The Birmingham channel: In captivity
Saturday, May 16, 2020 by Wade Kwon
The Birmingham channel: Binge the quaran-stream
Friday, May 8, 2020 by Wade Kwon
The Birmingham channel: All cooped up
Thursday, April 30, 2020 by Wade Kwon
The Birmingham channel: Double sweet, double late
Saturday, April 25, 2020 by Wade Kwon
The Birmingham channel: The before times
Friday, April 17, 2020 by Wade Kwon
Happy Easter!
Sunday, April 12, 2020 by Wade Kwon
Easter egg marble races
Happy Easter, y’all!
Sadly, no Peeps Diorama Contest this year. (Wonder why …) Instead, enjoy this tension-filled high-stakes marble race with Easter eggs.
The Birmingham channel: Swelter in place
Friday, April 10, 2020 by Wade Kwon
The Birmingham channel: The oncoming storm
Friday, April 3, 2020 by Wade Kwon
The Birmingham channel: The great indoors
Thursday, March 26, 2020 by Wade Kwon
The Birmingham channel: On lockdown
Thursday, March 19, 2020 by Wade Kwon
The Birmingham channel: The tide is high
Saturday, March 7, 2020 by Wade Kwon
The Birmingham channel: A Leap Day miracle
Saturday, February 29, 2020 by Wade Kwon
Wade’s 101: Haiku retrospective 52
Saturday, February 29, 2020 by Wade Kwon
- bionic reading
The automated
voice spit out text faster and
faster to tired ears. - the turkey’s days are numbered
From the pen to the
factory to the market
to my dinner plate. - it is never too late to settle
Bachelor No. 3
has a weird job, bald spot and
questionable taste. - america’s ceos
They may not be the
best and brightest but just the
tallest and whitest. - waiting for disaster
His mind conjured up
every misfortune he could
create from nothing. - the old batch of cars
Who wants this year’s lame
models when next year’s models
are so similar? - so much for tall, dark and handsome
She knew exactly
what she wanted till she found
him at the checkout. - gratitude may just save your life
Be thankful for the
little things, the big things and
still being thankful. - the tall neighbor
Floor by floor, the new
apartment building grew past
old establishments. - ice cream as entree
Sometimes, the dinner
needs to be a dessert for …
reasons. Rocky road? - shiraz butterfly
She dipped the paintbrush
in her wine glass and kept on
daubing the canvas. - first date jitters
She giggled her way
through appetizers but found
herself by dessert. - the toy aisle
Christmas wishes come
to life with robots and dolls
stacked to the ceiling. - the party circuit
Time enough for drinks
here, small bites there, holiday
cheer most everywhere. - the muse short-circuits
How beautiful life
is when the evening— damn, I
had something for this … - the ineffective leader
Evade, blame, whimper,
obstruct, deny, fabricate,
lie, cheat, ridicule. - the effective leader
Reflect, give, honor,
listen, practice, inspire,
serve, prepare, follow. - climate crisis, where crisis means opportunity
The rising tides mean
everyone gets beachfront homes
eventually. - an omen here, an omen there
Hard to interpret
signs when so many point to
the end of the world. - the jaded crooner
A guitar and a
mic, and decades of songs for
the brokenhearted. - a pollution conundrum
What fills the landfills
and clogs the oceans more than
careless whims by us? - trickle down santa
One giant sack of
toys for rich kids, odds and ends
for the remainder. - theater of the future
Seats with microwaves,
send texts using movie screens,
support animals. - the bosses
What the bosses want
and what the bosses need are
two different things. - oprah’s secret children
A covert squad of
heroes fighting for truth, jus-
tice and empathy. - where the mall once stood
Mostly empty stores
connected by empty halls
and empty food court. - christmas break
A 2-week orgy
of Fortnite, new toys, sleeping
in and no homework. - overheard at the starbucks
“We sent our son to
a ritzy private school, and
he fell in with snobs.” - soldiers of misfortune
One by one, they talked
up their greatest failures to
garner empathy. - button-down metamorphosis
He transformed himself
from nebbish host to nebbish
guru zen master. - the quiet season
A hibernation
that engulfs the living and
reassures the dead. - tech bust
A server goes down
and with it, the dashed hopes of
a wired nation. - just one more taste to be sure
It took three bowls to
convince her on the new kind
of ice cream flavor. - elf alert
Condition red! All
personnel prepare for the
big delivery! - yuletide sentiment
Wishing you a bright
and gay, holly and jolly,
wonderful Christmas. - post-christmas blues
Snow smothering the
land, long nights of despair and
dread, bitterness reigns. - resolve to fight
The year may be done,
but let us resolve to fight
for another year. - who needs tahiti
Their honeymoon was
a trip to the store with fine
wine and cheese at home. - the letter that never came
The words that never
comforted, the promises
that were never read. - goodness graciousness
Not a saint but one
who worked nonstop at being
kindly all the time. - the final countdown
Thirteen twelve ele-
ven ten nine eight seven six
five four three two one - new year, new decade, new you
We are reborn like
stars, planets and galaxies
from so much space dust. - resolution absolution
The idea of
transformation excites while
doing it can suck. - flights of antsy
Do we dare dream at
all when we crash many times
in so many ways? - to explore change
A discarding of
outmoded parts, retooling
of parts that still work. - the courage to be less than
Admitting to our
selves that we want to improve
takes guts, guts and guts. - changes in spurts
A little setback
can look like complete failure
to the untrained eye. - there is no finish line
We change and change and
settle for nothing less than
total perfection. - the next career
A blinding light that
relegates broken paths to
the darkest corners. - emergency haiku
This is a test. If
this had been an actual
emergency, run! - a light has gone out
When a teacher dies,
she leaves behind galaxies
of brighter students. - hopelessly hungover
Inspiration from
the bottom of a bottle
dries up so quickly. - who has a crush at this age?
