Personal

The people of Carbondale, Illinois are having some serious and often contentious public dialog about homelessness in the city. The current conversation centers around the future of Good Samaritan Ministries. 

Good Samaritan Ministries provides transitional housing, food, and emergency shelter and assistance to people in need. They’ve been offered the gift of a large new facility on the edge of a residential neighborhood at the corner of Oakland and Freeman. This building is the soon-to-close University Baptist Church building that they currently use as a food pantry. 

In order to use this building to serve the homeless, Good Sam will need to apply for zoning variances. They will be presenting their case to the planning commission on Wednesday, October 29 at 6 pm at the Carbondale Civic Center.

I’ve been a Star Trek fan for as long as I can remember. I’m the one who convinced our family to start watching Star Trek: The Next Generation when it premiered. When I was in high school, I wore a Starfleet uniform to school for Halloween. My Data cosplay even made it into our high school yearbook.

As an adult, I eventually got around to watching every official Star Trek episode, film, and short ever made.

I’m also a Star Wars fan. I’m not nearly as invested in the Star Wars franchise, but I would qualify as a Star Wars fan by most standards. I’ve seen the nine main movies plus Rogue One. I had a few of the earliest Star Wars toys back in the day. Every empty paper towel roll or wrapping paper roll I get my hands on becomes a lightsaber.

And I recently watched Andor. It took me a while to get around to it because it wasn’t Star Trek and I tend to prefer Star Trek. But I eventually heard so many good reviews that I decided to give it a try.

Andor is a thought-provoking and inspiring work of antifascist cinema. Where is Star Trek’s modern response to the rise of real-world fascism?

The Summer 2025 Hiatus that I announced in May is drawing to a close. I’m pleased to announce that I’m starting to write and publish again!

This post is an update about why I went on a hiatus and what new writing I’ll be sharing with my readers in the coming months. If you want to stay up to date on my latest works in progress and published writings, please subscribe to my newsletter and follow me on social media and Ko-fi.