Don Hall 10/25/22 Don Hall 10/25/22

I, Substitute

The job description should read “Must be able to hand out papers, sit bored out of your skull, make sure the lunatics don’t take over the asylum with no authority, no hope for respect from the inmates, and no real idea if they are lying to you when they tell you that their regular class work involves smartphones and flaming hot covered salt lick snacks.”

Don Hall 10/24/22 Don Hall 10/24/22

I Believe... [Cutting Edge Health Advise]

...that all the ‘cutting edge’ health advice is obvious and in direct contradiction to the health industry’s reliance on drugs and treatment. “Go outside”, “get some sun”, “wake up early”, “sleep on time”, “be active.” In other words, get off yer ass, you sloppy sacks of lard.

Don Hall 10/23/22 Don Hall 10/23/22

Masculinity is Just Fine. People in General? Not So Much

The common denominator of toxic people is not their chosen tribe or the identity assigned by the folks that love that sort of thing. The common element is power—either the possession of it or the overwhelming desire to acquire it.

Don Hall 10/20/22 Don Hall 10/20/22

A Boat Adrift Is Still Going Somewhere

A lot of my recent past is due for some serious reframing.

Don Hall 10/18/22 Don Hall 10/18/22

Spending the Decades After My Death in the Tackiest Places on Earth Seems Fitting

I figure, in keeping with my bizarre rolling stone trajectory to date, these objects (lamp, moon dust, and figurine) will be sold, sit in some of the tackiest homes in America, resold at other garage sales, and on and on. I will still be dancing through the world like an idiot.

Don Hall 10/17/22 Don Hall 10/17/22

I Believe... [Soupy, Soupy Night]

...that, if the goal was to destroy a Van Gogh, the children failed. If it was gain attention for themselves and their stated cause, they knocked it out of the park. Effective protest is effective theater.

Don Hall 10/16/22 Don Hall 10/16/22

Compassion and Deference Rarely Mix Well...

For the same reason elevating the status of children to functioning adults in deference to some need to validate ideology it is likewise counterproductive to infantilize racial minorities as if they are simply too burdened by historical horrors to know the difference between right and wrong.

Don Hall 10/11/22 Don Hall 10/11/22

A Tale of Two Malls: At Least We'll Still Have Dildos and Plastic Vomit

When I was in high school in the 80’s, it was Spencer’s Gifts that provided the Whoopee Cushions, the palm-sized squirt guns, and anything you could imagine covered in glitter. It was like a Nirvana for Morons.

Don Hall 10/10/22 Don Hall 10/10/22

I Believe... [Free Shasta Grape!]

...that the Chicago Sun-Times announcing that they’re giviong away their articles for free and sans paywall is sort of like Shasta Cola announcing free soda for anyone interested in C-level drinks.

Don Hall 10/8/22 Don Hall 10/8/22

Negative Gender Stereotypes?

There are negative stereotypes out there we should want to avoid but a giving and thoughtful partner is not one of them.

Don Hall 10/6/22 Don Hall 10/6/22

I Like to Watch | Blonde (2022)

I mean, Jesus Christ, we can't appreciate the horrors of existence if they all blend together like a banal and mundane black parade.

Don Hall 10/3/22 Don Hall 10/3/22

I Believe... [Asteroid Dreams]

...that if we can redirect the course of an asteroid by hitting it with a spaceship the size of a Volkswagen—7 million miles away—it doesn’t seem a stretch to put Donald in the clink or surgically sew up Marjorie Taylor Greene’s gaping hole. I don’t dream big but I dream.

Don Hall 10/2/22 Don Hall 10/2/22

"Here, Take a Pill," said the Pushers of Pills

I believed Fauci, knew that vaccines were coming from Big Pharma, but was also watching Michael Keaton deal with the pernicious greed of that corporate monster in Hulu’s Dopesick and I had a hard time squaring the fact that the villains in the opioid crisis would come to our collective rescue with a vaccine.

Don Hall 10/1/22 Don Hall 10/1/22

I Like to Watch | The Streaming Stories That Prop Me Up Through Chaos

I couldn't find a single documentary or program or book that deals explicitly with a husband finding out his wife of a few years embarking on a nearly three-year campaign of infidelity with a lover plus a new vocation selling herself for sex to strangers so I do my best.

Don Hall 9/26/22 Don Hall 9/26/22

I Believe... [COVID Hangover]

...that, while I finally got COVID, it was far less awful than the amazing “Hey! Kansas has pollen and rain” head cold I endured after. I attribute these to the vaccine and the midwest.

Don Hall 9/22/22 Don Hall 9/22/22

Dear Literate Ape—My Kid Wants a Tattoo

I have a sinking feeling that he's going to get some huge tribal symbol on his back and by the time he's ten regret it awfully. Isn't that more damaging to his mental health than taking the word of a seven-year-old and running with it?

Don Hall 9/20/22 Don Hall 9/20/22

You Don’t Have to Watch Anything You Don’t Want to Watch

There is a lot of censorious shit going down in America these days.

Don Hall 9/19/22 Don Hall 9/19/22

I Believe... [Historical Self Righteousness]

...that the probability is overwhelming that if we had belonged to the generations we despise on moral grounds, we too would have behaved like moral troglodytes. The next generation will see this one through the same historically self righteous lens as well and it will not fare well.

Don Hall 9/17/22 Don Hall 9/17/22

You Wouldn't Have Owned Slaves But You Probably Wouldn't Have Done Anything About It, Either

The probability is overwhelming that if we had belonged to the generations we deplore, we too would have behaved deplorably. The probability is overwhelming that we belong to a generation that will be found by its successors to have behaved deplorably. — ‌Wendell Berry

Don Hall 9/13/22 Don Hall 9/13/22

The End of the Wild Wild West

A day after fully landing in Kansas I received notice that Station Casinos, the WWW's parent company, had announced the entire property was to be closed, demolished, and the land developed for something a bit more upscale (presumably to cater to visitors of the still pretty new football stadium a quarter mile away).