Unfinished Business,
a weblog
This is a place where I can think out loud, work through ideas, and talk about stuff that doesn't fit cleanly into the type of freelance writing I do. Some ideas will be fully formed, others, as the title implies, will be unfinished.
George Dale loved a fight. He loved getting in them, with the Klan, for sure, but with anyone really. And he loved watching them. This is a little work-in-progress about both.
Published on June 12, 2026
Foundational Texts: Puzzle Pieces
The fifth installment in my monthly Foundational Texts series looks at The Westing Game, puzzles, and not lying to kids.
Published on June 1, 2026
Today the Arsenal, the 180-year-old British football club won the Premier League after 22 years. The lesson I took away from it was that it's never ever done.
Published on May 24, 2026
The Zombie Revival of Dead Confederates
The Confederacy is everywhere right now, including in the new season of Rebel Spirit, out today.
Published on May 19, 2026
A pep talk in the face of despair (or: trying redux)
Everything sucks right now, but things can *always* get better, but it doesn't happen via inertia. It happens because a lot of people tried.
Published on May 14, 2026
Foundational Texts: Forks and Branches
The fourth installment in the monthly Foundational Texts series looks at the first book in the Choose-Your-Own-Adventure series, and how new choices are always possible.
Published on April 30, 2026
A Short Post In Defense of Libraries
What it says on the tin. Libraries are amazing. Never ever forget.
Published on April 24, 2026
A Well-Aimed Potato: The Klan, Notre Dame, and Today
With the Trump administration embracing anti-Catholic rhetoric, I wrote about a time a hundred years ago when Catholic students from Notre Dame beat the shit out of the Klan. A feel good story for the ages.
Published on April 17, 2026
Here's the deal. I write about the mess we're in, how we're getting through it, and other things that make my head itch. But not lice. No cost, no spam, let's go.
Or you can always subscribe via RSS or follow me on Mastodon or Bluesky where new posts are automatically posted.
Want to read a few popular pieces? Here are a some of my most-read posts:
-
The Who Cares Era
We're living through the Who Cares Era, where completely disposable things are shoddily produced for people to mostly ignore, while the government stomps its uncaring boot on our necks.
Published on May 23, 2025
-
What Felt Impossible Became Possible
A post about how the KKK in the 1920s felt unstoppable, about the people that fought against them anyway, and about how fascism always fails.
Published on Feb 23, 2025
-
What I Need You To Understand, Notes from Chicago in Late October
ICE has been cracking down on Chicago, and I wrote a little bit about what you need to understand about what it's like here in late October. Plus, I compiled some resources for alerts and whistles.
Published on Oct 24, 2025
-
Whistle Up
In Chicago, whistles proved to be a super effective alert system when ICE is near. With these goons spreading out across the country, I wanted to put together a resource guide for buying, printing, and distributing whistles. I wrote as full a brain dump as I could muster. Whistle up.
Published on Nov 21, 2025
-
The Amazing Art of the Video Game Marquee
During this long, hot, difficult summer I took a trip to a huge video game arcade and ended up completely in love with the art of the game marquee.
Published on Aug 1, 2025