Author: JHB

essays

Fred Rogers meets my 10th grade English teacher

JHB

Before beginning his story, my 10th grade English teacher lowers the blinds and dims the lights. On retrospection years later, I will recognize this process as what is called “setting the stage,” segmenting a sensory environment so that when these stories occur, I and my classmates will feel privileged and therefore not spill the beans.… Continue reading Fred Rogers meets my 10th grade English teacher

essays

Cultural erosion and the multiverse in which it lives

JHB

The Tia Sophia's storefront A few weeks ago, my mother and I stood waiting in line outside Tia Sophia’s, a favorite breakfast spot in our hometown of Santa Fe, New Mexico. With several other New Mexican places in town, Tia’s is family owned and is a popular destination for both tourists and locals. Bursting forth… Continue reading Cultural erosion and the multiverse in which it lives

poetry

Love as a certain kind of flame

JHB

I miss when relationships meant nothing, And in that nothingness, Could mean the world. * The artist, the bureaucrat, the hippy… To each I gave my heart entire, Willy nilly, Blissfully indifferent to the consequences. * As these worlds shattered, And as my heart grew worn, My head entered the picture, Offering diagnoses as to… Continue reading Love as a certain kind of flame

essays

Masculinity, fascism, and the green revolution

JHB

What happened in Germany in the 1930s can be viewed through a purely economic lens. Germany had lost the first World War, been economically hamstrung by the Treaty of Versailles, and famously, inflation was so rampant that children needed to truck dollar bills in a wheelbarrow to purchase a loaf of bread. When Adolf Hitler… Continue reading Masculinity, fascism, and the green revolution