Contributing Writer 11/2/22 Contributing Writer 11/2/22

[ARCHIVED] I Was a Teenage Space Billionaire

I built a city in the desert.
Lithium and plastic and dry cellulose.
Autonomous flying cars.
Drone-delivered impossible everything,
Nourishing our body-positive bodies.
Streaming, bingeable Obama-produced documentaries
In every remote classroom.

There was even a monorail.

Don Hall 11/1/22 Don Hall 11/1/22

The Easy Gullibility at the Heart of Self Proclaimed Identity

In the parlance of a generation a few beyond my own "I don't care what you call me as long as you don't call me late for dinner."

Don Hall 10/31/22 Don Hall 10/31/22

I Believe... [Leaving Elon's Twitter]

...that the same people screaming that they’ll be leaving Twitter because Musk owns it are the exact same people who vowed to move to Canada if Trump was elected and guess what? They are full of shit. We know they’re full of shit so do we take their admonitions about anything else seriously?

Don Hall 10/30/22 Don Hall 10/30/22

Farewell to Las Vegas

It wasn't supposed to go this way but the universe giggles when we make plans.

David Himmel 10/30/22 David Himmel 10/30/22

Notes from the Post-it Wall | Week of July 17, 2022

Parenthood is, by far, the trippiest, mind bending, and just straight up weirdest thing I’ve ever experienced.

Don Hall 10/30/22 Don Hall 10/30/22

When Your Ideas Become Your Identity, Disagreements Become Personal Attacks

The more each of us aligns our identities with orthodoxy, the harder it is to separate ourselves from the talking points of ideology.

Paul Teodo 10/29/22 Paul Teodo 10/29/22

Dead Man’s Hill

What appeared to be a man, hovered over a smoldering fire smoking a cigarette. His bony purple fingers tightly gripping a rectangular bottle.

David Himmel 10/28/22 David Himmel 10/28/22

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

In matters of family planning—that is, choosing a mate—keep in mind that the money will come; the love doesn’t always show up. Don’t let money buy your heart.

Don Hall 10/27/22 Don Hall 10/27/22

Who Are 'The Working Class' and Aren't Most of Us Already Them?

Beyond the hyperbolic rhetoric that states quite clearly and with great repetition that a vote for pretty much anyone of any ideological stripe is the final nail in the coffin for our democratic way of life, there is the drumbeat that gives us that delicious rhythm of the Great Abandonment of the Working Class.

Joe Janes 10/26/22 Joe Janes 10/26/22

Dr. Oz’s Miracle Cures for Our Nation

The solution to abortion is a pill. No. Wait.

Don Hall 10/25/22 Don Hall 10/25/22

I, Substitute

The job description should read “Must be able to hand out papers, sit bored out of your skull, make sure the lunatics don’t take over the asylum with no authority, no hope for respect from the inmates, and no real idea if they are lying to you when they tell you that their regular class work involves smartphones and flaming hot covered salt lick snacks.”

Don Hall 10/24/22 Don Hall 10/24/22

I Believe... [Cutting Edge Health Advise]

...that all the ‘cutting edge’ health advice is obvious and in direct contradiction to the health industry’s reliance on drugs and treatment. “Go outside”, “get some sun”, “wake up early”, “sleep on time”, “be active.” In other words, get off yer ass, you sloppy sacks of lard.

Don Hall 10/23/22 Don Hall 10/23/22

Masculinity is Just Fine. People in General? Not So Much

The common denominator of toxic people is not their chosen tribe or the identity assigned by the folks that love that sort of thing. The common element is power—either the possession of it or the overwhelming desire to acquire it.

Joe Mallon 10/22/22 Joe Mallon 10/22/22

The Real Thing

“You want a real drink? Coke. A nice Coca- Cola.”

“What if Coke was still The Real Thing?”

“Dr Pepper definitely would not have cocaine in it.”

Don Hall 10/20/22 Don Hall 10/20/22

A Boat Adrift Is Still Going Somewhere

A lot of my recent past is due for some serious reframing.

Joe Janes 10/19/22 Joe Janes 10/19/22

Beware the Socialist Nightmare!

You will walk through a metal director where Sesame Street characters will take your guns.

Don Hall 10/18/22 Don Hall 10/18/22

Spending the Decades After My Death in the Tackiest Places on Earth Seems Fitting

I figure, in keeping with my bizarre rolling stone trajectory to date, these objects (lamp, moon dust, and figurine) will be sold, sit in some of the tackiest homes in America, resold at other garage sales, and on and on. I will still be dancing through the world like an idiot.

Don Hall 10/17/22 Don Hall 10/17/22

I Believe... [Soupy, Soupy Night]

...that, if the goal was to destroy a Van Gogh, the children failed. If it was gain attention for themselves and their stated cause, they knocked it out of the park. Effective protest is effective theater.

Don Hall 10/16/22 Don Hall 10/16/22

Compassion and Deference Rarely Mix Well...

For the same reason elevating the status of children to functioning adults in deference to some need to validate ideology it is likewise counterproductive to infantilize racial minorities as if they are simply too burdened by historical horrors to know the difference between right and wrong.

David Himmel 10/14/22 David Himmel 10/14/22

Notes from the Post-it Wall | Week of October 9, 2022

It’s not surprising that no one from Marjorie Taylor Greene’s high school has come forward to say, “You know, she was really cool and mellow, and smart back then.” That’s because we are who we’ve always been.