Saturday, March 2, is the NEA’s Read Across America Day, also known as Dr. Seuss Day. I’ve been thinking a lot this year about Dr. Seuss, and not generally in a good way. ◊♦◊ For the last year or two, when reflecting on my writing voice and on my perceptions of what I’m entitled to,…
Author: Clio
Peter Tork and the Box We Can’t Escape
Peter Tork, one of my childhood icons, died last week. He was 77. The Monkees’s movie “Head” was released in 1968, the year I was born, but I didn’t see it until I was an adult. This is despite the fact that I was an avid watcher of reruns of “The Monkees” as a child….
do you think that my father
do you think that my father ever wanted to wear a frilly summer dress and pirouette through the fields with the birds and the butterflies? he was a big man towering at six and a third feet and greeted as the buddha incarnate by children in china but maybe inside of him was a fragile…
Why “Bird Box” Is Part of a Racial Commentary
I’m a white man who has neither read the novel “Bird Box” nor seen the movie. Which makes me the perfect person to respond to Michael Harriot’s satirical review of it on The Root. Harriot’s title says that the movie is really about how white people don’t want to see racism. He makes his case…
An Ugly Truth About Ugly Christmas Sweaters
It’s ugly Christmas sweater season. I usually don’t think much about ugly Christmas sweaters. They seem harmless enough. But as a public school teacher, I have learned that there are few things that are truly harmless. Before I talk specifically about sweaters, I’ll recap teacher rights and limitations with regards to religious expressions. ◊♦◊ On…
How I Lost My Voice
Once upon a time, I used to write a lot of fiction. I was going to be a famous novelist one day. I was pretty good at it, too; I won a few awards in high school, then somehow became jaded with the process and lost my drive, my focus, my mojo. During the time…
Rudolph, Hermey, and the Traditional White American Man
As we re-examine our cultural artifacts, another Christmas icon is coming under fire: The TV movie “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” The brunt of the criticism is over the way in which Rudolph is consistently and cruelly bullied. As a child that was bullied for being different myself, I identified with Rudolph and Hermey, the elf…
“Baby, It’s Cold Outside”: Rape or Empowerment?
It’s the Christmas season again, which means it’s time for the annual debate. Well, actually, it’s time for several annual debates: Is “Happy Holidays” a valid greeting, or is it the sign of a Liberal War on Christmas? Is Wham’s “Last Christmas” the GOAT of Christmas songs, or is it a cheesy artifact that should…
Thinksgiving
I feel awkward expressing gratitude on Thanksgiving. I haven’t been a fan for Thanksgiving for a long time. As a teacher, I appreciate the long weekend, but my family doesn’t tend to make a big deal of it. This year, for dinner, we had a modest meal. Something we might have had any other night….
Breaking Through Our Golems
I bet you know what I’m about to say. Not all of it, of course, not every detail. But by now, if you’ve read the headline, if you know what site this essay is on, and especially if you’ve looked at my bio or read any of my past articles, you have a pretty good…