This week, I’m keeping my part of the post short so you can use the time to watch this episode of Jon Stewart’s podcast, The Problem. Sometimes, other people say things I want to say, but better. Well, this isn’t exactly that! But it does take a look at corporations—what’s happened to them in generalContinue reading “Post 51: Golden Gonads“
Tag Archives: sustainability
Post 50: It’s Raining Candy
It’s saguaro-fruit harvesting season once again. Since saguaro fruits are, in my opinion, just about the sweetest, tastiest, most beautiful fruits this Sonoran Desert has to offer, I was planning to include harvesting and cooking tips on my New Stuff Sucks post this week. Then I thought, well, I’m getting more out-of-area readers now, andContinue reading “Post 50: It’s Raining Candy“
Post 49: Are You Wearing a Hair Shirt?
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood. –Robert Frost I once heard a radio reporter say, “Living an environmentally friendly life is like wearing a hair shirt.” Really? I thought—wondering if she’d ever tried it. Since I was never able to locate her story online afterward, I’m still wondering. But the search brought up plenty of othersContinue reading “Post 49: Are You Wearing a Hair Shirt?”
Post 47: Are We Too Many? (Part 2)
I posted the first half of this piece last week. In that post, along with this one, I’m responding to an article from The Atlantic’s Weekly Planet, “People Who Hate People,” by Jerusalem Demsas, May 25, 2022. It makes sense at this point to go back to Paul Ehrlich’s personal evolution, because it grew inContinue reading “Post 47: Are We Too Many? (Part 2)”
Post 45: Home Free
My marriage was killed by home-decorating magazines. Or at least they put a big nail in its coffin. I was lost. Paul knew what he wanted to do with his life and was passionate about it. I didn’t, even with two degrees. I had a lot of interests—and yes, even passions—but I had no ideaContinue reading “Post 45: Home Free”
Post 44: Three for Free
So now we’ve got inflation again, and higher prices at the grocery store. We’ve got empty shelves, here and there. Supply chain problems, we’re told—but “chain” is too simple a concept. Our global interdependence is more like a fine web, covering the planet in such detail that nobody can understand much more than the nearbyContinue reading “Post 44: Three for Free“
Post 43: Distance Loving
I was allowed a parakeet in a cage; that’s all. No cats, no dogs. We babysat a cat once, my cousin John’s, for a week. It must have been traumatic for the cat: These days, we realize cats bond with their homes and prefer the babysitter to visit them, to fill their familiar food andContinue reading “Post 43: Distance Loving“
Post 42: Is Money the Root of All Evil?
You’ve certainly heard this ancient maxim, and you most likely have an opinion about it. Maybe you even know it’s from the New Testament (Paul’s letter to Timothy) and that in its earlier, longer form it read “the love of money is the root of all evil.” In my experience, modern commentary is more likelyContinue reading “Post 42: Is Money the Root of All Evil?”
Post 41: No New . . . Caskets?
Nancy Mairs was the author who influenced my writing life the most. Her first book, Plaintext, from 1986, introduced me to the personal essay; I realized, then, that this would be the form my writing would take. I never knew her personally, even though she lived in Tucson and the very last sentence of theContinue reading “Post 41: No New . . . Caskets?“
Post 40: A Fresh Code of Paint
One afternoon when my former mother-in-law was still my mother-in-law, we were hanging out in my kitchen. She was cleaning my refrigerator–she was always looking for ways to help out, so I started making sure I saved some dirt and grime for her when she visited–while I was painting the door frame. “Why are youContinue reading “Post 40: A Fresh Code of Paint”
New Stuff Sucks 