The Heartbeat of the Powwow returned to the University of Colorado at Farrand Field on Sept. 28, 2024. (Melodie Miller | Photographer)
Listen to powwow musician Tony Crank at the University of Colorado Farrand Field Sept. 28, 2024. The Colorado American Indian Tribes In-State Tuition Act (CO SB 21-029) was passed to allow eligible students to pay in-state tuition at Colorado public universities and colleges.(Melodie Miller | Photographer)
After 23 years, the powwow returns to campus as a celebration of faith and tradition for the indigenous peoples of Colorado. The grand entry victory song and two rounds of intertribals.
Jim Caviezel stars as Jesus Christ in Benedict Fitzgerald’s and Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ. (Photo courtesy of IMBD, The Passion of the Christ).
How the Pliny’s ancient writings created a lasting impact by inspiring Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” and Charles Dickens “A Christmas Carol.”
“Pliny the Younger” refers to Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, a Roman author and lawyer who witnessed the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE is most famous for his collection of letters. “Pliny the Elder” refers to his uncle, Gaius Plinius Secundus, a renowned natural historian who died during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. Pliny the Younger is the nephew of Pliny the Elder, and both are known for their significant written works from ancient Rome.
Pliny the Elder. (Left) Pliny the Younger. (Right). Encyclopedia Britannica. Mary Evans Picture Library Ltd / age fotostock .
Pliny the Elder wrote the Natural History, an encyclopaedic work of uneven accuracy that was an authority on scientific matters up to the Middle Ages.
Kevin Reynold’s Risen (2016), set in 33 CE, stars Joseph Fiennes as Clavius, a Roman Tribune in Judea who is tasked with finding the missing body of Jesus Christ.
The presidential election ended on Tuesday. Multiple ballot drop boxes and the University of Colorado Boulder Memorial Center voting poll closed on the CU Boulder campus at 7 p.m.
Students lined up at the entrance to the Glenn Miller Ballroom inside the UMC at near-freezing temperatures, the line extended out the door. The warming tent housed many voters who waited to exercise their constitutional right.
University of Colorado, Boulder students wait in line to vote outside the Colorado Memorial Center. (Melodie Miller | Photographer)
“Colorado typically boasts one of the highest turnouts for young voters in the entire country,” said Nicole Hensel, the director of New Era Colorado.
First-time voter Haley Hastedt, a senior at CU Boulder, expressed her concerns.
“I am extremely nervous about the election today,” Hastedt said. “I believe this is the most important election of our lifetime, and at this point, I think it could go either way,.”
University of Colorado, Boulder students register to vote at the Colorado Memorial Center. (Melodie Miller | Photographer)
Many first-time voters scrambled for identification cards and asked volunteers for information about how to register and vote. In-person voters show ID and “skip the signature verification,” which speeds up the process, according to Mircalla Wozniak, a communications specialist for Boulder County. All Colorado voters can register with Ballottrax to receive confirmation text messages that their ballot was received and counted. If there is a problem, Boulder County will notify the voter.
Thomas Uroskie, a CU Boulder student, waited in line at UMC. “This is my first time voting. I am feeling kind of weird. I’d rather vote in person than a mail-in ballot and get the experience,” Uroskie said.
Election day in Boulder unfolded smoothly after concerns heightened over ballot box fires reported in Washington and Oregon by CNN on Wednesday, October 30. Ballot box security “didn’t come out of nowhere. We have mechanisms for this,” Wozniak, said. “We have a regular pick-up schedule as we get closer to the election.”
New Era volunteers positioned outside the University Memorial Center answered voters questions. (Shutterstock | Photographer)
Georgia Moreland, a senior majoring in English at CU Boulder, said, “I’m nervous for the state of the country and how divided we have become due to this election.”
The FBI positioned election coordinators and command posts nationwide to enable streamlined communication and rapid response to ensure the safety of election workers, voters, ballot boxes and polling stations.
“Every FBI field office will stand up an election command post to coordinate with their local and state partners,” FBI spokesperson Vikki Migoya said. “Our focus is on protecting elections from potential threats so Coloradans can have confidence in their democratic process.”
The CU Division of Public Safety partnered with the CU Boulder Police Department to secure the UMC polling location and the rest of campus on election day. Academic buildings were locked with a Buff OneCards required for entrance “as part of ongoing efforts to enhance campus safety and minimize disruptions,” CUPD spokesperson Christine Mahoney said.
University of Colorado, Boulder students exit the University Memorial Center. (Melodie Miller | Photographer)
“Our campus is definitely encouraging the get out the vote, and we’re very very happy students are engaging in their civic duty,” Mahoney said. “We’re here to provide safety so they can do that.”
New Era Colorado was “on eight college campuses all across the state,” Hensel said, making sure that students had their voting rights protected “until every lost voter was through the polls at 7 p.m.”
New Era Colorado volunteers answer voters questions outside the University Memorial Center. (Melodie Miller | Photographer)
New Era volunteers positioned outside the University Memorial Center answered voters questions. (Melodie Miller | Photographer)
Although safety was a priority on campus, the results of the election troubled Elena Sedin, a junior in Philosophy at CU, Boulder. “I couldn’t relate to half of the U.S. population. I felt like a lot of people hate me through their vote,” Sedin said
New Era director Hensel said she felt “confident in the integrity of campus elections and knows that Colorado student election boards all across the state were working to ensure that students have safe and secure elections.”
New Era Colorado is a non-profit 501(c) political advocacy group that aims to educate and mobilize young people where they can have the greatest impact. New Era Colorado is a free resource for voters who want to know more about the ballot initiatives.
University of Colorado, Boulder students climb the stairs to the University Memorial Center to place their vote. (Melodie Miller | Photographer)
First-time voter Arielle Buzil said “It is very nice to vote, it feels empowering. It’s a little overwhelming, but I think it’s good because we’re all coming together and making change to the world.”
The Boulder County ballot included the presidential race, CO state and local candidates, measures, and the state constitutional Amendment 79 that would protect the right to an abortion. Colorado voters passed Amendment 79 with 1,736,436 votes, an 81% ‘yes’ vote by Boulder County and a 61.9% ‘yes’ vote statewide, as of 8:35 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 7.
CUPD offers a non-emergency line at 303-492-6666 to report any concerns that violate campus policies and 911 in an emergency.
I live in Boulder, Colorado and create AI prompted images to match your story and marketing needs.
I am a writer, teacher, tutor, designer and artist. I have spent my career creating commercial products that people use to enrich their lives. I have a bachelor’s degree in English Literature from the University of Colorado. I am currently studying French there. I am also tutoring students in the Writing Center. While I working with English as a second language students I became inspired to write and illustrate simple French stories. Luc Apprend à Partager is the first in this series.
In the Luc Apprend series, my goal is to create a sympathetic mouse character. I want the character to be relatable. Children will adore and want to emulate this mouse. The stories are simple and entertaining. The mission is that Luc’s character will encourage positive behavior while readers are learning French and English words.
