My Memoir: Dodgeball

It was the greatest moment of my life. I attended a high school in rural North Carolina that was probably typical of rural high schools in every way, up to and including the sadistic coach/science teacher archetype. At our school it was Coach Kelly. He ran the wrestling program, was an assistant football coach, and, of course, an educator specializing

Read more

My Memoir: ice cream

When I was a kid my grandparents and I would sit on the couch and watch television in the evenings. We had all kinds of favorites. Beverly Hillbillies, Andy Griffith, All in the Family, Hee-Haw, Happy Days, The Brady Bunch, The Rockford Files, The Partridge Family, Laverne & Shirley, you name it. Those were great times, even though we only had black and white. And over the air, so usually

Read more

My memoir: Sam vs Peaches

I’m the Forrest Gump of apples. My favorite desserts often involve apples. Apple pie, apple cobbler, apple crisp, apple tarts, baked apples, apple dumplings, stewed apples, apple danish, apple butter, apple kugel, applesauce, apple cake, apple cookies – especially those soft Archways… [sigh] I’m sort of the Forrest Gump of apples. But my childhood was a frustrating one. My grandmother

Read more

Joanie Laurer, RIP: the sports entertainment machine spits out another dead body

#RIPChyna – former WWE superstar becomes the latest victim of an industry where people are disposable and life is cheap (because that’s what’s best for business) I woke to the news this morning of Joanie Laurer’s death. Known to professional wrestling fans as Chyna – “the 9th Wonder of the World” – Laurer was only 45. Details aren’t available yet, but

Read more

What you need to know about Bernie Sanders and mainstream media in one Washington Post headline

This is what passes for reason inside the muted corridors of serious establishment “journalism.” Flipping through the morning’s news and I came across this: I really know dick about Collum Borchers (or the editors who write his headlines), but a quick look at his archive page suggests a faint whiff of Beltway/Village wankery.

Read more

I don't like Hillary Clinton. Does that mean I'm a sexist?

Sweeping misogyny charges by Clinton supporters are insulting, corrosive, patronizing and counter-productive. An all-too-common theme we hear from supporters of Hillary Clinton is that the opposition to her results from misogyny. Sometimes we’re told this in just those words, and other times the charge masquerades behind sentiments that are intended to read as more affirming, like we see in the

Read more

Charlotte should secede from North Carolina

PayPal, the NBA and Bruce Springsteen are well-intentioned, but they’re punishing the wrong people. I have a solution. By now you know all about North Carolina’s appalling HB2 – “the bathroom law” – which seeks to keep transgendered people out of the wrong restroom even though in all of history they have committed fewer crimes in bathrooms than Republican legislators.

Read more
« Older Entries Recent Entries »