Revisiting the Notes on the Columbine Shooting
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Revisiting the Notes on the Columbine Shooting

When Eric and Dylan murdered twelve students and one teacher, we were shocked—just like the two angry killers wanted. They also wanted the day to be remembered forever. And it will be. Because the Columbine High School Massacre is like Elvis Presley. Nothing like it came before and every mass shooting since can’t help but draw inspiration from it.

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Why We Gave Our Son Away
David Himmel David Himmel David Himmel David Himmel

Why We Gave Our Son Away

Parenthood requires sacrifice. Lots of it. A more optimistic person might say it’s not sacrifice but compromise, and to that I say they don’t know what they’re talking about. Over the last several years, my wife and I have been parents to a wonderful little human named Harrison. He’s intelligent, strong, funny, helpful, and kind. Most of the time anyway. He’s also a three-year-old toddler so he is also erratic, neurotic, sullen, mercurial, and violent. Why, just yesterday, he slapped me across the face after telling him I loved him. In a very tiny nutshell, that right there is parenthood. You give love, you get smacked in the face.

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The Nine Circles of Offense
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The Nine Circles of Offense

Offense is hell. It’s angering and frustrating and confusing and sometimes it feels eternal. Like the actual Hell, which is real because people who trust the Zombie God say so (happy Easter, by the way), there are a variety of meeting places for those who have been offended. And so, I present to you the Nine Circles of Offense. And if you’ve ever been offended, you’ll understandably recognize a few having visited that circle or circles before.

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The Mental Health Conditioning of WandaVision
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The Mental Health Conditioning of WandaVision

WandaVision has ended. The ninth and final episode is currently streaming on Disney+. As of this writing, I have not watched it. But, boy am I excited to. I’ve been waiting since mid-January to watch this series finale. The slow burn of the whole thing with its clever clues and nerd-gasm Easter eggs… And what a wait it’s been.

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Requiem for a Bartender
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Requiem for a Bartender

Steve ran the joint. Tending bar was the family business. His father, Tom, ran it the generation before mine. Steve and I became fast friends. That’s the bartender’s job, after all—to befriend their loyal patrons. But I was also young, boiling over with energy, and thirsty to learn the ways of drinking legally in public. Steve gave me, gave so many of us that arena.

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Notes from the Post-it Wall | Week of February 14, 2021
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Notes from the Post-it Wall | Week of February 14, 2021

Poor white people love people like Trump because they’re two sides of the same coin. They both live completely sheltered lives and both believe the lie of American Exceptionalism. The wealthier side of the coin believes that they were born into that exceptionalism because they deserved it and the poorer side believes that one day, they, too will be exceptional.

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The Tragic Genius of Dustin “Screech” Diamond
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The Tragic Genius of Dustin “Screech” Diamond

We all wanted to be Zack and Kelly. Maybe some of us wanted to be Slater or even Jessie. But we should have wanted to be Screech. Screech was the best of them all. They best of all of us. Screech was a progressive television character before we knew what that was supposed to be. And that is solely because of Dustin Diamond.

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