Published in Plethora Of Pop·PinnedMy Favorite Album from Every Year I’ve Been Alive (Part One: 1966–1979)Now there’s no way for it to only be Springsteen — I recently did pieces on my favorite songs from both the year I turned 16 and the year I consider most pivotal for me, and I enjoyed those trips down memory lane so much I decided to go really big and choose my favorite albums from every year that I…Music5 min read
Published in Plethora Of Pop·PinnedThe Night in 1984 That Changed My Life ForeverI became one of “those who had seen him” — I have written on multiple occasions that one of the pivotal moments in my life came at nine years old when, in August of 1975, the Born to Run album was released. On that occasion I had a St. Paul-like, Road-to-Damascus experience during which the scales fell from my eyes…Music4 min read
Published in Plethora Of Pop·1 hour agoMy Favorite Album from Every Year I’ve Been Alive (Part Four: 2000–2009)The E Street Band Strikes Back — We’ve reached the new millennium in my limited series on my favorite albums from each year I’ve been alive, and it was as much a transitional decade musically as it was in my personal life. The 2000s saw the arrival of my second daughter, the end of my marriage, the…Music6 min read
1 day agoA Memoir of the Lost Generation: Ernest Hemingway’s ‘A Moveable Feast’It was a magical era — Every year I reread three books: The Razor’s Edge, The Shadow of the Wind, and Ernest Hemingway’s memoir of his Paris years, A Moveable Feast. As I was starting my annual journey with Papa yesterday, I wanted to look back at my review of the book, only to find that…Book Review3 min read
Published in Blow Your Stack·1 day agoJordan Peterson Quits Twitter Two Days Too LateI almost don’t have words — Proving that dumbass misogyny is not confined only to the United States, yesterday Canadian author and psychologist Jordan Peterson decided the thing to do was make hateful comments on Twitter about the newest Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover model, Yumi Nu. You can read his comment in the tweet below…Rant4 min read
Published in Plethora Of Pop·3 days agoMy Favorite Album from Every Year I’ve Been Alive (Part Three: 1990–1999)It was a weird decade for me — If you lived through the 1990s, I don’t have to tell you that it was a weird decade. For me it opened with joining the Army at the outbreak of the First Gulf War, had a wedding in the middle, the birth of a Springsteen-loving daughter toward the end, and…Music7 min read
Published in Blow Your Stack·4 days agoGod, Grammar, and the Sheer Arrogant Idiocy of ManThis one’s been brewing for a while — This may come as a shock to many of you, but I do not immediately publish a rant about every news item that infuriates me the minute I encounter it. There are many times I do (Greg Abbott press conferences almost ensure an immediate response), but there are times where…Rant6 min read
Published in Plethora Of Pop·5 days agoMy Favorite Album from Every Year I’ve Been Alive (Part Two: 1980–1989)The greatest decade — In taking on the Herculean task of listing my favorite album from every year I’ve been alive, I knew that Part Two was going to be the most challenging. As an unrepentant and uncharacteristically vocal member of Generation X, the 1980s are my touchstone decade. This is true for films…Music7 min read
Published in Artisanal Article Machine·5 days agoFlashback Friday: A Short Story That Got Lost in the ShuffleLet’s give this one another chance — Back during the summer, I experimented with the idea of doing a Throwback Thursday article that would highlight an older piece that, for whatever reason, just didn’t get many views. This experiment, like many over the course of my life, was an abject failure. …Fiction2 min read
May 11An Unexpected Interview with the Incomparable Luis OrtizHe shows up when he feels like it — I mentioned in an article yesterday about finishing the first draft of my next novel that the characters simply will not shut up. …Interview5 min read