
The Cold (un)Civil War
These are all the warning bells of a new era of states rights and a roll back from federal control in the United States and the Left side of the issues continues to blare the outrage that this is all the fault of Donald Trump.

Finding Purpose in a World on Fire
What purpose do I serve? Am I merely a creature of consumption and survival or is there something more than drives me? These are questions I'd guess an awful lot of people are asking right now. COVID shocked the world into a dark gaze into the void of routine and comfort, of complacency in the face of chaos just at bey.
![I Believe... [Binary Choices]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/579fa3912994ca0eff850271/1655562290128-RTLOYZ31L5QV498G0GHF/15DF9F4D-F46D-4526-BD33-3540649ADE7F.png)
I Believe... [Binary Choices]
...that the internet operates on a binary set of numbers, 1’s and 0’s. Humanity operates with far more complexity. As the internet continues to evolve into humanity’s primary means of communication, we can’t help but begin to see the world in binary terms.

I Like to Watch | The Rocky Saga (1976 - 2006)
This is the wisdom of Stallone. The wisdom of someone had to fight like hell just to star in the movie he wrote for himself. The wisdom of someone looked down upon, laughed at, and ignored yet refused to give up. That's the legacy of Sylvester Stallone and it is most crystallized in his character most like himself.

Advice From a Dimwitted GenXer to Himself
Success comes from a cocktail of luck, timing, and the willingness to be completely reckless and thoughtless and bold.
![I Believe... [First the Show, Then the Convictions?]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/579fa3912994ca0eff850271/1655046941587-KXPPGO93QUQDR8X2YG3D/2E382AE5-1CE2-4891-A605-87FB8506427B.png)
I Believe... [First the Show, Then the Convictions?]
...that if, at the end of the January 6 Commission’s hearings, no one significant goes to prison, it was all just a campaign commercial.

American Jobs—Selling Amoco MultiCards to Old Women
"But doesn't it bother you any? I kind of feel like crap after a shift. I keep thinking about all of these poor people who can't afford these things and that we just hammer them over and over until they sign up for the card to be polite. I dunno. It seems... unethical or something."

The Truth Will Set You Free...
Here it comes, kid. For some time upcoming, you'll pass those places and moments when things were shiny and wonderful but the patina of betrayal will be right there to make each one bittersweet. Sonofabitch, I hate this part.

The Foley Artiste
She wanted to be lusted after, to be prey to the kind of men who fetishized her. She understood that kind of power over men. Her husband was not susceptible to that sort of control and, she imagined he might not be even if his eyes functioned.
![I Believe... [School Shooting Drills]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/579fa3912994ca0eff850271/1654276965635-WBJVBQRDV8A9REJ7MBZL/59CB32B4-6690-4AD6-AF64-A02204EFCD2E.jpeg)
I Believe... [School Shooting Drills]
...that school shooting drills are exactly the same as ‘duck and cover’ procedures and the air masks on airplanes—placebos to make us feel safe in a world designed by nature to kill us all.

The Dumbass Tree
The tree loved the woman but even more than the woman
The tree loved the idea of being in love.
What the tree didn't know
Because trees were long on roots but fucking short on brains
Was that woman only loved two things:
Herself and immediate gratification.

The Perils of Outer Space
Captain Jason Blue had been floating in space for nearly ten hours. He was going to asphyxiate in his suit in a matter of minutes.

Collateral Damage Group Session
“I just don't want to lose what little bit of myself I still have pursuing something that will only leave me with nothing in the end."
I Believe... [Utopian Solutions]
...that utopian solutions and dreams are super until you understand that unless programmed robots control it humans will inevitably fuck it up.

Finding Geena
When someone tells a lie like this for so long to so many people, the lie becomes a habit and habits become addiction.

If There is No Evil, How Can There Be Good?
"We fat all creatures else to fat us,” Hamlet states, “and we fat ourselves for maggots. Your fat king and your lean beggar is but variable service—two dishes, but to one table. That’s the end.”

The Campfire Rule
Intense self indulgence is rarely very different from intense self destruction. It’s just a slower version of it. Unless you’re in Vegas and then the two are roughly equivalent.
I Believe... [Decency is In Person]
I believe... that there is more decency in holding a door open for a stranger you can see than every tweet ever written for a cause that affects people you’ll never know. The first is an act of service; the second is a linquistic selfie taken and shared for approval.

The Unique Power of the Roadtrip
The life as I knew it was blown to bits a little over a month ago. I have a Prius (red so it's like a pocket protector with a Clash sticker). I had a destination (Kansas, home of my parents and sister). And lots and lots of road in between.

The Minotaur and the Mermaid
Carl knew better than to fall for a Mermaid. Notoriously fickle and prone to deception, Mermaids had a viciousness only equalled by their beauty.
...that knowing when to let go of people who have already let go of you is good. Actually letting them go and moving on is better.