Cataract surgery #2 is in the rear-view mirror. I have decided to use the opportunity to don my journalist/ “Enemy of the People” hat and pull back the curtain on how trained reporters go about preparing for and conducting interviews in order to bring readers useful information. Why am I qualified to do this? The … Continue reading ‘Enemy of the People’ reveals building blocks for ‘fake news’ story on cataract surgery
Category: Media
In 2007, I was on national television and in the New York Times for being one of the first “old” people on Facebook. On April 10th, I posted this on my Facebook feed: “I was going to just leave quietly, but it feels disrespectful to so many of you who I care about. I joined … Continue reading Hitting the ‘delete’ button on Facebook: a Dispatch from the quiet zone
It’s been busy around here. Thanksgiving is in the rear-view mirror. Before that though, my faithful seven-year-old computer went kerflooey. Never mind that I had writing deadlines. Thankfully, I have an understanding editor. And over at the library, we are moving to reduced-service status for the next year or so while we get a new … Continue reading Real Apologies Matter: A brief stroll through Sexual Predator Apology Land
This morning, Sweetheart came in and sat at the at the edge of the bed. “There’s coffee downstairs. And it happened after we went to bed last night, but there’s fresh hell,” he said. I sat up. More quickly than I usually do first thing in the morning. “Fifty people were killed and more … Continue reading NRA helps ‘lone wolf’ Las Vegas shooter kill, injure hundreds at concert: how is this ‘not terrorism?’
Ever been told to be careful about that sour expression on your face because “It might freeze like that?” The truth is actually simpler and more complicated, and I offer up as Exhibits A (male) & B (female) our current mess of a president and one of his "counselors." … Continue reading Kill ’em with kindness: Donald Trump, Kellyanne Conway and the ‘Old People Hypothesis’
The best seven months of my work life so far are the ones I’ve spent as a public librarian. Here are a few of my favorite moments librarying and some pictures of the reason I now describe myself as my library’s “Display Queen.” (Yes, I did use “library” as a verb. Thank you for noticing.) … Continue reading Great moments in librarying (yes, it’s a verb now), with illustrations
There are a lot of reasons I miss having a dog. Election season is one. Tuki used to come with me when I voted. She was also my candidate of choice on more than one occasion. I voted for Tuki when it was clear that, compared to the humans on a ballot, she would represent … Continue reading My Write-in Candidate is Dead and Reductive Disrespecters Want Your Brain: An Election Season Guide for the Perplexed
Donald J. Trump is a man his supporters would avoid like gay pride parades if he were saying the things he says while unshaven and pushing all his worldly possessions in a shopping cart. But he wears bespoke suits and lives and works in buildings with his name on them. So instead of being called … Continue reading Up from the grave to denounce a naked emperor
Larry David calls Donald Trump a racist on live television. People magazine writes about it. What comes crawling out of the woodwork? The love children of talk show hosts like Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck. Who are, in turn, the love children of talk show hosts like Father Coughlin and Bob Grant. Here are the … Continue reading Ranting with manners: Donald Trump, Larry David and why Tribe Golden Rule needs to start role modeling polite rage
the sentence factory 