Guest User 9/12/21 Guest User 9/12/21

Innocence Ends in Avondale - A Chicago Story

That’s it. That word, it pulls up like a tub stopper in her, letting all the old dirty waters drain out. It upsets her deep in her gut where she buries her heart. The Elston house feels disgusting, suddenly, as if she’s been swallowed by a beast. Doomed to dwell in a place where “utopia” is the exact furthest thing from reality.

Don Hall 9/11/21 Don Hall 9/11/21

I Like to Watch | Worth (Netflix)

I'll confess. I've never shed a single tear over the attacks on September 11, 2001.

David Himmel 9/10/21 David Himmel 9/10/21

Notes from the Post-it Wall | 5 Years Married Edition

Take nothing personal. Your spouse loves you more than most other people in the world. Be comfortable with that. They also hate you more than most people in the world. Be comfortable with that, too.

Contributing Writer 9/9/21 Contributing Writer 9/9/21

We Killed Jason Todd

In 1988 my friends and I killed a kid.

He was just a boy really. We had help it wasn’t just me and my pals. there were adults involved, lots of them. I mean we were young we were just thirteen and really couldn’t comprehend the ramification of our actions, the adults knew what they were doing. I’m painting it to sound way more sinister than it was, and in today’s society, wouldn’t trend on Twitter but maybe in the ’80s, it was probably considered quite ominous.

Don Hall 9/8/21 Don Hall 9/8/21

I Like to Watch | Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings

‌Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings is certainly not the first movie with an Asian cast or even an Asian lead. It is the first of the MCU to do this and given Marvel's extraordinary run and global dominance, this cannot be ignored.

Paul Teodo 9/7/21 Paul Teodo 9/7/21

The Clincher

At first the team was just a bunch of burnt-out baseball guys looking for a reason to get out of the house. Then it got serious. The trophies, the fights, the bets. Sixteen-inch no-mitt softball became an obsession. Nothing got in the way. That’s how it went when guys had too much of what they didn’t want in life.

Don Hall 9/6/21 Don Hall 9/6/21

I Believe... [Missing the Cold War]

...that I long for the days of the Cold War when our enemies were Soviets instead of each other and we thought hiding under our desks could save us from nuclear war.

Don Hall 9/5/21 Don Hall 9/5/21

Fair is Fair

"Father?"

The old man sitting on the bench was eating pistachio nuts and carefully placing the shells in a ball cap to his left. He looked Jack's way.

"Ah! Jack. Not any more. Not in long time."

Guest User 9/4/21 Guest User 9/4/21

Ghost Women In Another Vegas - A Poem

This is better than the last testament to her will, which has been reduced to a manuscript hidden in a rare and rusting trunk. Frothing and varnished, it waits.

David Himmel 9/3/21 David Himmel 9/3/21

Notes from the Post-it Wall | Week of August 29, 2021

Cancel culture will fail us all. It’s an overcorrection to answer for the previous culture that failed us all.

Don Hall 9/2/21 Don Hall 9/2/21

Take a Peek Out of Your Comfortable Skinner Box Once in a While

Skinner Boxes are the avatars of immediate gratification and unearned treats.

Joe Janes 9/1/21 Joe Janes 9/1/21

What You Don't Know about the Texas Abortion Ban!

Mandates “abstinence” as the Official State Birth Control and declares pregnancy to be an “act of God” along with hurricanes, blizzards, power grid failures, and mass shootings.

David Himmel 9/1/21 David Himmel 9/1/21

Leaving Afghanistan Better Than We Found It was Never Possible

I’ve been thinking a lot about my friend Jordan lately. I haven’t seen her in a while and I would like to get together with her, her husband Tom—have them over to our new place, see the kid, drink some beer, have some laughs. But mostly, I’ve been thinking about Jordan because of a rule she lived by during her dating years.

“Always leave your ex better than you found them.”

Contributing Writer 8/31/21 Contributing Writer 8/31/21

Hell is a Sunday Matinee

The most acid I've ever taken by accident was at a Saturday night cast party.

Don Hall 8/30/21 Don Hall 8/30/21

I Believe... [Comfort is Overrated]

I believe... that the worst perpetual state for any human creative is comfortable. Seeking out discomfort is the source of every great risk and every great reward.

Don Hall 8/28/21 Don Hall 8/28/21

I Like to Watch | The Chair (Netflix)

The fact that there are thinkpieces out in the ether complaining that the series doesn't skewer the teachers, the students, Melville, or any of the other popular demons but centers its criticism on all involved indicates the thing has legs.

David Himmel 8/27/21 David Himmel 8/27/21

Notes from the Post-it Wall | Week of August 22, 2021

I've met rabid Evangelicals who are easier on the senses than most basic bitches with their rush to autumn—pumpkin spice, sweaters, and jackets. You people are insufferable prior to September 21st and mind numbingly annoying every day thereafter.

Don Hall 8/26/21 Don Hall 8/26/21

How About Some Upbeat News for Fuck's Sake?

Among the most shrill in our daily discourse is a small group of Utopians suffering from utopian idealism. Utopians compare the present with what might be called the future perfect, not the past imperfect. Instead of seeing the present as a vast improvement on the past, they see the present as failing to live up to some sort of an imagined utopia.

Joe Janes 8/25/21 Joe Janes 8/25/21

Bullet Flu & The NRA Variant

If you have a gun and go outdoors, wear a mask.

Don Hall 8/24/21 Don Hall 8/24/21

I Like to Watch | Mrs. America (Hulu)

If there's one source of joy I embrace in film and television it's superhero shit. No johnny-come-lately, I loved that stuff before I had pubic hair so the fun I have watching any show featuring super-powered characters is incomparable. A close second is historical political dramas. I love 'em.