Originally posted January 2004 Thanks to Bob, Lou, George, Eric, & Ian, who helped make this a better article. I also extend an (admittedly somewhat grudging) ‘thank you’ to life in general — were I not exposed to the bad as well as the good, I would not be able to try constantly to improve…
Originally written in the late 1990’s for a “Popular Culture” Anthropology class. In her book Reading the Romance: Women, Patriarchy, and Popular Literature, Janice A. Radway explores the apparent fascination of romantic fiction to many women, and examines the needs this literary genre fulfills for its readers. Our required reading was the Introduction and the…
Originally written in the early 1990’s for an absolutely amazing class on the bible as history and literature. My later notes, to clarify the paper, are in blockquotes. The story of Genesis in the bible has been used throughout history as an excuse for, and explanation of, why women should be subjugated by men. This…
I’ve changed somewhat in the handful of years since I wrote the Firestarter titled “What is Friendship?” I like to think my opinions have grown and matured somewhat as well. This is, therefore, a sort of musing friendship redux. In retrospect, my writing seems a bit rough to me, and the article itself is pretty…
Originally posted October 2003 I ask this question because I’ve always had fairly strong ideas about “real” friendship, as opposed to simple acquaintanceship. To me an acquaintance was always someone you’d be happy to smile and greet pleasantly, or chat with, or do a simple favor for, but with whom you’d not made any really…
by James Frey 15 June 2006 book review by Collie Collier Credits: For my book club, without whom I would not have read this peculiarly fascinating book. Note: there are quotes from the book in this review, which contain foul language. Please consider yourself warned. This is the gripping story of Frey’s painful but ultimately…
by Dan Brown 1 June 2006 book review by Collie Collier Credits: For Greg, because he gave me my first ever specifically-requested book review. Woohoo, I feel so official! He even sent me the book — what a sweetie! ;) There is detailed plot information in this review. Please do not read if you don’t…
June 2006 Firestarter columnby Collie Collier For my readers: All the images in this Firestarter are thumbnails which can be clicked for larger versions of the graphics. Please use your “Back” button on your menu bar to return to this page. Cultural beliefs and taboos are, by their naturalized imprinting into the brains of those…
May 2006 Firestarter column by Collie Collier Short answer: acts which deliberately inflict pain and damage, in an effort to denigrate human dignity, are wrong. Long answer: Like most of the difficult ethical questions in life, my path to this decision came slowly, with quite a bit of soul-searching and long discussions with patient friends….