Have You Ever Protested Something?

Today I saw articles and videos about 3 different protests (a small slice of all protests, I’m sure): NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick refused to stand during the national anthem to protest racial oppression in the US. In his words, “When there’s significant change and I feel like that flag represents what it’s supposed to represent, … Read more

Have You Seen Mr. Robot?

Having finished Deadwood a few days ago (which, as my previous post suggested, is truly an incredible show), I moved on to another highly regarded show, Mr. Robot. I had heard good things about the show from a techie friend who called it the most accurate portrayal of a hacker in television/movies. Plus, /film has a weekly post … Read more

Getting Old Is Getting Old

After yesterday’s ordeal, today has been much better. My neck is still stiff, but no spasms so far. I decided to keep a lunch I had scheduled with my best friend, and I’m glad we did. At one point in the conversation, I said something like, “I guess I’m just getting old,” and Trev had … Read more

Have You Ever Been Unable to Move?

After I write this blog entry, I’m going to take a prescription-strength muscle relaxer, lay down, and see what happens. No, this is not a fun game. Rather, something happened today that I’ve never experienced before. It was painful, frightening, and enlightening. I woke up this morning feeling like I had slept wrong on my … Read more

How Was the Food at Your College?

I’ve continued to listen to Malcolm Gladwell’s “Revisionist History” podcast, and the latest episode–Food Fight–raised some questions for me. The episode uses two universities, Vassar and Bowdoin, to demonstrate a key shortcoming in American higher education (in Gladwell’s opinion). Here’s the main comparison: 23% of Vassar’s students are Pell Grant recipients (as Gladwell says, these … Read more

Do You Eat Food Out of Containers Made of Food?

I ate dinner tonight at an authentic Mexican restaurant in St. Louis called La Vallesana. The weather was beautiful, so my friends and I sat on the patio, and all around us we saw people drinking these lush, colorful drinks. I ordered one, of course, and I was soon faced with the imposing challenge of … Read more

Pet Please #128: Facetime

I vaguely remember when I first heard about the futuristic concept of video phones. I was 9 or 10 years old at the time, and my thought was: This is the dumbest idea. Who is going to stand directly in front of a screen to make phone calls? Even when phones had cords, people would … Read more