(Click on the title to view the whole piece)
 

Flight
 
The first rule was we had to stay together and maintain our military bearing at all times. We were representatives of the United States military, and we would behave as such.
 
Paul Crenshaw

 

Buying Time: Art, Entrepreneurship and Owning Your Value as a Writer
 
At one workshop I attended, the instructor, an MFA candidate, stated in no uncertain terms: "Every artist needs a patron." It was the last thing I needed to hear to get my business off the ground. I so wanted a patron to come along and recognize me (more than I recognized myself) and free me from all this earning-a-living crap. Yeats had his patron; where was my Lady Gregory?
 
Joe Bardin

 

Giro, Giro, Tondo (Spotlight Runner-Up!)
 
Panic on the way home when thinking of this essay. Decide I must have someone read it to make sure it is not terrible. I've taken to putting my dishes on our table for fear the roaches and mice will climb into the sink if I put them there. Spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about something petty that upset me. Wonder if it makes me petty to spend time thinking about something I perceived as petty. Probably not relevant to the topic of this essay except to say that I go to the gym more often than I pray.
 
Andrew Bertaina

 

My Family on the Rails
 
The northbound express from New Orleans took over 48 hours to reach Chicago. Not only did passenger trains operate at low speeds, but until 1889 there was no bridge across the Ohio River from Kentucky into Illinois. A car ferry carried a whole passenger train, half a dozen cars, across the water to the town of Cairo, while passengers remained in their seats. At the Cairo depot there was a further delay, since each car had to be jacked up and standard-gauge trucks substituted for broad-gauge, or vice versa for trains bound south for New Orleans.
 
Peter Bridges