A reporter's carceral recollections

Keri Blakinger's best known as one of the sharpest and most prolific up-and-coming criminal-justice reporters in the country. But her episodic essays in the Houston Chronicle's Gray Matters column about earlier-in-life stints struggling with drug addiction, homelessness, and prison have been nothing short of excellent. Check out these examples:

• Prison families? I didn't want any part of that
• The 'men' in a women's prison
• In prison, the Superbowl is the best holiday
• Why I ate prison food even after I got out
• Why we wore makeup in prison
• In prison there are no rules
• Why I craved crosswords in prison
• I got out of prison 5 years ago. I still don't own dishes