Alex and Joan met at a bar in the East Village in 2012. At the time, they were drastically different people, strangers to even themselves.

Our Diary series would not be complete without hearing from fellow Radiotopia show, Mortified. From Episode 61: “How Not To Masturbate (and Other Hollow Victories).”

In the vast ocean of the internet, there are thousands of diaries that are locked by forgotten passwords and AOL email addresses; Ashley’s LiveJournal is one of them.

On a residential street in a working class neighborhood of a major American city, there is a house with boarded-up windows. The mistresses who work there call it The Big House.

August 31, 2004: Amelia and I hugged and said our goodbyes and now it’s just me.