Category Archives: Love

ROUGH ROAD by Peter Nolan Smith

Peru sucked in 1995. The capitol city Lima sucked even more. I had spent the better part of two days trying to score a bag of cocaine. The airport police had fingered me as a user. They weren’t wrong. An undercover squad had tailed my ventures into the slums. Their obvious presence had scared off [...]

Victory At All Costs

The GOP and its Tea Party constituents swept the Democrats from the House of representatives in the biggest shift of power in the 21st Century. I was greeted at work by the security guard, Andy, who boasted, “We had a revolution last night.” “Obama is the worst president in my lifetime,” another white man said [...]

A BARK IS BETTER THAN A BITE By Peter Nolan Smith

Every diamond shop on West 47th Street was open seven days a week from Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve. Sales people, guards, elevator operators, schleppers, cutters, setters, polishers, and even Lennie the Bum slaved throughout the holiday in hopes of scoring enough money pay off bills and buy presents for wives, lovers, and children. Stores extended [...]

THE ONLY YEH YEH GIRL By Peter Nolan Smith

The 1960s were a time of idols for the youth of America. TV, radio, and movies brought stars to the youthful eyes, ears, and souls of my three red-light suburb south of Boston. While Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Jayne Mansfield, and Buddy Holly were worshipped as reincarnations in our fantasies, our generation’s fervent devotion to [...]

Thai Perfection or Lák-sà-ná têe dee próm

The standard joke about the perfect western girlfriend is her father owned a pub, she’s 3′ 4″; with a flat head so you can put your beer on her. Few girls answer those simple needs, but in Thailand it is more than likely that your girlfriend’s father is distilling moonshine lao khao or rice whiskey, [...]