In Luc Apprend à Partager, Luc learns the importance of sharing after he encounters a shop keeper who wants to keep all his food for himself.
Luc Apprend à Partager – Microsoft Designer
I created this group of AI generated images with detailed word prompts to build on a model image. I worked to maintain consistency in the setting, place, and time. The character’s faces and clothing remained consistent. I used Microsoft Design.
A Sublime Experience – Microsoft Designer
These sublime ferry images were created to capture the feeling of a dark winter’s night in the Northwest. The main character commutes home from work via Seattle to Bainbridge Island, Washington. This night follows the discover of a female murder victim in the parking lot near the ferry dock. The perpetrator was still at large.
Artifacts of a Murder: The Dead Girls Paintbrushes – Microsoft Designer
These AI images were created as imagery for the introduction to my story Artifacts of a Murder. The soft brush bristles and the pale, gentle blond wood color scheme was used intending as a contrast to the violence of murder. The handles are smooth and polished as a professional killer.
The Frozen Castle, a Murderous Tale – Microsoft Designer
This is the cover image for a gothic story about a women who marries a mysterious, wealthy man who transports her to his castle in Scotland where she is imprisoned and her youth is slowly drained from her soul to keep his 200 year old mistress from aging.
My Glamourous Career: A Memoir of Designing for U.S. Special Forces – Microsoft Copilot
I generated these AI images to set the dramatic mood of danger that is captured in my memoir about designing apparel for U.S. Special Forces to hunt Osama bin Laden in the Hindu Kush mountain range.
Le titre de mon histoire est Luc Apprend à Partager. Cette histoire est une lecture pour débutante français. Je suis débutant dans l’apprentissage du français.
The title of my story is “Luc Learns to Share.” This story is beginning French reading. I am a beginner in learning French.
Luc est le personnage principal du histoire. Il a dix ans. Il est un souris grise et brun.
Luc is the main character of the story. He is 10 years old. He is a grey and brown mouse.
The image of Luc is generated by Microsoft Copilot (Melodie Miller / AI Prompt Engineer)
La région de mon histoire est la Suisse, dans la ville de Berne.
The region of my story is Switzerland, in the town of Berne.
The image of Luc’s village is generated by Microsoft Copilot (Melodie Miller / AI Prompt Engineer)
La famille de Luc est très grande.
The family of Luc is very big.
The image of Luc’s family is generated by Microsoft Copilot (Melodie Miller / AI Prompt Engineer)
Le père de Luc est professeur. Le père de Luc lui a appris à partager.
The father of Luc is a professor. The father of Luc taught him to share.
The image of Luc’s father is generated by Microsoft Copilot (Melodie Miller / AI Prompt Engineer)
La mère de Luc est professeur. La mère de Luc lui a appris à partager..
The mother of Luc is a professor. The mother of Luc taught him to share.
The image of Luc’s mother is generated by Microsoft Copilot (Melodie Miller / AI Prompt Engineer)
Et son village aime partager avec tout le monde.
And his village likes to share with everyone.
The image of Luc’s village is generated by Microsoft Copilot (Melodie Miller / AI Prompt Engineer)
Mais, Luc n’aimait pas partager. Alors, Luc est allé dans la grande ville.
But, Luc did not like to share. So, Luc went to the big city.
The image of Luc in the big city is generated by Microsoft Copilot (Melodie Miller / AI Prompt Engineer)
Sa famille était triste.
His family was sad.
The image of Luc’s family is generated by Microsoft Copilot (Melodie Miller / AI Prompt Engineer)
Mais, Luc est heureux. Il rêve de ne pas partager sa nourriture.
But, Luc is happy. He dreams of not sharing his food.
The image of Luc is generated by Microsoft Copilot (Melodie Miller / AI Prompt Engineer)
Il rêve de manger tout le fromage seul.
He dreams of eating all the cheese alone.
The image of Luc is generated by Microsoft Copilot (Melodie Miller / AI Prompt Engineer)
Il pense qu’il y a beaucoup de nourriture dans la grande ville.
He thinks that there is a lot of food in the big city.
The image of Luc’s imagination of food in the big city is generated by Microsoft Copilot (Melodie Miller / AI Prompt Engineer)
Mais, quand Luc est allé au magasin pour trouver de la nourriture, un homme l’a chassé. L’homme n’aimait pas avec Luc.
But, when Luc goes to the store to find food, the man chases him. The man did not like to share with Luc.
The image of Luc and the store keeper is generated by Microsoft Copilot (Melodie Miller / AI Prompt Engineer)
L’homme dit “Pas de souris autorisée.”
The man says “No mice allowed.”
The image of Luck and the “No Micse Alowed” is generated by Microsoft Copilot (Melodie Miller / AI Prompt Engineer)
Luc a appris qu’il doit partager pour avoir des amis.
Luc learns that he must share to have friends.
The image of a sad Luc is generated by Microsoft Copilot (Melodie Miller / AI Prompt Engineer)
Luc a appris à aimer partager parce que qu’il adore ses amis.
Luc learns that he likes to share because he loves his friends.
The image of Luc is generated by Microsoft Copilot (Melodie Miller / AI Prompt Engineer)
The Heartbeat of the Powwow returned to the University of Colorado at Farrand Field on Sept. 28, 2024. (Melodie Miller | Photographer)
Listen to powwow musician Tony Crank at the University of Colorado Farrand Field Sept. 28, 2024. The Colorado American Indian Tribes In-State Tuition Act (CO SB 21-029) was passed to allow eligible students to pay in-state tuition at Colorado public universities and colleges.(Melodie Miller | Photographer)
After 23 years, the powwow returns to campus as a celebration of faith and tradition for the indigenous peoples of Colorado. The grand entry victory song and two rounds of intertribals.
Jim Caviezel stars as Jesus Christ in Benedict Fitzgerald’s and Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ. (Photo courtesy of IMBD, The Passion of the Christ).
How the Pliny’s ancient writings created a lasting impact by inspiring Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” and Charles Dickens “A Christmas Carol.”
“Pliny the Younger” refers to Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, a Roman author and lawyer who witnessed the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE is most famous for his collection of letters. “Pliny the Elder” refers to his uncle, Gaius Plinius Secundus, a renowned natural historian who died during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. Pliny the Younger is the nephew of Pliny the Elder, and both are known for their significant written works from ancient Rome.
Pliny the Elder. (Left) Pliny the Younger. (Right). Encyclopedia Britannica. Mary Evans Picture Library Ltd / age fotostock .
Pliny the Elder wrote the Natural History, an encyclopaedic work of uneven accuracy that was an authority on scientific matters up to the Middle Ages.
Kevin Reynold’s Risen (2016), set in 33 CE, stars Joseph Fiennes as Clavius, a Roman Tribune in Judea who is tasked with finding the missing body of Jesus Christ.
The presidential election ended on Tuesday. Multiple ballot drop boxes and the University of Colorado Boulder Memorial Center voting poll closed on the CU Boulder campus at 7 p.m.
