Reflections on films, politics, and everything else.

Mostly I like to think of myself as calm and composed, at least this was what I was before Trump took office. Every day there’s something new to worry and seethe about, and I really don’t know how much more I can take. The current Supreme Court vacancy just might be that proverbial last straw. I’m thankful that I’ve never had to make the choice to have an abortion, but I’m equally thankful to live in a country where it’s currently legal. If right-wing extremists have their way, that could easily change with a new composition of the Court . Of course, they seem focused on this being an isolated case, when it’s really not. Overturning Roe v. Wade will open up countless other supposedly decided issues, making this a very different and far less free country. Roe v. Wade isn’t just about abortion , but about whether the government has the right to control what women are allowed to do with their own bodies. Think about that sentence for a few minutes. How many of you, regardl...

Earlier this year I attended a talk by a local journalist to a mostly young college audience. I don’t recall how she got on the topic, but mentioned that young people’s minds haven’t developed yet, causing there to be holes in their heads. Many students laughed and a number of faculty members nodded their heads. I wondered if there was a way to find out when my holes had closed, or if they had, as I’d clearly made a huge number of bad mistakes from my late teens until much later years than I’d like to admit. I began re-thinking about this concept while watching American Animals on the fourth of July. The film deals with the true story of college students who try, and miserably fail, in stealing rare books (including Audubon’s) from Transylvania University’s library. This Kentucky-based school isn’t that far from where I live now, and lived during this failed heist, yet I don’t remember the story. Granted, I was living a nightmare of my own making at the time, in a job I’...