Category Archives: Poetry and fiction

The Desperation Waltz.

“Life isn’t about what you can’t know and can’t do. It’s about what you can know and can do. I couldn’t know my children would be taken from me so young, both at once, but I knew they’d die someday. … Continue reading

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#MyKindOfBenedy: #RealityHigh is a black-middle-class teen family mean-girls rom-com with everything!

Can nerdy-glam Dani find love?You’ll want to know – and that’s art’s job.That’s a joke, of course. “#RealityHigh” on Netflix is short only a slasher to fill out the entire teen-movie dance card. We start with “Carrie,” which sets up … Continue reading

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How the Rape of the Sabine Women helped me sue for peace and racial harmony.

“Do you get the point of the story? It’s about exogamy — out-marriage. When a black man marries a white woman, or the other way around, two families that may once have hated each other are now united by their … Continue reading

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How did Reggie and Shake buy their way into adulthood? With Bitcoin, of course.

Who wants to go zipline kayaking?Photo by: Mike MozartA Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Willie story September 16, 2017 “So we’re in Dick’s Sporting Goods, all the way up in the steel scaffolding in the ceiling. You know how it’s all open up … Continue reading

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John Wayne, John Galt and John McClane walk into a bar. Why does each of them come out alone?

“No. You’re wrong, punk.I’m the real plastic Jesus!”Photo by: Esparta PalmaNo, I’m not making a joke. I can come up with my own dumb-joke premises, thank you. And I’m not teaching Pickup For Swarthy Brutes. No, instead I’m talking about… … Continue reading

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“News School.” An, edgy inspirational #MyKindOfBenedy peopled with gorgeous people.

The Iron Law of Television: There is no better television than television-about-television. Program accordingly.Illustration by: Diego Albero RománThis is not something I’ve written, just a treatment I wrote a few months ago to get the story out of my head. … Continue reading

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America’s Most Educated: “We know you only want what’s best for your kids. And you can’t have it.”

Worse than uninformed adulation is informed contempt. But never fear, for there is a fate in America that is far worse than education. Re-education.A Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Willie story October 19, 1996 Little Tommy Carruthers wasn’t looking for trouble. In fact … Continue reading

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#MyKindOfBenedy from my own catalog: Gambling on a hundred “Rocky” stories in Las Vegas.

Pulling a hundred “Rocky” stories out of one broke gambler.The Willie stories are full of movies. Not all of them are benedies, of course – I’ve only been thinking this way for four years, and I’ve only had the terms benedy and maledy … Continue reading

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Dear binge-TV-programmers: A series like “Thriving through Harvey” would hold my attention.

“You and what army, Harvey?”I hate serial fiction – franchise movies, series TV, multi-book sagas. That’s funny, considering that I’ve written at least a hundred stories about a serial character – Brother Willie. Even so, serial fiction bores me pretty … Continue reading

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Sympathy for the underfathered: How the right art will cultivate better lives for our children.

I have good news: The world outside your mind is a a glorious paradise of infinite possibilities. The right kind of art will show you – and your children, and everyone’s children – how to see it that way from … Continue reading

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The persistence of grinding: ‘The Founder’ on Netflix is a fun business movie about family.

I wouldn’t call ‘The Founder’ a benedy. More like a docu-drama – with Dogberry. The business model stuff is excellent, Shark Tank with a plot. The family dynamics is right up my street: Ray Kroc builds an empire while breaking … Continue reading

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The Better Sons-in-Law Society: A skate-parking date movie for the whole family.

The skate-park is Planet Dutch Uncle: Everyone is working out his own father-hunger, and there is no ‘authoritah’ except ongoing, thoroughgoing excellence.Photo by: Rodrigo AmorimHere’s a story for you, a father/daughter teen rom-com: A skate-parking Accidental Dad pushing 30 – … Continue reading

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When Kate became Nora: “Calm down, get married, have kids, cultivate joy.”

A woman’s place is in the home –as CEO of a staff of dozens.What would be Act IV of Kate and Leopold? Act I of A Doll’s House. And when Nora Helmer finally gets everything she’s been shaling for – … Continue reading

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Love and reliability: Marriage takes to the sky.

The Unfallen, a novel of love and indomitability, available at Amazon.com.I may make church later this morning, just so I can laugh at myself. I’m getting ready to deal with the idea of reliability – which is what Driven/Sociable civilization … Continue reading

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Free to a good home: A fun, easy plug-’n’-play best-seller kid-lit franchise.

What your kids need most from their bedtime story is what you bring to it even without the story, but you can bring the right kind of stories to your children even if no one has written them down in … Continue reading

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