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Josiah Duran

http://josiahduran.com

The High-School Essay Problem

There’s a problem that crops up for the argumentative writer which I call “the high-school essay problem.” In high school, you’re taught—I was, at least—to stake out, early in your essay, a clear thesis. A claim you’ll go to bat for, a hill you’ll

Missing

You and I go back a long ways, back to kitchen counter conversations and air-conditioned afternoons. I paced the tile floors and sucked a spoon of peanut butter, you pounded water and leaned against the cabinets. We were young in those days, sure of ourselves. We had everything in the

I Saw Masquerade

And I liked it even better than Ariel's Undersea Adventure

Dress Like You’re Selling Something

As a writer, I like to find words for things. String of words that build strangely compelling phrases. Lone words that encapsulate. Even technical terms bring delight—how satisfying it is to distinguish electrocution from electrification, to know an aviary from an apiary! Add to this my love for good

Sitting Down on a Wet Afternoon to Write

My books are all organized and stacked on the floor, my chamomile-rooibos-mint blend is brewed up and just slightly too warm to drink, a jazz record that I picked without great discretion or taste is playing from my computer—the mood is conducive to writing. So, let’s write. But:

My Life Without a Smartphone

Let’s Be Romantics

An Antidote to Anomie

Button Reviews

I'm going to go easy on you...

Moby Dish

Call me Dishmael...

A Spark

The Time Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Saved My Life