My Brother The Yogi — An Interview with Christian Jerman
My brother and I get along famously. We had a great time growing up together, and my life would be so incredibly bereft if he wasn't around. He and I as people, however, have persued some differing skill sets. Aside from music, which we both love to make and make together, he has begun to cultivate a learned and engaging physiospiritual work ethic within the arts of yoga.
Recently I had the opportunity to ask my only sibling to go on the record about his background and current thoughts for this oft-misunderstood practice.
The Minutes of Our Last Meeting - Sexual Predators Celebrity VIP Chapter
" I don’t know why masturbating in front of someone is considered assault. I’m the only one getting groped.
The Men of Me Too
I’m talking to the guys here.
At first glance, men speaking out on social media in solidarity to the most recent movement to appropriately criminalize, demonize and recognize the all-too-common occurrence of women being sexually harassed and assaulted seems like a great thing. However, I’m concerned that the best kind of solidarity men can offer right now is by shutting up so you don't crowd those women speaking up.
Where The Lost Things Go
The circumstances involving those who wash ashore on Lost and Found Island are always mysterious and are never solved. I, for one, went to bed one night on a completely routine Wednesday and woke up sunburnt and salty on the sandy east shore of the island. I was found not long after by the other lost humans who inhabit the mysterious place. They came to the shore with goat-pulled trolley carts and filled them with the random debris that washed ashore. They collected the debris and took it, and me, to their village that was nestled in a grassy clearing. When the shock wore off, I spoke with them and learned that everything that gets lost in the world comes here to Lost and Found Island. This includes people.
![I Believe... [Shifting Demographics]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/579fa3912994ca0eff850271/1507721110823-P2C29EGTSQNWUQMU64K9/yorick2.jpg)
I Believe... [Shifting Demographics]
...that when piranha smell blood in the water, even paper cuts will doom you.
Illiterate Dick
"Hey Laura. I have to be honest, I recognize you from the Chicago Storytellers Facebook group. I'm Aaron. It's nice to meet you," The Match.com message read.
First of all my name is Lauren, I thought you said you recognized me, and second of all I am done dating storytellers and/or comedians. They are disasters.
I replied politely. "Hi Aaron. Actually it's Lauren not Laura. Thanks for reaching out."
This chat message was the start of a half-assed romance that lasted the hottest months of 2016.
You Aren’t Harvey Weinstein So Calm Down
Seriously.
On the heels of the not so surprising news that a mega-wealthy, older, white, Hollywood power broker turned out to be a serial sexual harasser there are now articles and statuses and tweets going around that other men are now afraid to meet with women because they might then be accused of the same.
Calm down, already.
What We Can Learn from Charlize Theron, Elon Musk, and Trevor Noah
Charlize Theron was born in South Africa. Elon Musk was born in South Africa. Trevor Noah was born in South Africa. Yet, of these three brilliant, talented, successful people, only one was born a crime in South Africa.
Notes from the Post-it Wall — Week of October 8, 2017
• The dirtiest roommates I’ve had have all been women. #TheFutureisFilthy #NastyWoman
• I’m a Cubs fan but I don’t really want the Cubs to win the World Series again. The last time they won Donald Trump was elected president. If you think those two incredibly inconceivable things aren’t related, you’re not paying attention.
Kaepernick Has Nothing To Complain About
I've heard people I love and respect say things like, "Colin Kaepernick has nothing to complain about. He's a freakin' millionaire!" at which point I'm thinking, "Wait a minute, he's not protesting for himself. It's for racial injustice. What you're saying makes you sound racist. I don't want to think of you as a racist. I don't want to think of you like I think of our president and vice president."
The Thrill of Cannons and My American Male Lizard Brain
I’m a child of the ‘80s. I grew up during the Cold War in the warm embrace of America’s beautifully violent and heroic narrative. Schwarzenegger, Stallone, Willis, He-Man… I used to think that Batman was a pussy because he wore kevlar. Rambo essentially rewrote history by winning the Vietnam War shirtless. And he blew up a helicopter gun ship with a bow and arrow. But I always knew this was bullshit. Hollywood. I may have fantasized about saving my school or my family or an office building from terrorists with weapons but I always knew that actually doing so was pure imagination.
The Minutes of Our Last Meeting - "Future Robot Overlords of America"
"We all agreed the family was way too into arugula and the world would be a better place if they were scrubbed from existence."
Breaking Down the 2nd Amendment
The Constitution does not provide for the personal right to a firearm. It was never debated or even brought up. In 1780, the idea of a person living, on what was mostly wild frontier, without a firearm would seem like a joke. It was such an accepted part of life that it was completely unnecessary to discuss. This does not mean that firearms are evil or useless or should be confiscated. It means the argument that even the most modest form of regulation is a constitutional rights violation is invalid.
Angry is My Happy
I like being angry.
I like being pissed off.
The oppressor is not going
to trick me into being complaisant.
How To Talk Small
It's my job to make small talk. I smile. I nod. I squint an understanding squint. Sometimes I mean it. Sometimes I don't. That's my job.
My name's Jack. It's nice to meet you.
Welcome to the fourth biggest, family oriented, entertainment destination in the north central upper third in the lower forty-eight without a mascot.
![I Believe... [AIM Wasn't Dead and Buried?]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/579fa3912994ca0eff850271/1507386600893-TIM1KCDRQU3G4UT763KW/yorick2.jpg)
I Believe... [AIM Wasn't Dead and Buried?]
...that it is almost embarrassing when it is announced that someone or something died and you thought they or it was dead long ago. That said, if you were still using AOL Instant Messenger, you're the one idiot using an abacus in the middle of an Apple store.
Really Tainted Love
You cross paths with some really messed people in your life, especially when you're a kid and don't know shit. It's best to remember the good times, learn from the lessons, and release the pain people cause you. You can't carry that garbage around.
Gun Control and Abortion — Two Sides of the Same Coin
In an effort to gain understanding on some level for the inexplicable, in lieu of simply writing off the Gun Nuts and 2nd Amendment Monsters and their lust for all things that shoot and kill, it occurred to me that the way I feel must be at least in the same wheelhouse as someone adamantly anti-abortion must feel every time a regulation on abortion rights is struck down.
Notes from the Post-it Wall — Week of October 1, 2017
• Too many people think Red Dawn and Die Hard are documentaries.
Trump is a Mirror We Hate Looking In To
To misquote the oft-quoted meme, Donald Trump is not the president we need but he is the president we deserve.
How do you want to be defined? By one action? By some opinion that could evolve? By a mistake, regrettable only with hindsight? Or by the sum of your parts? Okay, do that for other people. Start the trend.