File 13 »
EVERYTHING MUST BE SOCIAL
Everything Must Be Social It doesn’t take very keen powers of observation to notice that many people in Lake Charles spend large amounts of time sitting in chairs on their front porches. When I
Read More »VICTORIAN ROMANCE
In two great mid-20th century novels — Norman Mailer’s The Naked and the Dead and Robert Stone’s Hall of Mirrors — characters state that they only feel relief when they hold their lovers. These
Read More »ON STUPID SONGS
The morning I wrote this essay, I was in my still-dark house preparing to give the dog his first walk of the day. As I did so, I sang an especially stupid song —
Read More »ON LOU REED
Among the musicians of my time, there were always three that — for me — were predominant in popular music: Lou Reed, Iggy Pop and David Bowie. Now one of those three has died,
Read More »THE HIPPIE MENACE
The great catastrophe began on Sept. 28, 1968, when the television show The Mod Squad debuted on the ABC network. Before The Mod Squad, hippies were marginal creatures, who poured lighter fluid on electric guitars
Read More »CATS ARE BECOMING LIKE US
It all started one night when our cats lay down in a semi-circle on the floor, right in front of the television. Our middle cat, Baxter, had, at times, noticed the television in the
Read More »THE NEW WAGON RUT
I don’t think anybody would call what’s going on in the big little town of Wagon Rut an economic boom. But some new businesses are opening, and folks are starting to take note. The
Read More »ON DICTATORS
In his most recent comedy, Sasha Baron Cohen plays an especially vile dictator — the murderous Gen. Aladeen, who lords it over the mythical Republic of Wadiya. At one point in the film, one
Read More »On Writing For Lagniappe
I started working at Lagniappe on the second day of 2000. On the first day of 2000, I sat in my Lake Charles apartment listening to the news that George Harrison had been stabbed
Read More »On Haters And Hipsters
I actually don’t read anything, because I feel like the haters really like to hate out loud and that people who love sometimes love quietly. So I don’t really listen or look at anything.
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