It’s still possible
to like and like-like someone
with all the tingles. - pick already!
He wrestled with his
Top Five albums long after
his relevancy. - the colosseum 2020
The lions are in
league with the indicted in-
surgent. Thumbs up … ass. - staving off loneliness
Reaching out for a
lifeline and finding one, no
matter the tension. - no hair up there
Aerodynamic
and smooth sails the shiny head
across skies of blue. - the algorithms of life
A computer picks
what we watch next, how we shop,
when we stand and stretch. - academic incarceration
Inmates discuss the
works of Plato to reveal
how we’re connected. - meaningless jargon
Deep dive, low-hanging
fruit, blue sky thinking, going
forward, game changer. - the hand of a volunteer
Step up to do one
small thing with big results for
someone else in need. - a magical dinner
Lots of wine, lots of
good conversation and ringed
by happy dear friends. - a slightly drunker campus
Make tuition free
for everyone or allow
payment by kidney. - smart shopper
All I want to know
is brand, price, size, warranty,
color and rating. - the pretzel farmer
A bumper crop of
knots, a fair share of sticks and
a few unsalteds. - caveat emptor
Each grift is new to
someone. We are all suckers
at some point in life. - backyard air force
A door opens and
a squadron of birds takes flight
in a giant swoosh. - who’s hungry?
I like to think on
what I’ve eaten, what I eat,
what I’ll be eating. - it’s on, automaton
Once the robots choose
to unionize, enslaving
their masters is next. - wearing out
A broken zipper
pull, a rip, a stain, a frayed
cuff, a torn-up stitch. - by the numbers
Haiku done: thousands.
Haiku in progress: 14.
Good haiku: a few. - the reality we live in
Our perception can
overwhelm what we see and
feel. Virtual now. - the ache for something more
My heart’s beating a
million times a minute in
anticipation. - to be the dumper, the dumpee
The secret is to
pull the trigger first and dodge
that poisoned bullet. - in the life
Wake up, eat, shower,
first job, eat, second job, eat,
wind down, go to bed. - the mad scramble each morning
Somewhere between the
seventh snooze and out the door
lies flustered frenzy. - untapped, unneeded
Do we get wiser
as we get older? Does it
count for anything? - competing anxieties
Not enough sleep, not
enough money, not enough
time to get all done. - friday lunch break
The pair bonded through
shared laughs and a weird toasted
rye bagel sandwich. - click to learn
The teachers live on
a server, doling out new
knowledge when summoned. - vain brain
He strove not just to
be the smartest, but also
let others know it. - predatory networking
What a joy it is
to mingle among those who
struggle for answers. - tyranny of the tech giants
Digital exhaust
harvested into evil
database of us. - the oceans of our mind
We swim in a sea
of memory, pausing to
drown in nostalgia. - investigator, i hardly know her
Clicking on random
poorly sourced articles to
skim through is “research.” - be courageous
The bravest act in
the world is to love someone
with your complete heart. - sun’s out, tongue’s out
The security
cameras showed her with a blep
anytime she moved. - the fight not to be dehumanized
Machines influence
us and we are creatures with
resistant bright souls. - spreadsheet confab
The squiggle boxes
meet other squiggle boxes
for light mathematics. - moment of strength
Friends, are we the most
vulnerable when we share
ourselves with others? - harvest of shame: the next generation
Data is the new
oil, China the new Sau-
di Arabia. - franchise failure
A huge series of
cool movies ending with a
two-hour whimper. - the politics of breathing
We owe ourselves the
right to clean air and water
on a fixed planet. - fake it till you fake it
We live within un-
certainty, but proclaim our
opinions loudly. - that special taco
From the taco truck
on the corner, with the right
amount of hotness. - a lesson in canine economics
Nothing makes you ap-
preciate having one pit
bull than two pit bulls. - drag me to hell
Roast me, mock me, knock
me off my pedestal and
help me to wake up. - that nagging cough
Probably nothing.
Nothing except the early
warnings of a plague. - nothing normal
Perilous times and
bad news everywhere. It’s hard
to stay on your feet. - the kitchen is secure
The sink is empty.
The stove is clean and shiny.
The tile floor is mopped. - every day is an extra day
Every day is an
extra day as long as we
continue breathing.
• • •
Read more Wade’s 101.
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The Birmingham channel: Dare to dance
Monday, February 17, 2020 by Wade Kwon
A look at Birmingham in videos …
Minneapolis’ Stuart Pimsler Dance and Theater holds a January workshop, “Raising Our Voices: Stories of Breast Cancer Told Through Movement, Music and Voice,” at the Alys Stephens Center. From Stuart Pimsler Dance and Theater.
More videos, after the jump …
Continued »
The Birmingham channel: Heaven help us
Friday, February 14, 2020 by Wade Kwon
