Recently, with an Amazon gift card from a generous employer, I purchased the $40.00 book Sexe et Mensonges (La Vie Sexuelle Au Maroc) by the slender and sexy author Leila Slimani (there should be an umlaut in her first name), published in 2017. I expected it to be similar to Sex and the Citadel by... Continue Reading →
I couldn’t have chosen Prime. Not even if I tried. Prime does nothing for transatlantic shipments…. I ordered my book when I was halfway through the second-to-last book I read: that book referenced the one I ordered. Well, I finished that book…then another…and now I’m too stressed to select another to read: once I begin... Continue Reading →
By: Joe A while ago, I watched Requiem for a Dream for the first time in years. The next day, I was texting with some friends about it and I remember typing “requiem for a dream is our lives.” It seemed an intuitive thing to say at the time. I sent that to a group... Continue Reading →
By Joe A small, mouthy bird is standing by his car in a parking lot. It’s almost 11:00 PM. The parking lot lights are still on but will go out soon as they are on a timer. Finally, a rambunctious dog walks out of the door of the massive hardware store that sells everything from... Continue Reading →
By Joe “The trick is to find one item, one detail, and focus on it.” -Detective Somerset to Detective Mills Originally, I planned on writing about the various symbols seen throughout David Fincher’s 1997 movie Seven, but when I heard the line quoted above, I decided to focus only on the role that numbers... Continue Reading →
I watched Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket recently for the second time. The first time I watched it was more than a decade ago at least, so my second viewing was almost like seeing it for the first time. I did, of course, have vague memories of the training sequences and I remembered Private Pyle... Continue Reading →
In a debate by Intelligence Squared U.S., the motion of which is “Science Refutes God,” the always eloquent and extremely impressive speaker Dinesh D’Souza said the following as a response to a question concerning religious experiences: “We’re talkin’ here about an experience [of having the sense of some experience of God] that’s been had by... Continue Reading →
Well, it’s very modern, you know – to build buildings such as these, skyscrapers they’re called…gratte-ciel…grattacieli…cloud-gorers, even. I’ve heard it said that the skyscraper began here – what an honor! William Le Baron Jenney! I once read « Le luxe des ‘skyscrapers’, c’est de permettre à l’être humain de monter au-dessus de lui-même. » - oh! and... Continue Reading →
Today is Friday. I am sitting at a Starbucks typing this – something I very rarely do (typing at Starbucks, that is). I recognize the staff here. I think maybe one or two of them recognize me. I usually come here with a buddy of mine, sometimes on a Friday, but he is out of... Continue Reading →
DA-PHNE (chicago) 