Inappropriate Conversations

Perhaps without thinking it through, the Alabama supreme court has taken conservative pro-life arguments about "personhood" to a logical extreme. The initial result was banning all in vitro fertilization procedures in the state, their jurisdiction. The Alabama legislature may believe they have "saved the day" by quickly passing a law to shield those using IVF from prosecution or consequences, but...

As a journalism student in 1983, I already knew that I had no interest in television news. I could see the direction cable "24 hour news" networks were going, and I didn't like it. Perhaps there were signs I wasn't happy with a newspaper career path either. It wasn't clear to me then, though, how much truth gets revealed through fiction.

Surrealism or Dadaism can be as simple as having a strange dream and writing it down, or close to it.  Apologies, pun intended, if "Make Up" is merely that simple. I won't try to make it something more with compromise or cosmetics.

"Sounds Like a Serious Offense" has not come up before in poetry-focused episodes of Inappropriate Conversations, and that's mainly due to the use of rape as a literary comparison. It's uncomfortable, and I would never want to dilute the meaning of such a heinous crime. Having said that, I've had conversations with people of both genders who have been used, manipulated, and socially shunned. This...

Accepting the notion of Eternal Now from Boethius and others, we have known the people we love most deeply for much longer than we acknowledge or understand. "A Belated Happy Birthday"

How we read a poem and how we read a hymn are very different things. Mixing that up intentionally can produce interesting, or taxing, results. "Tithe"

In perhaps an equal and opposite reaction to Valentine's Day as a concept, the poem "Unrequited Love" is -- whether romantic or not -- deeply sad, in my opinion. It's open to interpretation, of course. One interpretation is the death of a friendship.

I believe the out-of-place feeling between leaving school and being established in a vocation is universal and remains relevant, if not more than just relatable, today. The same cannot be said for postal concepts like "six to eight weeks for delivery."

A few weeks ago, I posted one of the longest pieces of fiction I've written. This is one of the shortest, composed in the simplest way possible, using only simple sentences.

Some Assembly Required (A NeoSurrealist Forsaking a Habit for Lent) was completed on April 1, 1994.  It's nonfiction title was Temptations from the Wilderness II, a second Lenten writing experiment. This one was a jumble of 40 different writing styles during Lent of that year, including traditional omniscient narration of plot-driven action, a recipe, sermon, poetry, drum music, and more.   Three...

I've long believed that something more personal and profound is identified within Isaac Newton's laws of motion. This three-stanza poem looks inwardly at each theory.  Inappropriate Conversations #23

Especially on a holiday weekend, I suspect a scene like this plays out all across the world. A baby sleeping in mother's arms is gently taken by a father (in this case) to bed, gently and quietly to not interrupt the slumber. In my family, that simple transfer from one parent to another was often more delicate than it sounds -- a disentaglement of sorts.

I don't like it when podcasts I enjoy disappear. Even if they gracefully pod-fade, I've been known to wait weeks or months before finishing the last episode. It's worse when things stop abruptly.  One thing I'm thankful for each Christmas are the parts of lost shows I've been able to save via a clip show. I'll link to that "best of" episode below. And I don't want to name any part of that retrospe...

Here is a short, sweet origin story for the most important relationship of my life, including a key tie-in to Christmas Eve.

Perhaps the true will of God is written between the lines.

Whether a typing exercise might become a manifesto.  

(A Neosurrealist Revising a Will from His Death Bed) The Author, 1979-1986

While this neo-surrealist, and formalist, short story dates back to 1986, it was World Storytelling Day 2016 that led me to read it out loud.  #IC 181

It's definitely a cliche, but this is based on a true story.

The concept of "reunion" can generate a very specific type of anxiety. For me, it has always been an underlying sense of wanting to be there and wanting to be invisible at the same time. That paradox has inspired essays, some short fiction, and this poem.  "Disappear Here" (1989) 122: 'Past Tenths' of 'Disappear Here'

For this perspective on how modern horror movies have squeezed out traditional thrillers, I've called the selection a 6-pack while sneaking in a few extras within the anthology film entry. The essay was written in 1999 and shared on an Inappropriate Conversations podcast in 2012.  The films: A Cold Night's Death Carnival of Souls Invasion of the Body Snatchers The Scarlet Claw The Other Asylum The...

Solomon's Song Of Songs Man: Greg Woman: Karen Friends: Laura https://www.inappropriateconversations.org/e/81-singing-a-song-for-lovers/

As I've noted in the (old, but) most recent Inappropriate Conversations podcasts, work-life balance and other issues have led to a pause in postings. Work-life balance has shifted again, recently. I can't say yet whether or when this will lead to new episodes of Inappropriate Conversations or Walk The Earth, but I do now that content will be starting to flow again.  Starting today, I'm planning to...

It's a sinking feeling to realize your actions would be the same if you were trying to undermine your values, that just doing what you've always done fits a narrative you would reject if given a chance. Sometimes the matter can be as small as "has my show pod-faded without me realizing?". Sometimes it's a matter of life and death where thoughtless actions line up with death, even unintentionally....

The politics of abortion has long been a game of state legislatures passing laws they know are unconstitutional. It's a bit like asking a question over and over again when you already know the answer. The situation has now devolved into something worse, an abuse of concepts like "standing" and "damages" in civil litigation. And the current U.S. Supreme Court seems to be aiding and abetting Texas i...