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Frog in a
Drain Pipe
Richard Sonnenmoser's amplifier: writing, literary podcast, music.
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The Pinch; or, How It's Almost Impossible to Follow a Straight Flush with a Full House
A warning: no one’s gonna be happy all the way through. If you support the Defendant and want him to be the next President of the United...
RBSonnenmoser
Jan 6, 202414 min read
59 views
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Wax Critical
Amy Wax, an otherwise unremarkable law professor, has been much in the news. Not for scholarly breakthroughs or contributions to her...
RBSonnenmoser
Mar 28, 202325 min read
31 views
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Christmas Eve
We lost our dog, Frankie, yesterday. On December 23, 2022, our beloved rust-colored Miniature Pinscher died. He was twelve. He had kidney...
RBSonnenmoser
Dec 25, 20229 min read
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POTUS Defense: Merely an Advocate of Insurrection
There’s a game people play when opening their fortune cookies. You read your fortune out loud and add “in bed” at the end. It’s not so...
RBSonnenmoser
Jan 14, 20216 min read
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Josh Hawley Thinks You're Stupid
In “Dwight K. Schrute, (Acting) Manager,” from season 7 of The Office, Dwight Schrute, played by Rainn Wilson, accidently fires a gun at...
RBSonnenmoser
Jan 7, 20215 min read
118 views
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RBSonnenmoser
Jan 3, 20210 min read
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Keep On: Thoughts on the Moral Aftermath of the Murder of George Floyd
“The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent...
RBSonnenmoser
Jun 29, 202030 min read
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The Second Half of the Sentence
The phrase that got all the attention was “I would like you to do us a favor though.” Because we can hear it in the mouth of a movie...
RBSonnenmoser
Oct 13, 201913 min read
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Rejection Feeds Artistic Creation. Canceling Starves It. (Part 1 of 2)
I’ve been thinking a lot about rejection lately. Which is to say: I’m writing. The memoir I’ve been writing for the last few years is...
RBSonnenmoser
May 7, 201910 min read
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Rejection Feeds Artistic Creation. Cancellation Starves It. (Part 2 of 2)
During the "Ask Ellen" segment of Relatable, Degeneres invites a friend, the actor Laura Dern, who is sitting in the audience (next to...
RBSonnenmoser
May 7, 201911 min read
23 views
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Living with the Low Boil
A wildly inappropriate simmering rage that, to my shame, lives beneath even typical Saturdays Last weekend, Kori and I took our kids to...
RBSonnenmoser
Feb 5, 201912 min read
70 views
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These Storms Will Change You
A Review of Heather Harpham's Happiness I’ve been thinking a lot about this Facebook post by my friend and colleague John Gallaher:...
RBSonnenmoser
Jan 23, 20199 min read
85 views
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Messrs. Graves, Blunt, and Hawley,
Tear down this wall. They’re going to get jobs. I think I’m going to do very well with Hispanics. But we’re building a wall. He’s a...
RBSonnenmoser
Jan 11, 201911 min read
71 views
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“So, Whatever”: Why I Believe Christine Blasey Ford, Pt. 1
The 2018 election's over. Kavanaugh's been confirmed. He's earning a salary and writing opinions. So I know what I'm not doing: trying to...
RBSonnenmoser
Jan 5, 20199 min read
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“So, Whatever”: Why I Believe Christine Blasey Ford, Pt. 2
Because his calendars are calendars. Or: An exploration of why Brett Kavanaugh's conventions, codes, and stories only convinced me that...
RBSonnenmoser
Jan 5, 201912 min read
31 views
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Of Frogs in Drain Pipes
Do I write music and literary prose for the same reason that male frogs seek out cavernous spaces to amplify their voices? As a way to...
RBSonnenmoser
Jan 2, 20199 min read
111 views
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