Sean Murphy
- Location
- DC, District of Columbia, USA
- Birthday
- May 13
- Bio
- Loves music, books, and movies and can't imagine a world without sub-titles. Despite living just outside DC, he remains recalcitrant in his conviction that paychecks mean less than personal fulfillment and that the pursuit of peace is not ironic. Endorses, in no particular order: anyone who is similarly allergic to right-wing radio and reality TV, the Red Sox, miniature schnauzers, Pho and Blanton's single barrel bourbon. Ambition: to write the pretty-good American novel. Blog: http://bullmurph.com/
MY RECENT POSTS
- Ordinary Angels: Hospice and
the Art of Dying with Dignity
October 11, 2012 11:43AM - That Dog Will Hunt: Bill
Clinton's Big Gift
September 06, 2012 06:21PM - Right Turn, Clyde: Unwinding
Clint Eastwood's Epic Fail
August 31, 2012 01:24PM - The Once and Future King:
Brian Wilson’s Very American
Dream
August 28, 2012 01:59PM - Helping A Loved One Die is the
Hardest Job You'll Ever Love
August 24, 2012 11:34AM
MY RECENT COMMENTS
- “It's been 10 years this
week. Thanks again to everyone
for
reading and
responding…”
August 24, 2012 09:16PM - “Very gratified to get
those responses. Thanks for
reading,
and cheers!”
August 24, 2012 01:54PM - “I am not worthy of that
comment. Amazing. Thank you
for
sharing that!”
March 06, 2012 11:28AM - “Tom,
I'm very glad
you shared that link. Thank
you.”
January 10, 2012 10:13PM - “Thanks, all, for reading
and responding. As always,
the
comments are their own
li…”
January 10, 2012 10:04PM
Sean Murphy's Links
Ordinary Angels: Hospice and the Art of Dying with Dignity
Writing in the New York Times on October 7, Bill Keller’s touching essay “How To Die” confirms a regrettably consistent reality regarding end-of-life care (the before, during and after of how we die): opinions about it, indeed cognizance of it, is often limited to… Read full post »
That Dog Will Hunt: Bill Clinton's Big Gift
The Big Dawg was unleashed, and boy was Bubba barking last night.
Employing his best Arkansas drawl, he connected in ways that no president --of either party-- has been able to do in several decades (if ever).
How many times did he say "Listen"… Read full post »
Right Turn, Clyde: Unwinding Clint Eastwood's Epic Fail
So...where were you during Clint's convention meltdown?
Am I wrong in presuming this will become one of the great unfortunate, unintentional defining moments of an American icon's life? First and foremost: Respect! (And happy props to Adam Ant, who had serious game in his… Read full post »
The Once and Future King: Brian Wilson’s Very American Dream
What if I were to tell you the 21st Century has already produced its great American novel? And what if I told you it was actually written almost five decades ago? And then I mentioned that it’s not a book, it’s an album? And then, this: no one has ever… Read full post »
Helping A Loved One Die is the Hardest Job You'll Ever Love
You become a parent, in reverse.
The idea is that, in theory, as your parents age you assume some degree of responsibility for them and, to some degree, you take care of them when they can no longer take care of themselves. This cycle begins, in theory,… Read full post »
Finding Grace in Beautiful Places
In a piece I recommend you reading @ the reliably awesome Rumpus, writer Amber Sparks, a non-believer, discusses matters of faith, spirituality and art (check it here).
The piece is entitled "Seeking Grace in Strange Places", and I think that title is fine. I do… Read full post »
Obama's Next Move
So, back in March 2010, the day after Biden –with his typically ill-advised, but beautiful candor– announced, within earshot of the mics “This is a big fucking deal”, I had a few thoughts about what had happened, what could happen, and what should happen. That long po
… Read full post »Every Day Is Mother's Day
I’m fortunate, in a sense, to be the type of person that gets more sentimental about the times I read a certain book or heard a particular album than I ever do about holidays. But I’m still human. I still recall the almost breathless inability to accelerate… Read full post »
2012: When Rhetoric Meets Reality
I read the news today. Oh boy.
Looks like one of the worst-kept secrets in the industry is beginning to spring a rather unseemly leak.
Sounds like art may have been imitating life a tad too closely when Travolta, as Vincent Vega, maintained that “I’ve given a million ladies a… Read full post »
Bright Moments*
Question: What’s it all about?
Answer: I don’t know.
But I do know a few things.
I know some of the things that make me tick.
