Chris Rodell's Blog

 We’re so disposed to reveling in our petty nationalist rivalries, we’re failing to see the big picture: We’re light years ahead of every other planet in every quality of life category there is.Enjoy ice cream? Then don’t try and eat any on Mercury, the nearest planet to the Sun. It’s 810-degrees there, a temperature which incinerates ice cream in less time than it takes to get the cone

In my maniacal quest to rid the world of historical typos I’ve found another and it too is Biblical. You might remember the last one was Yeaster instead of Easter.I did this based on the grounds that no one’s ever heard of an Easter. There is ni such thing. But yeast is a common kitchen ingredient widely used to make things — things like bread/slain Saviors —rise. The next one is obvious, but

 I am taken aback by the cruel reaction to my new book, the one that is about the most physically and emotionally painful episodes from my entire life.My friends think it’s hysterical.Risky spinal surgery? Uproarious.Spiritual crisis? Hilarious.Marital woes? Comical.Unfortunate bladder capacity? A laugh riot.Contending with Parkinson’s? Wildly amusing.It’s all there in “(The Art of Living

You won’t hear them extolling its virtues on Wall Street, but the greatest economic system conceived by man isn’t capitalism, socialism, feudalism or any of the other nasty isms that make the old butt cheeks tighten up.No, it’s the one that’s so simple even kindergarteners get it. You’ve likely participated in it without ever even having paid attention to it.It’s so simple, so direct,

When I in March unveiled my GoFundMe page, I did so because I believed I needed the whole world for my book to succeed. Now early reviews of “How to Deal With Things That Suck,” and a maelstrom of news events has me convinced I had it backward.I don’t need the world.The world needs me.Really, who's in worse shape?Audacious, yes. But is the premise  true? Let’s on this day have that

 Parkinson’s update: My left arm shakes to the point of uselessness whenever I’m under duress like, for instance, in the self-checkout aisle at the Giant Eagle. It’s stressful because shoppers treat it like they're participants in an Olympic event. So there I am struggling under the glare of hyper-efficient shoppers who appear eager to bag me. Just as I’m about to cry a woman emerges from

 The Lance Cowan story isn’t just one of the best stories in country music. It’s one of the best stories in the country itself. It’s a story of devotion, patience, self-belief, humility and a recognition so long overdue it seems like a cultural crime.It’s not a story about making petulant demands. It doesn’t whine about how it was treated unfairly. It doesn’t want to punch anyone in the

 I suppose it’d be safe to say after three nights in the hospital and a five hour surgery that my back problems are all behind me.But that reaction might be either a bit rosy and open to anatomical  confusion. Think about it. Aren’t even future back problems all behind us and can the back ever be described  the front?I’ll try and come  back to this.Let’s

 I’m getting my back operated on Wednesday at Montefiore Hospital in Pittsburgh. I have many concerns, foremost being it could be a really elaborate hoax. If everyone is in on the joke, how will I know they even operated? I’m 62 years old and have never once laid eyes on the part of the body — my own goddamned body — where they said they’ll be making the incision.There’s a reason the

The venerable Washington Post lost $77 million in 2023. I read that and felt an unseemly flush of superiority over the brainy  conglomerate that runs the place.I lost way, way less than that — and I’m all alone by myself!Still, the twin losses are indicative of the fiscal perils for those of us who seek to make money telling stories. For years, supporters have urged me to try a Go Fund Me