My life was Star Wars and Sour Patch Kids until I got my first job at 15. I made $6.65 an hour bagging groceries, pushing carts, and mopping shit off the bathroom walls at the Pick ‘n Save on Silvernail Road in Pewaukee, Wisconsin. Because I was home schooled, this job, my church youth group, and… Continue reading Is your last name Dover?
Tag: benjamin van loon
New Mexico, 2015
From two weeks spent in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. One of my favorite places in the world.
Exploring the Fourth Dimension
For a total amount of time that adds to maybe three weeks a year, Chicago’s weather is fit for human life. When I’m not working on a job, or combating another endemic bout of seasonal depression, I use these brief hours to walk. Usually without a destination in mind. Mostly just to explore, and hopefully,… Continue reading Exploring the Fourth Dimension
“I’m tryin’ to backroads it to Walmart!”
After spending two weeks in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, for the first half of July, I’m officially back in Chicago. At least, my body is. My psyche is still in the desert somewhere. On one hand, it feels like I was gone for a long time. On the other, it feels like I never… Continue reading “I’m tryin’ to backroads it to Walmart!”
Put Your Head Down and Work
One of my first jobs out of college was at a busy, local bike shop. It was 2009, so my humanities degrees were useless in the already bankrupt Chicago labor market. But the bike shop was a happy medium. It paid well, the customers were (mostly) cool, and the discounts were steep. Outside of the… Continue reading Put Your Head Down and Work
Natural Theater, or, the Very Large Array
Yesterday I took a few-hour jaunt out of T or C to the Very Large Array, the, uh, very large radio telescope/observatory roughly fifty miles west of Socoro, New Mexico—notable only because once you’re past Socoro, there’s nothing but mountains, fields, and a gradual elevation climb to 7,000 feet above sea level. Every five or… Continue reading Natural Theater, or, the Very Large Array
STOP! Dahmertime.
Last night I did my third reading with the good folks at Pungent Parlour, and to celebrate my newfound breaks from the stifling worlds of business and academia, I read my freshly penned letter to late Wisconsin folk hero Jeffrey Dahmer. And now I’m sharing it here because it’s a little too blue for Shouts and… Continue reading STOP! Dahmertime.
Graduate Recognition Speech
Last Thursday I was invited to be a Distinguished Student Speaker at Northeastern Illinois University‘s Graduate Recognition Ceremony. My upbringing and history has made me suspect of all institutions, but my experience at NEIU has been a boon for my confidence, production, and direction. And now I have a Master of Arts degree. Below I’m… Continue reading Graduate Recognition Speech
A Conversation with Structo
In 2012 I published a short story in Structo: Issue 8, and the good people over with the UK-based lit-mag started a series where they interview former contributors, seeing what’s new and good and so on and so forth. Today it was my turn. Go here to read the full conversation, where I’m name-dropping Dostoyevsky, Terrence… Continue reading A Conversation with Structo
A Toxic Filmography
I am less than a month away from my thesis defense meeting at Northeastern Illinois University. Once I’ve successfully completed that (fingers crossed), I will be receiving my Master of Arts degree the following month. The working title for my project is “Toxic Cults.” Sexy, right? I’m still refining my final draft, but today I… Continue reading A Toxic Filmography
ben van loon 