Extremist; when you hear the word a certain image pops in your head. Nowadays it’s probably an image of some sort of Islamic fundamentalist or if you pay attention to the news a different image might pop into your head; that of the Tea Party Republican. Both are equally dangerous they merely differ in their …
The likelihood that my day will be enhanced by you bothering me is almost non-existent. If you see someone with earplugs in their ears while reading something or copiously concentrating on something please don’t bother them. Why would you think that whatever you have to say or want to point out to them would appeal …
When you’re in school you’re rewarded for being right. If you get all of the questions right on a test you’re rewarded with a perfect grade, but once you leave the confines of an academic environment being right is less important. This past election got me thinking: does it really matter if you’re right anymore? …
This week begins my first full week of summer vacation. I cannot recall ever wanting to accomplish more than what I want to accomplish this summer. There are so many explicit goals that I’ve lost track of all the different pieces of paper that I’ve written them on and the implicit goals that I want …
I wrote my first screenplay when I was a Sophomore in high school. I remember three things from that year in school. The first thing I remember is the election. The year was 2000 and one of the most ferocious elections ever fought was being waged that year. I remember guys who had just turned …
I’m almost positive that we’re going to have acronyms for acronyms pretty soon. “You’ve got to BOLO because YOLO” will probably become a thing or something close to it. If we’re not careful urban dictionary will become the new Wikipedia and that would spell disaster in so many ways. If college students can’t access Wikipedia, … Continue reading »
Ulysees S. Grant did some pretty strange things throughout his life, but in his memoir he mentioned just one decision that he made as a critical error: the final attack at Cold Harbor. Cold Harbor was an impossible battle for Union troops when they launched their attack. Confederate troops were dug in behind gigantic earthworks … Continue reading »
My psychiatrist is a weird character. We’ll call him Dr. B for the sake of argument and legal fees. Dr. B never makes eye contact with me. This would be unnerving to me if I didn’t do the same thing. The odd part about this is that in our mutual avoidance of eye contact sometimes … Continue reading »
The toughest part of writing is editing. That’s why there are far more professional editors than many writers feel there probably should be. The truth is that no one really likes a critic; we’d like to get everything right the first time, but this rarely happens which is why the world needs editors. Editors are … Continue reading »
When I was a kid we didn’t have cell phones, we barely had video games and we certainly didn’t have high-definition television, so in reality, what was the point of playing video games, really? There was no Halo or Call of Duty, there was Super Mario Bros. but no Mario Kart. When I was in … Continue reading »
I will never understand extroverts. How one could possibly get fulfillment from talking to other people and being socially engaged is something that is utterly beyond me. Nonetheless I find myself surrounded by these people. Whether it’s a teacher I pretend to like just because I try to be courteous that way or family members … Continue reading »
It’s a tough economy. I hear that all the time. What’s worse is that I understand economics and read the latest economic reports. The only thing direr than the latest economic reports is Fox News and I’ve lost patience with even trying to understand the other side of the argument anymore. Still, there are people … Continue reading »
“I don’t know man,” I say to my Academic Advisor as he informs that I’ll have to wait yet another year before graduating. I feel like Milton in Office Space only I don’t want to threaten to burn down the building because…well…9/11. It’s funny and it’s kinda not, kinda like my life. “What’s one more … Continue reading »
I was watching a car commercial where they kept talking about how well ‘a precision driver’ would fare while driving their car. I thought about it for a minute and thought ‘if the car is crap, the driver doesn’t really matter, does it?’ Then I saw ‘the precision driver’ applying the brakes on his car … Continue reading »
If you’re like me you love going through your e-mail spam box to read the horribly written and thus vastly entertaining “letter of introduction” from daughters of Russian oil kingpins, deposed African leaders, and the usually elusive South American kings of forgotten lands of yesteryear. The tragedy inherent in all of this is that none … Continue reading »
I used to have an argument with this ethics professor of mine at least once a week over the difference between a reason and an excuse. I believe that there is a definable difference between the two. A reason is a justification for something, an excuse is something you offer up as justification for failure. … Continue reading »
