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Don’t forget the pets
Good morning: the devastating pictures coming out of Los Angeles make it hard to begin with that salutation, because for many Angelenos it is anything but a good morning. As an Angeleno myself who went to school within sight of Altadena, I am heartbroken. It’s one thing watching the aftermath of a disaster in some…
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Triskaidekaphobia
While I stopped “practicing” the Catholic faith of my youth decades before, I “de-converted” to use Seth Andrews’ phrase (whose book I devoured, and to whom I wrote) in March of 2019. But de-converting is not as simple as just owning up to the fact that you don’t believe in god. I think most people…
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Crine
Al Kroesch (pronounced “kresh”), his wife Faye, and their weiner dog Willie, lived across the street and six doors down from me when I was growing up in Glendale. They were old-age retirees when I was a boy, and I trace my fastidiousness back to them. I used to call it my “OCD” until I…
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Going to the Dogs
Last month, Subaru ran a commercial on tv entitled Support the ASPCA® When You Get a New Subaru During the Subaru Share the Love® Event. The commercial opens with a young-ish girl who looks to be in her early twenties sweeping a dimly lit hallway. One can make out that there are kennels on either…
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The Great Debate
Happy New Year! From time to time, I wade into a controversial topic here on taxpoodle.net. Really existential questions like should you drape the loose sheet of toilet paper over or under the roll, and whether there is any real difference between catsup and ketchup. I do this not to advocate any position other than…
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Party like it’s 1999
Mark was a mess. But he was rich, so as drinking buddies go, when you’re in your 30s and up to your nipples in credit card debt, he was a good friend to have. Plus he had a really cute Latino boyfriend that I had less than honorable designs on, so I figured “befriending” Mark…
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This is how religions get started
Perhaps the most erudite commenter on religion of my lifetime, the late Christopher Hitchens, once said: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him will believeth in anything. – Hitchens 3:16 In 1963 at a small, liberal arts school in Northfield, Minnesota called Carleton College,…
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The Jared McCain Paradox
I’m the last person to talk about sports in general and basketball in particular. When I was 14 and a freshman in high school, my father “suggested” I try out for the basketball team. So I did. About 20 of us gathered after school on the outside court; my alma mater is built on the…
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The Mighty Met
If you asked me what I listened to, musically, growing up, I would proudly proclaim, without thinking twice, “oh I loved progressive rock – bands like Rush, Genesis, Yes, ELP, Jethro Tull, Supertramp, and of course Pink Floyd.” I got my first bike when I was 9. I put that bike, a yellow 1975 Schwinn…
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Merry CHRISmas
An obese, bearded man, dressed head-to-toe in what look like red velvet pajamas with white, faux-fur piping, patent leather boots, and a matching belt with a belt buckle the size of a Buick wrapped around his enormous, bulbous waist parks his wagon propelled by flying mammals on your roof. He manages to squeeze into and…
Your mileage may vary.