It doesn’t matter who you are. It doesn’t matter where you’re going. If you live, work, play, or travel in the United States of America, you have to have a plan. You have to be ready. What will I do,…
Tag: The Problem of Being a Person
That West Virginia
I currently live in West Virginia. The reason this state exists as independent from regular Virginia, the Commonwealth of Virginia, the original colony of Virginia, is its refusal to secede from the United States of America in order to violently…
I Will Mercilessly Critique Your Charitable Donations While Unabashedly Endorsing Your Selfish Acts
On Monday, the world held its breath as the 800-year-old Notre Dame cathedral in Paris was engulfed in flames. We all were brought to tears as its iconic spire capitulated to the blaze. And by “we all,” I mean “those…
Alien Nation
“I was an alien in utero somehow missed New Mexico fell to Earth in Baltimore I know” -Counting Crows, “Dislocation” Moments of relatability are so resonant because they are rare. It is hard to write about alienation without feeling like…
White Supremacy and America’s Legacy
Hi, I’m Storey and I’m a white guy. Hi, Storey. Admitting you have a problem is the first step, right? Not being in denial that your behavior, your personhood, is contributing to the problems and detriment of those around you.…
What We Talk About When We Talk About Suicide: 13 Reasons Why and S-Town
Content Warning: This post will talk extensively about suicide. It is the author’s belief and, indeed, thesis, that talking about suicide, honestly and in detail, is the best form of suicide prevention. But if you feel differently, this post may…
This Land is… Your Land?
Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about how I feel about the United States of America. I suspect I am not alone in this. In fact, I know I am not alone in this. Every post on Facebook, half of…
What We Could (Should) Have Done for Aleppo
As a pacifist, one of the most frequent criticisms I face is that I am advocating “doing nothing” in the face of atrocities near and far. There are just bad people in the world, the argument goes, who will kill…
My Frustration Runneth Over
I may have spent too much of 2016 posting on Facebook about politics. Remember the dilemma I discussed ten days ago about working on entertaining quizzes for millions or serious books for a handful of people? That’s my only defense.…
That’s Entertainment!
When I was in high school, I had a discussion with my father about a long-prior discussion he’d had about the state of the world in the mid-1970s. He mentioned, in passing, that his conversational partner of the time had…