Anatomy of a Protest
We gathered together before the protest. Familiar faces, familiar roles. The planning had all been done in committee, but it was a familiar plan—put up a call on social media for a demo at...
Road Trips and Resistance Blog
New Camera
Preparing for a trip to Iceland this summer, I decided I wanted to up my game from taking photos with my cell phone, I wanted a serious zoom lens so I could take photos...
What Do You Care About Too Much?
It’s a question on OkCupid. Yes, I have been known to trawl my way through online dating sites. Women have told me that they have any number of weird experiences on them. So have...
Buckfast Abbey
I am probably the only Jew in Brooklyn with an uncle who is a monk and a priest at Buckfast Abbey, but that is my confused family heritage. That was apparently his ambition from...
Fragility and Minefields
Never post anything to the internet when you are in pain. In fact, it is probably a good idea to never post anything except cat photos. But I am getting ahead of myself. I...
Viv Rynne
It’s a miracle I learned to write. I was never very good at it in school, and unlike Stephen King I did not write a newspaper as a teenager, or edit a school magazine....
My Father: James Patrick Courtney
It was 3 a.m. in the morning for my sister when she messaged me. It was about our father.
Best Pizza in the World
Some people swear by John’s Pizzeria on Bleeker Street. And many believe that there is no such thing as pizza outside the five boroughs, and definitely not in Chicago. But not so. When I...
Skydiving
Before kids, three of us decided to go skydiving. Tandem jump strapped to an instructor, just go, get kitted up, jump out of a plane. Our wives got wind of the plan. We probably...
Identity
I called a friend who does not identify on the binary gender spectrum “she”, not “they”, and was rightfully called out for it. It was impolite, and politeness is important to me. That is...