Students lined up at the entrance to the Glenn Miller Ballroom inside the UMC at near-freezing temperatures, the line extended out the door. The warming tent housed many voters who waited to exercise their constitutional right.
University of Colorado, Boulder students wait in line to vote outside the Colorado Memorial Center. (Melodie Miller | Photographer)
“Colorado typically boasts one of the highest turnouts for young voters in the entire country,” said Nicole Hensel, the director of New Era Colorado.
First-time voter Haley Hastedt, a senior at CU Boulder, expressed her concerns.
“I am extremely nervous about the election today,” Hastedt said. “I believe this is the most important election of our lifetime, and at this point, I think it could go either way,.”
University of Colorado, Boulder students register to vote at the Colorado Memorial Center. (Melodie Miller | Photographer)
Many first-time voters scrambled for identification cards and asked volunteers for information about how to register and vote. In-person voters show ID and “skip the signature verification,” which speeds up the process, according to Mircalla Wozniak, a communications specialist for Boulder County. All Colorado voters can register with Ballottrax to receive confirmation text messages that their ballot was received and counted. If there is a problem, Boulder County will notify the voter.
Thomas Uroskie, a CU Boulder student, waited in line at UMC. “This is my first time voting. I am feeling kind of weird. I’d rather vote in person than a mail-in ballot and get the experience,” Uroskie said.
Election day in Boulder unfolded smoothly after concerns heightened over ballot box fires reported in Washington and Oregon by CNN on Wednesday, October 30. Ballot box security “didn’t come out of nowhere. We have mechanisms for this,” Wozniak, said. “We have a regular pick-up schedule as we get closer to the election.”
New Era volunteers positioned outside the University Memorial Center answered voters questions. (Shutterstock | Photographer)
Georgia Moreland, a senior majoring in English at CU Boulder, said, “I’m nervous for the state of the country and how divided we have become due to this election.”
The FBI positioned election coordinators and command posts nationwide to enable streamlined communication and rapid response to ensure the safety of election workers, voters, ballot boxes and polling stations.
“Every FBI field office will stand up an election command post to coordinate with their local and state partners,” FBI spokesperson Vikki Migoya said. “Our focus is on protecting elections from potential threats so Coloradans can have confidence in their democratic process.”
The CU Division of Public Safety partnered with the CU Boulder Police Department to secure the UMC polling location and the rest of campus on election day. Academic buildings were locked with a Buff OneCards required for entrance “as part of ongoing efforts to enhance campus safety and minimize disruptions,” CUPD spokesperson Christine Mahoney said.
University of Colorado, Boulder students exit the University Memorial Center. (Melodie Miller | Photographer)
“Our campus is definitely encouraging the get out the vote, and we’re very very happy students are engaging in their civic duty,” Mahoney said. “We’re here to provide safety so they can do that.”
New Era Colorado was “on eight college campuses all across the state,” Hensel said, making sure that students had their voting rights protected “until every lost voter was through the polls at 7 p.m.”
New Era Colorado volunteers answer voters questions outside the University Memorial Center. (Melodie Miller | Photographer)
New Era volunteers positioned outside the University Memorial Center answered voters questions. (Melodie Miller | Photographer)
Although safety was a priority on campus, the results of the election troubled Elena Sedin, a junior in Philosophy at CU, Boulder. “I couldn’t relate to half of the U.S. population. I felt like a lot of people hate me through their vote,” Sedin said
New Era director Hensel said she felt “confident in the integrity of campus elections and knows that Colorado student election boards all across the state were working to ensure that students have safe and secure elections.”
New Era Colorado is a non-profit 501(c) political advocacy group that aims to educate and mobilize young people where they can have the greatest impact. New Era Colorado is a free resource for voters who want to know more about the ballot initiatives.
University of Colorado, Boulder students climb the stairs to the University Memorial Center to place their vote. (Melodie Miller | Photographer)
First-time voter Arielle Buzil said “It is very nice to vote, it feels empowering. It’s a little overwhelming, but I think it’s good because we’re all coming together and making change to the world.”
The Boulder County ballot included the presidential race, CO state and local candidates, measures, and the state constitutional Amendment 79 that would protect the right to an abortion. Colorado voters passed Amendment 79 with 1,736,436 votes, an 81% ‘yes’ vote by Boulder County and a 61.9% ‘yes’ vote statewide, as of 8:35 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 7.
CUPD offers a non-emergency line at 303-492-6666 to report any concerns that violate campus policies and 911 in an emergency.
I live in Boulder, Colorado and create AI prompted images to match your story and marketing needs.
I am a writer, teacher, tutor, designer and artist. I have spent my career creating commercial products that people use to enrich their lives. I have a bachelor’s degree in English Literature from the University of Colorado. I am currently studying French there. I am also tutoring students in the Writing Center. While I working with English as a second language students I became inspired to write and illustrate simple French stories. Luc Apprend à Partager is the first in this series.
In the Luc Apprend series, my goal is to create a sympathetic mouse character. I want the character to be relatable. Children will adore and want to emulate this mouse. The stories are simple and entertaining. The mission is that Luc’s character will encourage positive behavior while readers are learning French and English words.
In Luc Apprend à Partager, Luc learns the importance of sharing after he encounters a shop keeper who wants to keep all his food for himself.
Luc Apprend à Partager – Microsoft Designer
I created this group of AI generated images with detailed word prompts to build on a model image. I worked to maintain consistency in the setting, place, and time. The character’s faces and clothing remained consistent. I used Microsoft Design.
A Sublime Experience – Microsoft Designer
These sublime ferry images were created to capture the feeling of a dark winter’s night in the Northwest. The main character commutes home from work via Seattle to Bainbridge Island, Washington. This night follows the discover of a female murder victim in the parking lot near the ferry dock. The perpetrator was still at large.
Artifacts of a Murder: The Dead Girls Paintbrushes – Microsoft Designer
These AI images were created as imagery for the introduction to my story Artifacts of a Murder. The soft brush bristles and the pale, gentle blond wood color scheme was used intending as a contrast to the violence of murder. The handles are smooth and polished as a professional killer.
The Frozen Castle, a Murderous Tale – Microsoft Designer
This is the cover image for a gothic story about a women who marries a mysterious, wealthy man who transports her to his castle in Scotland where she is imprisoned and her youth is slowly drained from her soul to keep his 200 year old mistress from aging.
My Glamourous Career: A Memoir of Designing for U.S. Special Forces – Microsoft Copilot
I generated these AI images to set the dramatic mood of danger that is captured in my memoir about designing apparel for U.S. Special Forces to hunt Osama bin Laden in the Hindu Kush mountain range.
Fiona’s paintbrushes leaned at an eighty-degree angle inside the utility jar that sat on the easel shelf. The paintbrush’s heights were uniform, made of dark blond, smooth bamboo spindles. The bamboo spindles stood eight inches tall with a diameter of seven millimeters. A dark black, copper-clad ferrule circled the top of each spindle, holding the bristles in place.