“Look at you all smart and shit” I hear from across the parking lot. The voice as well as the man are unmissable. Daryl jobs over puddles, which after the non-stop rain are more the norm rather than the exception to the rule. “Only white boys think to bring an umbrella,” he says. I look … Continue reading »
College isn’t supposed to be fun. At least that’s how professors view it. Students view college in one of two ways. They either embrace the work and go with it or they don’t embrace the work and they try to move against the grain. Both sides usually make it out alright, but only one side … Continue reading »
Most writers have issues; lots of issues. One of the biggest issues that a writer faces is who should see their writing. Most writers and many more aspiring writers think that any audience will do. This is a misnomer for many, many reasons. All criticism is not the same. There is criticism that makes your … Continue reading »
Some say that a society can be judged based on how it treats its worst off citizens. I think we can judge a society based on the conditions of their bathrooms. If this is our unit of measure society is in a poor state when judged against where it should be, but compared with the … Continue reading »
There’s something unsettling about being followed by a hearse. I don’t generally get antsy when I’m driving behind a hearse, even when the coffin in the back is visible, but I do get a little flummoxed when I realize that I’m being followed by a hearse. Perhaps it’s the thought that lingers in the back … Continue reading »
“All the Purrell in the world isn’t going to make you touchable” are not words that anyone wants to hear at anytime. I would venture however that such a situation is far worse for men than it is for women if only because men tend to think through their pants and not through their head. … Continue reading »
I’ve never thought of myself as a hipster, although considering my mindset, my age, my attitudes, even my fashion choices, I am almost undoubtedly hipsterish though I can’t stand actual hipsters themselves. The previous sentence is also the definition of a hipstercrite. A hipstercrite being someone who, according to UrbanDictionary.com is: “Someone who claims not … Continue reading »
NFL free agency has come a long way since 1992 when the Green Bay Packers made a huge splash by bringing in sack specialist and future Hall of Famer Reggie White. Pro Football Talk, a site you should be following if you want to keep up to date on the latest transactions, notes that Tuesday … Continue reading »
“You can call me DJ Khaled because right now I’m on one” Drake says to me. I hate sitting in the campus library because on the second floor it seems like talking isn’t just allowed it’s encouraged. Subsequently, people take it upon themselves to invite everyone within earshot to engage in their conversations. No invite … Continue reading »
Everyone seems to be in favor of cutting government spending nowadays, but it’s quite difficult indeed to find someone in favor of dealing with the complex issues that our labor markets faces or our need to create a stable infrastructure in the wake of Hurricane Sandy and other natural disturbances. We had one of the … Continue reading »
The Republican Party is going through a bit of an identity crisis. That’s understandable considering the shellacking they received at the polls just a few months ago, but what I haven’t quite been able to wrap my head around is what they’re current strategy is. In insurgency warfare the main precept is that you want … Continue reading »
I’ve been searching – perhaps in vain – for someone or something to sum up Valentine’s Day for those of us out there that are single. Insofar as I can tell there doesn’t appear to be much of a difference between being single and being married when it comes to this made up holiday only … Continue reading »
I have and will probably continue to consistently struggle to find the words to describe my math teacher. His time between classes is spent staring out the makeshift windows of the small, cramped space in the long forgotten rooms of the former bomb shelter that is called my math classroom. He’s always humming a tune. … Continue reading »
Living in the lake country area of Wisconsin has many benefits, most of which, outweigh the difficulties of living in the country. However, every now and again a unique situation occurs that makes you re-think the very basic issues that the regular, ordinary, every day person takes for granted. Wednesday is the day that our … Continue reading »
When I walk into the classroom I sit in the third desk back on the right hand side of the room. There is a heat register right next to me, though it blows outwards and upwards, so it almost always seems to miss me. I’m always early. I never remember the people that get to … Continue reading »
It’s been a weird week. Folks who are regular readers of the blog know all too well that much of what happens to me can only be described as weird, odd or strange, but so it is and so it shall be. I find myself writing this on a day when I really shouldn’t be … Continue reading »
Last week, John Boehner told Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to “go fuck yourself” multiple times at the White House during negotiations surrounding the fiscal cliff just steps away from the Oval Office. House Speaker John Boehner then decided that because he had not thoroughly made a complete fool out of himself that he would … Continue reading »
