The following story was published in Short Story Substack https://shortstory.substack.com/ A stocky man with a bristly, barbed wire haircut entered my cab with a pint of Jim Beam, and immediately told me to cruise down Division Street to look for prostitutes. He spoke with the same clenched throat my friend Mack did after joining the Marines. … Continue reading
Tag Archives: writing
Happy Earth Day
Several days ago I completed a report on a property located within an NPL site in southern California. The NPL site is contaminated primarily with trichloroethylene and perchloroethylene, as well as many other contaminants, in a plume covering around 30 square miles. Thirty miles. As many as 11 cities are impacted. Next to the property … Continue reading
If a Biologist Ran the Country
It almost sounded promising. During his first press conference, Sean Spicer gushed about Trump meeting with the giants of industry to get their input on creating more jobs. I could easily imagine his supporters applauding – this was a big part of what they’d signed up for. What could possibly be wrong with exploring constructive … Continue reading
Angered White Man
I have to vent before I lose my mind. Now I’m the angry white man. Don’t ask me to unite behind this newly-elected cretin because a bunch of unevolved knuckle-draggers voted in a Neanderthal to lead them, or because the evangelicals hypocritically supported their version of the antichrist. I want nothing to do with it. … Continue reading
A Note From the Planet
Hello, it’s me…your planet. I usually stay out of your politics, but things have gotten so out of hand I feel the need to communicate with you directly. My usual methods of talking to you symbolically through exploding symptoms (in the same way your body signals you with health symptoms), don’t seem to be getting … Continue reading
Laughing Bird Mountain
I’m hiking up the McDowell Mountains this morning as the sun wakes up, trying to clear my head after mistakenly watching the ugliness of the morning news. Nothing but hate, controversy, possible corruptness, childishness, you name it. Being a couple of miles east of Scottsdale, AZ, the mountains repose in peaceful tranquility except for a … Continue reading
The Missing Issue
Picture representing last night’s speech So at a time of melting glaciers and ice caps (those well-placed freezers that help keep us cool in the temperate middle), acidic and warming oceans, sea levels on the rise, coral reefs turning brittle and dying, depleted fish populations, global forest fires, dwindling fresh water supplies, unprecedented species annihilation, … Continue reading
Dreaming of a One-Issue Candidate
Four or eight years from now, no matter who wins the presidency, we’ll still have the same problems in this country because, as usual, we’re not having the right conversation. Which makes me an angry voter, too. Not at immigrants or whatever other issue so many blame on ineffective government, but because I can’t … Continue reading
Tree Wisdom – on Human Nature
(this is an old post I’m replaying, because I want to…) My spiritual advisor taught me how to communicate with trees. After my first attempt didn’t go well, I confronted her. That tree you sent me to told me to get lost. She gave me a look of disdain. What did you say to upset … Continue reading
Identity Rant
The changes Bob Dylan went through always amazed me. Sometimes it seemed as if he’d changed personalities whenever he changed his outfit. He refused to be labeled a folk singer, did his own thing, and became one of the greatest song writers we’ve ever known, in my opinion. It begs the question, why would we ever … Continue reading
james keeney hill 