The tip of one spindle was wrapped with a 2-millimeter open loop attached inside a small hole, glued to the moon-shaped head of the brush. Each outer bristle was made of soft mink belly hairs and the core was made of firm hairs taken from the spine of a wild boar.
Printed on the original paintbrush packaging the manufacturer guaranteed the bristles would produce “smooth, dynamic strokes when both light or heavy pressure was applied.”
The bristles were clean and still damp from washing and pointed to the ceiling like boot camp soldiers falling out of rank. The name YASUTOMO BAMBOO CALLIGRAPHY BRUSH was engraved in a manually burned branding method at the lower third of the spinal. The engraving was coarse-looking and ruff to the touch, emblematic of Fiona’s temperament.
*************
Sara reached inside the bronze-colored storage shelf labeled ‘B.’ The box was wrapped in newsprint paper that was faded on the corners. Handwritten in black felt tip pen was the name ‘Fiona Xi, 2018, Evidence.”
Artwork created with Microsoft Copilot by Melodie Miller
“The Strange Kingdom” is intended as an anthology series that includes various genres of fantasy, science fiction, suspense, horror, drama, and psychological thrillers. However, all episodes have macabre and unexpected twists that tend toward amoral and antisocial themes where the anti-heroes and villains usually succeed.
In the pilot episode, The Magical Mountaintop acts metaphorically as an imaginary world. Mindy has lived there since she retired from ski racing because of an injury. The concept of a magical mountaintop alludes to a castle concept. This concept might be found in knight’s tales. Examples include Marie de France’s “The Lais of Marie de France” and Chrétien de Troyes’ “Arthurian Tales.” In these stories, knights find damsels in distress to rescue them. However, in this episode, Mindy is unknowingly attempting to rescue herself. None of the characters have altruistic natures or ambitions.
The Magical Mountaintop is inspired by Tennessee Williams’ play titled Magical Tower. In the play, two young, newly married lovers try to make a go of it. However, the hardships of life prove more potent than their love.
Downhill Racer, Gene Hackman and Robert Redford (Courtesy of IMDB.com)
Downhill Racer (1969) Movie Synopsis: David Chappellet (Robert Redford) is an arrogant and overly confident downhill skier. On the Olympic ski team but standing in as an alternate, he is called to Switzerland to compete after a teammate is injured. He quickly becomes an adversary within the team through his smug behavior and unconventional techniques on the slopes, falling into conflict with his coach (Gene Hackman).
“What’s past is prologue.”
William Shakespeare, The Tempest
An industry was born when a handsome and rugged Coloradan glamorized the sport of skiing and America began its life as a world contender on the international slopes of ski competition.
Before Gore-tex and waterproof breathable fabrics I was a young girl in search of an identity. Everything that happened up to this point will set the stage for what is to come thereafter.
It was the first day at a new school, Junior high, seventh grade. I felt small and solitary.
Marcus Whitman Junior High School, Seattle Washington (1969) (Courtesy of Marcus Whitman Junior High School Archives)
A short girl, like me, with a blond bobbed haircut, stopped me in the hall and said, “My big sister said I should find the cutest girls in the school and make them join my gang. You’re cute, you’re in my gang. Get a ride on Sunday to my house and we’ll go see Down Hill Racer? My name is Dev.”
Dev was one of the “cool girls” at school.
Sunday arrived and my mom drove me to the house of the “cool girl” named Dev with the blond bobbed haircut. She wanted to watch Robert Redford ski fast and I liked to ski so it sounded good to me.
I was in Seattle. It was raining. I didn’t know who Robert Redford was.
I wore a short dress because it was in style, and I am talented in the way of fashion. I read Vogue. My legs look good.
My mom drove very fast to Blue Ridge and stopped the car with a jerk at the foot of a very steep driveway that led to a newly, mid century modern house.
Mid-century modern house (Photograph non-accredited)
I push hard with my whole body on the heavy station wagon door that creaked open to an unstable position which I hold in place with one arm.
Plymouth Chrysler (1969) (Photograph courtesy of MyMopar.com, Youtube)
Swinging my bare legs out of the car and watching for puddles, I placed my two feet carefully onto the wet driveway. The door slammed with a crash behind me and I remember slamming my fingers in the car door when I was five. But that didn’t happen this time. My mom drove away.
I walked up the flawless path that led to the house, and along the way, I thought, “My new friend lives in a rich person’s house.” I see a gardener working outside in the rain, trimming the trees with professional tools. I thought, “That man is Japanese, and he is a long way from home, gardening for a stranger.”
He appeared to work in a very serious manner, making the boxed hedge very sharp and clipping the miniature leaves with great force.
Japanese Gardens at Cedar Hill, Roxbury Connecticut. (Photo courtesy of The Garden Conservancy.org)
I knocked on the front door, and my knuckles turned red with repeated impact. It was cold outside, and my good-looking legs wished they were covered with pants. Then I rang the doorbell. The right-hand side of the royal red lacquer-painted, double door opens mysteriously slowly, and I expect to see the black and white version of Nosferatu’s claw-like hand emerging along its edge. Instead, a grand-motherly looking person stood in front of me.
“Hello,” she said, “I’m Dev’s mother.”
“Dev’s mother looks ancient, as old as my grandmother, and she is rather plump,” I thought.
My mom was skinny and young; too young, I heard people say. Dev’s dad was a doctor; my dad lived in a different house than me and my mom was a waitress. I keep that fact to myself.
I stepped over the threshold into a colder and cavernous room that hung precariously over an ice-age ravine. It felt odd because my warm and crowded house sat firmly on the terra adjacent to a gully. This house was held in place by stilts sunk into the glacials silt.
“Might this house might slide down the hill at the next earthquake?” My neighbor’s house fell off its stilts in a mudslide and three people died: a mom, a dad and a newborn baby. I wondered when the rain would stop falling and hoped an earthquake didn’t happen now.
The clacking sound coming from my shiny new shoes hitting the slippery tile floor echoed across the room and bounced off the stark white walls.
Opposite the front door was one large, seamless window that looked west towards Puget Sound and out to the Olympic Mountains. It was the same view I saw from the city park near my house. My new friend, Dev, with the weird blond bobbed haircut, lived in a rich person’s house in her own private park.
The Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains, from Seattle Washington (Photograph courtesy of Adobe Stock )
Dev appeared in the arched opening of the long hallway on the north side of the cavernous room.
“Come see my room,” she said.
She was wearing nice clothes, new clothes, which means something but I’m not sure what. I followed her down the hall. We entered a grand room with a garden view. She opened the top drawer of her dresser.
“Look at this,” Dev said.
I gazed at her socks, folded in pairs and arranged in groups by color, segregated by rigid dividers. It was a beautiful sight. My socks lie in a pile at the bottom of the dresser drawer that I share with my sister. Each morning we select a pair randomly, not concerned with finding its mate.
Dev was not an only child but a “surprise” she told me. She had two older sisters who were married. I couldn’t make sense of this familial arrangement.
“I get all the attention from my parents,” she said, “because I was a surprise.” I don’t understand what she means. I am the oldest of six children with a lot of surprises at my house, mostly stray dogs.
