American Currency Is Changing
I missed the announcement a few months ago that not only will the American twenty dollar bill be updated, but the $10 and $5 bills will be, too. Harriet Tubman will be on the $20 (even if it's not for 14 more years), and although Hamilton will stay on the face of the...
Against No-Kill Animal Shelters
Sabine Heinlein's essay, The Cruelty of Kindness, poses the question of whether no-kill animal shelters have gone too far in saving every life. It comes down to the question of whether any kind of life, no matter how painful, is better than death. Maybe I'm all alone...
Hammacher Schlemmer Lifetime Guarantee
I bought Hammacher Schlemmer's Plantar Fasciitis Orthotic Sandals three years ago, but one of the soles started to detach. I went on their website to replace them and noticed that they have a lifetime guarantee on their products. I decided to try it. I called and got...
The Purge Movies
So I finally watched The Purge (2013) and The Purge: Anarchy (2014), which have to be called "social science fiction action horror" because there's so much going on in them. The first movie seems to be another home invasion story that pits a family against assailants...
Can We Get Rid of All the Mexicans?
I call this my "House Bill 56 Bedtime Story." It's the story of how Alabama tried to get rid of their immigrants back in 2011 and how it all went horribly wrong. Ha! It's a textbook example of the law of unintended consequences. Please read it HERE. It reminds me of...
This Just In: Be Healthy!
I hardly know why news providers like the L.A. Times do stories like Americans could prevent roughly half of all cancer deaths by doing these four things. We know we should stop smoking, drink less alcohol, exercise regularly and achieve and maintain a "healthful...
My New YouTube Channel
Part of my new business for non-native English speakers is helping with pronunciation. To this end, Welcome Dialogue is now present on YouTube. Visit my channel for short videos that help you practice American English. So far I have videos that practice the vowel...
I Don’t Want to Own a Home
It's an extremely American desire to own a home, and often we think the bigger, the better. Americans love large, sprawling pieces of real estate that we can stuff full of physical possessions (and our children's physical possessions) and the ultimate American dream...
Prince Is Dead
According to Vox's Why we grieve artists we've never met, people can mourn and weep over people they never personally knew for this reason, "We don't cry because we knew them. We cry because they helped us know ourselves." Writer Caroline Framke reproduces this tweet...
Nostalgia Is a Lie
My sister recently saw a production of the musical Oliver and emailed me that it reminded her of when I was in our high school production of the same musical. "Oh yeah," I mused. "Oliver. That was so much fun! My god, that was a hundred years ago. I was 17 and so...
Two Emails/Texts Is One Too Many
Today's post is a straight rant. Feel free to stop reading if you're one of those "look on the bright side" people. I'm currently feeling exasperated with the way too many of my American friends and colleagues often receive a text or email and don't respond to it...
Scary Phone Calls from the IRS
I originally posted this on April 20, 2015. I'm reposting it because the problem is even more widespread this year. This morning I received a call on my cell phone. The incoming call had a 347 area code. A young-sounding woman asked for Regina Martin and told me she...