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

Resolve of the Righteous: What to Do Once the Protests are Past

I hope these historic protests give us a new narrative frame. I hope, instead of laced with rage and hurt, it is scented with optimism and inclusion. I have nothing but respect for the Grand Dreamers and every black person out on the streets of cities across the globe are grand and courageous and inspiring.

David Himmel 6/5/20 David Himmel 6/5/20

Notes from the Post-it Wall | Week of May 31, 2020

I’m all for expressing your emotions. Write them down, shout them into a pillow, whack some balls at the batting cages, or kickbox a heavy bag. Right now we all have a lot of emotions we need to get out. The hardest part about expressing them is that I’m not sure which emotions to start with. My heart is a rat king of feelings.

Sheri Reda 6/4/20 Sheri Reda 6/4/20

Social Contract for Dummies

Trevor Noah released a video the other day describing how looting illuminates the brokenness of the social contract: If George Floyd can be murdered, publicly and deliberately, police—and if this is not an aberration but part of a pattern—then there is no rule of law.

Just in case it was too subtle, let’s revisit recent events moment by moment, using building blocks to understand Noah’s explanation. Call it The Social Contract for Dummies.

Joe Janes 6/3/20 Joe Janes 6/3/20

The Minutes of Our Last Meeting | Pastor Joe Explains Racism to White Kids

We have learned from our world studies group watching The Cosby Show

Don Hall 6/3/20 Don Hall 6/3/20

I Could Be Wrong, But…

I’ve been struggling with my ability to openly communicate with the Other Side of Things. The realization that I tend toward debate and trying to win the argument isn’t serving any pragmatic purpose, I’m looking to truly communicate with people whom I disagree. Carl is an opportunity to practice.

Jenni Thurston 6/2/20 Jenni Thurston 6/2/20

The Cereal Wish | Part 8

I turned back to the window. The drones hovered only a moment, then toured to the right to spy through another apartment window like hornets trying to find their way into a hive. Some bored dudes in quarantine were probably trying to score a peep show.

Don Hall 6/1/20 Don Hall 6/1/20

I Believe… [Permanent Desk Jockey]

…that a police officer with a history of brutality complaints should, just like a domestic abuser, be legally prevented from carrying a deadly weapon of any kind. That officer should be permanently assigned to a desk job and not be allowed to work with the public in a person-to-person capacity.

Don Hall 6/1/20 Don Hall 6/1/20

Staged Conflict and the Downward Spiral of Communication

“Oh, I’m not trying to change your mind about anything.”

Then what the fuck are we doing here?

Brett Dworski 5/31/20 Brett Dworski 5/31/20

The Cereal Wish | Part 7

“Those motherfuckers—spying on me again,” I said.

“Who’s spying on you?” Sarah asked.

Jenni Thurston 5/30/20 Jenni Thurston 5/30/20

Stray Humans

Shockingly, I was placed on the ground outside. Outside! This had never happened before. My fear washed away and I was overwhelmed by the feel of grass, the way the light touched my skin. I stretched out into the dirt, face down, and breathed as though I’d never breathed before.

David Himmel 5/29/20 David Himmel 5/29/20

Notes from the Post-it Wall | Week of May 24, 2020

You can trust a cop, but you’re a fool to trust the police.

Joe Janes 5/29/20 Joe Janes 5/29/20

The Cereal Wish | Part 6

Sarah was gone. All that was in the hall was a big box full of boxes of Product 19 on its side. I hate Product 19, but she wants me to eat it because it’s healthy. She must have bought it to make up for forgetting the cereal. “How is this my wish?” The genie was gone, too.

Don Hall 5/28/20 Don Hall 5/28/20

We’ve All Become Karen

Minding your own business and taking care of your own behavior has become a thing if the past. Today, everyone is looking for someone else to break some sort of rule, make some cultural faux pas that can then be thrown up online to incite the public pileup.

Joe Janes 5/27/20 Joe Janes 5/27/20

The Minutes of Our Last Meeting - Online Romance!

We can get to know one another before deciding the desire to have sex is greater than the desire to avoid death.

Joe Janes 5/27/20 Joe Janes 5/27/20

The Cereal Wish | Part 5

I wake up lying flat out in the entry hall closet we never use because we are too lazy to open the door. I’m lying on boxes of Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheerios I had wished into being. There are even some extras to make a pillow for my head. Melted chocolate is streaming out of the boxes like cookie blood. I can hear Maggie snuffling at the doorway.

David Himmel 5/26/20 David Himmel 5/26/20

On Birthday 41 and the Things I’ve Learned

Some things don’t change. We are creatures of habit. But we’re also creatures of evolution, and while basking in the happiness that familiarity brings, we also find ourselves on our birthdays with a heart and a brain full of things learned. So, taking my inspiration from a Don Hall tradition of recounting those things leaned in the past year, here’s the short list of what my forty-first trip around the Sun has revealed to me.

Don Hall 5/25/20 Don Hall 5/25/20

I Believe… [Smile. Nod. Ignore.]

…that I’m starting to adopt a “Smile and Nod and Ignore” more and more people clamoring for attention these days. “COVID was created by Obama!” Smile. Nod. Ignore. “All white people are oppressors.” Smile. Nod. Ignore. “I don’t have to wear a mask at CostCo. It’s a free country!” Smile. Nod. Walk Far Away. Ignore.

Elizabeth Harper 5/25/20 Elizabeth Harper 5/25/20

I’m happy staying at home alone but …

I miss walking over to a neighborhood bar and the bartender recognizes me because I am a regular and have been there lots of times before and they’re happy to see me and we chat a little and I get a drink because sometimes it’s fun to get a drink and talk and laugh…

Contributing Writer 5/24/20 Contributing Writer 5/24/20

The Cereal Wish | Part 4

As you have already learned, I am a quick thinker. Like, how I used my second wish to live inside of the classic sitcom Cheers. Yep. Everything is going to be smooth sailing from here on out.

It’s true that I’ll miss my girlfriend, Sarah, but as Dave Matthews said in a Facebook post in 2018, “What a great ending of a great tour!”

Norm walks over to me.

Don Hall 5/23/20 Don Hall 5/23/20

The Devastating Experiment in Televised Reality

As Marshall McLuhan famously stated “The message is the medium.” The medium today is the internet and the unfettered access for a fully democratized series of messages supported by a distribution model bolstered entirely by appealing to the lowest common denominator.