Sometimes, you can find warning signs about that thing you’re about to acquire/do — maybe not-so-little indicators that what you want may not be all that great or healthy. [Read more →]
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It’s been more than forty years since I made my last, final and permanent move out into the civilian world … leaving behind the life of a military brat, which had been mine since the day I was born … and making a new life ‘out there’ …
Life is different off-base … and, so are the people … not better, not worse … just different …
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I’ve marveled at the war that’s been waged on youth sports through our hypercompetitive culture. Everyone wants their kid to play up. As someone who has become increasingly involved with soccer, I was particularly flummoxed when I heard that the club soccer system was discouraging kids from playing high school ball. [Read more →]
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With Memorial Day rapidly approaching, expect to see more than the usual amount of war movies on television, entertaining us with tales of conflict and character in the battlefield … or, at least how ‘Hollywood’ imagined it.
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Marking a special day out here, in the far western reaches of Texas, reaching back over the centuries to recall a day of celebration and thanks near the end of a long and arduous journey.
Marking a time when a band of European settlers were seeking new opportunities in a new land. It was a venture that did not pass quickly or easily, there were delays of all sorts – some natural, and others political. Even by the standards of that time, centuries ago, the journey challenged the bodies and the souls of all – men, women, and children – yet they persevered until they reached the gateway to their destination. There, on the banks of the waters, they paused to celebrate, and give thanks.
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10. Scott Stein has done such a remarkable job of creating and maintaining this site, I wouldn’t want to do anything to detract from its excellence.
9. Its premise, as clearly stated in its logo, is that it is “a journal of American culture [or lack thereof]”.
8. I have done my best to reflect American culture [or its lack], and have found it impossible to do so when I am out of the country for extended periods. Its culture [or lack] doesn’t penetrate very far into foreign lands, and it is impossible to really reflect the country’s culture when one is not steeped in the Modern American Zeitgeist.
7. Winston Churchill once said, “Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others.” I totally agree, and when I was young, we actually had a democracy in the U.S.
6. Our democracy has been replaced by a plutocracy (government by the wealthy). The rich keep making more rules to make themselves richer, they get the U.S. involved in foreign wars through false flag operations (Nayirah testimony, Saddam’s WMDs) and the like (Timber Sycamore) because war is profitable and, to pay for the wars thereby lining their own pockets, education is cut, help for poor people is cut, millions are thrown off health care, and virtually everything that can be termed ‘humanitarian’ vanishes. The wage gap keeps growing wider and wider, to unprecedented widths, through such devices as the recently-passed Tax Bill (Ayn-Rand-asshole Paul Ryan’s raison d’être), and the poor and middle class suffer.
5. It’s obvious we don’t have a democracy because the laws never seem to reflect the will of the people, most of who want sensible gun laws, environmental regulations (see Flint, Michigan), campaign finance reform (Citizens United), DACA, net neutrality, enough control over the banks so the country doesn’t have another fiscal meltdown, healthcare that doesn’t bankrupt families, a livable wage, etc., etc.
4. The two-party system is really a one-party system now, each party bowing down to their corporate overlords, and the Democrats would rather see a Republican win than a Liberal or Socialist like Bernie Sanders, while the deck is increasingly stacked against ever creating a third party. The consolidation of media companies means less and less voices, the wealth of the media companies means no dissenting voices (a successful teachers’ strike will get virtually no media coverage because it might give other teachers ideas or, God forbid, encourage unionization), and the spread of the likes of Sinclair Broadcast Group makes sure the talking-point lies make it down to the grass-roots level. Comics like Bill Maher and Stephen Colbert do a great job poking fun at individuals like Trump, but they never really challenge the underlying system, which is diseased at its core.
