I like to cultivate a good depression. Well, I suppose “like” is a poor choice of words when discussing uncontrolled despondency. Perhaps it’s better to say that apparently I tend to cultivate a depression — or perhaps my depression is something that induces me to cultivate it. In any case, when depression comes on — and the difference between depression and just feeling bummed is quite palpable to me these days — it isn’t enough just to feel bad. I need to sit in... Read more
Apart from some interesting bits about the challenges presented by, and the romanticism associated with, various writing tools and implements, Dennis Baron’s A Better Pencil: Readers, Writers, and the Digital Revolution is a very repetitive book with little to say. Essentially, Baron gives laborious, truly unnecessary explanations of some of the most common and basic writing means — from pencils and typewriters to Facebook and IMs — fit only for those to whom these technologies are totally alien (so perhaps it will... Read more
The wife and I are in something of an existential pickle. Here we are, resettling ourselves (ever-so-slowly and awkwardly) in small town southern Maine, trying to make a good long-term home for our family. At the same time, Jess and I are artists, we’re performers, and recent years have proven to be lean ones in terms of flexing those particular muscles. Here’s the big problem: we both suffer from the illusion that it is our day job that defines us... Read more
I am flattered that over 850 people have considered me a “friend” on Facebook. The thing is, I don’t actually know the vast majority of them. There’s nothing wrong with this. Often, I’ve heard those who are more dubious of online social networks complain that the “friendship” connections made in these environments are shallow and primarily for show. But while there is truth to this sentiment, it is equally true that I have developed some meaningful and very real friendships with people I’ve... Read more
Jonathan Chait dissects the breach in Republican resistance to gay rights in the wake of the coming repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, and reaches an astounding side conclusion, emphasis mine: The progress of gay rights in the United States over the last generation has been intoxicatingly rapid. It’s happening so fast that opponents, rather than fomenting a successful backlash, have mainly lost their desire to fight. In part this reflects changes in the Republican Party, which is now dominated almost entirely... Read more
I was inspired to begin blogging on atheism in American politics when Kay Hagan, running for Senate against Elizabeth Dole in 2008, enabled the infamous “godless” attacks leveled against her by the Dole campaign by essentially conceding the foundational argument of Dole’s attack: that anyone who even associates with atheists is not qualified for public office. I was so disappointed in Hagan’s response, concentrating on “attacks on her Christian faith” rather than defending the integrity and honor of those atheist Americans... Read more
The edition that I own of William Shirer’s The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich advertises that the book is one that “shocked the conscience of the world.” I saw this mainly as an indication of what the book must have meant to a public that might not have been as familiar with the crimes of the Nazis and, well, accustomed as we are today to frequent and thoughtless analogies; from goofy Mel Brooks Hitler parodies to the Soup Nazi, as a society... Read more
On the evening of October 26, I was returning home from my second day of training at my new part-time job. I was in the midst of a transition; in my last week at my desk job as a communications manager at a nonprofit and moving to working weekends and some nights so I could be a stay-at-home daddy. On this day, a Tuesday, I had worked a normal day at my old job, and gone straight to train at my... Read more
Stan Bush serenades the Transformers. Now I am an unabashed fan of this absurd movie; as a kid I must have seen it more than 30 or 40 times, and even into adulthood it gets a viewing every year or so. I even own the soundtrack — with the bonus tracks. (Which actually has some great instrumental scoring from Vince DiCola.) But let’s look at this video. Editors: Were you even trying? The clips from the movie are more or less chronological, so... Read more
In DC, I earned a master’s degree in political management, interned for a major network’s news operation, worked on a historic presidential campaign, and ran the communications operations for two national nonprofits. I performed in children’s theatre, and even got to compose songs for a new kids’ musical. I discovered my political calling in the atheist movement, and made friends I plan on keeping for a lifetime. Also in DC, our car was broken into twice in the space of a... Read more
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