I wrote a LinkedIn post. I feel dirty. I’m a writer. I value words. I value meaning. I value connection. LinkedIn is devoid of all that. The LinkedIn style is short sentences, toxic positivity, endless and unexpected life and career lessons, relentless brand building. Personality is discouraged. Paragraphs of more than a sentence or twoContinue reading “Reflections Upon a LinkedIn Post”
Author Archives: Allyn Gibson
Land of Confusion
Six years ago, when I was in the ICU — vision melting, suspicion of a stroke, all that jazz — I took the cognitive tests that Donald Trump likes to brag about. That was part of the stroke protocol, along with various motor tests. I was happy when, after the second day, I didn’t haveContinue reading “Land of Confusion”
Scenes from the Occupation
I was in Washington on Sunday. Congressional Cemetery was having a winter fair, and as I hadn’t been to Congressional Cemetery to visit my family there this year, this seemed like the right time to go. I love Washington. My mom said many years ago that I should live there… and I should! I justContinue reading “Scenes from the Occupation”
Memories of Long Ago
From time to time I think about two customers from my long-ago EB Games days. There was a man named Malcolm who came in the store on the weekends with his son, aged around 10. (I cannot remember the son’s name, but it might’ve been David. That’s what I’ll use going forward, but it mightContinue reading “Memories of Long Ago”
In the Dairy Aisle
Friday afternoon, after going to the bank — Pennsylvania still is not depositing my unemployment checks to my back account, despite updating my banking information three times — I stopped at the grocery store on the way home. I knew I needed to for some reason as I drove down Springwood Road, and then itContinue reading “In the Dairy Aisle”
Moonrise over Pennsylvania
A chilly early evening. I’m going to listen to WAMU’s Hot Jazz Saturday Night and call it a day.
Simply Having a Jazzy Christmastime
What if the Vince Guaraldi Trio recorded Paul McCartney’s “Wonderful Christmastime” for “A Charlie Brown Christmas”? That’s what this delightful little cover of Macca’s Christmas favorite by the Jason Frederick Cinematic Trio imagines. “Favorite”? Well, “money pump.” It’s a money pump. Last I saw, McCartney earned something like one million dollars a year in performanceContinue reading “Simply Having a Jazzy Christmastime”
Christmas Revelry
Let’s have some Christmas revelry, shall we? 🙂 This song never fails to put me in the Christmas spirit. There was an Irish Christmas song that YouTube recommended to me about two weeks ago. I liked the melody and the instrumentation, the lyrics were very 2025, and the music video was AI slop. I’d shareContinue reading “Christmas Revelry”
Christmas Tales from Gilded Age New York
“New York is a place long shaped by the forces of unbridled capital, where form follows finance and landowners get to build “as of right”, citizens be damned.” — Oliver Wainwright Recently I read John Kendrick Bangs‘ 1912 short story collection, A Little Book of Christmas. Bangs was a short story writer and magazine editorContinue reading “Christmas Tales from Gilded Age New York”
Thoughts on a Grim December Morn
No, they don’t have Christmas in Kentucky There’s no holly on a West Virginia door For the trees don’t twinkle when you’re hungry And the jingle bells don’t jingle when you’re poor — Phil Ochs, “Christmas in Kentucky” The weather forecast for today was all over the map. Something wintry, that was definite. Accumulation? Snow?Continue reading “Thoughts on a Grim December Morn”