Author Archives: paulefallon

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About paulefallon

Greetings reader. I am a writer, architect, cyclist and father from Cambridge, MA. My primary blog, theawkwardpose.com is an archive of all my published writing. The title refers to a sequence of three yoga positions that increase focus and build strength by shifting the body’s center of gravity. The objective is balance without stability. My writing addresses opposing tension in our world, and my attempt to find balance through understanding that opposition. During 2015-2106 I am cycling through all 48 mainland United States and asking the question "How will we live tomorrow?" That journey is chronicled in a dedicated blog, www.howwillwelivetomorrw.com, that includes personal writing related to my adventure as well as others' responses to my question. Thank you for visiting.

August Recess

Posted on 08/12/2020 by paulefallon

I received an email ripe with despair from an activist mentor the other day, her festering rage deflated by exhaustion and lost hope. Instead of rallying her to carry on, I took a different tack. Told her to take a … Continue reading →

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Let Equality Evolve into Equity

Posted on 08/05/2020 by paulefallon

Equality is the foundation of a just society. In theory and in statute, everyone is equal in the eyes of the law even as, in practice, we often fall short. However, even if fully applied, strict equality will not deliver … Continue reading →

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The Long Blue Line

Posted on 07/29/2020 by paulefallon

“It shall not be lawful for any negroe or other slave to carry or arme himself with any club, staffe, gunn, sword or any other weapon of defense or offence, nor to goe or depart from his masters ground without … Continue reading →

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STOP Trusting Polls

Posted on 07/22/2020 by paulefallon

Independence Day is in the rear-view mirror. Labor Day looms, and with it, the final laps of this Presidential marathon. Biden leads nationally by eight percentage points. Biden and Trump are tied in Wisconsin. Biden widens gap in crucial Pennsylvania. … Continue reading →

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Painting Our Pandemic

Posted on 07/15/2020 by paulefallon

““E pluribus unum,” a magnificent ideal, thuds on “unum” every day throughout the land.” That sentence, in Peter Schjeldahl’s magnificent review of Edward Hopper: A Fresh Look at Landscape (The New Yorker, June 8&15 2020), stopped me short. Not just … Continue reading →

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White Like Me

Posted on 07/08/2020 by paulefallon

In 1993, at age 38, I came out to myself as a gay man. I know, I know, a long time coming. From then, things moved pretty quick. Within weeks I came out to my wife. After a month of … Continue reading →

Posted in United States | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The Pandemic We Deserve

Posted on 07/03/2020 by paulefallon

It is a truth universally acknowledged that in a democracy, we get the government we deserve. Hence, our complacent, morally bankrupt, money dazzled, education-scorning, science-doubting electorate selects Donald Trump as our President. Over the past few months I have considered … Continue reading →

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The Optics of Equity

Posted on 06/24/2020 by paulefallon

First thought when I learned that Boston University is planning to reopen its campus this fall with an intensive COVID-19 testing policy that includes testing students as often as twice a week was: WOW! BU is handing one juicy plum … Continue reading →

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Imagine

Posted on 06/17/2020 by paulefallon

November 1971. I’m a pudgy, pimply sixteen-year-old lying on the back sofabed of an off-brand Winnebago. My father’s driving, happy on the move. My mother’s uncharacteristically silent. My little brother rolls matchbox cars around the table. I should be in … Continue reading →

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What the Heck Have I Been Doing?

Posted on 06/10/2020 by paulefallon

There’s a point in Marc Maron’s Netflix Comedy Special, ‘End Times Fun,’ when Marc (middle-aged white guy, sorta tall, skinny, bearded, salt and pepper scruff; basically me with quicker retort time) iterates the troubles of our era and then bemoans, … Continue reading →

Posted in United States | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments