• Sincerely, L. Cohen

    personal  ·  

    My first car was a late ’80s Toyota Tercel that was the color of a jug of supermarket eggnog. In my older brother’s younger years, he briefly (and unsuccessfully) got into fixing up and reselling used cars, which is how this car came to end up in the back lot of my parents’ house and, later, into my possession. The...

  • Star Trek at 50

    culture  ·  

    Originally posted on my tumblr.

    Since other people are sharing their appreciation of Star Trek today, I should throw in mine, too.

    One of the things that strikes me about Star Trek these days is how much, as a shared culture and ideal, it has transcended the shortcomings of its creators. And I don’t mean just in the trivial...

  • What Are College Sports For?

    culture  ·  

    Originally posted on my tumblr.

    They’re not for child rape, I think we can all agree. But the scandal1 of Jerry Sandusky is the latest in a series of events calling into question the outsized influence of sports programs (football and basketball, mainly) in American universities. Too many schools today are basically sports franchises with a...

  • What Do We Think of Barack Obama?

    politics  ·  

    Orginally published on my tumblr.

    This has been on my mind a bit in the last several weeks. Of course, the fact that he succeeded in killing Osama bin Laden raises his esteem in the eyes of many Americans greatly, and (no doubt) will help boost his chances at reelection. But that achievement, as worthy as it is, shouldn’t...

  • Christmas in a Post-Christian Age

    religion  ·  

    Originally published on my tumblr.

    About a year ago, a friend of mine from college wrote a very moving essay about his coming to grips with his atheism during the Christmas season, having been raised as an evangelical Christian. (Sadly, the post has been lost to linkrot.) I found it moving, not only because of my friendship with him...