In the author’s own confessional vein, I must admit: I don’t understand Roth’s allure. At all. I’ve got 25 pages left in his latest, Indignation, and by gum the only thing keeping me on task is the promise that the main character dies young. This reveal comes courtesy of the character himself. Yes, the young man is [...]

Mathematically, connectedness is easy to achieve in a topological space. A graph is said to be connected if each pair of vertices share a path. In human terms, however, our life paths are far removed from each other. Even if we meet up at certain points, few of us would say we truly “connect” with many people.
It seems that I’m spending too much [...]

There’s something to be said for dreary day jobs:  If nothing else, they teach fortitude. And patience. And strength. Believe me, on days like today, it takes every ounce of energy I have not to wipe my hard drive and just walk out the door. Here’s to hoping I am strong enough to sit still. For the [...]

It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to surmise which box I’ll be checking on November 4th. Approximately thirty seconds after meeting me, my politics become obvious. Most McCain supporters don’t dress like I do. Give me another minute to open my mouth, and there’s no doubt at all. I don’t mind wearing my political heart on my [...]

There’s something in me that, since I was a very small child, has rebelled against the idea of joining in with the crowd. I don’t think my logic follows the oft-quoted Groucho Marx “I don’t care to belong to any club that will have me as a member,” either. My tendency isn’t self-deprecating, but suspicious. Any club should be thankful [...]

As the economy tanks and our country bankrupts itself beyond repair, I find myself divided between two camps: the vociferous gloom-and-doomers and the “hey what’s on TV tonight” types. I have elements of both personalities, and they’re warring with each other. The war comes down to this: Do I want to be a hawk, following [...]

…Except for trying to find a restaurant in beef country that serves vegan meals. We don’t have restaurants like that in Sheridan–it’s taken as a personal affront to the ranchers. To make it worse, I’m gluten-free. So pizza and pasta are out. Most restaurant salads are out, too–because they load them up with bacon and cheese. [...]