On the Road
It’s Tuesday March 12, 2024 and I’m three miles up a steep dirt road a bit northwest of Bisbee, Arizona in a dispersed camping area designated by the Bureau of Land Management. While on the road for about two...
A Stephen King Sampler
Stephen King may be the most prolific writer of our day. He has written dozens of full-length stand-alone novels beginning with Carrie in 1974, a lifetime of short story collections—many published before Carrie—five unique series collections, a handful of...
A Little Devil
There are many lenses through which we might examine American history. In the spirit of Black History Month, I offer the lens of Hanif Abdurraqib, a poet, essayist, and cultural critic born in 1983 and raised in Columbus, Ohio....
We’ve Been Here Before
During the first half of the twentieth century, the United States participated in two world wars. In each case, the slaughter began long before America intervened and the country was starkly divided about what to do. Today, we tend...
A Lone Voice
John Marshall served as Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1801-1835 and is largely seen as giving life and meaning to the third branch of our nation’s government. In 1833, a boy was born in Kentucky...
Deacon King Kong Brooklyn
While teaching eighth graders about the American Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s, I tended toward emphasizing the larger picture of social and cultural change because this is what the state curriculum standards mandated; and for good...
The Diggers
This article was originally published February 24, 2023 in Topanga New Times. In the twenty-first century, Cobalt (Co on the periodic table) has become a highly valued commodity; one of the few elements that make our rechargeable batteries perform...
Uncle Joe
This article was originally published December 31, 2020 in Topanga New Times. Given the general attitude towards government in the twenty-first century, it occurs to me that the expectations surrounding your recent promotion are rather low. With that said,...
Pentecost and Parker
I once rode an elephant… bareback… around the hippodrome… during a circus performance… Cassidy is one of my favorite students of all time and she has the circus in her blood. I didn’t really know what that meant until...
Gift of Reading IV
I’ve made a bit of an effort lately to keep my eye out for new, more diverse reading material and the exercise has paid off. Sometimes the “recommendation” comes from seeing a familiar title or author that seems to...
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