Two more “cool” girls arrived, and their clothes were nice and new. Mine were hand-me-downs from the “older girl” across the street from my grandmother. One of the “cool” girls, the one with dark hair, was wearing a button-down boy shirt with the tails hanging out over a knee length, A-line skirt made of fabric copied from a Chanel plaid. The other girl was wearing a mini, tailless shirt dress with bobby socks and brown and white saddle shoes that matched her hair. I dreamed of becoming a fashion designer so I was creating a mental archive of the clothes people wear.
“Let’s go,” Dev, the blond girl said.
We all piled into the grandmother looking mother’s German car that proudly displays an erect airplane propeller on its chest. “I Want You” from Abby Road played on the radio. We all sang along with the radio: “I want you; I want you so bad, it’s driving me mad, it’s driving me mad.” We all laugh. The rain continued falling from the sky and I am relieved to drive away from the cold, cavernous, “ready to slide down the hill in a mudslide” house where my friend Dev lives. I must be sure to never spend the night there.
Mercedes-Benz 280 SE (1969) (Photo courtesy of Carscoops.com, Youtube)
“Robert Redford, he’s so dreamy,” the dark-haired girl with the football helmet-shaped haircut said. Her name was Jan. Her dad was a doctor, and her mother was a doctor too. I’m not sure how that kind of thing happens. The other “cool” girl was named Marian and had dusty auburn color hair. She was the one whose hair color matched her shoes. Her hair was cut like a Chatty Cathy. Chatty Cathy was a long dead doll. Marian’s dad was a coroner, a “kind of a doctor” she tells me. I decide that when I get home, I will look in the dictionary for the definition of “coroner.”
Downhill Racer, Robert Redford (Courtesy of IMDB.com)
Something was happening. My new friends were smart, they had doctor dads and new clothes. I felt special.
My new friends had weird haircuts, and I wondered if I would need to cut my hair to be cool like them. My hair was long, parted down the middle, like Cher’s. All three girls had older sisters who told them “gross stories about boys.” When I babysit, I tell my younger siblings “The Tell-Tale Heart” story, and we all scream and laugh. I don’t have any “gross boy” stories. I felt young and immature with these girls. I was quiet.
The old-looking mother dropped us off at the movie theater. It was still raining. I had never heard of Robert Redford, but I don’t tell the other girls. I know that a downhill racer skis very fast on steep icy slopes and wins metals because I am a skier. Usually, the winners were French and named Claude. They wore tight suits that showed all their muscles and when they reach the bottom of the hill, they threw their arms up over their heads in surprise.
Downhill Racer, Opening Scene (Courtesy of IMDB.com)
“Down Hill Racer” started, and a violin soundtrack filled my eardrums while the camera panned over distant mountain tops that were not ski slopes. That seems strange. The soundtrack shifted to piano keys ominously plunking over a close-up of a ticking stop watch.
A faceless hand snapped a Look ski binding onto a red leather Henke boot with stainless steel buckles running up the front over the ski racer foot. The red leather boot stopped just above his unprotected ankle. The webbing ski strap pulled tight around the boot.
Downhill Racer, Opening Scene (Courtesy of IMDB.com)
A snug suit and nothing more covered the ski racer’s legs. A violin played dramatically as the camera zoomed in on a pair of long, narrow skis slicing back and forth like two hands carving a Thanksgiving turkey. The camera panned to the smooth face of a man who pulled his goggles over his eyes while the soundtrack shifted to the sound of a beeping heart. The man was wearing a USA Olympic ski team bib.
He launched from the starter’s gate crouched in a tuck then the frame froze and the title DOWNHILL RACER flashed onto the screen. The skier immediately caught his ski edge on a chunk of ice and crashed.
Downhill Racer, Opening Scene(Courtesy of IMDB.com)
“There is an accident on the course,” the voice over said in English with a French accent. A helicopter landed, taking the broken skier away.
Downhill Racer, Opening Scene(Courtesy of IMDB.com)
A man with freckles, bushy blond eyebrows and long shaggy hair arrived to replace the crashed USA Olympic team downhill racer. The new racer wore a pair of cowboy boots and chewed gum with an open mouth. His attitude seemed strange; maybe arrogant. He looked like someones dad.
“That’s him,” the three girls whisper in unison. “Robert Redford.” The arrogant dad looking man with freckles and bushy hair, wearing cowboy boots and chewing gum with an open mouth was Robert Redford.
I looked at my new friends in wonderment.
“Where is the dreamy guy?”
Downhill Racer, Robert Redford (Courtesy of IMDB.com)
An exploration of the poet’s depiction of nature and beauty.
The Chandos portrait is an oil painted portrait thought to depict William Shakespeare (1564–1616). Painted between 1600 and 1610, it may have served as the basis for the engraved portrait of Shakespeare used in the First Folio in 1623. Attributed to John Taylor. (Courtesy of Wikipedia.org)
The Elbow Room is a situational comedy series set in 1984 at the birth of tech in Seattle, Washington. The Elbow Room is a fictitious bar on a Washington State Ferry where young commuters hang together during their battle to and from Bainbridge Island to their jobs in Seattle. Their friendships exist only inside the world of their commute and every effort is made to keep their personal lives separate from their ferry boat adventures.
The term “starter home” has a new meaning. The average price of a home in Boulder jumped from $166,000 in 2000 to $966,000 in 2025. Boulder’s cost of living is 41% higher than the national average. This means a dozen eggs that costs $4 in Jackson, Mississippi, will cost $5.64 in Boulder, Colorado. What does that mean for housing?
The median sale price of homes in Boulder County, Colo. in 2024 was $970,000, according to Zillow.com. To match a house payment with the average rental price of $2,300 per month, a buyer needs $725,000 for a down payment.
With a median household income of $84,840 and expenses of $77,280 yearly, an excess of $7,560 per year will require ninety-five years to save the downpayment.
The Common Sense Institute of Colorado reported in January of 2023 that voters passed Proposition 123 with a 54 percent majority to fund affordable housing programs statewide.
Data USA. Adobe Express. (Melodie Miller / Creator)
Data USA reported similar data for Boulder, Colorado, in 2022, with a higher median household income of $99,700 and a lower median property value of $671,100. This additional $14,860 yearly income means a buyer could buy a house in 25 years.
“During my time in the state senate, I have been trying to find ways to lower the cost of living,” Senator Dylan Roberts said, “and this starts first and foremost with housing.”
Proposition 123 dedicated a total of $290 million toward housing equity in the first year. Willoughby Corner at 120th and Emma Street in Lafayette is part of the Boulder County Housing Authority (BCHA) 400 affordable housing project using some Proposition 123 funding.
“It takes a lot of funding. It takes federal funding, state funding, and a lot of it is funded by the low-income housing tax credits,” Bill Cole, housing partnership and policy manager for Boulder County. “It’s a federal program run through the state.”
