Category: Blogs
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The Impact of Public Diplomacy
Reflecting on U.S. Diplomacy. An excerpt: The next-to-last time I saw Mohamed—11:15 a.m., December 6, 2004—a blast-resistant window separated us. The day’s final applicant, he was alone in the waiting room when the high-low alarm started wailing. An Afghan male taking refuge in Saudi Arabia from the time of the Soviet invasion of his country,…
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This Is Why We Write
Why We Write We write not to be read. We write not because we have something to say, but because something must be said and needs our attention. We write to put down the tracks of our thought and, through this process, clarify our intent, to give form and understanding to our own inscrutable intuition.…
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February
The shortest month. Winter’s last stronghold, light surrounding us more and more each day. We celebrate African American culture and contributions this month, and recognize the struggles overcome while dedicating ourselves to the struggles that remain. This year, February brings 15 days of international sportsmanship from PyeongChang, Korea. BenEastBooks takes on all this, while continuing the original mission highlighting…
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Six Grand
I’ll end 2017 on a high note. A mighty effort in the last weeks of December pushed my page views for the year over 6,000. That’s nothing compared to the many blogs who get 6,000 views in a month, a week, a day, but it was my goal for 2017. A sincere Thank You to…
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10 Words I Hate
Manspreading. Not in defense of the posture or those who assume it. The word’s as gross as it is misleading. I predict an EEO complaint in its future. File this word with mansplaining as a crappy portmanteau. Votarama. Actually, this whimsical-sounding act occurs when congress picks America’s pockets and probes our inner reaches for pork.…
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When Publishing Was Hard
I tailor-made an essay for an in-house blog last month. Labored over 500 words and thought it a shoe-in. But they passed. The rejection would’ve stung if I thought the piece was lousy. This was for a blog, but the rejection didn’t hurt: I don’t submit rubbish, though I may write it. I knew the piece…
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Angels Walk Here
This blog opened four years ago with the following: I wish more people were reading books. Here’s what I’m reading: Heaven Is Coming Home, by David Suarez Gomez. That’s all I wrote. And I didn’t post again for months. I had a voracious appetite for reading and I was writing books, but they were years from…
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Mother Land: A Review for Mothers Day
Stephen King reviews Paul Theroux’s new novel, Mother Land at the New York Times this week (PeaceCorpsWorldwide brought it to my attention). King gives voice to the love-hate relationship so many readers have with the Returned Peace Corps Volunteer, novelist and travel writer, whose prolific career spans nearly six decades and whose vicious pen reaches the furthest places on the…
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World Book Day
On Earth Day I pollute. On World Book Day I watch movies. If I list my favorites, it becomes clear that most actually started out as novels—even Cool Hand Luke (Donn Pearce, ’65) and Midnight Cowboy (James Leo Herlihy, same year). Easy Rider (’69) is the exception.
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Miles of Fun, Miles of Files
Paul Panepinto is bored at work. How could he not be? He’s a painter trapped by lapsed policies, cold chocolate in a Federal Funding mug, and long stints of muzak while on hold with Mortgage Depot. Also there are his smarmy daydreams of ‘better times’ with Suzanne Biedertyme to get him through the monotony. Panepinto…
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