Latest Entries

The Acronym Generation

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 »

Just One More

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 »

Shrinkage

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 »

Part of the Process

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 »

Paper, Rock, Pencil

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 »

Imaginary Man

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 »

My Pro-Bono Day Job

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 »

Rosencrantz & Guildenstern

“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 »

The Thousand Word Diet

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 »

Who Do You Love?

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 »

Fool in the Rain

“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 »

Welcome to the Slog

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 »

The Hero Complex

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 »

Sick Again

“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 »

The Hipstercrite & the Pepperazzi

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 »

2013 Free Agency

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 »

The Rim Job

“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 »

Sequester Jester

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 Secret Math Society

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 »

The Grandpa Jokes

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 »

The Oscars

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 »

A No Good Very Bad Deal

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 »

The Christmas Post

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 »

28 Dead in Connecticut

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 »

Mild Indifference

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 »

Explaining Depression

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 »

Betting on Black

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 »

The Sound of Silence

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 »

The Critical Eye

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 »

The Dating Game

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 »