A geek friend posed these questions to me, here are my answers: What’s your favorite series/franchise? Right now it’s Marvel Studios, because the Netflix shows have put them past Star Wars for me. But the bottom line is it’s all about Disney right now–they’re killing it on all fronts. What’s the most underrated film/comic/book/whatever in …
In August 1974, we were brand new in America. My Dad held 3 jobs–as an engineer by day, cab driver on weekends and working nights in the kitchen at the South Gate Drive-In. The three of us would take our used tan Ford Pinto in through the back entrance at 5pm, and my Mom and …
There is a reason that people who have worked all their lives to become part of the Establishment, when accused of being part of the Establishment, are offended by the accusation. And there is a reason that people who have stumbled all their lives to become part of the Anti-Establishment, when accused of being part …
Some would say that a website exists on the hard drive of the machine that acts as the server that’s connected to the Internet. That may have been true during the Web’s infant years, but not anymore. A website is on backup drives of other machines, maybe in the same building, maybe in the same …
Jose said to me tonight, “But I thought you loved doing all those things!” My confession to him: 90% of what I can do, I HATE doing, that’s the truth. I have an eBay store because I couldn’t find anyone else to sell my stuff on eBay. I absolutely hate the tedium of selling on …
The high road isn’t where they walk; they’re just doing their jobs, and the road appears. From their 7am meetings to their emergency surgeries before the next dawn breaks, to their pro bono work and community service, to their finding precious time to be with their own families in addition to trying to save members …
I am now twice as old as you are, and feel damn lucky that I’m still here. This is what happened since you became me. You stopped being delusional about being a hero and decided that you’re happier simply being a genuine shmuck. You believe in God more, not because you are desperate or needed …
I was already satisfied. It was already fulfilling. I already got what I needed from the x-wing battle and the lightsaber battle, and then the BIGGER lightsaber battle with Rey and Kylo Ren. I was already satisfied. And then you gave me one more place to go, a very different planet with islands surrounded by …
“A thing isn’t beautiful because it lasts.” This line was spoken near the end of Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, and it’s stuck with me long after the movie ended. It is, I think, the central theme of it all, perfectly describing the human race, it’s/our imperfections, our constant search for trying to make things …
We lost Finn, a rescue cat, today to a feline virus. After months of vet visits and sweat and tears, and Kristie the foster mom’s sleepless nights and days of work and worry to save him, and a group of people pooling together enough money to try experimental drugs and pay for blood tests and …
Stop. Remember what Joseph Campbell said about the dragon scales, what was written on each one: Thou Shalt. Thou shalt get to thy appointment by 10am. Thou shalt take thy vitamins. Thou shalt pick up the dry cleaning. Thou shalt have breakfast while checking thy email, watching the TV news, texting to thy colleagues, and …
I downloaded this app http://www.font.my/ and made a font from my own handwriting. It’s not perfect but not bad. Here’s a sample: The words are from one of my poems, “a.m.”: the streetlamps dim to push sleep past the sidewalk up through windows into bedrooms like an ether with a deep breath that …
My mom described it best: “It looks like Tacloban went in a shredder and was spit out.” The Philippines was never a bright, colorful Disney movie, at least not where the people live. Where the people live, it’s often overcast with a haze from pollution or the latest storm, or a combination of both. Humidity …
A man walks into a building to work at a job that he hates because ten years ago he proposed to a pretty girl. He sits at a desk that faces a sealed window and does just enough work so that he doesn’t get fired. He defends the company that he works for while he …
America’s greatest strength might also be its worst weakness; it is one of, if not the only, country on Earth that will deplete its resources, delay its progress, and sacrifice the health of its majority in order to help those few who continually, habitually make bad choices.
Creativity Unfettered creativity Unregulated unfettered creativity Unscheduled unregulated unfettered creativity Unfearing unscheduled unregulated unfettered creativity Kind unfearing unscheduled unregulated unfettered creativity Paris, France
When I was in middle school, during P.E. we had to jump hurdles as part of our physical tests. Because I was at least five inches shorter than the other boys, jumping those hurdles seemed impossible, and whenever I tried, as hard as I jumped, my feet would always knock against the tops of every …
I woke up to sounds that weren’t produced by electricity. A breeze that needed nothing from me entered the bedroom window, passed over me to let me know that the world was still breathing. The bed sheet rustled unevenly, got out of my way so that I could go to the window to open the …
Destitute is an adjective, defined as “not having the basic necessities of life.” There is a new campaign by large pet food manufacturers that advises against feeding raw food to cats and dogs. Raw food, they say, is unsafe and not as balanced a diet as, for example, anything Iams or Purina or Beneful makes. …