Finally. I know.

[Insert apologies here].  However, I genuinely had nothing interesting to say.  At least I can recognize that in myself and act accordingly, right?  I feel like if every 24-hour news network had this same trait...there would be a lot of dead air.  Now I'm just imagining TJ Holmes standing there saying "Yeah, not a whole lot today.  Don't want to just rehash exactly what I said yesterday.  So I'm going to write my grandmother.  You should, too.  Probably a better use of time."  Notice my Jew-guilt coming out.

Somewhere I've been this week: Shophouse in Dupont Circle.  It was started by the Chipotle folks, but it's the Southeast Asian version.  These are super popular around here - we have an Indian Chipotle, a Mediterranean Chipotle, a Japanese Chipotle.  Of course, none of these are actually from Chipotle themselves, but it's the same basic idea.  Anyway, Shophouse was surprisingly delicious!  I mean, you have to approach these things with the same mindset as you do Chipotle - it is not meant for real, authentic Mexican, it's meant for an enormous burrito that likely shortens your life by a couple years, but makes it much more enjoyable.  In that spirit, I got a pork and chicken meatball bahn mi with green papaya and peanuts and it was fantastic.  Highly recommended.  Killer lines though...hopefully those will die down once it's been open for a few months!

So I've gotten totally obsessed with the WTF with Marc Maron podcast.  He interviews these comedians about their lives and backgrounds and it is always totally fascinating.  He also vaguely reminds me of my old professor, Rick Hess.  Same level of directness, similar sense of humor, comparable amounts of cursing.  I loved his class so much.  I recommend starting with the Amy Poehler or Louis CK interviews.  Both incredibly moving pieces of journalism.

One of the most recent that I listened to was with a comedian I hadn't heard of before.  His name is Anthony Jeselnik.  Apparently he wrote for Jimmy Fallon and was famous for an outstanding roast of Donald Trump.  So I looked up that clip and I guess for that kind of comedy it was good?  I don't really know.  Everyone else seemed to be laughing.  To be honest, I don't understand roasts.  All I can think about is how much I would be crying if I were the roast-ee.  Yet another reason for me to never be famous.  But he did seem better than the other people, so good for him.  Anyway, one of the things he said in his interview with Maron that really stuck with me was that he actively seeks things that should be offensive and tries to make people laugh about them.  At one point he said, "yeah, I can't seem to find a good punchline for rape yet."  He got actively mad about people in his audience who found his language or his messages offensive.  He kept essentially saying they needed to grow a pair.

I had been thinking about this, and feeling very conflicted.  On the one hand, life is too short to be sad about everything.  Sometimes you just have to laugh and move on with life, and people who take things too seriously do harm to themselves and others.  Also I like the idea that as a society, we should be able to talk about anything and not cut people out of the conversation because they need to approach it in a humorous way.  I get making jokes about cancer or about disabilities - a lot of people who live with those things say that people tiptoeing around them makes it worse and it's something they have to live with anyway so they'd rather joke.  On the other hand, I don't like jokes about rape.  (Unless Always Sunny makes them.  Then it's hilarious.)

And then today the discussion happening in my mind (yup) took a new turn.  An ex-student of mine added me on facebook.  I went to look at his profile, and he's holding a gun.  He has a teardrop tattoo.  When I had him as a student, he read sci-fi books and stayed after class for homework help.  He got teased a lot.  I thought he would either have to go to an amazing charter school or he would get "toughened" up at the general high school beyond repair.  Looks like the latter happened.  And today, I was sad.

I was just sad.  My heart just hurt.  A lot.  I understand that some people aren't ok with that emotion, but I think it's on them to change.  There is a place for pure sadness in our lives and in our society.  Maybe it's ok to mourn, to not move on immediately or be ok with people making fun of things.  So to all the people who get angry at people who get offended and say they're too sheltered, I say this: I think you're too sheltered.  Not being sheltered means embracing a wide range of emotions, including shame and sadness.  Grow a pair.