Maria Shimizu Christensen
Bio
Writer living my dreams by day and dreaming up new ones by night
Also, History Major, Senior Accountant, Geek, Fan of cocktails and camping
Stories (102)
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My Mother’s Cake
America was hard. It was kind and crazy and lovely and mean and full of possibilities and people whose eyes you met and quickly looked away from because you didn't want to see how far down that feeling went. It was everything and full of nothing. You were already torn in half and America did not help with that.
By Maria Shimizu Christensen5 years ago in Fiction
It Wasn’t Really Arson
The chickens were screaming. That should have been my first clue that it was a dream, but I was only 12 and still learning about dreams. Then they were running around the barn without their heads, and this seemed reasonable to dream state me because there really was a saying about chickens running around with their heads cut off. Again, I was 12. Then they all suddenly stopped and looked at me. I know, how could they look at me without their heads. Okay, that did seem a little odd and at that point I woke up. Every time. Did I mention this is a recurring dream? Like, I dream it all the time. I'm pretty sick of it.
By Maria Shimizu Christensen5 years ago in Fiction
Takuan, How to Make it, and the Language of Food
I have no memories of Japan. Fleeting tourists are on far more intimate terms with my ancestral landscape. Any first year student in the first week of class knows as much of the language as I do, and will likely surpass my abilities by the second week, despite my ongoing Duolingo attempts. I cannot perform a tea ceremony or the Bon Odori dance to honor my ancestors, and I haven't a clue how to wear a kimono.
By Maria Shimizu Christensen5 years ago in Feast
I Wrote 50 Vocal Stories. What I Learned and Earned.
Fame! Wealth! Glory! These are not the reasons I’m a writer or why I signed up with Vocal. Good thing, too, because unrealistic expectations can really bite you in the ass and I already have enough to worry about.
By Maria Shimizu Christensen5 years ago in Journal
You Will Never Be Cold or Hungry
Once upon a time there lived a very little girl who was taught to read at a very young age for a very sad reason; if she could read to herself then the adults could do adult things without being bothered by the little girl. This suited the little girl just fine because the adults weren’t all that nice to the little girl.
By Maria Shimizu Christensen5 years ago in Families
Reinventing Yourself on a Shoestring
I dyed my hair purple last week. I’m turning 57 this week. I’m half done writing my second book. I spent 15 years as a single mother until the kids grew up. I used to gut salmon for a living. I was also a bank teller. I was homeless once. I went back to college in my 30s and majored in history, while working a full-time job and raising two very young children on my own. I used to be shy. That one raises a few eyebrows.
By Maria Shimizu Christensen5 years ago in Motivation
2020 Didn’t Make My Top 5 Bad Years List
Of all the unpopular opinions I should have kept to myself over the years, this one probably tops the list. On a global scale, 2020 was truly terrible and heartbreaking. On a personal scale? Not so much. Oh, I gained and lost a job and weight and friends. I ached for people I knew who contracted Covid-19 or had people in their lives who did, and was distressed by job losses, and food bank lines, and the panic of the unemployed. But, these worries were mainly birthed by the specific circumstances of the pandemic, and the state of worry, the state of being — the agitation and anxiety — felt like most other years.
By Maria Shimizu Christensen5 years ago in Motivation
Geekorating: Interior Decorating for Geeks
I was destined to be a geek, and I don't use that phrase lightly. When my father watched the debut of the original Star Trek series in 1966, I toddled my tiny two-year-old hiney into the den, plopped down and watched in rapt attention, and continued to show up every week for the next three years. Actually, I continued to show up every day of every week of every year for comics, sci-fi books and movies, and conventions. Now, this wasn't exactly normal for a girl, back in the day, but I was also destined to be unconventional.
By Maria Shimizu Christensen5 years ago in Lifehack
I’m Old Enough to Be Your Mother. Get Over It.
Tattoos. Graphic t-shirts. Pink hair. Short skirts. There’s a long list of things that women over a certain age shouldn’t have, wear, do, or be. Some lists include having younger friends. Fuck that nonsense. And add cussing like a sailor to whatever list you want.
By Maria Shimizu Christensen5 years ago in Humans
Scrap-Less Crafting for a Waste-Less World
Crafting is my happy place. It’s both a creative outlet and a source of income, and the ability to combine the two is a joy and a fount of motivation. The materials provide the inspiration. It’s a very happy place.
By Maria Shimizu Christensen5 years ago in Lifehack
