Monthly Archives: January 2023

I Picked a Bad Night to Watch the News

Posted by Caleb Coy on

I never watch the news. I sometimes read about it. There’s just too much to keep up with.

This past Friday I spent the night with my parents after my dad had a stint in the hospital. My brother used to live in Memphis, we have friends there, and the city is on the verge of something big as police body cam footage is about to be released. My mind has been filled with frustrating, sad, angry, and confusing thoughts.

It’s Holocaust Memorial Day, and the only positive news story I see is of a successful play about Holocaust survivors. But even that is only good news about bad news that must be remembered.

But there’s a tiredness to everything. What lessons have we learned? That same night, news of a shooting at a synagogue, that was a response to a shooting of Palestinians.

The home attack of the spouse of a House Speaker.

School shootings in schools where nothing was done.

And the killing of a man by five police officers in Memphis.

I picked the worst night to watch the news.

Nothing feels safe. Nothing feels stable. Nothing feels right.

It all keeps swirling around as the same experience in my head tonight as I sit with my parents, befuddled.

Why does this keep happening? Why did this happen this time? Who is responsible? What will be done to them? How do we keep it from happening again?

And these questions as being asked of everything. All the pain. All the violence. All the history repeating itself.

I’m tired of hearing over and over again of a few bad apples. What are we putting in the basket?

Where was the good news tonight?

Lord come quickly.

A New Year, New Blog Goals

Posted by Caleb Coy on

Last week, I published a satire article in Slackjaw: “I Thought I Would Give You A Call While Doing Every Obnoxiously Interruptive Thing I Can” in Slackjaw. This is one of many pieces I was able to get out last year, and it’s been the best year for publishing yet. So I decided to think through what to do about that.

photo credit: Jess Bailey https://unsplash.com/photos/q10VITrVYUM

I started this blog over a decade ago. At the time I went from thinking I would never do a blog to starting one up just to see where it went. In the meantime, my writing grew outside this blog.

While this blog serves its purpose, I am now transitioning to writing less on this blog, and more in other places. But I still want this blog to remain, as it does provide a unique space for my writing.

And so I intend to keep writing. From now on, you’ll see posts from me, but instead of seeing them on a two-week basis, I will be posting only monthly.

There will be some exceptions, quick posts here and there, but you can expect mostly posts from me. So keep following.

In addition, follow me on Medium. Last year I expanded to Medium, where I write mostly satire and advice on writing.

It’s been a journey so far readers. Let’s see where it leads next!