Jonathan Erdman, indie writer | stories and scattered scribbles

Let that shit go

by Jonathan Erdman

I have an office job at a small lodge in remote Alaska, and one of the hats I wear is HR Manager. I recently put this poster up on the wall next to my desk. It’s as close to a self-help/inspirational/motivational poster as I think I could get away with out here in the bush. It’s also not a bad summary of my spiritual...

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Watching some classic Chappelle’s Show

by Jonathan Erdman

Tron Carter’s “Law & Order”

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Current Events and Scattered Scribbles

Let that shit go

I have an office job at a small lodge in remote Alaska, and one of the hats I wear...

by Jonathan Erdman

No worse for the wear on McCarthy Creek

The bar is set a bit higher in Alaska, so far as rating trails is concerned. A hike rated...

by Jonathan Erdman

That Tent Life

Plans change and housing conditions get rearranged — such is often the nature of life in my Alaskan bush...

by Jonathan Erdman

Mountain Lion, plus an all around life update

I’m a little sluggish on posting Alaska pics. I’ve been up north now for a month, but I haven’t...

by Jonathan Erdman

McCarthy, Alaska: A people-friendly dog town

“I’ve never seen so many dogs in one town, and, you know, where there’s no problem or anything.” ~...

by Jonathan Erdman

North to Alaska

The annual trek up to Alaska is rapidly approaching, less than a week away. This will be my ninth...

by Jonathan Erdman

Cruising the backwoods

I got out on the bike for a few rides this spring, out among the big trees. Big Basin...

by Jonathan Erdman

Mixed Metaphor Monday Meditation Madness (but on Wednesday)

I don’t usually meditate with sounds, like music or guided meditions. I’ve had some good experiences with them —...

by Jonathan Erdman

The Writer’s Ransack

Take anything — my passport, my coin collection, and my money (if you can find any) — just don’t...

by Jonathan Erdman

A couple random reddit funnies

by Jonathan Erdman

Emerging from the dish pit, no worse for the wear

The North Fork Vipassana Meditation Center is located in the foothills of the Sierras, just south of Yosemite. Not...

by Jonathan Erdman

A break in the action

Off I go, for another retreat – this time though, I’m serving not sitting. There’s a few hours of...

by Jonathan Erdman

Republican Peter King compares NFL protests to ‘players giving Nazi ...

One way that racism persists in America is that non-Whites are not permitted to interpret their own experiences. White...

by Jonathan Erdman

The Quotable Trump

The Trumpification of the English language: “For instance, I went to Russia for a day or so, a day...

by Jonathan Erdman

Happy Birthday, Karl Marx — you were right

Marx’s 200th birthday was two days ago. With two centuries in the can, I’d be interested to hear what...

by Jonathan Erdman

Facebook: Regulate and Share The Wealth?

Quite the fascinating article today by Chris Hughes, one of the group of plucky young Harvard students who founded...

by Jonathan Erdman

Feelin the Bern as teacher strikes and protests continue

by Jonathan Erdman

Mister Zuck goes to Washington

So pundits and politicians are up in arms about Facebook exposing our data. My question: what did we expect,...

by Jonathan Erdman

Teachers Strike…in The Twilight Zone

So teachers are striking, apparently they want a living wage or something. In any event, it raises a few...

by Jonathan Erdman

“Not a puppet, not a puppet”

No one wants to be a cog in the machine. That’s one of the values that we post-Baby Boomers...

by Jonathan Erdman

Guns don’t kill people

I found myself engaged in a good discussion on gun violence, hosted by fellow Alaska blogger Pete, a dude...

by Jonathan Erdman

February 20, 2018

The for-profit business of shooting our students

I was recently having a conversation on Facebook with a conservative woman about gun control and school shootings. She...

by Jonathan Erdman

February 19, 2018

What’s in a meme? Or, How to be as big a deal as Socrates

I recently went under the knife, so to speak, for a vasectomy, rendering myself sterile, incapable of reproducing offspring....

by Jonathan Erdman

February 5, 2018

Socialized medicine, at a glance

Since 2016 there has been one long, continuous groan from cultural critics — across the political spectrum — who...

by Jonathan Erdman

Yuval Noah Harari: Brexit will not halt drive to ‘human unification’

I’m looking forward to Yuval Harari’s new book, set to be released this August. I’m a big fan of...

by Jonathan Erdman

Happy Belated Tax Day! “We Absolutely Blew It!”

John Oliver had a fantastic bit on taxes, and I meant to post it on April 15th. I forgot,...

by Jonathan Erdman

Audre Lorde: no such thing as a single-issue struggle

Wisdom on unity and diversity, in the struggle for civil rights, by Audre Lorde, Learning from the 60s February...

by Jonathan Erdman

Myths of the old gods

Pretty much the entire Make America Great Again narrative is driven by the “American Way,” by a sense of...

by Jonathan Erdman

Clayton Bigsby and the artificial construct of race

In his book, Invisible Man Got the Whole World Watching (2016), Mychal Denzel Smith discusses one of the skits from...

by Jonathan Erdman

The Eichmann Show (2015)

The Eichmann Show is a BBC production currently airing on Netflix. It’s 1961 and Israeli agents have captured Adolf...

by Jonathan Erdman

Every Love Story Is a Ghost Story: A Life of David Foster Wallace (2012)

I recently finished Every Loves Story is A Ghost Story, a biography of David Foster Wallace. It was one...

by Jonathan Erdman

February 16, 2018

Why ‘Black Panther’ Is a Defining Moment for Black America | Carvell Wallace, The...

I made a rare appearance at the theater last night, and rarer still, I purchased my favorite salty-sweet combination...

by Jonathan Erdman

February 13, 2018

Talking Trump: Trust me everyone’s talking about it, and believe me it’s...

There is a fine article in the The Atlantic. It’s a very fine article in the very fine magazine...

by Jonathan Erdman

February 6, 2018

On writing: Giving your laughter a bit of weight

I finished the first installment of David Sedaris’ diaries a few months back. I would only recommend it to...

by Jonathan Erdman

February 1, 2018

Manhunt: Unabomber (2017, Netflix)

Manhunt is an intriguing series. It dramatizes the story of Ted Kaczynski, aka the UNABOMBER. Those of us who...

by Jonathan Erdman

January 30, 2018

Invisible Man, Mychal Denzel Smith (2016)

This last weekend I started reading Mychal Denzel Smith, Invisible Man, Got The Whole World Watching: A Young Black...

by Jonathan Erdman