Entries by Elizabeth Simone

An Open Letter To The Person Who Asked Me What I’m Doing For The Summer As If I Didn’t Have To Work 

Summers are for children, college students, and adults who had the foresight to become teachers. It’s also for wealthy freewheeling adults, the kind who make enough money that they scamper off to Lisbon, Patagonia, and Burning Man every June, July, and August, but who somehow also work jobs that don’t mind they are gone most of the summer. Perhaps you have confused me for one of these “fun rich” types. I’m sorry to disappoint, but these multi-colored Tevas on my feet are my attempt to look hip for casual office Fridays, not for cruising the fjords of South America with my polycule.

Voicemails From My Kombucha Mother (SCOBY) Who I’ve Neglected In The Back Of The Fridge

Hi, me again. I still haven’t heard back from you. Need I remind you, young lady, of how you’ve treated your poor mother? You were so excited to make your own Kombucha. You did it for five weeks until you abruptly quit. This is so like you. First it was ballet, then saxophone lessons, then your MFA program. And now, this?! You abandoned me in this plastic Tupperware. You don’t even have the decency to put your mother in a glass container?!