Walking around Williamsburg this past weekend, I came across a 7SoulsDeep piece with a big red “X” over it. Adding insult to injury, someone had also scrawled “UR CORNY STOP” in green marker underneath. Ouch. Yet I welcomed this defacement. Not only did it zhuzh up the dry, floating text with some color and dynamism, but I also found the critique to be a thousand times more interesting than the street art itself—assertive and direct, with a clear point of view. And fucking funny.

Happy International Women's Day, bitches. Cue the onslaught of egregious marketing emails suggesting that I “celebrate” by buying their exploitative, overpriced shit. Cue international demonstrations demanding equal pay, reproductive rights, and the prevention of violence against women. Cue this year's official United Nations theme—For ALL Women and Girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment.

I met Hoo-dini, a great-horned owl and love-child of Muppets Bert and Statler, at the Woodford Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge in Medford, New Jersey the other day. Perched behind his woody shelter, he bored his lazily blinking eyes into mine. As one of Hoo-dini’s eyelids retracted a bit slower than the other, he was constantly winking at me, the feathery old flirt.

Six weeks into his second term as President of the United States, Donald Trump addressed Congress and the world at large, the whole shebang a display of American idiocy at its finest. Republicans were on their feet whooping “USA! USA! USA!” while Democrats remained seated, meaning to “disrupt” the chamber with their Barbie pink blazers, glittering brooches, and black and white ping pong paddles.

This past Saturday, March 1, Marco Rubio, invoking unspecified “emergency authorities”, bypassed congressional approval to send an additional 35,000 2,000-pound U.S. bombs to Israel, equating to $4 billion. Tack on the $8 billion that was approved in early February, and one wonders why (I mean, not really), in less than a month—during a supposed ceasefire—the U.S. government has armed Israel with $12 billion in weaponry, and (more importantly) what this means for Phase 2 of the three-pronged Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement. Since the deal went into effect on January 19, Israel has flagrantly violated the agreement hundreds of times over, effectively continuing its siege on Gaza.

Like the average American, to regain consciousness after sleep and strange dreams, I require coffee first thing in the morning. I can't think of a better way to orient myself than the aroma of fresh grounds, the liquid taste and temperature, the steam that rolls off its filmy surface, warming my skin and temporarily steaming up my glasses.

Apart from being happily married with a partner of 15 years, I really have no business giving relationship advice. But since today happens to be my sort of nine-year wedding anniversary, and since this is my blog, why not?

There’s a lot of evil, conniving shit that goes down in New York City. There’s also a lot of brave, furious pushback from its inhabitants. While the efficacy of said pushback is dubious at best (counterproductive at worst ☹), attend any NYC protest and you’re bound to be met with an overwhelming feeling of solidarity, a shared electric hum of determination and rage. You’ll know you're not alone in your feelings.