Like Playdough Through a Keyhole

Between a movie and a birthday recently, my son and I found ourselves with an hour to kill at the mall. We spent some obligatory time in the video game store so he could point at 19 things he wants for Christmas, but then moving toward an exit, he looked at me strangely and whispered, “Dad. We just passed a store that sells bikinis.”

I Think I Got the Wrong Catalog

Okay, first Christmas starts creeping up past Thanksgiving, and then even to Halloween. I hear there’s a war against Christmas, but it’s pretty clear who’s winning that. Then Black Friday becomes Black Thursday (hey, did you hear? That already has a name), and because you didn’t get enough Blackness, we’re going to have Black Saturday and Sunday. Basically, people are going to physically knock the shit out of each other until it’s time for Cyber Monday (… and Tuesday … and Wednesday …), when all the servers go down like your office network during March Madness.

Life is Like a Box of Chocolates

When I was growing up, one of the things my mother smacked me for corrected was intolerance for other people’s abilities. I was, happily, a bright child and a successful one early on. Things came easily and when they didn’t for other people, I was quick to criticize. Mom taught me humility, which was really valuable by the time I entered very competitive crowds in high school, college and law school. By that point, I had outgrown most of my natural advantages.

As it turns out, growing up to feel like a dummy only makes me human.

Tuesday Redux

I suppose those of us who supported the President’s re-election should probably take the results and run, and I would, but it turns out that I’m not done musing about the election and its aftermath. Maybe we all have to put down the guns at the same time. A couple of quick thoughts.

Don’t Make Me Vote. You Wouldn’t Like Me When I Vote.

I stood my two-plus hours and voted this morning: a straight ticket, for the Meh/Whatever Party. Whoever wins this election, the voter mandate they’re going to be able to claim is, “Anything but the other guy.” I took one look at the line, cursed our improving voter turnout, and wished that I’d downloaded an episode or two of Sons of Anarchy to my kindle. But I didn’t, so instead of fan fiction (don’t judge me), I’ll share with you what actually ricochets through one’s head over that length of time.

Back to the Mailbag

Obviously, the Popdialectic stands as a strident call for clarity in the Internet wilderness, and let us never lose sight that we do it all for YOU. This is a site for the readers, and although I actually let the spam filter discard a couple of great comments, we’ll take a quick trip to the mailbag to see what people are saying. Never let it be said that anything good went ignored here. Or any of this.

Facebook’s Ultimate Conflict Kulture

Something to get off my chest before this coming Tuesday. LivingSocial just advertised to me for the third time in a week an “election night party” where I can let my hair down, presumably alongside everyone else who hasn’t yet committed seppuku or slipped into a frustrated coma in front of their preferred news channel. In expecting the evening of 6 November to be a good time to party, LivingSocial is making two massive mistakes: first, that people on the winning and losing sides of this election are likely to agree on anything but heavy drinking and eventually fighting, and second, that on 7 November we can all breathe a sigh of relief and go back to the grind.

Five Ways to Better Friendship

I believe that people are basically good at heart, and in keeping with that philosophy, I am willing to entertain the idea that everything they do is aimed at making the world around them better. They seek to set others at ease, to do unto others as they would have done unto them, to deepen and broaden and cultivate man’s love for fellow man. All that said, I think that perhaps some things are not taken as they are intended. Humbly and briefly, I’d like to note a few random things people could do differently, which will make us all better friends.

And Back. When I Feel Like It.

Here we are again. It’s been almost a year since I decided I had to get away from the computer and out into the world. I paid tribute to the birth of my niece, then slung the Mailbag over my shoulder and trudged off to live life IRL. Remember?

Welcome, Little Girl

Welcome to the world, Barbara Christine. Don’t worry, I don’t expect that you can read in your first few days (that can wait for week three or four, along with calculus). In fact, I hope your mom won’t let you get near this blog until you’re at least 14, but perhaps your young soul can absorb some of the fond thoughts being sent your way by all who love you and who love your parents. I’ve been giving your mom some space to recover electricity and sleep, so this is a clumsy attempt to put some of those loving sentiments into words.