Joe Janes 6/26/19 Joe Janes 6/26/19

The Minutes of Our Last Meeting | Be Bester

Make Children Great Again!

Don Hall 6/26/19 Don Hall 6/26/19

Independence Day: The Dance of the Vicious

There are things for us to celebrate but perhaps we should put the party off for a few years while we get our shit together, clean up our own house, and strive to be the country we believed we could be rather than the nation we have become.

Sheri Reda 6/25/19 Sheri Reda 6/25/19

Him, Too

Almost everyone has a Me, Too story. This one isn’t mine.

Don Hall 6/24/19 Don Hall 6/24/19

I Believe… [You Are Not Your Credit Score]

...that if you judge your own success by your credit score, I’d like to point out there is a Kool-Aid stain on your shirt.

Don Hall 6/24/19 Don Hall 6/24/19

The Conflicting Case to Do Away with Facebook

It was a Black Mirror episode that triggered me.

Specifically, Smithereens, and more directly a monologue/rant by Andrew Scott about everyone looking down at their smartphones constantly. It hit me like a two-by-four in the gut: I am that guy. I’m on my phone far more than I should be and I’m almost paralyzed in my distractions.

Don Hall 6/23/19 Don Hall 6/23/19

I Like to Watch | The Perfection

I believe that, when creating fiction-based mass entertainment that also addresses major sociopolitical issues, filmmakers need to pull back a step and tell a great story first with the over-the-top social commentary present but in the background.

David Himmel 6/22/19 David Himmel 6/22/19

Long Train Running: A Chicago Marathon Story | Chapter 3 — Weather or Not

The changes in weather and running routes made for a cornucopia of uncertain and enjoyable scenery. Each run was an adventure and it challenged me to stay loose and attentive and fleet on my feet and to mind my body so as not to overheat or underhydrate or freeze off my skinny fingers.

David Himmel 6/21/19 David Himmel 6/21/19

Notes from the Post-it Wall | Week of June 16, 2019

I would take the innocence and ignorance of youth over the guilt and wisdom of old age.

Don Hall 6/20/19 Don Hall 6/20/19

Practicing Yoga in Your Mind

Joe Janes 6/19/19 Joe Janes 6/19/19

The Minutes of Our Last Meeting | How to Win a Presidential Election

You want women, boy, do we have women! Va-Va-Vavoom! Grab ‘em by the policy!

Kari Castor 6/19/19 Kari Castor 6/19/19

I Am Constantly Relearning How to Love my Body

Sometimes I take selfies and I post them on the internet. I wonder if people will think I’m vain, but then I think that liking my appearance enough to be vain is itself a kind of victory.

Don Hall 6/18/19 Don Hall 6/18/19

Running the Marathon Rather Than the Sprint

The problem with being a sprinter is the misconception that a marathon is just a series of sprints making up twenty-six-point-two miles. It doesn’t work that way. Sprinting uses up all the energy for short term gains and is unsustainable for twenty-six miles in any genuine fashion. A marathon requires planning, patience, and a sense of perseverance that eludes the sprinter.

Don Hall 6/17/19 Don Hall 6/17/19

I Believe… [Gambling is Basically Buying Hope]

...that nothing is more desolate than an empty casino; nothing is more exciting than a full one. A whole room full of people buying bits of hope is a gas.

Don Hall 6/17/19 Don Hall 6/17/19

An Open Letter to a Late Stage Incel

I hear you, sitting in your room, typing furiously away about how lonely you are and how angry it makes you that, for some unexplained reason, women don’t find you companionable.

I mean, instead of looking hard at yourself and your behavior, your borderline social retardation, your obsessive compulsive mania, it’s just easier to find someone else to blame.

Elizabeth Harper 6/16/19 Elizabeth Harper 6/16/19

An Essay about James Joyce’s Leopold Bloom for Bloomsday

In honor of Bloomsday on June 16, I’ve dug out the paper I wrote in high school about Leopold Bloom, the main character in James Joyce’s Ulysses.

David Himmel 6/15/19 David Himmel 6/15/19

Long Train Running: A Chicago Marathon Story | Chapter 2 — The Cost of This

Bomb shelters, makeshift bunkers mean certain death. To survive, we must keep moving. Word of clean air has spread like gossip. It’s always just over that ridge or two clicks beyond that hill. And so we run. Speed, strength, and endurance are our only hope for survival. This is our marathon.

David Himmel 6/14/19 David Himmel 6/14/19

Notes from the Post-it Wall | Week of June 9, 2019

If someone asks you to not yell at them and you respond by yelling, “I’M NOT YELLING AT YOU!” you’ve revealed your true intentions.

Guest User 6/14/19 Guest User 6/14/19

Sticky Valentine - An Erotic Fiction

Side one ended as the bed started to squeak. We stopped and snickered and shifted and slowed down. We were both super close even before we got started, but when we came we shuddered breathlessly next to each other like open barn doors in a heavy storm.

Elizabeth Harper 6/13/19 Elizabeth Harper 6/13/19

The Zen of Death Cleaning | Part 2

I stayed in the house by myself. I don’t mind being by myself for long periods of time. I didn’t wear makeup or a bra, since no one would see me. I could have walked outside, but there’s nowhere to walk to, no Walgreens or Starbucks or friendly neighborhood bar with local bands playing or an open mic night. I’m eating through the frozen food in the freezer, Stouffer’s, Trader Joe’s, etc. and drinking the booze, and thank goodness there’s some good booze.

Joe Janes 6/12/19 Joe Janes 6/12/19

The Minutes of Our Last Meeting – Stand-Up Club

These didn’t seem like jokes. More like a cry for help.