The month of June began with being told I had no dignity. That’s probably not what Father Matthew Schneider thought he was doing, but it’s what happened. I forget who it was on Twitter that tweeted a picture of a rainbow flag and a hope that LGBTQ people like me would be treated with dignity and respect for our rights. Father Matthew quote tweeted it with a comical GIF of a sloth saying “no.” When people suggested this was in... Read more
I first knew my friend was good at math, when I took her shopping. She said she was in that time of the month where the groceries have run out but the EBT card hasn’t reloaded yet. I said I’d had a good week, so she could come shopping with me. She could get fifty dollars worth of groceries and I’d swipe the debit card. She came back twenty minutes later with a cartful of food: some moderately junky... Read more
I finished my pilgrimage to Columbus, and came back down to the Valley with a bump. The end of the month is coming up. We have enough to eat and a few dollars cash to take Rosie swimming. But we have nothing for the student loan that defaulted, which will go to collection before long, and nothing for the other surprise bill from the City that will add a late fee on the first of the month. If we did... Read more
As I write this, I don’t know the result of the Dobbs decision. I think I can guess how the Supreme Court is going to rule. We’ll just see if I’m right. We all might know by the time you read this. The first time I wrote anything public about abortion was in 2016. I don’t even think it was obvious that Trump was going to win the Republican nomination at that point. I’ve become a bit notorious for... Read more
I saw a post online recently, about people praying the Rosary outside the public library. It’s a rally they’ve planned to “make reparation” for Drag Queen Story Hour. They think Jesus is offended by Drag Queen Story Hour, and for all I know He is. They think praying a Rosary will cheer Him up. And for all I know it will. But I can’t help but notice that no one has ever prayed a Rosary to make reparation outside a... Read more
The last day of my pilgrimage to Columbus, I went to church. You don’t have to go to church if your PTSD is severe. It’s just something I wanted to try. There’s a Catholic church in Columbus that had a reputation in my family. We were never allowed to go there. It was a bad, wicked, liberal place that probably didn’t even have a valid Mass. We spoke about it as if it were a brothel. Catholics who went... Read more
After I left my old church on Friday, I drove around for a bit. I was supposed to go back to the South Side and greet my wonderful hosts, but I felt like quiet time. It’s a horrible thing to get shattered, and I was shattered. It’s a horrible thing when all the sights and sounds and smells you were raised to associate with God, just remind you of suffering. That gut feeling that God hated me and was... Read more
I am home now. I can tell you why I went to Columbus for the weekend. You’re not going to like it. The only person I have to show you is Mary Pezzulo, boring or interesting, virtuous or not. The only story I have to tell is mine. If I nuke my career as a Catholic author for telling my story, of my life as a Catholic– well, maybe somebody else would like to hear it. Mary Pezzulo was raised... Read more
This weekend I drove to Columbus by myself, repenting. To repent means to turn around, after all. We repenting by noticing we’ve been going in the wrong direction. Sixteen years ago I went to Franciscan University to get a master’s degree in philosophy. I was intending to be a bioethicist and tell everyone why they were wrong about everything, for the glory of Jesus. It didn’t work out. Nothing I did worked out, for a decade and a half.... Read more
My friend in Section Eight housing is cooking alive. She tells me that her central air conditioning still hasn’t been fixed. Her row house’s thermostat, she says, is set to 64 but the temperature upstairs is in the 70s and the temperature downstairs is about 82. She’s already called code enforcement, but they sided with the land lord who claims there’s nothing she can do. My friend puts her baby down for a nap, and the baby wakes up... Read more
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