Amy Kathleen Ryan's Blog, page 3
September 16, 2016
On The Scariest US Presidential Election in Recent History.
Responsible journalists and commentators have listed ad nauseum all the ways Donald Trump is unfit to be President, but let's give it a go, shall we? His unhinged, un-American bullshit megalomania should be glaringly obvious to anyone able to parse text from subtext. The man is a monster in waiting. He's made it clear using nuclear weapons would be on the table for him as commander in chief. He's made it clear he plans to deport tens of thousands of people and to build a wall reminiscent of t...
June 9, 2016
To the Stanford Survivor.
First, I want to tell you that you are a very good writer. I think you could make a career of it. I hope you do.
Second I want to tell you that you are an inspiration. You are courageous, and your poignant letter to that smudge of excrement who attacked you will serve as an inspiration to other survivors. You have inspired me.
Third, I want to acknowledge your repeated trauma, first at the hands of a morally bereft Neanderthal, and second at the hands of a morally bereft injustice system. Much...
May 14, 2016
On All the Things I Used to Do Before Social Media Took Over My Life
Authors have to do social media, they said. You must develop a platform, they said. Post eighty percent on random crap, and the other twenty percent on shameless self-promotion! No ten. Actually fifty! You must include Twitter and Facebook and Instagram and Tumblr and Twitter, wait, not Twitter! Twitter is dying! No it's not! Are you writing a book about birds? Look for message boards filled with people who will attack you like a flock of rabid chickadees if they get ANY INDICATION AT AL...
April 5, 2016
On Migraine.
It's scary when your head hurts so badly that you can literally FEEL that a vein IN YOUR BRAIN is swelling up, causing clusters of neurons to cry out in agony. It makes your stomach turn inside out. It totally exhausts you so that taking a single step requires an act of will. You lie there helpless for hours, for days maybe, and hopefully your special pills from the doctor will work. But sometimes they don't. Sometimes the headache takes on a life of its own, and it won't be controlled, it wo...
March 12, 2016
On Politics
It's an election year, did you hear? This time around, it's scary.Our Republican front runner is building his power with rhetoric that scapegoats vulnerable minorities. Muslims fleeing political upheaval and civil war, who have had their lives destroyed by extremism, are being told they will not be allowed in the country whose motto is Freedom and Justice for All. He wants to build a wall to keep people out because he is so ignorant of history that he believes walls actually work, when in fac...
January 8, 2016
On Loving Yourself.
I was always a little uncomfortable with the phrase, "Love yourself." Aside from it being a little touchy-feely, I feel it puts too much pressure on a person. Love myself even after I said something I deeply regret to someone I love? Love myself even after I embarrass myself socially in front of esteemed peers? Love myself after I tell a lie to get out of a tight spot, and even as it escapes my mouth I feel my character diminishing? The truth is it isn't always easy to love yourself. We...
January 1, 2016
On Coming Home
I am from Jackson Hole Wyoming, where the winters are snowy, COLD, and gorgeous. Hoar frost glistens in the air so that in the morning when the light is right, there is a rainbow halo around the sun and teeny diamonds floating all around you. Sure, it might be twenty below zero, but when the sun is out, all that lovely radiation warms you up, and you don't feel the cold. The town is situated in one of the most remote areas in the continental United States. The closest large city is Salt Lake,...
September 23, 2015
April 22, 2015
On Child and Teen Obesity: It's not your fault.
The world breaks your heart. They advertise the worst food to you using the cartoon characters you loved when you were a toddler. They programmed you since birth. They fill your schools with sugar and pizza and french fries, with fruit juice and chocolate milk and soda, all foods that make you fat. And they put it in front of you and feed it to you, and then they tell you "Get more exercise." They don't tell you that no amount of exercise could work off the calories they're selling you. There...
February 27, 2015
On Lying.
Confucius said, "I do not see what use a man can be put to, whose word cannot be trusted. How can a wagon be made to go if it has no yoke-bar, or a carriage if it has no collar-bar?"14. Confucianism. Analects 2.22From: http://www.unification.net/ws/theme062.htm
We all do it, even though we know we shouldn't. Every major religion condemns lying; you can see for yourself if you click on the link above. If it's so universally frowned upon in practically every culture on Earth, then why...
