I Broke His Plastic Lightsaber
The point is that the quest for vengeance is a WASTE. OF. TIME.
I Believe...
I'm glad Trump won the presidency.
How's that for some clickbait title, eh?
The reason I am glad that Trump won is very simple: the next generation of them is coming.
Our American Deity
...our God is merciless and ruthless and brings out the worst, most heinous parts of who we are all capable of being.
Anger and Empathy: The Lasting Accomplishments of the Women’s March on Washington — Part III
Conclusion
Anger and Empathy: The Lasting Accomplishments of the Women’s March on Washington — Part II
Part II of III
Anger and Empathy: The Lasting Accomplishments of the Women’s March on Washington — Part I
"Anger and Empathy" is a three-part report, which will be published over the next three days.
“At present, our country needs women’s idealism and determination, perhaps more in politics than anywhere else.” — Shirley Chisholm
Do White Men Dream of Equal Rights?
Killing the NEA isn't the Same Thing as Killing Support for the Arts
NOTE: This was written in 2011. Since then, the NEA has changed some of their financial terminology but the facts on the ground are that the various grants given specifically by the NEA (as opposed to the NEH and other federal granters) cover arts policy and education organizations, associations and administration, fundraising and management with artist services on the bottom of the pile. Nearly all NEA grants are earmarked as “General Operational Budget” which pretty much covers anything the receiving organization wants to spend it on. Just to clarify.
All of a sudden, it's relevant again. Ah, the pendulum, she swings...
Taking Offense (and Shoving It Up Your Ass)
In effect, taking offense is a self-inflicted wound.
I Believe...
My Mass Shooter Fantasy
I have a fantasy where I stop a mass shooter by talking to him. I can’t be the only one.
The News We Need and How to Analyze It
Growing up, my favorite thing to do was my most mind-centering, physically relaxing thing to do. That thing was read the Chicago Tribune’s comics while eating cereal or Cream of Wheat—if it was cold enough—before heading off to school for the day. My father teased me: “What’s happening in the world, David?” My response was always the same. “Garfield still hates Mondays.”
I didn’t read any other part of the newspaper, save for the movie listings when I was making plans with friends on the weekends. Since I only had enough time to shovel down two bowls of Cocoa Puffs, the funnies were about all I could fit into my busy schedule. Plus, I had no interest in the news. Outside of what happened to Dick Tracy or the kids in Fox Trot, nothing in that paper affected my life in any way. The news was for grownups.
Like Crumbs of Fried Dough
It was the most improbable Homecoming Court in the history of the tiny Kansas high school and the outrage was high.
Standing on the 50-yard line were two couples nominated for King and Queen that fit the paradigm: a male football player with a female cheerleader. You know, the way things are supposed to be. And next to them, on the left of these two couples were Jean and I. She was a butch tennis player (the athlete of our pair) and I was the speech and drama kid.
Jean and I were not supposed to be up there. The social order of things did not support the nomination of such an unlikely pair and leading up to this moment the jocks and cheerleaders made it abundantly clear that they would not accept this high school equivalent of a mutated two-headed Korgi soiling their class identity.
Time to Purge Your Hoarder Palace
You All Need to Go On a Vacation
There are many lessons that getting the hell outta Dodge for a week provide. I'm certain I'll be parsing them out over the next few weeks but as I sit here on the terrace of our resort room 2,104 miles away from home, the most important one is that distance from your specific routine offers perspective on your world.
And perspective changes attitude.
I Believe...
Confronting the Undiverse Stage Poorly
The question I'm struggling with is this: is diversity of ethnicity always the best course of action?
Expanding Upon the Notion of 'Grit'
Talkin’ ’Bout My Gentrification
I missed the heyday of the Double Door, which had its locks changed and its spirit evicted from the shell it called home in the heart of Wicker Park for 23 years. As a high school kid from the south suburbs, the majority of my trips to the city for my preferred brand of music—and there were many of these trips—were destined for the Fireside Bowl. I left town for college in Las Vegas only three years after the Double Door opened.
When I returned to Chicago in June of 2007, I immediately began attending shows at the Double Door. And when I moved into the Bucktown/Wicker Park neighborhood in 2009, I cited easy walking access to the Double Door—and the Subterranean and other charmingly grimy, punk-artsy venues, restaurants and bars—as a leading reason for my choice in Chicago neighborhoods. That, and rent was reasonable for a single guy living on a freelance writer’s budget with a taste for cheap beer, artistic freaks, cute girls and good music.
Tyrants R Us
Once the tantrum thrower gains from the tantrum, it is twice as hard to dissuade him from employing the self same tactic for everything.
The second voice arrived on Thursday morning while Monte was attempting to make toast.