I think the creators of the Netflix hit show Ozark borrowed from a famous hundred-year-old novel.
I realized this as I came to the last episode of Ozark. The story is sort of a rural, modern Gatsby tale. I mean, if you always understood Fitzgerald’s masterpiece to be about the American Dream and not just a love story.
[The following is a poem I wrote in high school in reflection on the suicide of a classmate]
There’s an empty desk today And yet the textbooks are still open The chalk is still in motion The class is still in session, The space cannot be filled For the presence is forgotten A parent’s own begotten A youth’s demise is rotten, Was he more a ghost In the present or the past A living outcast Life ceases way too fast, The others shrug their shoulders There goes another one It cannot be undone Bless the little son, Sadness will fade slowly Nothing will be the same way The kids will always say There’s an empty desk today.
Good day readers! I hope it is a good day. Recently The Windhover has published my essay, “Pharaoh’s Anatomy,” about the spirituality of kidneys.
Didn’t think that topic could be explored? Think again, and read my essay and other spiritually-themed work from the latest issue. You can purchase a copy from their website here.
This week I’m reblogging a post from 6 years ago about Batman villains. In the spirit of this year’s film release of The Batman and it’s hit villain, The Riddler.
Regardless of what Putin-apologists will tell you, the situation in Ukraine is simple. Ukraine is a sovereign nation. Russia invaded them. Continue reading →
Hi, readers. Do you hate having a cold? What does it mean to get one? What does its commonness mean?
This week I wanted to share with you my latest publication. My essay, “The All Too Common Tyranny of a Rhinovirus,” has appeared in the Spring issue of Medical Literary Messenger.
I know what you’re thinking: Don’t go there. The Netflix hit Don’t Look Up is a political satire and an allegory for climate change. There is no Christian subtext.
Ok, the movie obviously wasn’t written by a baptist studio, an evangelical media startup, or Kirk Cameron. It was written by a liberal comedian. And the idea of a random comet hitting earth and destroying all human life for no reason contrasts with the end-times beliefs of most Christians, not to mention the disbelief in climate change by many—but not all—evangelicals.
It looks like a fun game, really. I like the colors. It’s kind of like a mandala. But let’s be honest, the aspect of throwing dice is too much a cause of negligence, and neither I nor my disciples will participating in anything that is a cause of negligence.
So that’s a big “no” on Farkle and Yahtzee a well. Sorry, but that rules out Sorry as well. You are free to bring out the Bunco box, but I and my disciples will be abstaining this evening.
Will you pass the hummus? And some of those baby carrots.
I hear that you are a blindfold chess champion. Props to you for that. But I cannot walk the eight-fold path and play an 8×8 tile game on a board simultaneously. It is a mockery.
Yeah, put some of of those pretzels on my plate. There you go.