Clik here to view.
John Y. Brown, III: The Maverick
Mavericks can be good guysSo long to James Garner who made us smile more than he made us think– because his characters seemed always to have a short-cut line to the obvious.Commonsense, plain talk and...
View ArticleLauren Mayer: Truth Is Weirder Than Children’s Fiction
One of my favorite college classes examined children’s literature through the lens of cultural attitudes towards childhood. For example, the Brothers Grimm wrote all those dark, scary tales of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
John Y’s Musings from the Middle: The Matrix
I watched the Matrix for the first time last night. I told my son I had trouble following what….what was happening….and uh…um….what it was about …and meant. But otherwise liked the movie. He said,...
View ArticleLauren Mayer: Make ‘Em Laugh
The past week has been a particularly sharp example of the connection between comedy and tragedy. Robin Williams’ suicide reminded us that there is often a dark side to funny people, and meanwhile the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
John Y’s Musings from the Middle: Favorite Things
Favorite things….At dinner tonight, No, we weren’t discussing Julie Andrews but were brainstorming for our “Top three” favorite lists in a bunch of different categories. It’s fun to play along. Here...
View ArticleClik here to view.
John Y’s Musings from the Middle: Bathroom Graffiti
Driving home from a conference in Nashville, TN I noticed the public restroom graffitti is notably higher brow here than I typically find in other states. Part of me, upon reading this, wanted to grab...
View ArticleClik here to view.
John Y’s Musings from the Middle: The New News Channel — A Proposal
I am at a point in my life where I want a different kind of news station. One that currently doesn’t exist. One that is neither liberal nor conservative. One that is neither substantive nor...
View ArticleClik here to view.
John Y’s Musings from the Middle: Transformations and life stages.
When I was a young man and someone said something that offended me, I would imagine my eyes lighting up and transforming into the Incredible Hunk — and mauling the offending person. But now when I am...
View ArticleLauren Mayer: The Real Reason Behind The Success Of ’50 Shades’
Not only is E.L. James’ fan-fiction’ trilogy a runaway success, the movie version is also setting box office records. Meanwhile, critics, literary analysts, BDSM experts, and all of us with any basic...
View ArticleLauren Mayer: Everything Old Is New Again
Retro is in! The fun of nostalgia is that we can romanticize the aspects we liked (e.g. Downton Abbey’s fabulous costumes and Maggie Smith’s great lines) while ignoring those we wouldn’t really want...
View Article
