In her 1964 essay—if one can call an enumerated list an essay—”Notes on ‘Camp,’” Susan Sontag delineated what she called the Camp style. Though nearly every example she gives is obscure to me, the essential traits of camp are clear: it’s exaggerated, it’s methods overwhelm its message, and it thereby becomes a parody of itself. […]

Something a little—OK, almost completely—different today. I just wanted to do something before I come back for 5-a-week. This is a little song I came up with a few months ago. I decided that it’s a good present for the start of the new year. About the song… it’s (hopefully) not news to anyone who […]

Though I believe everything I say in this, I do recognize that the whole thing feels slightly absurd. I decided to keep it that way, either because I have or because I lack good judgment. Which of those two it is, I’m not sure. Fewer Americans know how to PBS than would like to admit […]

“Hello,” said the piggy bank I’ve had since I was two. He was sitting in a box on the floor. “Yes?” I asked, slightly irritated. “We don’t really see much of each other anymore. I was just wondering why.” “Well, it’s because I don’t need you anymore. I keep my money elsewhere. And besides, you […]

Writer’s block is a funny thing. When you don’t have it, you tend to wonder what everyone is so upset about. When you do have it you wonder how you ever managed to write anything. There are certainly a number of possible causes for the disease. The most likely, if you want my opinion, is […]