Don Hall 2/24/20 Don Hall 2/24/20

I Believe… [Disneyland is What We All Need for a Moment]

I believe… that all it takes to shake off the calcified crust of living in a world of horrors is a day at Disneyland and a belief that despite our flaws there can and should be joy.

Don Hall 2/22/20 Don Hall 2/22/20

The Power and Destruction of the Performative Dance of Trauma

In a bizarre perversion of the Orwell doublespeak, we embrace the idea that Weakness = Strength.

Don Hall 2/17/20 Don Hall 2/17/20

I Believe [Gaslighting Johnny Depp]

…that while not a definitive rebuke to #MeToo, if you believed Amber Heard’s accusations against Johnny Depp, you got played by an asshole using a movement for her own personal gain.

Don Hall 2/15/20 Don Hall 2/15/20

The Molehill of the Pronoun Thing: A BUGHOUSE! Dialectic

If all of America was 100 people in a room, 65 of them would be white, 16 would be Hispanic, 13 would be black, 5 would be Asian, and the remaining one person would be everybody else. 52 would be women, 48 men. A whopping 95 would be heterosexual. Of the five left, just over half of one of them would be transgender.

Don Hall 2/14/20 Don Hall 2/14/20

I Like to Watch | Valentine’s Day Moobies

Here is a list of films I recommend you sit down and watch while jamming those chalky heart candies into your maw while guzzling box wine in your yoga pants.

Don Hall 2/11/20 Don Hall 2/11/20

The True Power of Balls Out Risk and Monumentally Fucking Up

I was thinking about the botched horror of the Fyre Festival the other day. This lead me to thinking about the Chicago Fire Festival, created by Red Moon Theatre, where the City spent a whole freaking truckload of money and, on the night of the event, no one could get anything lit on fire.

Don Hall 2/10/20 Don Hall 2/10/20

I Believe… [A Lightly Worn Hat]

…that like a character in an improvised scene, a job should be treated like a lightly worn hat, instantly removed to reveal the true self whenever necessary.

Don Hall 2/8/20 Don Hall 2/8/20

Why I Shave My Beard (Or Why I Grow One in the First Place)

How odd to change my costume to solidify who I am.

Don Hall 2/5/20 Don Hall 2/5/20

Handling That Which We Already Knew Would Come to Pass

Second, screaming in response to what we knew would happen without even an ounce of doubt accomplishes no more than a child in want of a Slurpee throwing himself to the sticky 7-11 floor and wailing like a banshee unless he gets it.

Don Hall 2/3/20 Don Hall 2/3/20

I Believe… [Booooooooobs….]

…that there is a disconnect between the culture of #MeToo and the culture of bikini model influencers and I’d elucidate but my brain is addled by all the boooooooobs…

Don Hall 2/3/20 Don Hall 2/3/20

Fifty-Four Years Doesn’t Seem Like That Long: What I Absorbed In the Past 365 Days

Every birthday since I was in eighth grade, I have spent some going through the year I just ended and looked for the lessons it held for me. Today I turn to page 54 in the Book, so here are the lessons of Year 54.

Don Hall 1/31/20 Don Hall 1/31/20

The Overbearing Weight of the Opinions of Everybody Else About You

Get rid of social media. It is built for this sorbet of bullying nonsense and is optimally utilized to make you feel like shit. You know that narcissistic boyfriend you finally managed to escape? That is Facebook and Twitter. They are your ex-boyfriend who gaslit you and told you you were fat or stupid or voted for the wrong person.

Don Hall 1/29/20 Don Hall 1/29/20

The Woke Are Activism Evolved

The best part about the art of the dialectic is that, by participating, one must pull the head from the ass of emotional attachment to opinions held deeply and look hard at those beliefs. Effectively, you gotta argue with yourself and, because it’s you battling your own shit, honesty is the default (if you do it correctly).

Don Hall 1/27/20 Don Hall 1/27/20

I Believe… [The Social Media Blackout AI]

I believe… that Facebook and Twitter should have an AI that prevents the posting of false information, rebukes bullying of any sort, and immediately deletes complaints of persecution. In an instant social media would be rid of Trump, Fox News, twenty-year-old women of all races, and the Woke.

Don Hall 1/25/20 Don Hall 1/25/20

I Like to Watch | Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)

Which is why, despite the miserable box office reception of Terminator: Dark Fate, I had high expectations. Linda Hamilton is back and looking badass! Someone gets it!

Don Hall 1/21/20 Don Hall 1/21/20

You Chose It, You Live It

I think it’s safe to assume that if I choose to be anxious and angry that a massive asshole is our president, I must want to be anxious and angry. If I choose to be bored and uninspired by the work I do, I must want to be bored and uninspired. If I choose to blame some Other for my sorry place in life, I must want to find someone to blame rather than better my place. I chose these things and these states of mind.

Don Hall 1/20/20 Don Hall 1/20/20

I Believe… [How Many Passwords Must I Remember?]

…that if Windows was a more secure platform you wouldn’t have to change your fucking work passwords so goddamned often.

Don Hall 1/18/20 Don Hall 1/18/20

No, Roxanne Gay, Diversity and Quality Are Not Synonymous

A dish with lots of ingredients is not de facto better than a dish with few ingredients. A painting with more colors is not automatically better than one with fewer. And art with multiple cultural influences and perspectives is not better than art with a more singular approach.

Don Hall 1/17/20 Don Hall 1/17/20

I Like to Watch | Star Wars (like, 90% of it...)

On the surface, it has everything a Star Wars junkie could want: great space battles, amazing lightsaber duels, bizarre new characters, callbacks to the previous eight chapters. I cried a few times, I laughed some, and I enjoyed the ride.

Don Hall 1/15/20 Don Hall 1/15/20

Equality or Equity? The Slow Crawl to a Planet Fitness World

It’s like going to Planet Fitness where core in its marketing is that you can go to the gym and not have to work out that hard and pretend you are advancing your health with as little resistance as possible.