“Hidden Gem”
January 10, 2019
More by Donato DiCamillo
Hair & Now
Four portraits of modern tresses, and one toupee.
“Chrissy, Manhattan, New York”
I had the strange but wonderful pleasure of meeting Chrissy while taking a stroll on Manhattan’s Lower West Side.
“Michelle, New Jersey”
“I knew I was a girl from the age of 5 or 6. There was no denying it. When the boys were out playing sports I was home trying my mom’s dresses and high-heel shoes. Now I celebrate who I am with entertainment. I’m a drag queen.”
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How to Love Past Reason
A Sunday morning, and the city streets are still half asleep, lulled by the breeze. I am walking with a friend in a neighborhood new to me. An older woman calls good morning from her porch, where she has settled with a cigarette, vice on the Lord’s Day. She looks…
Seven Words English Needs
The other day, a post on Threads stopped me mid-skim. “I am a Japanese woman,” it began. “Here are seven words my language has that English desperately needs.” For a decade now, I have been collecting words from other languages. After years wallowing in English vocabulary like a muddy…
Seeds Hear the Rain Sing
I could never live in the desert. Rain cleans my mind. That soft rinse sluicing down, soothing all that is dry or cracked or withering. Add thunder, and you have catharsis: any violent emotion can be released into that heavenly rage. And there is no comfort quite like cuddling close…
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Comrades Seek Likeminded Experts
I had a busy morning but by 1:00 was in Seoul Taco on Delmar with the communists. Their social media said they were organized to aid The People of St Louis, a nice sentiment, but I was interested because they said in a post that they had realized that the…
Remembering the Remarkable Ray Hartmann
Because I worked for Ray at “The Riverfront Times” for 18 years, my thoughts immediately turned to the many other “RFT” alums who loved and admired him. Over the next several weeks, I contacted more than 50 of my old colleagues and asked them to contribute remembrances of their often life-changing time at the “RFT” and to reflect on Ray’s impact on both them and St. Louis. Almost everyone said yes, and this tribute is the result. —Cliff Froehlich
Comedian Tim Robinson Reveals the Humanity of the Absurd and the Absurdity of Being Human
When Tim Robinson in his poorly fitting outfit that he most likely refers to as his “work clothes” describes an incident in which a monster barrels through his doggy door, we laugh. But when he points at the camera and screams “WHAT DID THEY DO TO US?!” who can laugh? Who, honestly, can write him off as absurd?