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  "The Four Stages of Cruelty," copper engravings by William Hogarth, 1751.         Late March, 2025: By now, we should believe any promises made by Donald Trump and Elon Musk to cause pain. The sheer scope and carelessness of their sweeping changes are almost unbelievable, and the excessive and prolonged stress and uncertainty is taking a heavy toll. A chaotic [...]

In thinking about my post from yesterday, I did not mention the nation's grief or my own, at the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas. The fact that I did not reflects the first stage of grief: denial. I did not want to have to write this, but feel compelled. Each shockwave in this endless loop is another reminder that in the U.S., people [...]

Upon reading the leaked Supreme Court decision on Roe v. Wade, I got a little upset that it relied on the opinions of a 17th century judge who liked to burn women as witches, so, if you're like me, we tend to get busy when stuff hits the fan. I started cleaning out spam from my email because it felt like a sensible follow up. [...]

On the morning of Sunday, September 9, 2001, precisely 48 hours before American Airlines Flight 77 would fly this same airspace, I was on an Alaska Airlines flight making its final approach to Washington D.C.’s National Airport. There I would catch a shuttle bus to attend a week’s training at a federal facility 50 miles west of the city. It had been an uneventful [...]

To my wonderful subscribers, thank you. This braided essay was recently published in Rainshadow Journal, but I also wanted to share it with you. Dec 31, 2020: It was foggy this morning, and temps have not dipped below freezing in a long time. There was a thick frost a couple weeks ago, but the days blur and it’s impossible to recall when. I remember that [...]