Sunless tanner makes me smell like Cheeze-Its. I discovered this in high school. When spring had arrived and heavy winter layers were shed, I would lather my body in sunless tanning lotion, not wanting to hurt others’ eyes (or my own) with my stark paleness. But the lotion must have had a funky reaction with my body oils, resulting in an aroma on my skin … Continue reading How not to greet spring

In the past few weeks, advertisements sponsored by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes have been placed around campus announcing a debate: “Can we have Good without God?” If you have seen the posters, you may have noticed the deliberate WWE-style “in this corner: the ex-pastor atheist” VS. “and in this corner: the moral Christian Athlete” format. Clearly, we’re meant to think that on May 15, … Continue reading Can we have Good without God?

I hate Fair Trade. Maybe hate is too strong of a word. Let’s try again. I do not, nor will I ever, agree with Fair Trade. Fair Trade is one of those things that sounds like a good idea at first blush. Instead of paying the lower price for goods produced from “exploited” labor, let’s pay a higher price for the goods and the extra … Continue reading In which our hero voices an unpopular opinion

Hello Gusties! It seems that my favorite thing to write about lately is splashy, bigger topics. In the last column I wrote, I came out to all fifteen or so of my readers SPOILER ALERT saying: I’m gay. Let me then preface the title with a description of what I am not doing: I am NOT agreeing with the positions Phil takes. Quite often I … Continue reading Defending Phil Cleary

Following a past week’s article on words, this week I’ll focus on action. Using the narrative third person, I’ve written this piece. 2011. The date typed on the page no longer sparked her memory. Unlike 1998, 2001 or even 1989, 2011 brings to mind few thoughts beyond confetti of the millennium and perhaps the pleasing, parallel rhyming of two 1s next to each other. The … Continue reading A mirror for the twenty-first century