When I woke up yesterday, and read about the horrific massacre at Club Q in Colorado Springs, I felt sick. I was overwhelmed with horror on behalf of the five dead and twenty-five injured. I didn’t want to think of how their families and friends must feel. I was terrified of a copycat crime hurting any of my queer friends. I was in awe of the as yet unnamed hero who stopped the gunman by yanking the gun from his... Read more
A reading from the Holy Gospel for Christ the King Sunday: The rulers sneered at Jesus and said, “He saved others, let him save himself if he is the chosen one, the Christ of God.” Even the soldiers jeered at him. As they approached to offer him wine they called out, “If you are King of the Jews, save yourself.” Above him there was an inscription that read, “This is the King of the Jews.” Now one of the... Read more
Last night, the state of Alabama tried to kill a fellow human being. They weren’t doing this to prevent a murder or keep anybody safe; they were just doing it for vengeance. The man, Kenneth Smith, was an evil man; he had committed a murder-for-hire. He got a thousand dollars to kill a woman and make it look like a burglary. A jury had voted eleven to one to save his life and just lock him away forever. But... Read more
I woke up Monday morning to a gray, flat world. The first half of the month had been so warm and sunny, you could believe fall was going to run straight into Christmas without the usual ugly overture. But here it was: an Appalachian November, colorless, shades of blue-gray whipped up like a fingerpainting in the sky, the earth a mass of musty gray-brown. My depression and anxiety tickled my stomach so I couldn’t eat breakfast. In the beginning, when... Read more
I watched an exchange on Twitter, which I thought was educational. Tony Arnett, the author of Cathonomics: How Catholic Tradition Can Create a More Just Economy, tweeted that it would be better to tax Jeff Bezos’s vast wealth than to just trust him to donate a hundred billion to charity. The Catholic apologist Trent Horn responded with a tweet that had me scratching my head: “Tony, would you agree money should be spent on the poor in the most efficient... Read more
Last weekend I witnessed a fight in a Facebook group. The fight led me to realize something about how we ought to look out for one another. I’m a member of several Buy Sell Trade Facebook groups, since I needed to replace our car recently, and that was where I searched for a vehicle. The price of the car wiped us out and we’ve been broke for a month. I don’t even know how I’ll register Serendipity when the... Read more
I checked in with Holly the Witch about the homeless lady who had been sleeping in the Neighborhood Trolley. Holly says she’s doing much better: she found a place to stay, with a friend. The apartment isn’t luxurious and her friend is the only one whose name is on the lease; she could be kicked out at any time. But the friend says she can stay for a few months, in exchange for a refrigerator or a minifridge, which... Read more
Hello folks, I hate to write posts asking for tips more often than every several months. I’ve got a tab open to write you a fun update about Holly the Witch and the homeless people in her neighborhood, hopefully that will be done today. But I’ve got to drop a line asking for a little help because we’re in a jam. As you know if you’ve been following our adventures, my old car was totaled in Columbus and we... Read more
As I write this, it’s evening, the day after Election Day. Not all the races have been decided yet. It seems that Donald Trump’s Republican party had an unbelievably bad night, the worst performance in a midterm for the out-of-power party in decades. When the dust settles, they are expected to have control of the House by a tiny margin, but even that is not certain. And the Senate is looking even worse for them. It was supposed to... Read more
We went to Pittsburgh to meet a friend at the zoo. It was supposed to be a relaxing afternoon, a celebration after a stressful time. But it wasn’t. Pittsburgh is, visually, a gorgeous city. I’ve never been in a city so beautiful. Everywhere you turn, there’s something unusual and interesting to look at. There are highways that border the river with grim warehouses on either side and tree-covered mountains in the distance, like something out of a science fiction movie.... Read more
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