Essays – Tillie's Void

Reflections on Conversations with Zionists

My dad has often said I have “the gift of gab.” I can talk circles around just about anyone on just about any topic. Sometimes, I think arguing is the only thing I’m any good at. So, since around October 8th, keeping my skill set in mind, I’ve been having conversations. I’ve talked to “friends,”Continue reading “Reflections on Conversations with Zionists”

Review: The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine (Ilan Pappé)

You cannot read 336 pages of Israel committing ethnic cleansing over 70+ years without having to come to terms with the fact that not having a strong opinion on some things is just being a coward. As it turns out, the situation is really, really simple.

Pictures of Horrible Things

As human beings, we are built to empathize with each other. We understand the importance of these images, even if they hurt so much to see because they are how we stop people from being statistics. We remain human ourselves by seeking out the humanity in others.

Writing to Remember

One of the hardest things about living after a brain injury has been scraping together what remains of my sense of self, gluing it all back together with only my notes to guide me. I don’t feel like the person I was before. I’m not the person I was before. She died. It is so easy to feel like a stranger in my own life, to feel like everything I have isn’t really mine. My old friends, my family, and even my writing is someone else’s. I’ve merely inherited them.

Human Skin Books and a Family Connection: (Sort of) a Review of Dark Archives by Megan Rosenbloom

When I started college, I thought I wanted to be a doctor, at least until I realized that I really, really don’t like touching people. I knew I would be okay with the icky stuff, but I’ve never been accused of having a bedside manner, and some psychic at the Dickens Fair a decade agoContinue reading “Human Skin Books and a Family Connection: (Sort of) a Review of Dark Archives by Megan Rosenbloom”

Review: Billions and Billions (Carl Sagan)

I was not prepared to cry this much. It’s my fault; I should have done my research before reading Carl Sagan’s last work without tissues on hand. Reading this in 2023 is hard, and not just because of the tear-jerking epilogue by his window, Ann Druyun. Sagan touches on a number of topics in hisContinue reading “Review: Billions and Billions (Carl Sagan)”

Eulogy for Spartacus Jr. (Beloved fish)

We are gathered here today to pay our final respects to Spartacus Jr, a beloved fish taken before his time. We come together in grief and boredom, acknowledging our loss. May God (or should I say Cod) grant us grace, that in pain we may find comfort, in sorrow hope, in death resurrection. Though notContinue reading “Eulogy for Spartacus Jr. (Beloved fish)”