Category Archives: Politics and Culture

My Gig Economy

New York Stories, Politics and Culture, true story, writing/blogging/publishing related, , , ,

The better-half comes home from getting a haircut and tells me how his barber is taking online Russian lesson through some outfit called Got Classes. (That’s not their real name, but you’ll understand the alias later.) He says to me, “Why don’t you check them out? Maybe you could teach English online.”

This was more than a gentle hint. See, I quit the last job, which was in many ways the perfect “part time” gig at a nearby community based organization, except no matter how hard I tried, part time always became full time, and I wanted to spend more time writing. However, three years later, neither the novel or novella I’d produced during my hiatus, were offering me enough in royalties to buy more than a monthly latte at Starbucks, and that would be on a good month, nor was I living large on Continue reading My Gig Economy →

The New Normal Will Never Be Normal

Archives of the Resistance, New York Stories, Politics and Culture, true story, , , , , ,

palm-trees-brookfield

(I’ve got to start writing content for this blog again. In the meantime, I’m reposting this piece from November, which holds up well I think.)

(11/18/16) At this moment, I’m sitting in New York’s Winter Garden, across the street from One World Trade. It was the first place to be rebuilt after 9/11. It’s difficult to believe that was fifteen years ago. And everyone who was in New York will tell you how extraordinarily beautiful the weather was, and that it was a Tuesday. There was no hint of the coming catastrophe. Workers showed up, piling into their cubicles as usual. There were warnings, which were ignored by W and Condaleeza, but we, the people, didn’t know anything about that.

Today is a little colder than that morning was. Of course it’s November already. Almost Thanksgiving. It’s nearly lunch time. Office workers are window shopping on a break, or walking through on their way to the food court. Tourists are taking pictures. There aren’t many homeless people here, Continue reading The New Normal Will Never Be Normal →

Investors Wanted — Protect Your Lady Parts with the Smart Belt for Women

Politics and Culture, ,

iron_chastity_belt_europe_wellcome_l0058586With the election of the Pussy-Grabber in Chief as President and the empowerment of his alt-right gamergate bros  no vagina is safe.  This isn’t your mama’s rape culture. It’s open season on women. The modern gal can expect her subway ride to be a grabfest, and don’t look for protection in the work place, you whiny bitch! Ha-ha-ha! It’s so cute when you get red-faced and indignant. Take is as a compliment! Get another job why don’t ya? Besides it’s all in good fun, right? It’s not like you own your vagina.

But ladies, don’t lose hope! A solution is at hand. I’m looking for investors to help bring back the chastity belt. Not the old-timey oppressive kind where men held the key, but a new belt for a new time that you can proudly wear over or under your clothes, a belt that puts you in charge. A Smart Belt (Trademark). No more messy urine holes! You simply slip the thing off to pee, or when it’s time to talk to your boss about a promotion.

The prototype is still being developed, but since the point is to keep grubby stubby fingers from entering the inner sanctum — or even making direct contact with it, we are probably looking for a strong, but light-weight, rust-proof rigid metal. (I hear you can that kind of thing cheap from China.)  Something that can be welded into a shape that won’t interfere with walking, running, yoga, Pilates or other daily activities.

Money is needed for development. We could use some design ideas for belts that can be worn during the day or in the evening. Belts that make a statement!  Belts that tease and belts that just say no. Designer belts and knock-offs.

Does anyone have a line to Ivanka? Something tells me she’d be interested.

(Please say thank you for the blogs by visiting the Amazon where you can find my cheap books.)

Who’s on drugs now?

Politics and Culture, , , , ,

The man who went through two debates sniffling, moving around the stage erratically, drinking a lot of water, spewing incoherent nonsense, and generally losing his shit, now claims his opponent — steady as a rock even when provoked, rationale, articulate, able to focus and respond to the actual questions being asked etc. — was the one on drugs. If she’s on drugs, then …..

hillary-drugs

Advice I Should Take Before Giving to Others

New York Stories, Politics and Culture, writing/blogging/publishing related

20151031_151449A successful friend recently gave me some advice. He said, “Anything worth doing is worth doing badly.” It took me a while to get it. What he’s saying is we aren’t going to succeed the first time we try something, or the second, or the third, or even the fiftieth. There’s a learning curve for everything. One famous writer says it takes 10,000 hours to master a skill. The truth is if you don’t give yourself permission to do something badly, you’ll never do it well, or at all. You might reach a plateau and think, you’ll never go beyond it, but that’s the time to up your game, and keep going. So take a breath. Look at the progress you’ve already made. Make a list of things you can do now you couldn’t before you started to remind yourself, and keep on going!