Story
Good Guys and Bad Guys
There are no good guys and bad guys. We’ll start with the punchline. I’ve tried really hard to divide the world into them. It would be easier if people were all good or all bad. EVIL VS VIRTUE. CRUEL VS KIND. LOVE VS HATE. JUSTICE VS INJUSTICE. None of these dichotomies are real. Often cruelty comes from (…)
But What If It Works?
Few things are more effective at eradicating a bad mood than a good movie involving unrealistically beautiful people. So when I found myself in a bad mood a few months ago, I chose on a title with Chris Hemsworth and Cillian Murphy and proceeded to get cozy with what I thought would be 122 minutes (…)
Let It Be Worth Your Time
It’s Charlotte Brontë’s fault. The first third of Jane Eyre is unbearably boring and then – out of nowhere – you cannot put it down. As a result, I’m committed to slogging through books I should quit on because just maybe they’ll redeem themselves two-quarters of the way through. That is why my inability to (…)
Sick Burn, Thoreau
The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. That’s the quote from Walden. The one everyone and their mom cites as their motivation for quitting their job or leaving their spouse or starting a side hustle and becoming a nomad! Take life by the horns! LIVE! Do not become one of them. Living the unexamined life, (…)
A Grammar Crisis
A friend pulled me into a marital dispute which is a precarious place to be and in ordinary circumstances I recommend avoiding this at all costs, but this dispute was a grammar one and so I had no choice. I had to weigh in. The dispute was over whether or not it was kosher to begin a (…)
Hold The Vision
There are two parallel universes emerging right now. One living in and with a pandemic and one merely annoyed by it. Day after day I get messages from friends and readers whose lives have been turned upside-down, while their newsfeeds boast of an unaffected population, still going to clubs and birthday parties and vacations to (…)
Wine and Writing For Normal People
Perception almost always outweighs science when it comes to wine. I’ll fight anyone who says Cabernets taste the same in a solo cup as they do in a glass with a wide base and narrow top. I’ll cite some fact about oxygen (“oxygenation”) that I stole from a sommelier. I’ll die on that hill if (…)
How Much Should You Share Online?
One thing I still don’t get about driving a car is rubbernecking. I understand slowing down if people or debris are in the road, but looking to see what’s happening in the middle of a busy freeway sounds insane. Of course, I absolutely rubberneck because I’m a human being with eyes and I also want (…)