I love the Great Whatsit. Have loved it since its first post, way back in January of 2006. Have loved it since Dr. Cedric revealed the medical dilemmas that came through his door. Since Farrell and Trixie revealed the details of their home renovations. Since before the East Coasters and West Coasters met at the […]
Author Archive
And……scene.
You never really see it coming. You have a feeling, but you brush it aside – you’re too comfortable in the current circumstances. Those closed-door meetings, the feeling that your colleague is trying to tell you something as you stay after work and watch the debates together. But you chalk it up to other things […]
The great prostitution debate
From Andrew Sullivan’s Daily Dish: A reader has an interesting point: 1. Why is it illegal for me to pay a prostitute for sex, but it’s NOT illegal for a film director to pay two people to have sex in front of a camera and then make money for his product in the form of […]
Fucked up… but in a good way?
About a year ago, my father wrote me an email. “You should get some therapy,” he said. “You really need it.” (He said some other stuff too, but we won’t get into that again.) Of course, I dismissed this as a fake entreaty, bitter retaliation for a Whatsit post I wrote about growing up a […]
The few, the proud, the suicidal
CNN reported last week that suicide attempts among American military personnel are way up. In fact, they reported that the number reached over two thousand last year. Also, over the last few weeks the NY Times has been running a series of articles about the high level of violent criminal activity among returning GIs, attributing […]
Straddling offense
Imagine you teach literature (not a stretch for many of you). Now imagine you have a student who’s super pious and often writes about how the texts you select feature filthy, immoral women who aren’t following God’s laws and instead choose to “spill into the volatile meaty mire of raunchy, distasteful choices” and “dip their […]
You Be Bad
“I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart.” – Anne Frank “People are inherently evil. Religion is the only civilizing force; without it, we’d all be reduced to a savage state, a state we’re really on the brink of all the time.” – My brother (paraphrased) My brother recently […]
Sometimes I need to be convinced
I had this conversation recently with another TGWer: “But I don’t want to go.” “Why not?” “Because I just don’t.” “You have no reason not to.” “Yes I do. I want to stay home. Isn’t that a reason?” “I suppose. Just not a good one.” “Will you drive?” […]
Who got served? Four soldiers’ stories
1. My dear friend’s brother is 43; he’s in a happily rewarding second marriage and his kids are 5, 3, and newborn. Despite this brand-new sprouting family, though, he strongly feels his primary duty is to serve in the war, so he’s decided to enlist. His particular assignment, which is slated to last a year […]
