Category: articles
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Monotone Readings VS. Oral Performance
When I moved to New York, my first real surprise was the monotone readings. Something about the MFA culture in this town has gone and whitewashed every reading series with this sort of monotone half-jaded, half-sarcastic voice. You’ll find this tone shared by nearly all poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction grads. I won’t name any…
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Two Wolves and a Lamb
Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. – Benjamin Franklin
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Boston Transit
The Metro Boston Transit Authority subway cars sound like they’re powered by electormagnetic ether magic, look like they were carpeted by some 1950’s anarchist, smell like they service a deserted island, and feel like tech straight out of a Japanese horror film. In other words, a piece of the world once controlled by the Dharma Initiative.
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Horizon Light
“At first I thought I saw the sun setting in the east; I knew where east was, because the sun was just over the horizon when we got there that morning. Then I realized that what I saw was a full moon rising just as the sun was going down. Each of them was standing…
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BOOK CLUB: The Man in the High Castle
Our next book for book club is THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE by Philip K Dick. We’ll discuss in the comments and the next book will be The Cuckoo’s Calling by J.K. Rowling as Robert Galbraith — December 23rd (eve of Eve!), 2016. To kick things off: Farce and faking make a big theme early in the novel.…
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Trucker Old to Trucker Young
At a truck stop, one aged and greying trucker approaches a younger one who has claimed his own urinal in the middle. Men know etiquette: you don’t take the middle urinal. This young man had, but the old trucker seemed to be of the kind who changes into his swimmingtrunks in the midst of a…
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Why Tara and I Quit Social Media. All Of It.
Starting this month, Tara and I quit social media. All of it. Deleted about ten years of followers on Twitter accidentally — that kind of kicked it off. Then I deleted about 25k in Reddit karma. Nothing to brag about, but certainly not an insubstantial amount either. She got rid of Instagram and Facebook. I…
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Mark Time
It seems to me half the stories we tell one another after extended absences — after a move or a long journey — all come down to a way to mark time. Sure, sometimes people compare themselves and bring about a bit of arrogance. But the most likely effect isn’t arrogance, but rather reverence for the…
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Midnight Confessions
Colbert’s “Midnight Confessions” is brilliant on so many levels. Best sketch on late night:
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Kumbaya, New York, Kumbaya
You know what big cities don’t have? Good camp songs. I mean, you need like a camp fire and an open night sky full of stars and grass and room enough for a circle. Closest place would be Coney Island in NYC and that’s just… well YOU try making a good bonfire at Coney. Camp…
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Finishing Touches
I never understood why professional painters will just add another layer of pigment on top of their mistakes until I realized how easy it was to tie a double windsor.
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Diabetic Jokes
Diabetes gets old. Diabetic jokes do not. I still laugh when my wife says, “I’m low,” after having a needle in her all day. Or, after having a bout of sugar-related uncontrollable emotion, yelling, “I’m so high right now!” People have asked her in restaurants if she’s playing video games and I almost lose my…