According to Cole, the Willoughby Corner construction takes three phases. The first phase is 90 units of senior housing. The second phase is multifamily apartments totaling 200 units. “The third phase is actually going to be homeownership opportunities, townhomes, about 80 units,” Cole said. All units except the senior housing have a waiting list.
Boulder County’s affordable housing imposes income limits that exclude many people from government benefits. The average Boulder County resident earning a salary of $84,840 will not qualify for this benefit.
Some potential home buyers find that there is no solution for home ownership. These buyers earn more than the income base to qualify for affordable housing but do not earn enough to make a substantial down payment.
“With 6% interest rate right now, how does a new home buyer afford that?” Boulder County realtor Ernie Sica said. “They have to have a really substantial income. That is really hard.”
With a mandatory high down payment, future homeowner Elena Sedin said, “My parents are already paying for my college. They can’t help me buy a house.”
According to Cole, those individuals who qualify for affordable housing should “Look at Prop 123. There’s gonna be a lot of the state funding for the foreseeable future,” Cole said. “Boulder County plans to build multifamily, senior and single-family developments as it tries to “increase the housing in the city of Boulder.”
According to the archeological dating of the Morocco Jebel Irhoud animal fossils and the Homo sapiens who ate them, humans have hunted game animals for over 300,000 years. Although humans are omnivores, they did not start farming until 23,000 years ago, according to the Ohalo II archaeological site in Israel. This means that humans needed to hunt for 277,000 years for food security.
Kelly Maher, an avid Coloradan hunter and mother, said part of her family ethic is “we hunt to eat and we eat what we hunt.” During the Covid 19 shutdown, her family ate deer meat stored in the freezer from the previous hunting season. Maher said she believes hunting is a core part of “understanding our place in the world.”
American wildlife suffered at the end of the nineteenth century from mismanagement, according to the Audubon Society. The bison population had diminished from 60 million to 300 in 100 years due to lack of management and overhunting according to All About Bison. Together, President Theodore Roosevelt, George Bird Grinnell and John Muir along with the Audubon Society, established a conservation movement to preserve nature.
Roosevelt, the “conservation president,” used his authority in 1906 to protect public lands and wildlife by creating the United States Forest Service (USFS). This service established 150 national forests and 18 national monuments through the American Antiquities Act. This act protected over 230 million acres of open public space for citizens of the United States use.
With the advent of city living, increased public criticism, and reduced barriers to food security, hunting has declined in the United States. The decline of hunters is problematic state-wide for wildlife conservation efforts that depend on funding from hunting license sales.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service manages nationwide conservation funding through the collection of hunting license revenue and firearms and ammunition excise sales tax from each state. The funding is distributed back to the state parks and wildlife departments that manage public land conservation and animal populations.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau. Wildlife for All. U.S Fish and Wild Life Service Hunting licenses issued between 1960 and 2020 compared to the U.S. population.
“There are 180 hunting units that Colorado has divided into Game Management Units (GMUs),” Cody Heneghan, a hunt planner for Colorado Parks and Wildlife said. “These units designate which part of the state your particular license permits you to hunt in.”
Hunting licenses for Colorado’s Western GMUs with higher elk populations are in high demand with a limited number available per year. A hunter must apply for these types of licenses through a “big game draw,” or purchase a leftover license after the draw if one is available.
“I’m not hunting as much now because the last time I bought a license, it was in a unit with a low population and I didn’t get an elk that time,” Wally Light, a 21-year-old hunter said. “It was a lot of work without a payoff. It didn’t seem worth it.” According to Colorado Parks and Wildlife, the Federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) manages 8 million acres of public land in Colorado. However, non of the 23,000 acres of open space and trails in rural Pitkin County are open for hunting. Open space hunting in Pitkin County Colorado is prohibited according to the Pitkin County Open Space and Trails program. However, private land is huntable with permission.
According to wildlife advocates, limiting hunting units in Colorado become problematic for wildlife management. “Management of ecosystems is important,” Maher said. “By virtue of the fact that humans are here, we must manage this system” to ensure the well-being of animals and the environment.
Between 1970 and 2000, hunting license sales revenue increased from $600 million to $1.1 billion according to The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reports. However, revenue remained stagnant over the next two decades.
Data from the Congressional Research Service reports that between 2017 and 2022, excise tax collected from the sale of firearms increased from $600 million (inflation adjusted) to $1.1 billion due to increased sales during the pandemic but not to sales for hunting equipment. However, funding from the U.S. Congress has decreased since 2015.
Hunting is an integral part of maintaining a stable deer and elk population. Lands maintained by hunting license revenues distributed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are more likely to support natural wildlife.
The “availability of food sources in the wilderness is a factor in monitoring the population,” wildlife advocate Mark Surls said. This becomes a closed-loop, sustainable ecosystem.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service operating budget, is partially funded through congressional appropriations. In 2024, the operating budget was $4.1 billion with $1.722 billion allocated by the government and the balance coming from grants, excise tax revenue and hunting license sales.
Sources: Congressional Research Service Funding requested to manage Fish and Wildlife Services, and congressional funding enacted to finance conservation in all 50 states and 16 territories.
Public opinion contributes to the hunter’s image in the U.S. On Nov. 5, voters were given a choice through “Cats Aren’t Trophies” Proposition 127 to decide whether Colorado Parks and Wildlife would continue to manage the mountain lion population by issuing hunting licenses.
“Hunting deer is fair chase,” wildlife advocate Carol Monaco said. But hound hunting “mountain lion is cruel.” It isn’t helping anyone and “very few big cats are dressed for consumption. We need to learn to coexist with wildlife.”
Surls advocates that hound hunting is unethical and should be removed from the hunting license options because “it gives our hunters a bad name for violations of fair chase,” integrity in hunting.
Some critics combine hunting for food with “trophy hunting.” Trophy hunting is hunting wild animals for sport and keeping body parts for display, not food. Mesa County Commissioner Cody Davis commented that this type of rhetoric is needless with an “end route to limit hunting” and “trophy hunting is already illegal in Colorado.”
Proposition 127 aimed to remove mountain lion population management from the Colorado Parks and Wildlife. In Nov. 290,000 voters rejected the proposition. In a compromising effort at a public engagement meeting critics of mountain lion hunting demanded that “guaranteed kill” be removed from hunting outfitter’s advertising because it is illegal in Colorado and a violation of CPW’s policy.
“We want to work with Colorado Parks and Wildlife,” Monaco said, “in every way so they can do their job” managing wildlife population.
As hunting license sales decrease, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service funding must be replaced with a new source. Hunting licenses are an important source of revenue.
“Colorado Parks and Wildlife are brilliant at managing the wildlife population and it should stay that way. It is a scientific method of conservation,” Davis said
This is a creative non-fiction story about designing apparel for U.S. Special Operations troops to hunt for Osama bin Laden in the Hindu Kush mountain range between Afghanistan and Pakistan. I finished this project in 2003.
While the events and core truths are based on real experiences, some details may have been altered. This includes names, identifying characteristics, and sometimes even timelines. These changes protect privacy or enhance the narrative. Any resemblance to places, real people, or situations is not intended to be exact.
