Read Online It Looks Like This by Rafi Mittlefehldt - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Rafi Mittlefehldt
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music, whatever.
Sean says we should pick something that’s easy to write about. Like if we made a magazine all about beekeeping or whatever, it would be hard to fill sixteen pages on that topic even in English. But if it’s something more broad it’s easier.
He says, Why don’t we do a travel magazine?
I say, Okay. Or maybe a news magazine.
Because news is always happening, in any part of the country.
I say, All we’d have to do then is find a bunch of regular articles and translate them.
Sean nods to himself, thinking. He’s leaning back on his bed, propping himself up with both arms, legs dangling off his bed. The white T-shirt is sort of stretched where his shoulders and arms are. There are a couple hairs on his chin and I wonder how often he has to shave.
He looks at me again.
He says, We could do a dirty magazine. French people are always looking at porn.
I will away the blushing, or try.
I say, I don’t think Madame Girard —
But Sean cuts me off and says, Yeah, I’m just kidding.
He smiles a bit and scratches his arm.
We decide to do the travel magazine after all, because that way we don’t have to translate a bunch of complicated news stories. We can just make up our own easier articles, and there are tons of travel sites online we can look at.
Plus Sean’s mom has a bunch of old travel magazines we can use for ideas. Sean brings them into his room, a big box stuffed full, and we start flipping through them looking for things we could include in our project.
The magazines go back ten years or more and cover everywhere imaginable: Spain, Greece, Argentina, Norway, Egypt, Turkey, Indonesia, China, New Zealand, Zambia. Some of the magazines are even from other countries and feature places in the United States. A couple are in French and we pay close attention to them.
Sean says his parents have been all over the world, sometimes on vacation, sometimes for his dad’s work when his mom tags along, sometimes on church missions.
Sometimes he goes and sometimes he stays behind.
I say, What’s the coolest place you’ve been?
He answers quickly: Australia.
I’ve been to a couple other countries but never Australia. I think about how cool it must be to have all these vacations, but then Sean says,
I try to stay behind as much as possible, though.
I say, Why?
Sean leans back on his elbows again, magazine resting on his lap. It’s one of the French ones, opened to an article about Cuba.
He says, It gets old being with my parents for more than a couple days. Dad gets stressed pretty easily.
He stays that way for a second and I’m not sure if I’m supposed to respond, but then he says,
Plus it’s nice having the house to myself.
Sean doesn’t have any brothers or sisters.
He sits up suddenly and grabs the magazine in his lap and says, Hey, come here and look at this one.
I’ve been sitting in his desk chair, so I get up and sit next to him on the bed. The mattress bounces a little before I get settled.
Sean puts the magazine half on his lap, half on mine, the two-page spread on Cuba before us. He starts talking about different parts of the article, pointing here and there. Neither of us can make out that much of the French text, but it’s the layout he’s interested in.
Aside from the article itself and the main photo, there’s a sidebar with small pictures and text beside them, highlighting different points of interest. There’s also a shaded text box with bullet points, probably just listing facts or something.
Sean talks about all these, about which pieces we can use. All told, the article isn’t very long because of all the text boxes and photos and the big headline, all of which is pretty encouraging. I can see a picture of our magazine forming itself in my mind.
We’re sitting close as he talks, arms sometimes brushing against each other. He leans over to point at something on my half of the spread, and I feel the pressure of his finger through the pages, through my
Sean says we should pick something that’s easy to write about. Like if we made a magazine all about beekeeping or whatever, it would be hard to fill sixteen pages on that topic even in English. But if it’s something more broad it’s easier.
He says, Why don’t we do a travel magazine?
I say, Okay. Or maybe a news magazine.
Because news is always happening, in any part of the country.
I say, All we’d have to do then is find a bunch of regular articles and translate them.
Sean nods to himself, thinking. He’s leaning back on his bed, propping himself up with both arms, legs dangling off his bed. The white T-shirt is sort of stretched where his shoulders and arms are. There are a couple hairs on his chin and I wonder how often he has to shave.
He looks at me again.
He says, We could do a dirty magazine. French people are always looking at porn.
I will away the blushing, or try.
I say, I don’t think Madame Girard —
But Sean cuts me off and says, Yeah, I’m just kidding.
He smiles a bit and scratches his arm.
We decide to do the travel magazine after all, because that way we don’t have to translate a bunch of complicated news stories. We can just make up our own easier articles, and there are tons of travel sites online we can look at.
Plus Sean’s mom has a bunch of old travel magazines we can use for ideas. Sean brings them into his room, a big box stuffed full, and we start flipping through them looking for things we could include in our project.
The magazines go back ten years or more and cover everywhere imaginable: Spain, Greece, Argentina, Norway, Egypt, Turkey, Indonesia, China, New Zealand, Zambia. Some of the magazines are even from other countries and feature places in the United States. A couple are in French and we pay close attention to them.
Sean says his parents have been all over the world, sometimes on vacation, sometimes for his dad’s work when his mom tags along, sometimes on church missions.
Sometimes he goes and sometimes he stays behind.
I say, What’s the coolest place you’ve been?
He answers quickly: Australia.
I’ve been to a couple other countries but never Australia. I think about how cool it must be to have all these vacations, but then Sean says,
I try to stay behind as much as possible, though.
I say, Why?
Sean leans back on his elbows again, magazine resting on his lap. It’s one of the French ones, opened to an article about Cuba.
He says, It gets old being with my parents for more than a couple days. Dad gets stressed pretty easily.
He stays that way for a second and I’m not sure if I’m supposed to respond, but then he says,
Plus it’s nice having the house to myself.
Sean doesn’t have any brothers or sisters.
He sits up suddenly and grabs the magazine in his lap and says, Hey, come here and look at this one.
I’ve been sitting in his desk chair, so I get up and sit next to him on the bed. The mattress bounces a little before I get settled.
Sean puts the magazine half on his lap, half on mine, the two-page spread on Cuba before us. He starts talking about different parts of the article, pointing here and there. Neither of us can make out that much of the French text, but it’s the layout he’s interested in.
Aside from the article itself and the main photo, there’s a sidebar with small pictures and text beside them, highlighting different points of interest. There’s also a shaded text box with bullet points, probably just listing facts or something.
Sean talks about all these, about which pieces we can use. All told, the article isn’t very long because of all the text boxes and photos and the big headline, all of which is pretty encouraging. I can see a picture of our magazine forming itself in my mind.
We’re sitting close as he talks, arms sometimes brushing against each other. He leans over to point at something on my half of the spread, and I feel the pressure of his finger through the pages, through my
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