Is it possible or desirable for a good story to make its audience uncomfortable? Everyone I know has at least one or two things they can’t bear reading about or watching. For some, having to perceive sympathetic characters in certain kinds of physical or mental pain is too much. For…
Three totally easy steps: 1. Do not have children, (a) significant other(s), family, or friends. 2. Do not have a job or hobbies. 3. Put everyone else in a spaceship and send them on a tour of the galaxy at the speed of light so while they experience only a…
Happy long weekend, fellow Canadians! The first three episodes of the lesser-liked modern Sherlock Holmes series are out. So of course I jotted down what I thought, because: Sherlock Holmes.
(But first… happy birthday, A.! You probably don’t want to be associated with this blog entry, but TOO BAD! HAHAHA.) I believe in writing the scenes that serve the story. If I’m too embarrassed to try my hand at a scene that my story needs, then I’m writing the wrong…
Let me explain: I got Netflix so I could watch Orange is the New Black, which I hear is Netflix-shows-are-the-new-awesome. But somewhere on the way, I got distracted by Netflix’s other offerings. Because I watched Invasion of the Body Snatchers and said I wanted to watch Twin Peaks, it told me to…
Gender stereotypes make me viscerally angry. Good for you, you might think. Stereotypes should make us all angry! They’re lazy writing, lazy storytelling, lazy thinking. So this is news? It’s not. I know it’s not news. But at the same time, how can it not be important when even though everyone…
This High Holiday season, I thought about a joke.* Three rabbinical students are praying on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. The first student, a pious individual who has spent years and years studying Torah and Talmud and who spends all his spare time going over learned commentary, is moved…
I blame Rosh Hashanah for the fact that this blog entry is a day late. The Jewish New Year is so involved. It’s not like the secular new year, where traditions include champagne and a party. Instead, it’s a joyous but serious occasion that involves synagogue services and starting the…
(Happy birthday to a friend who probably doesn’t want his name on the Internets, and welcome back to my random blog! I suppose this topic is timely on Labour Day. Guess you’ll have to read and see.) When I was in high school, my classmates and I were aware of…
August is my vacation time, so I’ll see you cats in September. Live long and prosper!