(Making Me Understand is an occasional blog feature where I analyze, in brief or at length, what a particular work of art or an artist means to me right now.) I’m not going to reinvent the wheel. There have been enough gigabytes of text expressing the outrage we feel here in the United States about the … Continue reading Making Me Understand: “Serpent at the Gates of Wisdom”

(Making Me Understand is an occasional blog feature where I analyze, in brief or at length, what a particular work of art or an artist means to me right now.) This certainly seems to be the week for it, so I’m going to blame Mark Zuckerberg for the way I’m feeling right now. No, the Facebook … Continue reading Making Me Understand: Pat Fish of the Jazz Butcher Conspiracy

(Making Me Understand is an occasional blog feature where I analyze, in brief or at length, what a particular work of art or an artist means to me right now.) Things have really settled down for me in the past month. My Crohn’s is well under control thanks to medication, I’m no longer afraid of food. … Continue reading Making Me Understand: “Alguém Cantando”

(Making Me Understand is an occasional blog feature where I analyze, in brief or at length, what a particular work of art or an artist means to me right now.) The bar mitzvah weekend passed in the blink of an eye. All of our preparation paid off and absolutely nothing that mattered was amiss. The tidal … Continue reading Making Me Understand: “For All the Sad Rain,” by Patricia Goedicke

(Making Me Understand is an occasional blog feature where I analyze, in brief or at length, what a particular work of art or an artist means to me right now.) I’ve been at the periodic scans thing for a while now. This November will mark four years since metastatic melanoma last troubled me. I have … Continue reading Making Me Understand: “The Waiting,” by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

(Making Me Understand is an occasional blog feature where I analyze, in brief or at length, what a particular work of art or an artist means to me right now.) I wrote this post months ago. It fell victim to a slip of the finger in my mobile WordPress app and got deleted. So I’m … Continue reading Making Me Understand: Robyn Hitchcock

(Making Me Understand is an occasional blog feature where I analyze, in brief or at length, what a particular work of art or artist means to me right now.) When I was in junior high, I hated school. I hated being in my skin. I reached my current height of six feet right around eighth grade. … Continue reading Making Me Understand: “Souffles,” by Birago Diop

Making Me Understand is an occasional blog feature where I analyze, in brief or at length, what a particular work of art or artist means to me right now. Nina Katchadourian went viral sometime in the past year or two. Maybe you’re not recalling her by name. But if I tell you that she was … Continue reading Making Me Understand: Nina Katchadourian

Making Me Understand is an occasional blog feature where I analyze, in brief or at length, what a particular work of art or artist means to me at this given moment. When it was time to leave for our drive back north this morning (much later than we’d planned, owing to late night/hangover concerns), I … Continue reading Making Me Understand: “Do Your Thing,” by The Clean

(“Making Me Understand” is a series of occasional posts where I talk about a particular work of art or artist and discuss its relevance to me, both historically and in my present situation. Here are the others in the series.) Long ago and far away, in college, I bought an album by the Dutch band … Continue reading Making Me Understand: “Healthy Sick” by Sebadoh