Envy Apartment

At the ribbon cutting this month for the Wesley Village affordable housing complex in Garden Grove, Laura Archuleta couldn ’t resist referencing Joni Mitchell ’s 1970 environmental protest “Big Yellow Taxi.” Built on underused land that’s part of the Garden Grove United Methodist Church campus on Main Street, Wesley Village offered Archuleta , president of the nonprofit community organization Jamboree Housing Corp ., a chance to riff on one of Mitchell’s most famous lyrics. Where Mitchell sang “They paved paradise/And put up a parking lot,” Archuleta told about 300 people packed into the steamy church sanctuary on a hot afternoon that “Today we are going to learn how a group of dedicated organizations and individuals re-purposed a parking lot and put up a paradise.” Then she and others who spoke, including a single mom with six children who now reside at Wesley Village , told how the project became reality through a unique collaboration that involved the church, Jamboree and other...

A novelist hunts for complicated narratives at the sites of historical atrocities I learned to snorkel mid-winter in an indoor pool in the suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio. The air was stifling, thick with the smell of chlorine. There was nothing to see in the pool and no explanation given for the purpose of this middle school gym unit ; maybe our teachers dreamed we’d go on island vacations. I don’t remember ever snorkeling again until 2010 when I traveled to a research station on San Salvador Island in the Bahamas where I’d teach a Caribbean literature course and where I’d start writing a novel about the sediment of history’s layers. The water shimmered aqua closer to shore, deepened to a dark blue farther out. In spite of how clear the water seemed, you had to beware rocks and lionfish, and you couldn’t know where the reefs were without sticking your head beneath the meniscus of the ocean. Locals and research station staff would give instructions for different reefs around the islan...

As President Donald Trump promised to unleash 'fire and fury' on North Korea,  a slightly-built, bearded TV evangelist bragged of his recent visit to the White House and warned of an up-coming ' nuclear winter .' Jim Bakker's studio audience whooped and cheered – before reaching deep into their pockets to buy 'Staying Alive' food - buckets full of freeze- dried products apparently capable of sustaining survivors through the Apocalypse. The charismatic pastor then made an impassioned plea for money to keep his ministry afloat – suggesting a year's supply of pancakes with a 30- year shelf life for an apparent bargain $550 or four cheaply published books for $40 to tide readers over through Armageddon. sell food buckets full of freeze- dried products , claiming the meals will keep followers alive after the Apocalypse" class="blkBorder img-share" /> Jim Bakker (pictured with wife Lori) uses his platform as a televangelist to sell f...