For the past several years, I have been a pacifist, abjuring all violence now and forever. Violence in some form was always a part of my life. I had a kind of rough and tumble, Mark Twain-esque childhood that included running around the neighborhood largely unsupervised and more boyhood fistfights than I could count. This…
Complexity and especially ambiguity are what make Shakespeare, Shakespeare. The Bard has many strengths: the grace of his verse and the ease with which he coined the perfect phrase or word, the ability to make esoteric and highly specific situations universally understandable, the prolific speed with which he wrote powerful and enduring plays, and the…
For the better part of a decade, I’ve been baffled by Morrissey. Not necessarily by his music, which is pretty straightforward, but by his cult following. To say that the English singer/songwriter has a cult following is not necessarily an understatement as it is an exceptionally literal statement. If you’re unfamiliar with Morrissey, I’m incredibly…
Last year, I sat drinking coffee with a friend. I was talking about something I was reading, and she looked down at my BOOKWORM knuckle tattoos and asked me how it was that I became such an avid reader and such an intense believer in literature. She asked if I had always loved books or…
Although I’ve been pro-choice as long as I have been familiar with the abortion debate, I have been more personally active in the cause in the past month than I ever have been in my entire life. This has brought a few ideas to the forefront of my mind. The Democrats recently lost their slim…
We are a miserable race of insecure, bitter, and lonely people. We all feel ourselves terrible, inadequate, we live in fear of the scrutiny that would reveal our deficiency. I am especially aware of my faults, I hold myself to impossibly high standards and condemn myself for every flaw. There are precious days when my…
Last night, December 15th, right before I was to go to sleep, I happened to glance at my Facebook newsfeed and saw an old friend post a status update that simply said the name of Christopher Hitchens, sandwiched by several heart symbols. I knew without further elaboration that Hitchens was gone. I remembered the announcement…
If you spend any amount of time with hardcore kids, especially vegan or politically active ones, you’ll hear the phrase “tough guy” thrown around a lot. If you aren’t at least somewhat involved in the hardcore punk scene, this might be somewhat confusing, partly because it might not necessarily be clear who these tough guys…
I think about my own death a lot. Often, though not necessarily always in a way that people would associate with depression. I’ve gone through one genuine suicide attempt and have had a few brushes with death that varied in their seriousness. In addition I have had a lot of close friends, sworn enemies, and…
I get asked a lot why I love Christmas so much if I’m an atheist. Sure, everyone from Dawkins-esque atheists to noncommittal Jews can be caught whistling a carol every now and again as well as buying gifts for their loved ones, but few people approach Christmas with the same level of fervor that I…