Don Hall 2/12/22 Don Hall 2/12/22

If Trust Builds a Society, the Absence of Trust Destroys It

I’m an optimist at heart. I also believe without finding a way to trust a few more people today and a few more tomorrow, to openly seek out those we feel we can trust, we’re fucked as a nation.

David Himmel 2/11/22 David Himmel 2/11/22

Notes from the Post-it Wall | Week of February 6, 2022

I wish I had more time to iron my clothes, write my stories, and read more books. Instead, I fart through the wrinkles reading work emails with the TV on.

Joe Janes 2/9/22 Joe Janes 2/9/22

RNC WORKSHOP ON LEGITIMATE POLITICAL DISCOURSE

SOVENIRS! – Some call it looting, we call it keepsakes.

Don Hall 2/8/22 Don Hall 2/8/22

I Like to Watch | Magnolia (1999)

When I went to see Magnolia I discovered a film that captured this concept more clearly, more beautifully, than I could have ever conceived of myself. I was transcendent.

Don Hall 2/7/22 Don Hall 2/7/22

I Believe... [Not Nihilism. Clarity]

I believe... that, at half a century plus, one starts to see how much of the world’s issues are bullshit. This is not nihilism. It’s clarity.

Don Hall 2/5/22 Don Hall 2/5/22

A New Not-for-Profit is In Town

So, it's official. Literate Ape is now Literate Ape Press, Inc. a 501(c)(3) Nevada Corporation.

David Himmel 2/4/22 David Himmel 2/4/22

Notes from the Post-it Wall | Week of January 30, 2022

It’d be funny if Biden appointed Anita Hill to the Supreme Court. Of course, it won’t happen. She’d never accept. But it’d be funny in the most tone deaf, hateful way imaginable.

Don Hall 2/3/22 Don Hall 2/3/22

The 56th Year in Lessons Learned | Notes from an Old-ish Man

I was born on February 3, 1966. I have just completed my 56th stroll around the calendar and walking those dirt roads toward the inevitable. What have I gleaned from those 365 days that merit sharing here?

Joe Janes 2/2/22 Joe Janes 2/2/22

New Girl Scout Cookies Flavors!

It’s okay to cry while you eat these. They are also absorbent.

David Himmel 2/2/22 David Himmel 2/2/22

Love Story for Sale: Wordle and the New York Times

Part of the charm was that it was one word for all of us. You get one shot at it a day giving us all something to look forward to in moderation. Anyone with access to the internet could play. Wordle was connective tissue in an otherwise disconnected world.

Don Hall 2/1/22 Don Hall 2/1/22

The Point of Democracy is Populism

Democracy is dependent upon populism. The more of the population who casts a vote in one direction or the other determines who wins power. It's not a complicated idea. Part of the bargain requires that win your side loses, you accept the loss. We're not quite so good at that part lately.

Don Hall 1/31/22 Don Hall 1/31/22

I Believe... [Omicron is COVID on Tinder]

...that Omicron is the Tinder version of COVID—it’ll fuck anybody once, every night, and move on to the next swipe.

David Himmel 1/28/22 David Himmel 1/28/22

Notes from the Post-it Wall | Week of January 23, 2022

There are only seven stories in the world. And the storytelling community continues to think we’re not bored with all of them.

Don Hall 1/27/22 Don Hall 1/27/22

Masterpieces in Sand

Roy looked down from the cliffs at the man drawing in the sand. The picture that started to emerge startled him. It was an extraordinary face, not realistically rendered, but seemingly viewed from many angles at once. In fact, it looked much like a Picasso.

Joe Janes 1/26/22 Joe Janes 1/26/22

A Letter from the Superintendent of Schools

We have no control on what Chipotle charges for their burritos.

David Himmel 1/26/22 David Himmel 1/26/22

Holding My Son as We’re Violently Burned to Death [REPOST]

But, son, I was not lying when I said I’d do anything to protect you.
Anything to keep you safe.
Sometimes that meant watching you put yourself in harm’s way.
Life is pointless without risk.
Sometimes it meant watching you get your heart broken
or hearing your bones break from the bleacher seats on the sidelines.
Harm and hurt, you see, are unfortunately, required of us.
The Universe demands it.
They are two of the many ways we learn and become stronger, better people.
Or so I always tried to be better
and I hope that I instilled that desire in you.

Joe Mallon 1/25/22 Joe Mallon 1/25/22

The Bog

Finn placed his hand on Michael’s shoulder and squeezed. “I wish there was another way, Michael. I do. But this is best for you. And us, o’course. A hunter best hunts alone. You’ll be a better man for it when ye come home.”

Don Hall 1/24/22 Don Hall 1/24/22

I Believe... [1619 + 1776 = A Fuller Picture]

...that the 1619 Project is some solid reading and, while not a definitive history of the country’s founding, a brilliant parallel view to understanding the brilliance of the Founding Fathers creating the republic. Both are true and together provide a more complete comprehension.

Don Hall 1/23/22 Don Hall 1/23/22

It's in the Pragmatic Solutions that Salvation Awaits

While I look nothing like Joe Biden (I've been told I look like Al Franken, which is the closest to any former political seat of power I'll ever be, I suppose) I believe that most of our cultural and political issues are easily solved with some common sense, aw-shucks pragmatism.

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

I Like to Watch | Tree of Life (2011)

It's about the molecular connection we all have with the planet and the universe and each other. It's about primordial soup evolving over time into weeds that Jack is instructed to pull from the root, not just the top. It's about the brief glimpse of a human life, filled with pettiness and violence and sex and love and hate.