The New York-New York Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada is home to a Statue of Liberty replica.(Photo Courtesy of Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
I was willingly recruited into the world of covert operations by a Special Operations officer dressed all in black. It happened at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Any fan of “Casino” and the “God Father” would rather meet the mob bosses, Sam Rothstein and Michael Corleone than Joubert of “Three Days of the Condor,” or Jason Bourne, the trained assassins. At the least the Rothstein and Corleone characters embraced brotherhood like a family of gorillas.
As long as you never refused an offer, they would always make room for compromise. But assassins are a different kind of animal. With assassins, things are over before you know what happened. Like mountain lions, assassins hunt alone. Assassins do not negotiate. On that day in Las Vegas I meet an assassin.
Disguised as a procurement office for the Army, the assassin was dressed impeccably in the best-selling and most important color in any apparel collection, black. I thought I was meeting a fellow couturier. With the erroneous knowledge that clothes make the man, I started the project thinking I was working with a compadre; better yet, a man who knew how to dress.
Microsoft Copilot Image generated by Melodie Miller
This misconception filled me with a false security. I thought this would bridge the gap between me, the designer, and Eddie, the hitman. I knew he would be ‘pack’n.’ I wasn’t afraid of guns; I grew up in a family of hunters. However, hopefully, I wouldn’t become the prey.
It all started at 8:45 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on that fateful morning in September 2001, when I woke from a dream where red balls of fire chased me down an endless hallway. When I turned on the television and saw the burning tower in New York City, my dream made sense.
I didn’t know it yet, but life would never be the same. The next thing I knew, I was in Las Vegas on a sweltering January day in 2002 when the country still shared a collective fear that a terrorist could live on their street and be attending flight lessons at their municipal airport preparing for another attack.
“How did I get here,”[1] I asked myself, “by letting the days go by without thinking, pursuing the American dream, and designing clothing for the self-absorbed,” I said.
I watched as gamblers followed the presidents advice to “enjoy life,”[2] so they headed to the slots and blackjack tables. They spent their money on entertainment. This helped them forget about the problems of the world. But I was not enjoying myself. I was working.
Microsoft Copilot Image generated by Melodie Miller
The long, hot walk from my hotel along the Boulevard, seem to become longer and warmer as I passed the miniature replica of the Statue of Liberty. I wondered if freedom, like the statue, would shrink following the attack on New York City. Congested with noisy taxis, people rushing to their gambling destinations, and neon lights flashing at all times of the day and night, Vegas epitomized the ideal of the U.S.A., get rich. The black gold on the ground seemed to radiate under my feet as if the heat was coming from the underworld. I felt like I was walking on red hot lava.
I thought have I “found the “cost of freedom” [3] buried in my soul?
Microsoft Copilot Image generated by Melodie Miller
Regardless of the danger ahead, I continued moving forward. While the oder of hot oil mixed with concrete filled the air, I convinced myself that I believed in the pledge of allegiance to the republic that had sheltered me all my life, but really I needed the money, so I continued walking towards the meeting. I was sweating, and the moisture under my arms was dripping down my skin inside my crisp white business shirt, puddling at the belt buckled tightly at my waist.
I arrived at the stairs to the convention complex and looked up to see the building towering over me like a colossal statue of Commodus, the blood sport-loving emperor of Rome who was assassinated by his gladiatorial trainer.
“One can never be too careful,” I thought.
The Greek columns seemed to be holding up my world. They reminded me that even a military power like the great Roman Empire did not guarantee eternal supremacy. This is true even for a country like America. The gargantuan doors seemed to suck me into the maze-like complex. The oversized tiger statues that flanked the doors looked at me with large hungry eyes.
Microsoft Copilot Image generated by Melodie Miller
I entered the convention hall and temporarily disappeared into the self induced State of Vegas coma were no clocks, windows, or light of daylight existed. Suddenly I lost track of the time of day, leaving my old life behind outside the doors closing slowly behind me, and I wondered if the gods would “shed their grace”[4] on me.
Microsoft Copilot Image generated by Melodie Miller
The grandeur of the oatmeal-colored walls towered above me like ramparts of granite, and the cornfield maze hallways seem to intentionally distort my location like walking in a field of “amber waves of grain.”[5] I continue moving forward as if the meeting beckoned with a silent signal, “walk this way.” The artificially bright and ominously cavernous room mocked the “purple mountains majesty”[6] with massive signage overhead like “star-spangled banners”[7] precariously hanging from the sky.
Outdoor Retailer set up (Photograph courtesy of Outdoor Retailer)
The names on the signage represented capitalism in the outdoor industry whose canons preached verses of optimism for the planet’s soul. Still, in reality, most of their products’ raw materials were made from petroleum and polluted along with every other industry on earth. “Just do it,”[8] “Never Stop Exploring,”[9] and “Reject Fast Fashion”[10] are not words to live by; they merely exchange one narrative for another.
Outdoor Retailer set up (Photograph courtesy of Outdoor Retailer)
The truth is that there is simply no way around making consumer products without polluting the earth; it’s still a rose that stinks no matter its name, no matter its slogan.
The hallways, filled with gas-powered forklifts, raced sinisterly down the aisles, transporting large, hazardously sized crates to locations marked by a small white number painted on the concrete floor. The crates that could instantly crush a human sat twelve feet in the air, precariously positioned atop the fork, as they sprinted down the aisles towards their temporary plot of “land of the free.”[11]
Microsoft Copilot Image generated by Melodie Miller
The crates held the makings of houses where no one would ever live. Two-hundred-thousand, four-hundred-thousand, six-hundred-thousand-dollar homes were used for four days, two times per year, and no one even slept there.
The first sheet music publication of The Star Spangled Banner (Thomas Carr, 1814) (Photograph courtesy Wikipedia.org)
These were not the” home(s) of the brave”[12] instead; they were temporary day quarters for the brands and sales representatives to sell their wares to professional buyers who then sold the goods to the consumers who had more money than they would ever spend.
Along the cavernous compound walls, numerous oversized garage doors were standing wide open, welcoming the warm air in and allowing the cold air out. It was the only daylight in the room, and the open doors acted as a mirror if the businesses would only look at themselves.
The Outdoor Retailer trade show returns to Salt Lake City Utah. (Photograph courtsey of Salt Lake Tribune)
The outdoor industry collectively claims they will save the planet by building the best products yet cause no unnecessary harm.
We will “use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis,”[13] one leader who will go unnamed said. ‘Then close the damned garage doors and stop wasting the energy that is producing this air conditioning,” I thought.
As I walked to meet my contact, I though, “maybe he’s short,” or “handsome” like Matt Damon’s character in Bourne Identity’. Or, maybe he’s “scary,” like a special operations soldier.
I arrived at a small, unmarked booth, unencumbered with slogans or signage. I met the man dressed all in black.
“I am a procurement officer,” he said.
‘That’s strange, I thought, I was told he was a Special Operations officer.”
