Wednesday, September 11, 2024

Who's the Marxist?



 

Heroes

 There's a very low budget movie starring Sigourney Weaver called The Guys about an editor helping a fire captain write eulogies for his firemen who died on 9/11. I used to assign it to my journalism students since it's a dramatized lesson in sensitive interviewing for simple illustrative anecdotes.

This tweet says that at a New York firehouse the names of the firemen who died that day - the "riding list" - are preserved under glass. "Heroism" is a word subject to debate depending on context. But not here.





https://x.com/JaniceDean/status/1833674580679934409 

Monday, September 09, 2024

Where Have All the Dirty Old Men Gone?


In the newspaper today was a story about a California politician (female) who required a staffer (male) to provide her with sexual services, apparently strenuous enough to cause him a back injury. There was a bit of spicy detail that I thought certain male friends might find of anthropological interest.

But as I prepared a mental list of such friends, I realized how many of my male acquaintances who might enjoy such a naughty tidbit were no longer among those of us who trod the earth. I mean who are still alive even if mostly inert. It's mid morning, and I have yet to do significant trodding.

Odd - or perhaps embarrassing - that the item of information that made me aware of, that brought into focus, the sorrow of lost friends was a saucy detail about sexual role reversal. It wasn't a salsa recipe or a viral cat video.

You might say I need better friends, but I really liked the ones I had.