3. I’ve spent the last 20 years working in education (at Temple University’s Center on Innovations in Learning) and education has become a joke, with Betsy DeVos appointed Secretary of Education, schools crumbling, and students daily facing the possibility of getting shot. Teachers are paid a pitiful salary, some working three jobs and selling blood, and when they try to strike, their opponents get talking points to discredit them from the State Policy Network, funded by the Koch brothers and the Walton Family Foundation. And if a school can’t afford supplies and a teacher decides to step up and buy their students paper and pencils, the teachers used to be able to take a tax deduction — but not under the new Tax Bill, which now lets the One Percenters deduct expenses for their private jets. But then, if you can keep the electorate stupid, they’re easier to lie to and easier to steal from.
2. Trump isn’t the disease; he’s just a symptom. People say he isn’t effective because the Tax Reform Bill is his only accomplishment, but through executive orders gutting environmental regulations and every good thing Obama ever did, horrendous judicial appointees whose effects will be felt for decades, and the appointment of incompetent department heads who were chosen because they loathe what their department does (causing their departments to slowly implode, as their best minds and long-time employees resign in frustration), Trump has actually accomplished quite a lot. Ever since that pathologically-lying unfaithful narcissistic asshat got elected and threw America’s (and the environment’s) deterioration into overdrive, I can’t stand it anymore, so I applied for, and was granted, political asylum by the British Government.
1. By the time this Top Ten drops, I will be living an ocean away, no longer immersed in this toxic Zeitgeist. I wish you all well, I hope Great Britain doesn’t follow America’s lead, and I will miss many of the people in America, including loyal readers, and especially Scott Stein, who I thank for the opportunity for a little spleen venting. I may return if the country can turn itself around — and that’s the biggest ‘if’ since Rudyard Kipling started projecting the titles of his poems onto the night sky over Gotham City.
Bob Sullivan’s Top Ten Everything appeared every Monday since February 2, 2009, up until today.
TweetMy last kid, the erstwhile little guy, my 8th-grader, finished up his youth wrestling career this winter. Spring soccer will be done in a month. After about 20 years of coaching youth sports, I now look ahead into the great unknown. [Read more →]
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10. Hyperbole is easily the best word ever!
9. It always seemed to me that quintessential should mean five things that are super important.
8. Always proofread carefully to see if you any words out.
7. Sometimes life throws you a curveball and you just don’t know enough about baseball to finish the metaphor.
6. If you can’t be positive, just be double negative.
5. My best friend accused me of not understanding irony, which is ironic because we were standing at a bus stop at the time.
4. How dare you incinerate that I don’t know any big words!
3. People who confuse the factual and the metaphorical literally make my head explode!
2. A missing letter can make a word of difference.
1. I knew I was dyslexic when I went to the toga party dressed as a goat.
Bob Sullivan’s Top Ten Everything appears every Monday.
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10. When I saw the wino in the gutter eating grapes, I was like, “Hey, Bro, you gotta wait!”
9. Warning: The consumption of alcohol may cause you to think you can sing.
8. You can’t expect me to stick to my New Year’s resolution about giving up drinking, because I was drunk when I made it.
7. The later I get, the drunker it is.
6. Liquor and beer, never fear, but beer and liquor, yadda yadda yadda mugshot.
5. Every time I pour a round of drinks it goes all over the place, so I guess I need glasses.
4. When I say I’m a recovering alcoholic, I don’t mean that I’m giving up alcohol, but that I have a hangover.
3. A woman walks into a bar and asks for a double entendre, so the bartender gives her one.
2. I was so drunk last night that, when I walked across the dance floor to get to the bar, I won the dance contest.
1. Hypnotists say they can cure alcoholism merely by implanting a subliminal idea in the drinker’s head, which is a sobering thought.
Bob Sullivan’s Top Ten Everything appears every Monday.
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10. I know my dog thinks he’s man’s best friend, because he keeps trying to borrow money from me.
9. I can’t figure out why my dog races to the door whenever the doorbell rings, because I can’t remember that last time it was actually for him.
8. My new exercise regime is basically retrieving things I’m trying to teach my puppy to fetch.
7. If a police dog is chasing you, try not to dive into a tunnel, then walk the length of a seesaw, then jump through a hoop of fire, because they’re trained for that.
