my careless contagion

A Million Miles Away captures the plaintive longing and destitution of separation. Maybe you've been there. I think we all have. But there's more going on.  This song was featured on the classic film Valley Girl (1983), which helped make the band popular.  A lot changed since 1982, when this song was released. Back then, you couldn't text your love interest. You could call them, but they weren't home. People didn't just hang around at home. You'd have to leave a message, or it would just ring out. It would be like trying to reach me on my personal phone while I'm working. Good luck, everybody (nobody).  The song details a forever loss, not a temporary separation. Peter Case, songwriter, said it was written after a cherished affair ended. It portrays feeling lost, distant, alone, removed, bored, and maybe a little crazy. There is some hyperbole (like bro, you can't be a million miles away), but overall, the mood is somber and understated. That's becau...

Lewis Carroll photographed with a bevy of young children. Lewis Carroll is the pen name of a man named Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, known most for writing Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass . He died in 1898, so why is he still relevant? Is what he wrote that important? What is his legacy? Unfortunately, his legacy is a dark one.  This is not going to be an exhaustive account of the man's legacy. It is simply my thoughts on why he is still relevant today. Much has been written about the man and his legacy, and I don't intend to add another tome. However, as I was watching a movie last night (considered a horror film, which wasn't scary), this man's legacy reared its ugly head yet again. In the film, there was a ghost by the name of Alice, and her father's ghost's name was Henry. This was too much of a coincidence. As anyone who knows anything about Carroll and his Alice in Wonderland, there was a real-life girl named Alice. A...