Frankly, I don’t care how you’re doing. I know the feeling is mutual. Why does every conversation have to begin with the inane ritual of each party asking the other how they are doing? It’s a question that we ask to establish some phony sense of rapport, but we all know it’s meaningless and…
Category: Human Condition
She Can Play with My Kombolói Any Day
Casey: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/12/2008_greek_riots.html Kevin: damn, that’s nuts Kevin: compelling pictures Casey: too bad they didn’t put the phone number for hot protester chick in #7 Kevin: lol dude i was thinking the same thing. is that wrong? Casey: never Kevin: she’s fighting for social justice and government reform and shit Kevin: and we’re just thinking about…
Getting the Word Out
During the spring of 2008, my local library held a massive book sale. Hundreds of books were spread out in the courtyard by the rear entrance, on sale for as many as you could fit into a grocery-sized paper bag for five dollars. Among this bounty of undervalued books, I found and purchased an old,…
There’s a City Full of Walls You Can Post Complaints At
“One day, when I was quite young,” my friend Wendy once wrote, “I saw a graffittied stop sign saying, ‘stop thewar,’ and I spent two days trying to figure out what thew ar was.” Wendy’s recollection has always reminded me of a story of my own. One day at the age of thirteen, I was…
The Most Sarcastic Jack-o-Lantern in the World
One October, twenty-something years ago, I was a five-year-old boy sitting at the kitchen table staring at a pumpkin. By the end of the night, I would have a jack-o-lantern to call my own. There was no such thing as a child-friendly pumpkin carving knife in the early 1980s, so the most that I was…
The Art of Being Heard
There are few moments in life that feel more surreal and socially awkward than those times when you’re forced to ignore the effusive confessions of a woman in love because all you want to do is purchase a carton of eggs. If you think yourself incapable of this level of indifference, then consider how many…
The State of Friendship
I’ve never been fond of final goodbyes. Everybody always insists on brightening their parting words with lofty optimism and half-hearted promises. It’s a ritualized dance of mutually understood pretense that facilitates graceful exits. To acknowledge the truth is to create opportunities for awkward guilt and self-reflection. And so we lie to our departing friends, and…
An Excerpt from My Conversation with God
GOD: It always comes back to that, doesn’t it? Whose beliefs are the truest, whose practices are the most pious, and most of all, whose version of God is the most accurate? My answer to you can only be this: as in all other things relating to humanity, there is a common thread that unites…
School’s Out, Kids
My apologies for not establishing a stronger online presence this summer. I’ve been going through a large transitional period (to say the least). But I’m back now, and I’m happy to report that I haven’t run out of ideas yet. But more importantly, I wanted to let you all know that I finally have a…
A Bit Like You and Me
It’s so hard to stay motivated. I’m getting frustrated with the repetitive grind that is law school. This is only week two. Well, it’s week two of semester two, but the previous sentence had far more dramatic effect than this current one could ever hope to muster. I’m just tired. Normally, I’m not the type…