6. The one thing my dog and I have in common is that we never want me to go to work.
5. I poured spot remover on my dog, and now he’s gone.
4. I just bought this new product that’s a combination toilet bowl cleaner and dog breath freshener.
3. If you’re longing for the pitter-patter of little feet, get a dog, because they’re cheaper and you get more feet.
2. My dog is half pitbull, half golden retriever, so he’ll bite someone’s arm off and then run for help.
1. Sometimes I get the feeling that dogs are just using us for our thumbs.
Bob Sullivan’s Top Ten Everything appears every Monday.
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Gore Vidal once said, “Heroes must see to their own fame. No one else will.” So, with all due respect to the Aeneas’s and Odysseus’s of the world, I’ll use this opportunity to tell you about the release of my new book, Writing Together: Ten Weeks Teaching and Studenting in an Online Writing Course, which I co-authored with former Drexel student Diana Gasiewski. [Read more →]
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He is risen …
Christ is risen, indeed …
“We are the Easter people,” Pastor Jim Miles of First Prez-Fort Stockton reminds us ….. and that is what we affirm today, the day for which we have prepared all week, the day for which we live at all times. A promise was made on a joyful, star-lit night, in a stable in Bethlehem … but that promise was kept on a bloody, storm-darkened day, on a hill outside of Jerusalem.
A pretty-full house for early service this morning at First Prez-Midland, and I don’t think anyone went home disappointed. The church’s staff and ministry did themselves proud today, and the message of Christ’s resurrection – and our salvation – was loud, clear and compelling.
Today, there was a little something for everyone … including me.
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10. Trump’s hands are so small, he’s able to wear his father’s ring…as a bracelet
9. When his hands are near his penis, his hands look absolutely massive
8. Trump said to Stormy, “You remind me of my daughter….Wanna fuck?”
7. when Stormy asked Trump if he meant ‘Tiffany’, he grimaced and said, “Ewww, that’s sick!”
6. Trump’s favorite ’60s pop band is Spanky and Our Gang
5. Trump only fucked Stormy once, if you don’t count the many many times he’s fucked her since his inauguration, owing to the fact that she’s an American citizen
4. Their pseudonyms on the nondisclosure agreement were ‘David Dennison’ and ‘Peggy Peterson’, so it’s “Double D vs. PP”
3. The best thing about the interview was watching Duke lose
2. Trump didn’t wear a condom, though he did wear a thimble
1. The couple in the next room complained to hotel management about all the screaming and moaning — “Donald, I love you! Donald, you’re the best! Donald, you’re so big!” — and then the woman would say something
Bob Sullivan’s Top Ten Everything appears every Monday.
TweetBig day, tomorrow … and not just for all Christians, but for all peoples … that’s what I believe.
“We are the Easter people,” Pastor Jim Miles of First Prez-Fort Stockton would remind us, and not just in the days leading up to Easter, but throughout the year. And that is what we affirm tomorrow, the day for which we have been preparing over the past six weeks, the day for which we live – or at least try to live – at all times.
A promise was made on a joyful, star-lit night, in a stable in Bethlehem … but that promise was kept on a bloody, storm-darkened day, on a hill outside of Jerusalem … and later in a place of tombs in the early morning.
Big day tomorrow, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ … big day … THE day, really. But I find myself wondering what it was like the day before The Day … what was it like during those long hours that passed between Christ’s crucifixion and his resurrection? I can’t help but think it’s easier for us, two-thousand years later, with the benefit of hindsight, with the Word in our hands, our minds, our hearts. But back then … right then, right there? What was it like for the followers of Jesus on THAT very first day before The Day?
I’ve always felt a little sorry for Peter, one of the first (and perhaps the greatest) of Jesus’ disciples. How many times have I listened to some discussion in Sunday school that included talking some smack about Peter and his shortcomings … it’s especially pronounced now, as we are reminded for the umpteenth time of his denial of Jesus outside the house where Christ was being held. What must it have been like – that day before The Day – for Peter?