Pop Culture 2012 Most devastating political attack ad ever: “Firms:” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ud3mMj0AZZk Best of Music Singles: Serena Ryder – Stompa Kendrick Lamar ft. Dr. Dre – The Recipe The Struts – I Just Know Grimes ft. Doldrums – Colour of Moonlight (Antiocus) Free Energy – Hangin’ Labrinth – Express Yourself The Weeknd – Wicked Games Nas … Continue reading »
This has been a rather odd NFL season. If you remember back to week three when we still had the replacement refs, you’ll recall that as a Green Bay Packers fan I was ready to give up on the season because of the complete and total lunacy of watching people who didn’t seem to understand … Continue reading »
For most people the holidays are a fun and happy time of year. Many enjoy getting together with family and friends and doing stuff. I’ve never counted myself among this group and I don’t think there will ever come a point when I do. Lately I’ve been reading a lot about introverted and extroverted personalities, … Continue reading »
I’ll always remember Y2K. It was a strange time to be alive. It was a strange time because people believed that going from the 20th century to the 21st century was going to bring about the end of mankind. In the context of modern human history, thinking that the world is going to end is … Continue reading »
It’s a different day in America. Just what kind of world we’re living through at the moment is difficult to say, but it seems obvious to even the most casual observer that it is, at the very least, different. I wrote on Friday, in the aftermath of the shooting in Connecticut, about three men in … Continue reading »
As Dr. King once said: “an injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” and I think we’re all feeling that a profound injustice was committed today not just towards those twenty children that were gunned down in their classroom, but to the society that had to witness the event’s aftermath. The attack today in … Continue reading »
I’ve been following national politics since 1995. I remember what Karl Rove did to John McCain in 2000 during the South Carolina primary. It was wrong. Karl Rove and his spin machine spread blatantly false rumors that John McCain had fathered an illegitimate African-American son in robo-calls around the state before the South Carolina primary … Continue reading »
Yesterday, I wrote a piece about depression and some different ways to look at it. I speak as someone who has suffered from depression since I can remember. I was diagnosed after I turned 18 and I’d be lying if I said that every day wasn’t a struggle. It’s not a struggle between life or … Continue reading »
I try to explain it by saying that normal people need reasons to be sad but depressed people need reasons to be happy. It’s not as simple as that, as much as I’d like that to be the case. The truth is that it’s far more difficult to explain in broad generalities because each person … Continue reading »
Remember those old ads featuring that poor, dilapidated old woman who seemed to suffer from some rare form of hip dysplasia? She screamed the same line over and over again as if on cue: “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up” as if there were a serious remedy for this problem. It was a great … Continue reading »
There’s a term that Croupiers use for the basic mistakes that gamblers make: it’s called “betting on black.” At the roulette wheel you’ll find a chart displaying the last twenty spins of the wheel and it will always show a majority of spins landing on red. The casino shows you this chart to “inform” you … Continue reading »
Somewhere in the world today a Christopher Weigl has passed away. My condolences of course go out to the family, but for those inquiring into my own demise: the news of my death has been vastly overrated and I must say over-reported. Someone on my Twitter feed broke the news to me today. That’s an … Continue reading »
I was at a grocery store the other day. This is unusual for me because I tend to go through my day with a mindset based on limiting my interactions with other people. Unlike many people I see little value in conversing with someone between classes, inquiring into other customers purchases at the gas station … Continue reading »
Silence. Anyone who has ever been around a football fan can tell you that silence when their team is playing is not a good thing. Different fans deal with their teams struggles in different ways. Some yell, some scream, others cry, but the disciplined fans, they take a deep breath and carry on. Anything can … Continue reading »
There’s a disease I have and I’m not very good at hiding it. I call it critical eye disease and I’ve been suffering from it for some time. Where normal people see something nice I see something that isn’t perfect. When someone says something nice, I think about how they could have said it better. … Continue reading »
Dating is an interesting game. I say interesting not because it’s fascinating to study or even fun to look at, no I say interesting because there really is no other word for it. I’d say debauchery, but I think that only applies to people who are obsessed not so much with the process but rather … Continue reading »
