The Open Arms of the West
On the day you rode out of town for the last time, the west took you into her arms. The stars in the kingdom whirled overhead to light your way as you rode between canyons of red rocks. Coyotes gathered along the ridge to howl your name into the great vastness that waited for you. There were no more songs for you to sing, no more tall tales to tell, nothing save a solemn and gentle stillness to comfort you as you rode on ahead into the fading light of the sun. I ran to the edge to watch you suddenly slip behind the black veil on the...
read moreLife, liberty, and the pursuit of Satanarchy: A eulogy for the world’s greatest satanic punk band
“Full of rage and fury and hate Here to obliterate your church and state Down with the government so we can be free We are Satanarchy!” With that immortal incantation, the Reverend Davey Wicked ushered in the dawn of a new musical age. The reign of Satanarchy had begun and the landscape of punk rock was irrevocably changed forever. The faces of the Reverend Davey Wicked, Cody Iscariot and Neville were chiseled into the summit of Mount Rock, and Satanarchy passed on into legend. My first musical love has always been heavy metal, a genre often...
read more2021: Trying to be thankful; Life is a strange, wonderful journey
I wasn’t in the mood to celebrate the holidays during 2020. Reflecting on the turbulent and emotional events of the past year didn’t leave me feeling particularly thankful or put me in the “Christmas spirit.” By the time Christmas Eve rolled around, my mood hadn’t improved in the slightest. Past Christmas Eves were spent with family and extended family. Instead, I spent the night alone playing Batman: Arkham Origins, a videogame in which Batman takes on a host of villains on Christmas Eve. My cat, Xena, slept next to me on the couch as I...
read moreFacing fear; how I learned to stop worrying and love “Dune”
It’s strange that burnout hit me so early in my life. I pushed my personal life and hobbies aside to make way for long hours and weekend shifts, and after years of this routine, I found myself exhausted and creatively deprived. A couple of years ago, I took stock of my life and realized I needed to rediscover some of my old passions, one of which was reading. I was an avid reader in my teen years, but my college years changed my habits. Constantly skimming through the Western canon in my undergraduate English courses ruthlessly stamped out...
read moreHarder to Kill
Freshman year gym class was a nightmare. When I strolled into Sinagua High School for the first time, I decided I’d had enough of sports and exercise. This was it — one last painful semester of gym class, and then I was set for life. I’d never have to think about running, throwing a ball, or how many servings of vegetables I needed each day. My nutrition and health assignments were a breeze, but meanwhile, I was struggling to bench press a 45-pound barbell and lazily walking the mile in 20 minutes. When the semester wrapped up, I took my...
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