After spending two weeks in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, for the first half of July, I’m officially back in Chicago. At least, my body is. My psyche is still in the desert somewhere. On one hand, it feels like I was gone for a long time. On the other, it feels like I never… Continue reading “I’m tryin’ to backroads it to Walmart!”
Author: Ben van Loon
Writer, Researcher, Chicagoan
Put Your Head Down and Work
One of my first jobs out of college was at a busy, local bike shop. It was 2009, so my humanities degrees were useless in the already bankrupt Chicago labor market. But the bike shop was a happy medium. It paid well, the customers were (mostly) cool, and the discounts were steep. Outside of the… Continue reading Put Your Head Down and Work
Natural Theater, or, the Very Large Array
Yesterday I took a few-hour jaunt out of T or C to the Very Large Array, the, uh, very large radio telescope/observatory roughly fifty miles west of Socoro, New Mexico—notable only because once you’re past Socoro, there’s nothing but mountains, fields, and a gradual elevation climb to 7,000 feet above sea level. Every five or… Continue reading Natural Theater, or, the Very Large Array
STOP! Dahmertime.
Last night I did my third reading with the good folks at Pungent Parlour, and to celebrate my newfound breaks from the stifling worlds of business and academia, I read my freshly penned letter to late Wisconsin folk hero Jeffrey Dahmer. And now I’m sharing it here because it’s a little too blue for Shouts and… Continue reading STOP! Dahmertime.
Graduate Recognition Speech
Last Thursday I was invited to be a Distinguished Student Speaker at Northeastern Illinois University‘s Graduate Recognition Ceremony. My upbringing and history has made me suspect of all institutions, but my experience at NEIU has been a boon for my confidence, production, and direction. And now I have a Master of Arts degree. Below I’m… Continue reading Graduate Recognition Speech
A Conversation with Structo
In 2012 I published a short story in Structo: Issue 8, and the good people over with the UK-based lit-mag started a series where they interview former contributors, seeing what’s new and good and so on and so forth. Today it was my turn. Go here to read the full conversation, where I’m name-dropping Dostoyevsky, Terrence… Continue reading A Conversation with Structo
A Toxic Filmography
I am less than a month away from my thesis defense meeting at Northeastern Illinois University. Once I’ve successfully completed that (fingers crossed), I will be receiving my Master of Arts degree the following month. The working title for my project is “Toxic Cults.” Sexy, right? I’m still refining my final draft, but today I… Continue reading A Toxic Filmography
Making Truth in Alaska: The Kachemak Bay Writers’ Conference
As a native Illinoisian, mine was a childhood of highways, humid summers, and Hardees. So when I learned I’d won a grant from the City of Chicago to visit Alaska I wondered if I’d come back alive. Alaska would be my first encounter with actual geology, a foreign concept in my home city of Chicago,… Continue reading Making Truth in Alaska: The Kachemak Bay Writers’ Conference
What I Watched in 2014. Including ‘Jack Reacher’ for Some Reason.
Though 2014 was a busy year for me, I managed to fill my downtime with regular doses of B- and C-grade media, and an occasional A-grade treat. And I’ve captured (almost) all of it in the below list that charts all films and TV series I watched during the year. There is a lot more… Continue reading What I Watched in 2014. Including ‘Jack Reacher’ for Some Reason.
A Thank-You Letter to the Packard Foundation
Have you heard of Vasalgel? It’s a new contraceptive technology for men that’s recently been making news rounds at The Guardian, The Daily Mail, The Daily Beast, The New York Times, and others. The short version is that Vasalgel is a safe, non-invasive, non-hormonal, and completely reversible form of male contraception. And if you don’t believe me, read… Continue reading A Thank-You Letter to the Packard Foundation
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