A few days ago I was riding my bike in Manhattan and a cyclist pulled up next to me and I was surprised to see two big, insulated caves that he had to reach through to grasp the handlebars. This attached glove situation (also called bar mitts?) is common especially on delivery bikes. But it […]
Author: anne
I ride words and I write bikes. I mean...
How to destroy a border
“Maybe infinity begins at the point we can’t see past, can’t love past. How small we are when this point is ourselves. The problem with borders, I was beginning to realize, isn’t that they are monstrous, offensive, and unnatural constructions. The problem with borders is the same as the problem with evil that Hannah Arendt […]
I believe in a world without borders
I used to think that wishing for a world without borders was pointless. I thought: there are too many. The economy based on them is too big. It is not a goal that is achievable in my lifetime. But in Emergent Strategy, a book about community organizing, Adrienne Maree Brown convinces me otherwise. She writes, “We are […]
How to belong
Last week I was walking through the greeting card aisle in my local Rite Aid when a man stopped me and asked me if I spoke Polish. He needed help understanding one of the greeting cards written in English. (I don’t speak Polish.) This happens more than you might think. Or really, what usually happens […]
Performance anxiety
All month there have been upright pianos sitting out in public spaces around New York City. They do this every year, but this was the first year that I got myself together enough to track one down and play it. When I sat down at one for the first time I was very nervous. I […]
Not insane, nor ignorant
So, we’re almost at the year and a half mark. There have been times when I’m really really mad about what is happening. And there have been times, maybe even an entire week here or there, when I forgot that Trump was president. There were weeks when I emailed senators every day and then months […]
My grocery store
Pros The grocery store on the corner is open 24 hours. And it’s not just a deli. It’s a grocery store. It has more fruit and vegetables than I know the names of. It has an olive and cheese bar. That is also open 24 hours. It is very close to my house. I can […]
Missed connection
I went to a bar alone. I sat next to a man who I thought was with the two women on the other side of him, because they were chatting nicely, but it turned out he was alone too. We did not talk for several minutes, but his drink looked good so I asked him […]
Stressed about stress
I got this tea called stress relief. It’s in a nice lavender box. Yes what a soothing color. And the tag on each bag has an encouraging saying. But now, back at my house, I read the box and find a long list of warnings. Apparently if I drink a lot of this tea I […]
You’re welcome for the tampons
I thought my period was over. But it wasn’t. Which I was suspicious of sitting in the office chair and was sure of when I went to the bathroom to find blood soaked through my underwear and my light wash jeans. I cleaned up the best I could and used a wad of toilet paper […]
Anne Foster 