A story first published in The First Line and also found in Shady Acres and Other Stories.
(A note: for some reason, Anchor didn’t let me add background music. But you may hear a leaf blower and a dog barking in the background.)
- The mind of a writer can be a truly terrifying thing: isolated, neurotic, caffeine-addled, crippled by procrastination and consumed by feelings of panic, self-loathing and soul-crushing inadequacy. And that’s on a good day. (Robert De Niro)
-
Recent Posts
Archives
- May 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- June 2021
- March 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- January 2020
- November 2019
- August 2019
- January 2019
- November 2018
- February 2018
- November 2017
- June 2017
- April 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- July 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- December 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- July 2013
- May 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- July 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
Topics
Meta
Novels, Short Stories, and More 
Off topic – and I want to bury this comment in a past post. Have you done post(s) about your state’s jungle primaries? Is so, you can sent it/them to me in an email or answer here. Your blog = your choice.
Let me think about it. I don’t know that I’ve written anything specifically about that topic. I think it’s a good reform, not ground-breaking but a positive step. Anything in particular you’re looking for?
The best California reform has been the establishment of an independent Redistricting commission. The jungle primaries aren’t too significant because of how much Dems dominate the voting population. A lot of general elections end up being between two Dems, which doesn’t exactly encourage moderation of views.
Thanks for the synopsis. Like anything, all options have plusses and minuses. The choice between two ideologues definitely isn’t optimal. Ah yes …. the words of Stealers Wheel ring so true …. Clowns to the left of me – Jokers to the right – Here I am stuck in the middle with you.
Thanks for chiming in on my post at Marc’s. I know most of his readers are more to the left – and the one resistor was actually very predictable. We’ll see how that goes.
Interesting. Just read the comments you’re referring to. As far as I’m concerned, anybody with half a brain, that is open-minded, can see what has happened to the GOP. What an odd comment to make on your post.
Deflection is a common tactic. All of us generalize – but generalizing a generalization takes one further from the point.
One more comment. I think jungle primaries have an impact in districts that are more purple than blue or red. Running in a jungle primary in a more evenly split district would, hopefully, moderate the extremes on both sides.
Interesting thought. That in itself would be an interesting study. Question – You’ve observed 2 Dems in a runoff. Did the jungle eliminate or promote the most liberal?
I’d have to think about that. To be honest, at the level I’m most familiar with, it’s difficult to say which one is most liberal. I believe our last two US Senate races have been D v D. In one Dianne Feinstein defeated Kevin DeLeon. Feinstein is more moderate but also has the power of incumbency. In 2016, Kamala Harris ran against another D – Lorena Gonzalez. I’d say that Harris was probably the less liberal of the two, or at least viewed that way because she had been a district attorney and attorney general.
Thanks … that’s a start. It would be interesting to study at the district level in for state and national offices.
Agreed.
Funny thing about elections. Although Feinstein is more conservative than de Leon, the results map shows that Feinstein won all of the liberal coastal areas while de Leon won all of the red and purple areas.
Wow … an interesting contradiction.