Trump 2020 – No More Bullshit. I saw that popular right-wing sign all over my county during the Black Lives Matter protests after George Floyd’s murder. What bullshit was that? You know, that people of color demanded not to be killed by police when confronted over minor infractions. I can’t think of a better phrase … Continue reading No More Bullshit
Culture
Putin Detonates a Tactical Nuke
Is this reckless? Alarming? Unnecessary? Am I jinxing the future by putting this in writing? Obsessive Compulsive Disorder drives me to click the Google Chrome icon more often than I like. I search for a distraction—a WordPress comment, a Facebook notification, an email from a friend. I search for news. The pandemic turned me into … Continue reading Putin Detonates a Tactical Nuke
Demonization
Mushrooms on the horizon You seem to sayNothing can be somethingIgnorance nowDominates the season -- Lyrics to Round by Public Image Ltd. Last night at Walmart, I saw a bumper sticker that rattled me. I’m a Republican because we can’t all be on welfare. This morning, when I woke up, I felt disjointed and uneasy. … Continue reading Demonization
The Ugliest Trees in the World
Twenty years ago, my friend Doug admonished me. “You always speak in superlatives—slowest, meanest, hottest.” He didn’t follow up with any reason why I shouldn’t, so here we are today, the ugliest trees in the world. They sit just outside my neighborhood. Across rural route 116 bordering the Gettysburg Lutheran Seminary. Seven of them line … Continue reading The Ugliest Trees in the World
The Truth
I try to write coherently. I can’t corral my thoughts. This topic is too large, all encompassing. My brain is scattered, agitated. It keeps jumping around. -- -- -- Remember the shithole countries? Oops, content warning, foul language. On Facebook today, a friend posted a meme, a quote by Bruce Springsteen: “Someday we’ll look back … Continue reading The Truth
Boiled Frog
America is baking. As temperate areas push well into triple digits this week, the media reminds us that global heating is real. Just as real as it was five years ago, when I wrote this essay. After work today, I went for a walk. It's too hot to run, too hot to bike, kind of … Continue reading Boiled Frog
Killing Another
We crammed into Scott’s office, six or seven of us. Wasting time, shooting bull, gabbing. Shelly was there, Gerard, the other Scott—Scott Van-Something, the Irish one from Boston. Me too, obviously, and a couple of others, the normal crowd. The conversation ranged as it usually did, free-flowing, following unpredictable paths. Details are murky, this happened … Continue reading Killing Another
There is No Bottom
Guns don’t kill people, people with guns kill people. Since the start of the pandemic, white men (and women) in the United States have “exercised their second amendment rights.” Meaning they show up in normal public places armed to the teeth. For a while they showed up at state houses where Democratic governors worked. Then … Continue reading There is No Bottom
Words Matter
I mean, ya gotta write about it. They’ll write about it for decades. Centuries? In 2253, second graders will still learn about the day the president told an angry mob to attack the U.S. Capitol. Of course, that won’t happen, humanity will be long gone. Baked and broiled in our ever-heating atmosphere. Only the cockroaches … Continue reading Words Matter
A Prayer for Something Better
Something small falls out of your mouth and we laugh.A prayer for something better, a prayer for something better. Whiskey! Tango! Foxtrot! Seriously, WTAF??! This is my final earworm of 2020. Earworm? A song-clip, running on loop, invading my brain. I don't conjure these up, I don't put in a bid or request them from the … Continue reading A Prayer for Something Better
Viral
I went viral once. Three summers ago, I wrote a post; I’d rate it as fine. Not great, not memorable, the sort of post that two and a half years later, I doubt I would even remember writing. But because it went viral, I remember the circumstances well. In our tiny house in Culebra, Puerto … Continue reading Viral
Disaster is Inevitable
And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars... Right here on this blog, Halloween night. I wrote of the coming election and the expected aftermath—at least my expectation. A Biden win, a Russian bot-campaign to foment distrust and hate among the American people. A stolen election! Widespread cheating! Elites staffing the polling places, … Continue reading Disaster is Inevitable
I shot a gun once
Fresh out of college, visiting my friend Mike, I told him how my radio died just as I drove into his driveway. I know you’re thinking car-radio, right? But no, I’m writing about a boombox. My brand, new car stereo was on the fritz. The prior Saturday, a different friend, one possessing the electronic know-how … Continue reading I shot a gun once
News media recycle fears and concernsunfounded, unfolded, cautionary blurbsthat hold my attention, anxiety building,society willing to follow the story,wary of lies which fall where they may,the sun shines bright on a pretty fall day. Subscribe to get access Read more of this content when you subscribe today. Log in News cycle recycles fears and concernsunfounded, … Continue reading
Later on, we’ll conspire
Russian bots swarming the internet, intent on disrupting our election Today, I join the nut-cases. I hope our relationship survives, yours and mine. A couple of months ago I unfollowed a blogger. She wrote inventive poetry and gut-wrenching prose about her childhood spent with her physically abusive father. I counted her as one of my … Continue reading Later on, we’ll conspire
God, Guns, Country
The sign appeared one day on the normal route. That’s what Susan and I call the loop around our neighborhood, the normal route. It’s neat how names develop. “Which way do you want to go?” “Let’s take the normal route.” Eventually it sticks. Sometimes we walk it, sometimes we run it. We’re not the only … Continue reading God, Guns, Country
Every day is the same. I check the news expecting something terrible. I’m rarely disappointed.
I don’t care. I love my new truck.
Whoa. I bought a truck. Typically, I’d name a post like this as part of my cliffhanger collection—Cliffhanger pt. 5 or something like that. A time to catch readers up with what’s going on in my life, but I hope to do something more with this. More than a catch-up. Maybe cover some new ground. … Continue reading I don’t care. I love my new truck.
Mission Accomplished?
Irony makes me smile. Tomorrow, I drive to Gaithersburg, Maryland, maybe eight miles from where I grew up, to complete my transformation into a Pennsylvanian. We’re going there to look at a pickup truck. I moved to Pennsylvania fifteen years ago looking for an escape from urban life. Although, my childhood in Rockville, Maryland could … Continue reading Mission Accomplished?
Coming apart at the seams
Remember when news was boring? It wasn’t long ago, six maybe seven years. I googled the biggest stories of 2013. The Boston Marathon bombing—that one was huge. Things get pretty tame after that. Lance Armstrong’s doping scandal and Prince George’s birth. Those are a couple of the more notable stories of the year. Midday today, … Continue reading Coming apart at the seams
The Other Stuff 