Mik Deitz

1 month ago | startmenu.co.uk | Mik Deitz

Entering the bar feels impossible, despite it not having changed in the many years that have passed. Maybe that’s the problem, actually, that nothing has changed in this backwoods hamlet except me. My burdens jingle in my pocket as I exit my car and walk toward the bar, inside of which two of my childhood friends wait for my arrival, or — judging from the name they call me, or the name of my contact in their phones — the arrival of someone they used to know.

Sep 4, 2024 | dangeroustogoalone.site | Mik Deitz

The ya ta tas of Malo Mart wake me up without a start. Two years of daily use diminish the Twilight Princess song’s intrusive violence, although it remains obnoxious: the perfect alarm sound. I shuffle out of bed and into a dehumanizing teal collared shirt and khaki shorts and jostle my oily hair with damp fingers in an attempt to present as person-shaped.

May 10, 2024 | pastemagazine.com | Mik Deitz

At the restaurant where I worked every summer for five years, everyone who wasn’t management hated pay day. There was no joy in ripping open an intricately sealed check only to discover that, after taxes, your labor was worth zero dollars and zero cents. We made our money through tips, meaning everyone jostled for more tables and larger parties than they could handle in an effort to at least reach minimum wage. Sometimes we walked out with stacks of cash; most times we barely broke even.

Feb 28, 2024 | pastemagazine.com | Mik Deitz

In a small wooden cupboard in the spare bedroom on the second floor of her house, my grandmother kept a stack of board games. The cabinet was stocked with out of print–editions of Sorry!, Monopoly, and Chinese Checkers, whose colorful, star-shaped design enticed me every time despite the fact that I did not know how to play.

Feb 12, 2024 | pastemagazine.com | Mik Deitz

I was unbelievably focused during high school. During my senior year alone, I took three AP and two IB courses, student directed a production of Macbeth, starred in Into the Woods, and performed in an a capella group all while maintaining a social life and applying to colleges. My productivity peaked, which meant there was only one conceivable way it could go after graduation: down. College started that fall and my attention exploded.