felt so relieved. This great dread dissipated like vapor, and I enjoyed the rest of the 90-minute tour much more than the first portion. But I couldn’t explain it: Why didn’t I want her room, where the magic happened,…
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This Just In: Neil deGrasse Tyson at UIndy
“We have too much light to see the night sky in Indiana,” the question-raiser started. About two hours after Neil deGrasse Tyson’s lecture at the University of Indianapolis began, Tyson opened up the floor for questions. “So I was wondering how you see stars in New York?” “Oh,” said the director of the Hayden Planetarium…
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![Boudu [before being] Sauvé des Eaux](https://jamesfigy.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/boudu-cinematography2.png?w=652&h=545&crop=1 "Boudu [before being] Sauvé des Eaux")
Boudu [before being] Sauvé des Eaux
Ici— _____where you are meant to sink _____far below bumbling bustles of bees _____bumping into every body, which drone _____wins this day’s drip of honey, chérie? dans la fleuve, _____filling in around, covering you _____busy bourgeoisie, leave him alone— _____he feels the weight of stones, sinking, _____which is only a waterlogged coat en bas, _____the…
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Zak Mitiche: American, Muslim
The picture I wish I took Bright, floral frescoes decorated the walls of the Mexican restaurant and the margarita-laden tables, too. Mariachi music emoted over the speakers. I stepped in with my fiancé in tow, and saw my guest, Zak Mitiche, already sitting in the booth. His loose, black prayer robe looked somewhat out of…
James Figy 