There was a time when I didn’t hate my neighborhood. Back when I moved here in 1993, it wasn’t a bad place. What happened was that all the old people died and young monstrosities moved in. Now I can’t wait to leave. The main reason I want to leave is that everyone here is a…
The youngest doughboy
May 25, 2014
Tomorrow is Memorial Day 2014. World War One began on July 28, 1914, nearly a century ago. For this Memorial Day, I want to remember Frank R. Sauliere, the youngest doughboy to fight in the war. Nobody knows where the term “doughboy” comes from. It could refer to the dumplings that soldiers made from flour,…
You’re doing everything wrong
May 24, 2014
As I predicted, the reaction to the mass murder at Isla Vista, California, last night is utterly pro forma. Everybody is doing everything wrong. When families have spokespeople issue statements, I get queasy. Alan Shifman — a lawyer who represents Peter Rodger, one of the assistant directors on “The Hunger Games” — issued a statement…
The right way to report on these things
May 24, 2014
Last night Elliot Rodger murdered six people and injured seven others in the Isla Vista neighborhood beside the University of California at Santa Barbara. Rodger himself was killed, either by sheriff’s deputies or by his own hand. Normally I oppose publicizing mass shootings, because almost nobody ever describes the situation accurately. People use them to…
What happens when it’s all based on lies?
May 23, 2014
Lies have cost me almost everything, as I document in Ghosts and Ballyhoo. Why do people lie to create outrages that don’t exist? Let’s say you passionately believe that the world is getting worse. What happens when it’s all based on lies? My next novel is about titanic, unfathomable lies. I need help in grasping…
Is it just me?
May 22, 2014
Do you ever have one of those days in which you ask yourself, “Is it just me, or has the planet lost its collective mind?” One of my favorite films is Miller’s Crossing. It’s very violent, so you’ve been warned. I didn’t understand it until recently. It’s a movie about coming to sad realizations and…
I got fans!
May 21, 2014
I never had any interest in Facebook. A few years ago I opened an account under a pseudonym because I wanted to find out what happened to the youngest ghost of my life. After I discovered that all my worst fears for her had come true, I didn’t do any more Facebooking until I created…
A first for me
May 20, 2014
I HATE commercials. The main reason is the music and the actors. Since I don’t watch TV, I see commercials only on the Internet. They drive me crazy. For whatever reason advertising companies use ukulele music or jinga-jinga-jinga acoustic guitar music or tinkly piano kindergarten music or smarmy Wal-Mart slop. And the actors are always…
The truth will set you free, but—
May 19, 2014
Like almost everything, there’s a caveat. The truth will set you free, but only if you can take it. I don’t begrudge anyone their desire to spare themselves terrible knowledge. We’re under no obligation to know the truth. That’s different from lying. Here’s how I look at it: The truth is behind a closed door….
The price of secrecy
May 18, 2014
For over a year, I looked for an artifact that I found yesterday. In the process I sorted through thousands of photos. One box came from my Great-aunt Clarinda, sister to my paternal grandmother Angelina. Every photo in the box is unmarked. I have no idea who these people are. The price of secrecy is…
