On knowing our fate and living it up anyway — It’s funny how death dances beside us from our first breath until our last gasp. When I think about death, it’s not symbolic deaths and renewals that grip my spirit, though they are plentiful. The death of my parents’ marriage. The death of my maiden name. The death of myself…

Merriam Webster confirms the term dates back to 1948 — Readers: There is an abundant use of the word sh*t and variations thereof in this essay. If this word offends you, please read no further. No other profanity is used. Did you also think shitstorm is a newer word, perfectly matched to 2020? Boy, do I have news for you…

An informal interview about my way back when — In my teenage days of yore, I wore sunflower barrettes, thrift shop disco dresses, and shaved my head bald. I was excruciatingly shy and wanted to be noticed. My heart and head were craving the next level, the growing up. I witnessed, wrote, and explored town on foot. My last…

This decade+ podcast incorporates true crime, humor, and social commentary in a delectable weekly package — The Last Podcast on the Left, featuring Marcus Parks, Henry Zebrowski, and Ben Kissel, dives into the guts and history of true crime, ufology, cryptids, and gallows humor. Must-listen for anyone with a dark sense of humor and an interest in the gory, strange, and unusual. I’m an unwitting podcast…

5/100 Albums in 2023 — My heart continues to take me backward in time for the 100 Albums challenge. I'm not sure how Billy Joel got added to my record collection. However, I remember spinning Glass Houses (1980) when I wanted something upbeat and a little silly. Billy Joel isn’t a go-to musician for me…

Poetry, art, and war — The moon has been gorging on the sky. Its belly has grown big and full. Soon, the sky will take back as much of the moon as it can. Rib-like clouds, ghostly skeletons have asked the moon to repent. The moon, like a stubborn child, refuses, and the clouds move…

4/100 albums in 2023 — The Cure’s album Disintegration, remastered from 1989 in 2010 was recommended to me by music writer Kevin Alexander. Disintegration begins with a slow lullaby-like intro song, “Plainsong.” I’ve heard the current historical era we are experiencing described as a time of the “Great Disintegration.” …

Is this what blog posts used to be like? — Creatives often struggle with imposter syndrome. Many of us are afraid of snakes and avoid them. What if we symbolized imposter syndrome with snakes? What if we faced the symbolic snakes in our life, like imposter syndrome, head-on? …

Years before EP “Vroom Vroom,” there was True Romance — Charli XCX True Romance (2013) Heads up: This album is full of E (explicit) lyrics I’m a newer listener to Charli XCX. I thought listening to one of her older albums might be enjoyable. It was. I got, as strange as it sounds, echoes of Belinda Carlisle’s 1990s music. “Take My Hand” begins with…