"This isn't a country in transition but some sort of postmodern dictatorship that uses the language and institutions of democratic capitalism for authoritarian ends." A 21st century expose on Vladimir Putin's Russia from the beginning of his tenure to present day. This book demonstrates that as much as the national leaders change, the values and... Continue Reading →
Which Way To The Beach?
"We were at a party. One girl said I was like her grandmother, now dead. I told her I'm nobody's grandmother and I'm not dead, and she said that made it perfect." What if the only thing on your bucket list was to literally fill a bucket before you kicked it. Eighty-two year old Etta... Continue Reading →
Experimentation: By Any Stretch of the Imagination
"The tale of a country girl who crosses a river of poverty and ignorance aboard a boat called culture and on the other bank discovers herself to be something beautiful. This crossing concerned us personally: the idea that culture (or writing, or ideas, or activism) could be a ferryboat; that a girl could cross over,... Continue Reading →
Big Talents, Big Dreams, All I Need is The Big Wide Calm
Paige Plant is a twenty-five-year-old waitress, amateur painter, and ex-MIT student who relishes her time playing her guitar on the street in Harvard Square. She is, in her heart of hearts an aspiring songwriter who anticipates becoming a nationally recognized superstar, and hopeful of eventually becoming a global phenomenon. I say if you're going to... Continue Reading →
The Mind Wanders as I Read
"Once upon a time we shared in this common misconception of there being a divide between fact and fiction, but after that night our sense of the reality of events and the certainty of objects was forever deranged. How life seemed to be made up of the kind of person who controlled perception while most... Continue Reading →
No Greater Truths Are Learned Than In Competition
"Heavy rains fell on the inner city after a long dry spell, washing away the layers of limestone paint from the old buildings, exposing more patches of their brickwork. Water, which had united elements in the process of construction, now aided disintegration, allowing decay to make deeper inroads into the edifices. New cracks formed in... Continue Reading →
What’s Love Got To Do With It?
The great Canadian singer/songwriter and known cynic Joni Mitchell most famously wrote that "you don't know what you got 'till its gone." What you realize after reading some of these stories is the lack of perspective that enables mistakes to take shape in relationships (usually from the men's side) to ultimately lead to the end... Continue Reading →