I love Halloween. It is my second favorite holiday, ranking just behind Christmas. Aside from the chilly weather (my favorite kind), the dark, clear night air with the silvery moon shining down upon dark, empty streets, the warm yellow glow of porch lights casting out into the yard, beckoning those who are alone to find safe harbor from that which creeps and crawls in the night. I don’t get to go to parties, and I don’t really have the money,…
When I was a kid, I attended the funeral of a family member (whose name I sadly cannot recall). Amongst all of the requisite sadness, pontificating, and memorializing, I remember my mother saying something. She said, in reference to the departed family member in question, that “he didn’t have an enemy in the world.” I took that phrase to heart, and decided it was something worth pursuing as a personal goal. As I’ve grown, however, the more I think about…
As of late, I’m sure many (both) of you have noticed my shifting away from introspective posts emphasizing the pain I feel every day, and am now focusing more on what is happening around me instead. Of course, I’m still talking about how it is affecting me, but the focus has definitely shifted outward. Without getting into it (you can read past posts to get an idea), recently I was witness to a few things which troubled me deeply, things…
I have been working harder than ever to leave a lasting, positive impact on others. I’ve waded neck deep into the muck of humanity in order to aid in the rescue of the most vulnerable. I’ve worked harder to dull the edges of my cynicism, and to embrace the optimism I used to possess in abundance. I’ve changed my way of thinking to better understand others. I have become an outspoken advocate for the abused, the demoralized, the forgotten, and…
I don’t want anymore labels. I just want to love people, and to be loved by people. I don’t want people to hurt each other, I don’t want us to hate one another. We create lines in the sand, and we forbid people to cross them. Most of the lines are completely arbitrary, and made only as a way to define others in order to contain them, or to keep them away because if they get to close then one…
The United States is built upon exploitation, and if I really wanted to get into the long sordid history of it, I could. I won’t today, because I’m not sure I could do it justice in a single post, or even a series of posts. I’m no professional writer, I just like to krabble my keys with the thoughts and emotions that rouse and rattle me. Of course, every civilization is built upon some form of exploitation. To get to…
Do the right thing, always. I am a man who believes in the spirit of the law. In principle, laws were created to guide people, to help them steer clear of danger, to protect them, and others, from harm. The police were created to enforce those laws, the judges to interpret them. This, on occasion, puts me at odds with our letter of the law society. Why is that? Because doing the right thing can be nothing but trouble. Doing…
There were many times where I have felt like Thorn: strong, capable, and determined to follow the rabbit all the way down the hole to find out what’s there in order to suss it out and turn wrong into right. Most days, anymore, I feel like Sol: tired, worn out, like a man who knows far more than he ever should have known, and wanting to go home. Of course, unlike Sol, I am a non-religious man. There is no…
With the recent Harvey Weinstein coverage, the Bill Cosby revelations, Roman Polanski, the fact that Donald Trump is in office and knowing what he has done to women in the past and is about to do again on a national level (keep in mind he walked into a room full of naked minors changing during a beauty pageant, and bragged about it, as well as being charged with the rape of a 13 year old girl which was later dropped…
So I was reading this article from The Nation, and it got me thinking. As a nation, we’re leaning more and more into a theocratic oligarchy tinged with fascism. The increase in the militarization of police isn’t just a major concern, but of citizens in general, who seem to be edging over to the more authoritarian side of the spectrum. They talk freedom, but they’re pushing conformity while demanding rigid adherence to a warped sense of patriotism. The church and…