Don Hall 2/8/21 Don Hall 2/8/21

I Believe... [Freedom is Harder Than Previously Advertised]

I believe... that the revival of cultural conformity and political zealotry shows that freedom is not as easy as we assumed.

Don Hall 2/6/21 Don Hall 2/6/21

Culture in Real Time

As I read it, culture is comprised of four things in increasing levels of significance: symbols, heroes, rituals and values. By that quite academic frame, it seems that as we parse out our differences in our current multi-cultural war in America, it is a fixation on the symbols that trip us up.

David Himmel 2/5/21 David Himmel 2/5/21

Notes from the Post-it Wall | Week of January 31, 2021

Marjorie Taylor Greene’s masks are to anti-Semites and racists as Judah Friedlander’s hats are to liberals and feminists.

David Himmel 2/4/21 David Himmel 2/4/21

The Tragic Genius of Dustin “Screech” Diamond

We all wanted to be Zack and Kelly. Maybe some of us wanted to be Slater or even Jessie. But we should have wanted to be Screech. Screech was the best of them all. They best of all of us. Screech was a progressive television character before we knew what that was supposed to be. And that is solely because of Dustin Diamond.

Joe Janes 2/3/21 Joe Janes 2/3/21

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Newest Theories

Tapeworms are the only thing holding Mitch McConnell together.

Don Hall 2/3/21 Don Hall 2/3/21

I Can't Drive 55 | Lessons Learned in the 55th Year

Sometimes I wonder if there’s anything else. I wonder if I’d miss anything important if I simply ceased to breathe on the couch I bought back in Chicago as it sits in Nevada.

Don Hall 2/1/21 Don Hall 2/1/21

I Believe... [Do I Get Paid to Be Old Now?]

…that turning fifty-five years old this week has officially made me an old curmudgeon in the professional sense. I hope I get my badge and sash soon.

Paul Teodo 1/31/21 Paul Teodo 1/31/21

Sixty Bucks a Week

The phone on the wall rang. The long, knotted cord dragged on the floor as she listened carefully to the distant voice. He had collapsed. She stared out the window where he’d usually park, the space empty. It was 95°, but it wasn’t the heat. Not a heart attack, a stroke, or a seizure.

Don Hall 1/30/21 Don Hall 1/30/21

Advice Unsolicited | Your Job Isn’t High School

We all love binary thinking because it's easy. She's white, you're black. She's old, you're young. She's incompetent, you're competent. She's a liar, you are honest.

I like to use a different binary in these situations. There are two kinds of people in the world: those who focus on themselves, their work, their responsibilities and those who focus on the work and responsibilities of others.

David Himmel 1/29/21 David Himmel 1/29/21

Notes from the Post-it Wall | Week of January 24, 2021

Hedge fund managers are the real welfare queens and kings. But they’re way lazier.

Don Hall 1/28/21 Don Hall 1/28/21

The Graveyard of Creativity

Orthodoxy is simply the authorized doctrine of a group. When there is no acknowledged and agreed upon authority, like the Church or Science, we confront multiple orthodoxies and competing authority and the idea of a unified vision goes out the window.

Joe Janes 1/27/21 Joe Janes 1/27/21

A Pandemic Theater Prepares

St. Mark’s Community Theater makes sure Neil Simon’s “The Odd Couple” is as safe as possible.

David Himmel 1/27/21 David Himmel 1/27/21

Hell in a Handbasket

Before she was Jane Hadley, the rock ’n’ roll singer/songwriter—the Goddess of Rock, bigger than Taylor, Adele, and Beyoncé combined, she was Jane Hadley, the folk ’n’ roll singer/songwriter who never sold more than a thousand albums and a few hundred t-shirts. Before she had a #1 album flying off the shelves and being downloaded to the Cloud by millions, and an entire merchandising department, she was just a girl who played in a few bands: the Stargazers, Rosie’s Dream Catcher, Jane and the Jaded Cowboys.

Don Hall 1/26/21 Don Hall 1/26/21

SPOILER ALERT! I'm Ruining Culture for You

Guardians of the Galaxy

Chris Pratt is a Christian and kind of dislikes gay people. This likewise spoils the Jurassic World movies. Can't watch 'em. Cancel.

Don Hall 1/25/21 Don Hall 1/25/21

I Believe... [Some of the Kids Are Alright]

...that for every instance of an Amanda Gorman or Greta Thunberg, there are 50,000 GenZ kids snorting crushed Sour Patch candy and arguing adamantly about a video they saw on TikTok so contain your need to claim that the kids are adults.

Don Hall 1/23/21 Don Hall 1/23/21

Advice Unsolicited | It’s OK to Pretend Because Everyone is a Fraud

We are currently in an epic defined by people pretending to be someone they are not.

David Himmel 1/22/21 David Himmel 1/22/21

Notes from the Post-it Wall | Week of January 17, 2021

Of all the damage the Trump Presidency did, it’s important to remember that the most egregious was that under Trump’s watch, we were attacked by Thanos. Twice.