kellementology

Society

  • Reluctant Empathy and Old Ideas

    I’ll go to my corner now that I’ve had my little tantrum after writing something that was more catalyst than conviction. Later in the day when I was on my way to collect the resident teen from his spot at… Continue reading

  • Dear Bakersfield Board of Education Members…

    NaBloPoMo: I’m on it with a little hop in my step and a “tally-ho” spirit, raring to go. Onward and upward, and all that sort of rot. To quote my sister when she was very young and we had suffered… Continue reading

  • Get Out Your Deflector Shields

    Yanno, I was going to have a lovely, quiet morning. Feh. After a much needed eleven hours of sleep last night (evacuated relatives, non-stop fire coverage, no school, no work, and a busy Las Vegas weekend) I stretched, poured my… Continue reading

  • Observations on ambivalence

    ambivalent (adj.) having mixed feelings or contradictory ideas about something or someone… Yesterday late in the afternoon, I received an email referencing this piece. I’ve read it several times since, and caught myself mulling over aspects of it. Politeness. Authority.… Continue reading

  • Birthdays Boys and Paradoxical Sunsets

    I could mull over the paradox that is “America’s Finest City,” or what I lovingly refer to as Paradise: palm trees and NIMBY pettiness; temperate climes and a questionable, tenacious city attorney; luxury housing and chronic homelessness; or cutting edge… Continue reading

  • Whining in the Men’s Room

    A few days ago, our local paper ran Ellen Goodman’s piece on “The male-dominated blogosphere” where she spent three columns questioning why the “forceful, sometimes demagogic, message-monger organizing tool for the progressive end of the Democratic Party” has “chief messengers… Continue reading

  • The Sunshine Vacation Chronicles

    I have been knighted, or princessed, or smacked upside the head with yet another honor. Phil at Thought Sparks, the extraordinary guy who helped save me from ripping out my eyeballs when I switched over to my own domain, has… Continue reading

  • Ranting about Urban Sprawl & Open Spaces

    I long for an entire day to sit and write. To mull over the time I’ve spent away and enjoyed. To remember and feel the endless blue of Lake Tahoe wash over me. To smile at how silly to not… Continue reading

  • Robosapien Spares Bloggers

    Over the past few months since I’ve developed an interest in blogging, I’ve begun to notice other’s reactions to the idea of blogging in general. Several weeks ago, someone mentioned to me that “blog” is one of the “most annoying… Continue reading

  • No Palm Trees — Just Reality TV

    I know you are sick and tired of hearing about how seriously no whoop-tee-doo great it is to live in Paradise: endless days of grey blue skies and overcast sunny weather; squawking birds and lawn mowers waking me up and… Continue reading