Category: Culture

Mandy Patinkin Has a Powerful Message|Hope Still Lives

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And it nearly crushed my heart, but I’m glad he said it; I’m just saddened that he had to.

Mandy Patinkin’s Urgent Message to Jews Worldwide

Patinkin grew up in an upper-middle-class family, descended from Jewish immigrants from Russia and Poland, and was raised in Conservative Judaism, attending religious school daily from the age of seven to 13 or 14 and singing in synagogue choirs, as well as attending the Camp Sura in Michigan.

Fine Art America/Images

hope still lives, or at least, I think it does

many of us don’t
really have a heyday
to refer to–shouldn’t
we all–isn’t that
some sort of
requirement to doing
life the way it should
be done?!

I could be
overthinking this as
I typically do with
all things, but in my
head, it makes sense
for this to make
sense.

I know I can’t be the
only one.
I hope I’m not the
only one.

but it wouldn’t be
the first time, and
that, somehow, is
oddly relieving.

Have you gotten your copy of my new book: a collection of serial tales & flash fiction, Séduire (E-Book and Paperback) yet?

I recently signed up to write on Substack as well. Poking the Bear’s Belly for Fun is a place of healing as I speak about the most recent events with my place of employment, as it pertains to racism and discrimination. I welcome your visit.

the carelessness of the few & a griseous morning

trE

Two poems written on Substack notes

the carelessness of the few

if millions of breathing beings
proscribed evildoers and those greedy
enough to shake down the poor and
oppressed, we wouldn’t be dancing
in a pit of flames, trying our best to
outrun the burn.

but here we are…
walking on lit coal, struggling to stay
sane, and clapping away fire that aligns
itself with our truths.
we had the tools to succeed politically,
however, many were afraid to see how
well they worked.

and now, we’re all
drowning in this
inescapable Hell.

a griseous morning

morning isn’t sashaying over to
me as it’s done the
past few days.

it appears sullen,
griseous, and
downtrodden.

I don’t have the
words to heal the ache it feels, but
I offer a few anyway.

it wanders around my home,
anxious to see which one of us
will break first.

I’ve got news for it…
it won’t be me.

Have you gotten your copy of my new book: a collection of serial tales & flash fiction, Séduire (E-Book and Paperback) yet?

I recently signed up to write on Substack as well. Poking the Bear’s Belly for Fun is a place of healing as I speak about the most recent events with my place of employment as it pertains to racism and discrimination. I welcome your visit.

A Few Moments To Myself

trE

A break is needed

AI-Generated Image: A Black woman with locs sitting on her couch, reading a book. She is wearing a beige sweater, khaki pants, and the background is soft and mellow with a hint of sunlight breaking through her window. Created with Canva.

I am in production and continued training mode at work. That being said, my focus is on the grind and perfecting the roles I am transitioning through. I am also searching for a part-time WFH job due to the impending rent hike that’s just around the corner.

Needless to say, I need a break.

I want to enjoy all that I can during this coming week at my job, learn more, and devote my time to our patients. I also want to maintain a sense of self as I come to grips with the reality of going back to working two jobs.

I will return to this creative space with the Sunday features: Opening Lyrics To Songs That I Love and Sunday Microfiction next Sunday, August 10, 2025.

For now, please enjoy this groovy tune and a few posts from the past in my absence.

Let Me Grow

What If We Could Haiku the Pain Away?

The Beauty of Love and Creativity

Something To Think About #16

Peace and blessings.

back at it again & biometrics for 200, please, Alex!

trE

back at it again

hopped into the hot seat–outta
practice for four years, but
took to it like riding a bike
again.

I knew I’d get the hang of
it as soon as I put hands
to keyboard and head to
tasks.

I am a people person who
people’d more than I should
today, and I didn’t spazz out,
I didn’t lose myself in the
deluge of patients rushing in
around lunchtime.

I kept my cool,
breathed several deep
breaths, and turned on
the charm I am most known for.

I crushed it.

biometrics for 200, please, Alex!

cell phone
biometrics, I’ll never
understand it.

another way of
verifying who I am,
the owner of this
phone…

I’d like my
dactylogram to save
after I appointed it
the best method
to this new age
madness.

however, every time
I attempt to break
through the locked
screen, my own
phone doesn’t
recognize me.

I guess it’ll have to
be a pattern or a
pin number instead.
the digital world
wins again.

Oh, nothing… I’m just out here being creative in Substack notes again.

Have you gotten your copy of my new book: a collection of serial tales & flash fiction, Séduire (E-Book and Paperback) yet?

I recently signed up to write on Substack as well. Poking the Bear’s Belly for Fun is a place of healing as I speak about the most recent events with my place of employment as it pertains to racism and discrimination. I welcome your visit.

T-Shirt Message #2

trE

Encouraging messages that have been AI-generated as I grow through the messes and joys of life.

AI-Generated T-Shirt Message #2: He’s Still In Control. Created with Canva.

Psalm 46:10: “Be still, and know that I am God.”
Romans 8:28: “All things work together for good for those who love God.” 

Have you gotten your copy of my new book: a collection of serial tales & flash fiction, Séduire (E-Book and Paperback) yet?

I recently signed up to write on Substack as well. Poking the Bear’s Belly for Fun is a place of healing as I speak about the most recent events with my place of employment, as it pertains to racism and discrimination. I welcome your visit.

But Aren’t We All Spinning Now?

trE
AI-Generated Image. Created with Google Gemini. A White man with short, messy hair, standing in the middle of nowhere, holding up a crumpled letter. He is dressed in faded jeans with a matching jacket. He is wearing glasses and has a mustache running into a beard. Above him, the sky is dark & gloomy.

I caught the last forty-five minutes
of Spinning Man, and wondered
how I had never seen such a
trainwreck of a movie before. 

I won’t bore you with the details:
it is enough to make one’s head 
roll. Men have been coercing
women into the bowels of 
dysfunction for eons.

This shouldn’t be any different. 
It wasn’t. I think I’d just had my
fill of creepiness and absurdities
for half a year. 

Isn’t it something, though? 
To remember what never happened
and not remember what has? 
To spin while standing in place? 
Aren’t we all spinning now? 

The carousel of life is packed
with people losing their minds
under the guise of “survival of
the fittest,” and soon, we’ll all
be damned.

Have you gotten your copy of my new book: a collection of serial tales & flash fiction, Séduire (E-Book and Paperback) yet?

I recently signed up to write on Substack as well. Poking the Bear’s Belly for Fun is a place of healing as I speak about the most recent events with my place of employment, as it pertains to racism and discrimination. I welcome your visit.