Breaking Breakdown: Seven Jacket Snakes, None In Trousers
We here at Rookerville are astute observers of the news. But while most periodicals, radio shows, and TV programs focus on the gloom and doom of the national and local headlines, we tend to get more of a kick out of the overlooked oddities found buried several pages deep. Enter our new series, “Breaking Breakdown”, a closer look at the everyday silliness of not-so-breaking news that makes us shake our heads. This article comes to us...
What’s Love Got to Do with It?
It’s not that it’s impossible to find somebody to love these days. It’s just that once you find someone, it’s hard to forget about all of the other people out there you could also have loved, and, more importantly, who could have loved you. In sociologist Barry Schwartz’s book The Paradox of Choice, he argues that, in our pursuit of absolute freedom, American citizens have paralyzed themselves in the face of too much autonomy. We’ve...
National Treasures
“I just write about whatever places I want.” This is what my friend – at the time, a writer and editor for a well-known travel guide company – told me when I asked how she decided what goes into the “best of”-type human interest articles we see in relation to restaurants, vacations, activities, etc. For some reason I always assumed there was some sort of science or algorithm to selecting the subjects in these...
Today’s the One Day You All Have to Listen to Me
It’s my birthday. I plan to party like it’s my birthday, but also not really give a fuck that it’s my birthday (50 cent your wisdom knows no bounds). Birthdays are great. Everyone is nice to you and everyone goes out of their way to make you feel special. And for one day out of the year you have a pretty captive audience to your existence. As I get older I realize what makes a great birthday and even a great...
NSA Outrage
Where’s the outrage? The news media is atwitter with the revelation that the NSA is keeping tabs on all us honest hard-working Americans. And, to hear them tell it, it’s a political shit storm of umbrage. Americans are furious that their elected leaders would not only invade their privacy, but would do so on such a grand scale. Or so, once again, the media would like to have us believe. The problem with their story is a simple...
The Rookery Does Father’s Day
We here at Rookerville wanted to pay tribute to our many fathers. Below are a few of our thoughts on our fathers and father’s day. Happy Father’s; from Rookerville. Russ Stevens: If you know me, chances are, you have heard me say that I am my father’s son. Each year that progresses, I find myself saying things I imagine he would, or behaving in a fashion I imagine he would. This is not a bad thing, but it’s...