Month: April 2026

  • Short Story Review: “Rate Your Happiness” by Catherine Lacey

    (The short story “Rate Your Happiness” by Catherine Lacey appeared in the April 13th, 2026 issue of The New Yorker.)

    Photograph by Tobias Nicolai

    When I finished reading Catherine Lacey’s “Rate Your Happiness” I was reminded of driving a car with a manual transmission. Especially when you don’t put the car in gear and still step on the gas which causes the engine to rev really high, but you don’t go anywhere. In this story, the narrator calls this “meaningless motion” and they’re right. And it’s also very frustrating.

    I understand that the theme of this story was existing in atrophy, and motion that leads to nowhere. Unfortunately, having a protagonist that doesn’t make a decision or choice leaves the ending of the story empty and unsatisfying. There is one sentence in the last paragraph which I think attempts to bring about a conclusion: “Louise returned to the street with real intent, finally carrying her contradictory desires with total clarity…” but I have to say that this sentence is being asking to do a whole lot of heavy lifting for this story. It implies that Louise has made a choice to accept who she is when it comes to how she has reacted to the situations the story has presented. Yet, is it truly a choice when the character is only acknowledging that they don’t make choices? Though an interesting philosophical question, it doesn’t work narratively.

    What “Rate Your Happiness” presents is something that feels akin to the first one or two chapters of a novel. There are a lot of moving parts here, and Lacy does a good job of balancing them in the narrative. No one idea, theme, or character dominates, and it all flows and ripples over each other creating the feeling of a very real and complicated character in the protagonist of Louise. In fact, I enjoyed all the characters that were presented in this story, and wanted to see and hear more from them.

    Like I said, if this was the first chapter of a novel, I’m hooked and I want to see how this plays out. As a short story, the engine is revving up, but we didn’t go anywhere.

  • Earworm Wednesday: George and the Devil

    Sometimes I plan these songs out ahead of time. And then sometimes you wake up in the morning with a song in your head.

    If you never met me, you might not know what a huge Beatles fan I am. As such, I do have fun with some of the deeper cuts on their albums that most people forget about. “Devil in her Heart” is a song written by Richard B. Drapkin and recored by The Donays and released in 1962. Though a good song, it wasn’t a hit in the US or UK, but it made an impression on The Beatles. I always loved how those four guys loved American girl groups, to the point that I think they tried to copy those harmonies in other songs that they wrote.

    For comparison, here’s the original:

  • So, We’re All About to Die (Unedited)

    For the record, I believe that Trump will chicken out at 8pm tonight, if not earlier, claiming something has happened which has caused him to reconsider destroying Iran off the face of the Earth. Because that’s what Trump is; all talk and a big chicken.

    Now, if I am wrong and he orders the US military to destroy the infrastructure of Iran, then Good God, we’re all going to die.

    I wish I had some rather original insight to share with you. You know, something, some thought that no one has expressed yet as to the absurdity of the situation the world find itself in because the US and Israel started a war for no reason. Sadly, I find myself at a loss for words even to express how I feel about all of this stuff.

    I’m a pacifist, and I believe in negotiating peace with your enemies, no matter how long or difficult it is. I know and think often about how we all live on a tiny little planet in the “backwoods” of our galaxy, and most of what vexes us on a daily basis is rather meaningless, and if we really pulled our collective head out of our asses, we will make this planet a safe a peaceful place for generations of our shared humanity to exist as long as we see fit.

    I would give anything to be up on the Artemis II right now. To be off this rock, away from all of this bullshit.

  • Happy Easter

  • ODDS and ENDS: Stressful, Blue to White, and I Gotta Run

    ODDS and ENDS: Stressful, Blue to White, and I Gotta Run

    (I will sing, sing my song…)

    Man in blue tracksuit frantically running out of the Sakura Heights apartment building door.
    Word Press’ AI creates some awful images, huh?

    You know the one thing in my life that I had no idea would be stressful; Planning a kid’s birthday party. I thought planning our wedding was bad. I had no idea that birthday parties for 10 ten year old girls causes me to lose sleep at night. I wake up in a cold sweat scared that I have forgotten some detail. My stomach churns at the idea a kid will come to the party and not have a good time, or will be excluded for whatever stupid reason, and then it is my responsibility to make sure EVERYONE HAS A GOOD TIME! Seriously, there should be a list for new parents of all the shit that will stress you out that you have no idea on God-s Green Earth are stressful. Making memories here…

    So, it seems my default colors right now is white and blue. I say all of this because as I start to “Spring Clean” and de-clutter my closet, I’m tossing shirts which are old, and have holes in them. What I am left with is an amazing spectrum of blue to white, all in an Oxford style. I have written a couple of times, how in my middle age period, I have taken on a Classic American/Oxford/New England/Ivy League look. It feels comfortable, defined, and at the same time casual on me. The draw back here is that I seem to have boxed myself in color wise. I do have some Nantucket Red pants, but really, I seem to have dropped the ball on having a splash of color in my life.

    Ah… It’s almost 11am, and I need to run to the grocery store. It’s a busy day and I have a lot to do.