Dispatches from the capital wasteland
April 9, 2009 I’m unsettled. I’ve never traveled for work before, but I like that it’s a thing — “traveling for work.” “Do you get to do any traveling?” people ask when you tell them you’re considering a job. “Two or three times a year,” in this case. “That’s great!” they respond, as if it’s … Continue reading
They’re watching you
These kids today. As I get older I struggle to not become of those, “these kids today” kinds of people. I worry that I might be becoming a crotchety old man though. You see, I grew up in the 1980s and hold a fondness for the decade and its popular culture. I also remember the … Continue reading
Gone Girl
After reading Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl I have had occasion to be irritated with my husband. Each time I think, yes, I’m mad, but am I mad enough to frame him for my murder? Lucky for both of us the answer keeps coming up a strong no. Gone Girl is one of those books that … Continue reading
A souvenir
I’m from Las Cruces, New Mexico, a city populated by around 99,000 people where you can somehow still run into everyone you know at the Super Walmart on Valley Drive and Avenida de Mesilla. It’s the kind of place where high school sports rivalries are king, where teenagers huddle down into a dusty ditch bank … Continue reading
More than just the monster
When Shochiku studio released The X From Outer Space in 1967, they likely had high hopes for their own successful kajiu eiga (giant monster movie) series, much like Toho Studios’ famed Godzilla (1954), which by then already had seven profitable features. Unfortunately for Shochiku, their monster Guilala failed to have the even modest success of … Continue reading
The coyote savior
I have a confession to make; I don’t understand some of Grant Morrison’s stories. What I mean to say is that I usually can follow the plot and generally comprehend the basic narrative but I feel like I’m missing important things within the tales. It seems as if I am only reading the surface and … Continue reading
Why the book is better than the movie (With one notable exception)
I have always loved watching TV. Yes, I said loved. I watch far too much and I blame my mother for that. She limited my TV watching when I was a kid. For a while growing up we didn’t even have a TV. (My babysitters were very bored after I went to bed.) I never … Continue reading
Catman, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways
It’s been a year since I wrote my first column for The Idler, and in that time I’ve been able to tackle a whole host of things I felt were important to me. From the earliest comics that drew me into the medium to some of the most thought-provoking material I’ve encountered as an adult, … Continue reading
Leslie getting married
I’ve written before about how much I love Parks and Recreation — the characters, the writing — but I haven’t been too happy with this season’s trajectory. Though I am pleased with the progression of Chris Traeger’s character and the manner in which his obsessive traits have been seriously examined, the current portrayal of Leslie … Continue reading
Saga: An excitingly new same old story
There is a longstanding observation, which contends that writers are thieves and liars who steal stories from their daily lives and lie about the details. While this reflection is comical in nature, at its heart is a kernel of truth. Each of us — not only writers — is a storyteller who steals tales from … Continue reading