Even though I write (for fun, for real and forever), I would still say that music has always been
… Read full post »John Belushi's Greatest Performance
How many people who would care to quibble that John Belushi’s endlessly quotable turn as “Bluto” Blutarsky does not represent his finest work? Not me. And yet, he had to be Blutarski; he needed to be Blutarski. He was Blutarski. Just like he was the Samurai, The Thing… Read full post »
Rush Limbaugh: Don’t Hate the Player, Hate the Game
Beneath contempt? Of course.
Shameless? Obviously.
A ludicrous, cowardly ass clown? Clearly.
A bullying blowhard? Yup.
A self-aggrandizing huckster who sells snake piss to imbelices and laughs all the way to his drug dealer? You know this.
Are we really surprised by his latest lowering of the… Read full post »
Print The Legend: Johnny Cash at 80
Two questions:
1. Is that the most bad-ass picture ever taken of a pop icon?
2. Is there a more bad-ass pop icon who's ever walked the planet?
(Those questions are rhetorical in case you didn't already know.)
Sex, drugs… Read full post »
The Contraception Contretemps and the Siren Song of Sanity
Did you see Rick Santorum today? Did you hear him yesterday? A year ago? A decade ago?
Look: I’ve had little to say about this recent (very manufactured, very cynical) hysteria about womens’ right to not have their private parts and personal volition subject to what a bunch of
… Read full post »Reagan & Dickens or, The Money Dread
Did you know Reagan and Dickens almost share the same birthday?
I didn’t.
One day apart: Dickens –and his readers– celebrate his 200th birthday this week. Reagan –and his disciples– celebrate his 101st.
Perhaps I’m forcing the irony, but the forces of Natu
… Read full post »Darkness or, The Weight of Love and The Power of Loss*
You say: What about the dark things?
I say: What about the dark things?
Should I make it a point to avoid mention of the dark things?
Do we need to discuss the dark things? In this story? In my mother’s life? Within… Read full post »
Please Talk About Me When I'm Gone*
L’amour de l’art fait perdre l’amour vrai.
I did not say that.
Although that is the sort of thing I might say, since I am the sort who feels obliged to quote the books I’ve read and I allow art to remind me how to relate to myself.
The love… Read full post »
Whispered Words or, What We Say at The End
How long will it take? I did not ask, because I wanted to make every second count. It would be over quickly enough; it was already happening entirely too soon.
It’s okay, I said as I held my dog, flanked by friends and the friendly technicians who… Read full post »
Deus ex machina*
Was that as bad for you as it was for me?
That’s the question I did not ask when Father _____ left our house. On to his next appointment; all in a day’s work.
Extreme unction: the old-fashioned term for that quaint custom. It serves its purpose even now, I… Read full post »
The Best Album of 2011: PJ Harvey's 'Let England Shake'
“You cannot get the news from poems”, William Carlos wrote. “But men die every day for lack of what is found there.” Percy Bysshe Shelley famously declared poets the unacknowledged legislators of the world. Of course this was during a time when people actually read… Read full post »
Sui generis on the rocks: Christopher Hitchens, R.I.P.
The best way to compliment a writer, as a reader, is to recommend their work to others. That I wholeheartedly do –and have done.
The best way to compliment a writer, as a writer, is to recognize, with neither regret nor resignation, that on your best day you will
… Read full post »Fairy Tales and Feeding Tubes*
The brief experiment with the feeding tube was sufficiently impractical and unsavory that it seemed a small, if conflicted victory when we agreed to discard the apparatus.
“So just call us if you have any questions or trouble using the tube,” the nurse said.
My mother frowned. &l
… Read full post »Why Not Pink Floyd?
The Pink Floyd Discovery Studio Album Box Set
I. See Saw
I have recently listened to every single song from every single Pink Floyd album, do you don’t have to.
The question is: Should you?
The answer: I’m not sure.
Pink Floyd occupies a curious and somewhat unique place in rock… Read full post »
Bill Buckner, Mookie Wilson and Me
I’ve never been able to appreciate the aesthetic perfection (that is to say, the perfection of baseball’s most imperfect play; it’s most jarringly incongruous moment) because it was too painful. I was too invested in the response to that stimulus and what it signified: game
… Read full post »R.E.M.: The Greatest American Band. Ever.
Almost exactly three years ago I tried to settle a question many people had asked me (and that I had asked myself): what is the all-time great American band?
The only way to tackle a project like that is to have fun with it. I did manage to have fun,… Read full post »
Myriad
Lunchlady 2
Stathi Stathi
Midwest Muse
Wren Dancer
fernsy
Salon.com