Criticism-in-finity!
Posted in Reviews on Sep 21st, 2011
While Americans might waste time waxing nostalgic for a declining age (visions of mom-and-apple-pie and the inflated egotism of our car industry), I would like to point out something that is truly representative of our nation’s greatness. Although the history of macaroni and cheese does not begin in the United States, I’ll be a patriot [...]
Posted in Reviews on Sep 15th, 2011
Joseph Donnell can no longer update his facebook status, and unless someone living accesses his password or facebook changes its policy, he’s forever stuck with this: “Joseph Donnell: Knee Replacement, 5 day hospital stay … Rehab … 30 days in rehab and therapy facility … going home today, PRICELESS!!!!!!!” In a literary sense, the narrative [...]
Posted in Reviews on Sep 12th, 2011
Cars, of all things, know when their time is up. They try to break the news gently. First, an oil leak. Then, a rattle that wasn’t there before. Then a radiator. A heater coil. A head gasket. They strand us on the side of the road, hoping that perhaps we will simply walk away. Perhaps [...]
Posted in Reviews on Sep 7th, 2011
“Brewing is a nature-based hobby that restores a measure of humanity and perspective to the art of living” – Sam Caliagione, Founder of Dogfishhead Brewery Brewing a batch of beer in one’s backyard is like a breath of clean, fresh air. The process cannot be rushed. It unfolds in its own time. It always makes [...]
Posted in Reviews on Sep 1st, 2011
Watching golf on television, preferably on a Sunday afternoon, is a divine daydream. It’s often mocked as a simple spectator sport, but mockers don’t delve into its gentle undulations, nor do they turn the spectacle down to a moderate, almost whispery volume. If they did, they would understand its glory. First, it’s a perfect excuse [...]
Posted in Reviews on Aug 29th, 2011
Anyone who’s talked to me this summer knows about my bowling team, “The Creepers.” For novices, “creeper” is the term for a slow moving ball. A bowling ball rolling very slowly down an alley. I’m being literal here, talking about the sport of bowling. Wanting to be modest about our abilities (our bowling abilities), my [...]
Posted in Reviews on Aug 26th, 2011
At this week’s soft opening of the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial in Washington, DC, a child yells out, “I have a dream,” mimicking King’s cadence. It’s a joyful voice, singing over the crowd. Everyone poses for photographs in front of the memorial’s elements: the Mountain of Despair, split down the middle, through which [...]
Posted in Reviews on Aug 22nd, 2011
Maintenance man Bob with the mullet coiffure says, “Th’ain’t jus’ become bitches and assholes, they’ve always been that way”– a time-weary observation shared by most of the staff. The job is paper-pushing, but it requires a moderate level of strength to push oneself through the thirteen floors of elderly tenants ranging from plantation inheritors to [...]
Posted in Reviews on Aug 16th, 2011
May 31st – Loss gets weighed and re-weighed. August 14th – The lights go out on New York. September 11th – A childhood friend dies in a plane crash in California; I go on a first date with my future wife. Anniversaries are opportunities to recount, to share experiences. They are elastic tethers that draw [...]
Posted in Replies & Rebuttals on Aug 11th, 2011
I moved into my apartment without meeting any of my roommates. I did not know then that the phrase “that’s classic Luis” would soon enter my vocabulary. When he broke our only trivet the other day, that was classic Luis. He broke all of our plates and now we’re down to two. A while back, [...]