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Through my tenure as an Early Reviewer for LibraryThing, there is only one book that I have failed to read through to the end … but, there have been a few where I came close, where I persevered and completed my read, cover to cover, even though there were moments I considered calling it quits.
To this small – really, very small group – I am adding Ana Faktorovich’s “The History of British-American Author-Publishers,” published by Anaphora Literary Press.
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A snow day. Ah, the glory. We’d be out all day, frozen, free. A lot of the stuff was dangerous, some was illegal, but (mostly) no one got hurt. [Read more →]
Tweet10. “And God created light, and saw that it was good. Then God created man, and saw that it was hilarious.” – Genesis 12:5
9. “As ye sew, so shall ye rip.” – Galatians 6:7
8. “And the Lord said unto John, ‘Come forth, and receive eternal life.’ But John came fifth, and only won a toaster.” – Leviticus 12:18
7. “Then the three disciples went to Mount Olive, but before they could, Popeye swooped in and beat the crap out of them.” – John 3:18
6. “Many are cold, but few are frozen.” – Matthew 22:14
5. “Then Doubting Thomas asked, ‘If we’re all God’s children, what’s so special about Jesus?’” – Mark 11:16
4. “And God said unto Abraham, ‘Be not mistaken, and doubt not that widescreen is the best.’” – Sony 16:9
3. “Thou shalt not raise thy hand to thy child. It leaves thy groin unprotected.” – Corinthians 9:7
2. “The lion and the lamb shall lie down together, but the lamb won’t get much sleep.” – Deuteronomy 13:3
1. “In the beginning, there was nothing, and God said, ‘Let there be light.’ Then there was still nothing, but now you could see it.” – Genesis 1:1
Bob Sullivan’s Top Ten Everything appears every Monday.
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• Part 3 of my argument AGAINST blanket divestment
As the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church USA meets in St. Louis this year and considers demands for an immediate and total, blanket divestment of the denomination’s investment funds from “fossil fuel producers,” I have to ask … is blanket divestment the answer? Shouldn’t we, instead, consider reinvestment of those funds into responsible – even moral – fossil fuel producers?
A phrase often used by fossil-fuel protesters – online and on the street – is Keep it in the ground! In response to their demand, I have to ask them … have you considered what else we’d be keeping in the ground, along with the oil and natural gas? …
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10. Every St. Patrick’s Day, when they dye the Chicago River green, it just looks like pond scum
9. People always making fun of the size of his shillelagh
8. On his day, number of people fraudulently claiming Irishness just to get a kiss
7. Compared to Saint Nicholas’s helpful elves, St. Patrick’s leprechauns are nothing but a bunch of drunken troublemakers
6. After you’ve heard “Top o’ the mornin’ to ya” a few million times, you’d kill for a simple “Hello”
5. Only saint whose name is associated with massive hangovers
4. When St. Patrick’s Day revelers get sick on green beer, they look like Linda Blair
3. The way Trump can’t open his mouth without a big lie falling out
2. Hasn’t had his Blarney Stone kissed in years
1. Snake bites
Bob Sullivan’s Top Ten Everything appears every Monday.
TweetThe passage of time in the course of advanced space travel – the way that passage varies between the travelers and those they leave behind, and the effect on even the strongest of relationships touched by that variation – has been a popular topic in fantasy and science fiction for a long, long … uh … time.
I remember watching “The Twilight Zone” as a youth, where an episode called ‘The Long Morrow‘ touched upon that effect. And I’ve enjoyed plenty of other treatments of that topic, in a variety of media, in the decades since … including Cynthia Felice’s “Downtime,” which I reviewed for LibraryThing a couple of years ago.
Now comes “Cyan,” written by Syd Logsdon, published by EDGE-Lite and Hades Publications … and a welcome addition to my shelf.
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