Skip to content

Category Archives: writing

Write to Your Good: Making Excellent Brain Talk in Other Humans

Monday, October 5, 2015

Sometimes I start to write something…and then give up, planning to return to it in the future. Usually I don’t. I feel bad about deleting these bits though, so let’s return to my old habit of treating my blog like a notebook. Write to Your Good: Making Excellent Brain Talk in Other Humans Good morning. […]

Also filed in ramble, wtf? | | Comments Off on Write to Your Good: Making Excellent Brain Talk in Other Humans

Peace Be Upon Them

Friday, September 11, 2015

Another piece from my stint as a church reviewer with the Chicago Journal. I visited the center and wrote this a week or so after the attacks. My Islam knowledge came from the Internet and a book about salat. Find this and other church reviews/religious essays in my book Hilaretic. Downtown Islamic Center 218 S. […]

Also filed in America, chicago, history, mr. dan kelly, religion | | Comments Off on Peace Be Upon Them

künstwerk

Friday, September 11, 2015

Reprinting a couple of pieces of mine from the months after September 11. künstwerk Review of the here is new york photo exhibit February 4–March 30, 2002 In the shaky days after Sept. 11, German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen was roundly misquoted as describing the WTC attacks as the greatest work of art ever. Not so. […]

Also filed in America, architecture, art, crime, death, history, mr. dan kelly, news, photography | | Comments Off on künstwerk

Ann Rule Died

Monday, August 3, 2015

For a long time I was quite the aficionado of true crime books. I had a fascination with serial murder for a good part of my young life. I published a zine about it, in fact. I probably read most of the books Rule published before the early 1990s. She, John Waters (who also collected […]

Also filed in crime, death, mr. dan kelly, young dan kelly | | Comments Off on Ann Rule Died

“X-Offender” by Blondie: A Researched Rumination by Dan Kelly

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Recently, Liz Mason of Quimby’s asked me to do a reading at a performance by the Blue Ribbon Glee Club, an adorable punk rock singing ensemble she belongs to, and whom you must see the next time they perform. Pure joy. The band sang three songs, and two other writers and I delivered essays inspired […]

Also filed in history, humor, Irish, mr. dan kelly, ramble | | Comments Off on “X-Offender” by Blondie: A Researched Rumination by Dan Kelly

Passion

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

I experience passion in short spurts of time. I’m in awe of anyone who can sustain passion about a subject for months or years and especially to their death. Even when nothing, absolutely nothing captivates me about a subject, I can listen to a true fan—provided he or she is reasonably lucid—for hours. I envy […]

Also filed in | | Comments Off on Passion

Damned If I Don’t

Sunday, November 9, 2014

I had a dream that I was in some sort of writing master’s class headed by a grouchy Philip Roth figure—except he was played by some character actor I couldn’t place; possibly David Straitharn in make-up. The class was held downtown in the writer’s gigantic, gloriously sterile loft, and was attended by me, an unidentified […]

Also filed in dreams, mr. dan kelly, ramble, wtf? | | Comments Off on Damned If I Don’t

Aaaaaaaba Dabba Dabba Doooooooo… Ladies and Gentlemen, The Coctails!

Friday, November 1, 2013

Originally appeared in 1993 in a zine called Pure. No, not that one. If you haven’t heard of the other one, don’t worry about it. Photos by my dear friend Kathy Moseley. Some of the best times I had in the 90s were spent at Coctails shows. Click to enlarge.           […]

Also filed in chicago, music | | Comments Off on Aaaaaaaba Dabba Dabba Doooooooo… Ladies and Gentlemen, The Coctails!

Dan Kelly Is a Cowardice

Thursday, October 24, 2013

                    The first step is admitting you have a problem. About five years ago I started up a pile of writing projects. Good ones. Interesting ones. I conducted interviews, amassed clippings, drew up outlines and rough drafts…and then just stopped. On occasion I’ve written extended blog […]

Also filed in | | Comments Off on Dan Kelly Is a Cowardice

Parody

Thursday, September 19, 2013

            To me, a parody/satire isn’t the same thing as plagiarism or “ripping off” someone’s work. Done well, it’s an entirely new work. Surely, it plays off your ideas, but that’s not the same thing as stealing them. If someone copies your work, you’re owed restitution. If they simply poke […]

Also filed in | | Comments Off on Parody