… with race and with aggrandizing his own celebrity.
May I never emulate either feature.
(Originally posted 05/01/12 at Trojan Horse Productions. Reblogged 07/20/17.)
Tag Archives: The Homeless Blogger
o Jacob’s Ladder 12/14/13
Prayer for myself often takes the form of imagining myself climbing up a ladder out of a pit, the pit being my current circumstances of poverty and homelessness. Getting out at the top represents a return to the normal life of the American mainstream. I didn’t start with a ladder in there, but I decided to add one to symbolize the various structures and tools that others have made available to me — and eliminate the possibility of clawing at loose earth.
Here begins a list of “rungs” on the ladder that I’ve become aware I need to “overcome.” Each one takes effort, exertion, to get over. I will update this list from time to time as I learn of others.
| 1. | Fear of the unknown. See From my diary: Learning to pray. |
| 2. | Jealousy of others who seem to be prospering more quickly than I am. Details here. |
| 3. | Times of despair. I guess, from time to time, they’ll happen. Details here. |
| 4. | Incidents of utter selfishness. Details here. |
| 5. | Moments of unusual hardship and sacrifice. Details here. |
| 6. | Cut loose the losers. Details here. |
| 7. | Smoking. See posts tagged “Smoking”. |
| 8. | Shame. See “(3) Baby steps.” |
on air talent, talk show host, talk radio, the homeless blogger
* The Rich and the Rest of Us
(Originally posted 04/18/12 at Trojan Horse Productions. Reblogged 07/06/17.)
From a flyer announcing a presentation tonight at 7:00 p.m. at Enoch Pratt Free Library:
Record unemployment and rampant corporate greed, empty houses but homeless families, dwindling opportunitites in a paralyzed nation — these are the realities of America, land of the free and home of the new middle-class poor.
In The Rich and the Rest of Us, award-winning broadcaster Tavis Smiley and Dr. Cornel West, one of the nation’s leading public intellectuals, take on the “p” word — poverty. They challenge all Americans to re-examine their assumptions about poverty in America — what it is and how to eradicate it.
I cannot attend that presentation, even if I wanted to, since as of 3:00 p.m. I must head back to the shelter to stay in for the night.
I know little about Cornel West and nothing about Tavis Smiley, but I do know something about poverty. I do not believe it can be eradicated. Thus any analysis that supposes that it can, is mistaken at its core.
talk show host, on air talent, talk radio, the homeless blogger
* New Page: Free Speech Handbook
A new page has appeared at The Homeless Blogger.
“Free Speech Handbook” gives a lot of information about exactly what I hope to accomplish in the world of radio.
This development is a big step forward in my job search.
Check it out!
(Reblogged 06/29/17.)
* Three-post series on panhandling
Concerning Baltimore City’s recent ordinance about panhandling, Dan Rodricks complained that the ordinance didn’t address “the underlying issues;” but then, he didn’t, either. So I thought I would, here. These posts pertain:
(1) I stay at the best shelter on the East Coast;
(2) Obstacles to my prosperity;
(3) Baby steps.
(Reblogged 06/22/17.)
talk show host, on air talent, talk radio, the homeless blogger
* (1) I stay at the best shelter on the East Coast
… which shall here remain nameless, for reason that I also have harsh criticisms and don’t need any reader, however well-intentioned, to draw me into controversies not of my own choosing. The administration is rigid and authoritarian, and if I ever need to ask a favor it’s best I not be seen as a troublemaker.
I had ample time to prepare for homelessness. I packed up all my stuff neatly to make it easy for the landlady to dispose of. I gave away practically everything of durable value — dumbbells, tools, kitchen utensils, foodstuffs. Angie wanted to keep the bird feeder going after I would leave, so I showed her how. I was able to ask around and find out the highest-rated men’s homeless shelter in town. I went there at once when I became homeless March 7, 2011, and except for three nights, have been there ever since.
Continue reading * (1) I stay at the best shelter on the East Coast
* (3) Baby steps
Efforts to dialogue with Dan Rodricks’ position (that is, take it seriously) led to a lot of confusion and self-doubt in my prayer time Friday morning 10/25/13.
The past week’s instability in my support system had forced me to ask for and accept significant (by my standards) amounts of money from acquaintances who had never donated to me before. It was as if the Cosmos was retaliating for things I said in “Chaos overwhelms the poor.” Am I a panhandler already myself? Is there any shame in that? Am I in any way a better investment than the drunks who panhandle on the street?
Continue reading * (3) Baby steps
* The most outrageous feature of the Secret Service scandal …
… is that he only offered her $30.
Any woman I’d engage gets more than that merely to bat her eyelashes and giggle.
In context, this detail only epitomizes the overwhelming hubris of the entire situation, and is well worth costing the gentleman his job.
(Originally posted 04/17/12 at Trojan Horse Productions. Reblogged 06/15/17.)
talk show host, on air talent, talk radio, the homeless blogger
* New Page: The Word of the Day
A new page has appeared at The Homeless Blogger.
“The William Tell Show” is where I will collect ongoing materials directly related to the show, such as its playlist, Free Speech Handbook and Guides to Straight Thinking.
The Word of the Day will be a regular feature of the show; so it has its own page.
Check it out!
(Reblogged 06/08/17.)
* Prayer is work, too.
Saint Benedict ran a monastery. He ran into the problem that many monks wanted to spend all their time praying and studying, and not do any of the dirty manual labor — housekeeping, tending livestock, working in the fields — needed to keep the place going. So he adopted and enforced the motto, Laborare est orare — “Work is prayer.”
In excess, religious study can become a drain on society’s resources. Many Haredi, or “ultra-orthodox,” men in Israel want to spend all their time in religious study instead of earning any money. (Article.) Meanwhile, a majority of them live on welfare, with eight to fifteen children. This places a burden on the remainder of society that that economy can no longer bear.
What about me?
Continue reading * Prayer is work, too.
The Homeless Blogger 