Everything in moderation, or so the saying goes. Not too much, or too little; not too fast or too slow; not too hot or too cold—but just right. This, we have been led to believe, is a reasonable, rational, practical stance on everything from food and sex, to politics and justice. It is the centrist position that appeals to our innate desire for fairness, a testament to our belief that it’s entirely possible to take the best of both worlds and form a middle path between the two. The problem is that this is a logical fallacy, and simply not true.
Day Drinking
Sheryl Crow once opined that she liked a good beer buzz early in the morning, and I have to agree with her there. You have to be careful, of course, and neither overdo it, or become accustomed to it. No one likes a drunk. But if you can limit your excesses to the occasional excursion into daylight inebriation, it can be quite enjoyable.
Peter and the House of Hové
Part of a series of essays on New Orleans. Peter is a character. This does not make him special, or even cause him to stand out in a city such as New Orleans, which is filled to the brim with characters. It is, in fact, a city of characters, as…
A Thin Veil
If you told me that New Orleans did not actually exist, but was merely a figment of my imagination, an unlikely fever dream as illogical as it was fantastical, I just might believe you. There’s something not quite reliable about my own accounts from my visits to that shadowy swamp of food and festivities, let alone the accounts of others.
There Is A Crack In Everything
I have spent a lifetime trying to corral young artists and budding writers through process of creating something from nothing and my most important lesson has always been that perfection is a myth, and that seeking it, is a complete waste of spirit. This is not to say we should avoid striving for excellence, as excellence is different than perfection. Excellence is the best you can do with the tools you’ve been given, while perfection is nothing more than the unattainable folly of the delusional and compulsive.
Things People Like (But I Don’t)
Unlike social conservatives, I do not expect everyone to manage their affairs according to my little peccadillos, but once you start infringing on my pursuit of happiness, that’s a different business altogether. Most of my annoyances are purely personal and do not affect the happiness of others. You may wander the boardwalks, dine on lobster rolls, and make a nuisance of yourself in general, as long as you leave me out of it, and that is mostly the way it is. People are free to pursue endless nonsense and I am free to abstain.
We’re Teaching Our Kids The Wrong Lessons
There is a near perfect karma to modern children’s stories, at least in America. Heroes are beautiful, honest, and kind. Villains are ugly, greedy, and cruel. The message we tell our children is that good always triumphs because life is ultimately fair. If you work hard and do the right thing, you will succeed, and villains always get what’s coming to them.
Keeping The Great American Experiment Alive
There is no way to encapsulate all that is wrong in America, along with a comprehensive plan to fix it, in the confines of a single essay by a lone author. It requires a legion of thought leaders, each contributing a piece of the puzzle, in order to develop something…
A Quiet Truth
What we need is a revolution, a new world order where obscene wealth is viewed as a crime against humanity and not conducive to a civil society. We need to recognize evil when we see it and call it out as such, and unfettered wealth and power are inherently evil. We must restore some balance to the universe.
The Death Of The Insult
We seem to be getting rather soft even as the world feels a little spikier every year. It’s hard to know how we will survive as a species if this keeps up. Maybe I’m wrong, but it’s almost as if it’s no longer culturally permissible to ridicule, mock, shame, disparage, deride or denigrate your fellow man any more.