Commentary

491 posts

When Hoarding Hits Home

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I get no pleasure from watching the television shows about hoarders. For most,the shows will motivate them to clean and toss away unneeded junk, making them feel better about their lives. For me, it makes me want to curl up in bed and take a nap. Why is this? My father is an honest to goodness, pathological hoarder and my mother in her codependency has become a willing participant. Growing up in the household, I developed tendencies to want to hoard, but work on fighting them daily.

I’m not sharing this to shame my parents or make fun of them. Although, the fake Christmas tree left standing in June, that my mother will buy ornaments for year round, has become an absurd joke between my sister and I. I share this, because there is a side most don’t necessarily see on these shows. And that is the humanity behind the hoards. What has brought people to live in homes where they literally have to crawl over things to get from one side of the house to another. Continue reading →

My First Job: The Velvet Gopher

If you’ve ever opened a Fingerhut or Seventh Avenue catalog to find a page of mandalas and dream catchers staring back at you and found yourself wondering, “Who the hell makes this shit?” I have a story for you. If you’ve ever walked into a Flying J or Petro truck stop and marveled at a particularly engaging velvet painting hanging amongst the racks tee-shirts emblazoned with howling wolves or an “End of the Trail” theme, I know from whence they came. Because from 1994-2004, my father was the Vice-President of the company that made them, and for three years I worked as his gofer. I worked at Chico Arts– the original mass-market manufacturer of velvet paintings and Native American-style kitsch.

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That Which We Call A Rose

No one is immune to the volcanic force of language. An altered preposition, an inflection or a simple nuance can change the course of events if not our mood for the day. This awesome power is acknowledged before we even arrive on the planet. Our names will be labored over (sometimes literally.) First names, middle names, even last named will be constructed to pay respect or foretell character traits or ensure we’ll never have a seat on the supreme court. The words we are first taught, those we are allowed to hear and those we are punished for saying are all overseen with a scrutiny befitting a bank manager. Our legal system and our government are keen on the minutia of language and are poised to change and limit it all the time. (Lest we think only of the dangers of limiting free speech, let us remember that screaming “fire” in a movie theater is simply not prudent.) As a society we are continuously reexamining what words and terms are inflammatory or used to incite. Continue reading →

Mexican Elections Are More Dramatic than Mexican Soap Operas

In light of our North American celebration today (Happy Canada Day!), I wanted to bring a little attention to our friends south of the border and the elections happening today. It is widely expected that Enrique Peña Nieto, of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) will win against the number two candidate, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, of the Progressive Movement Coalition and who narrowly lost to Felipe Calderón in a hotly contested election in 2006. Two other candidates, seen trailing, are Josefina Vazquez Mota (National Action Party) and the long shot Gabriel Quadri (New Alliance Party). Continue reading →