Merriam-Webster defines reactionaryism as follows. Attitudes or opinions tending to favor established ideas, conditions, or institutions (The region’s entrenched reactionaryism made it one of the major battlegrounds for the civil rights movement in the 1960s.) Synonyms: conservativeness, die-hardism, reactionaryism, traditionalism, ultraconservatism Related Words: neoconservatism, Toryism; bigotry, illiberalism; conventionalism, conventionality, fogyism (or fogeyism) Near Antonyms: neoliberalism;…
Stuck in the middle
January 24, 2014
I’ve always loved “Stuck in the middle with You,” by Stealers Wheel. You hear it once, and it’s in your head for good. Trying to make some sense of it all But I can see that it makes no sense at all Bassist Tony Williams has a Fender Musicmaster, a short-scale and the first bass…
Fraud is the new normal
January 24, 2014
I hate fakery. When I was in college, a guy on my dorm floor overturned his BMW as he tried to pull into the parking lot. He ended up in a ditch, upside down. A tow truck was called, and his Beemer was removed. He and I were not exactly friends, but we spent a…
A letter to Mom and Dad, Part One
January 16, 2014
Dear Mom and Dad: Today I got some really good news, which I’ll keep to myself for now. In case you hadn’t heard, I signed up with a fake publicity firm that stole almost $40,000 from me. The guy who runs the company has no background in the publishing industry. What happened was that Tim…
A letter to Mom and Dad, Part Two
January 16, 2014
My letter to Mom and Dad continues. 28. On April 14, Mom, you came home. You refused to eat or exercise, even though you’d been told over and over that you needed to do so in order to be a good candidate for chemotherapy. We fought about it, and you accused us of criticizing you….
A big thank you to everyone who read my book
January 15, 2014
Even though things didn’t turn out the way I’d hoped, I want to give a big thank you to everyone who read Ghosts and Ballyhoo and sent me messages. I read them all, and they mean a lot to me. The next phase is going to be very satisfying. People who commit terrible acts of…
Seeing only what you want
January 14, 2014
A little followup on the reason why my publicists thought they could scam me without repercussions. It’s a classic case of seeing only what you want. The answer came to me when I reviewed e-mails that an interviewer sent. Writing about the book, your publicist refers to your humility… To me, you come off as…
Falling Down
January 13, 2014
It’s 3:30 a.m. I originally posted this on August 12, 2013. Now I’ll directly address the person I’m going to make famous. You read this and misinterpreted it, you dope. Like that cretin who interviewed me for the long article, you thought I’d become some kind of emasculated, half-assed Buddhist, forgiving all transgressions and plumply…
It was all for nothing
January 12, 2014
It hit me today: Just like trying to save Mom and Dad, trying to publicize Ghosts and Ballyhoo was a waste of time. It was all for nothing. Tim and I are doing some cleaning up before we have the houses appraised. We’re having to throw away things that represent so much futility. Neither Mom…