The “procurement” officer freshly shaven and smelled of the clean fragrance of soap. He was much younger than I had expected. I found it odd that he never stood up from his chair.
He ran the back of his hand seductively down his smoothly shaven muscular cheek. He told me he had just cleaned up after his workout. ‘Cleaned up, after work, that doesn’t sound good,” I thought.
He stuck his hand out and said, “I’m Michael, but everyone calls me Mr. Bengal. You can call me Mr. Bengal.”
“OK, like the cat?” I asked.
“Yes, actually like the tiger.”
And without taking a breath, he launched into describing the Army assignment.
“The Army has a classified mission. If you accept it, you will work on a need to know basis,” Bengal said.
“OK,” I said, thinking this must be a cosmic joke.
“Your mission, if you accept it,” he said.
Was he practicing his lines for the next “Mission Impossible” movie, or did he talk this way? I pretended to understand what the hell he was talking about regarding “on a need to know basis.”
I thought, ‘well I’ll need to know your physical measurements if you expect me to fit you with clothing.’
Sept. 11, 2001 airplane attacks on the Twin Towers (Dan Howell Phtographer / Shutterstockcom)
“I am allowed to share just a bit with you,” Bengal said. “The mission will occur in a frigid, mountainous place. We will be hunting the man linked to something in New York City.” “I can’t tell you anything more.”
“The attack on September eleventh,” Bengal whispered.
“Oh,” I said. This time I understood perfectly well who Bengal’ was referring to.
‘Shit,’ I thought. ‘Now Jason Bourne has shared the biggest secret in the world with me. I knew what happened to people that know too much.’
“We need warm clothes for the troops to wear in order to catch this guy. We need you to build them for us,” Bengal said. “Can you do that?”
Osama bin Laden. (Photograph courtesy of The Associated Press)
“Of course,” I said, “that’s what I do, but actually, I design them.”
“What’s the difference?” Bengal asked.
That question frightened me more than the realization that his Glock was hidden in his gym bag under the table. Now I realized he was wearing black as a symbol of the covert nature of his profession, not because he was a fellow couturier. He didn’t understand the apparel industry and that made my job more dangerous.
“Think about the money,” I said to myself, “you can do this.”
“How soon can you get to Natick?” Bengal asked.
“Soon,” I answered.
__________________________________________
Seattle Tacoma Airport to Boston Logan Airport flight route (Image courtesy of Direct Flights.com)
It was a long flight “from sea to shining sea”[14] the night I flew from Seattle to Boston. Actually, the lyrics should go ocean to ocean or in this case “from Puget Sound to Massachusetts Bay,” but this isn’t a geography class.
I arrived late and was the last person to pick up my rental car before the office closed. The ice-cold evening was moonless and black, sporting the best-selling color in fashion, maybe things are going my way. I walked alone through the parking garage searching for my car, looking side to side hoping no one would jump out and grab me.
As I climbed into the unfamiliar vehicle the parking garage echoed a reminder that I was alone on this mission and I had accepted it knowing full well the dangers. I fumbled for the overhead light and quickly surveyed the location of the crucial instruments to navigate my drive to the hotel.
Black Ice (Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.com)
The roads were covered with splotches of thin black ice. I recalled the time station wagon spun a complete 360 degrees on the road to Skykomish. My mom simply righted the car and continued without saying a word while the kids screamed in terror.
I drove alone on the snowy road to the small town that housed the military base. I was feeling apprehensive about the trip. The project was clandestine, and I had never held a gun. Shooting a gun was something I had never done. Not that I would be expected to participate in the mission, it’s just that guns are known to kill people and now I would be close to the people that did that sort of thing.
I checked into the hotel and climbed into the bed with crisp, fresh, white sheets that smelled of bleach. No chemicals were strong enough to clean away the reality of the task I’d taken on and I restlessly fell to sleep.
The next morning came fast. It left me groggy at the “dawn’s early light”[15]. I rushed to get dressed, feeling unsure of myself and what to wear. I decided to wear black, how could I go wrong in black?
I covered my head with a baseball cap sporting a U.S.. Army chenille patch of red, white and blue and headed out the door. I was told to be in the lobby of the hotel at 0800. The message was, ‘he would find me.’ The written communication had stated that a Special Operations soldier would contact me at the hotel. This gave me visions of a six feet four-inch linebacker-sized man.
I allowed my libido to get the best of me for a brief moment. However, to my disappointment, a small figure approached me. He stood five feet four inches tall and was slightly hunched at the shoulders. He had the face of a hyena and smiled with a deceptive looking sneer. He too was dressed all in black including his baseball cap, large combat boots, and wrap around Ray-Ban sunglasses. It was eight in the morning and it wasn’t sunny outside.
Microsoft Copilot Image generated by Melodie Miller
“You can tell everything about a subject by looking into their eyes,” he said, “always wear your Ray-Bans.”
I wondered how he recognized me through his shades when we had never met before this moment and the idea triggered an adrenaline rush, making my heart race and I began to sweat.
“Did they already have a file on me?” I thought. bl
Then I remembered reading a scientific study about the smell of fear and struggled to calm my mind with the type of deep, long breaths I’d learned in yoga practice. I knew that animals could smell fear and I wondered if he had sniffed the panic dripping under my clothes. I pulled my sunglasses from my purse and covered my eyes.
Walt Disney’s Fantasia (1940 film) (Photograph courtesy of The Whitney Museum)
My contact signaled a command. He ordered me towards the exit with his short, gloved pointer finger. I felt as if the evil sorcerer from Fantasia had taken me under his powers like Sorcerer’s Apprentice Mickey Mouse’s marching brooms. . My hyena-like handler’s power pulled me through the revolving glass doors. I stepped out into the below zero-degree morning.
SUV similar to the Tour de (special force: How the Army and Chevy team up on the front lines by Kirk Bell (Motor Authority. 2017 Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban Midnight Editions at The Range Complex in Raleigh, North Carolina) (Image generated with Microsoft Design / Melodie Miller AI Graphic Engineer)
Feeling like the protagonist in a Disney movie I floated towards the oversized, black S.U.V. that awaited us. Nearly invisible patches of black ice covered the concrete and I felt encouraged that I could still recognize reality. Trying to act casual, I asked my contact about his position in the Army and he answered without hesitation.
“I’m a sniper, and I’m good. I never miss and I always win.” He said proudly like he was bragging about being an Olympic gold medal winner.
My mind began to fight itself with crazy ideas as I realized I was climbing into the black S.U.V. with a trained killer.
“Don’t worry, we’ll take care of you.”
I hadn’t said I was worried, and I didn’t like the idea of being “taken care of” by a professional hitman who was trained by the U.S. military. But I reminded myself again that the Army’s “C-notes” were just as honest as any other clients money and what’s more, the government paid on time.
I climbed into the imposing, blacked-out windowed Chevrolet Suburban and slid across the frigid leather seat. I was conscious of the fact that I could see out of the S.U.V., but no one could see in. I buckled the hard metal seat belt and cinched it tightly around my small waist. I looked to my right side and there lay a long scarf, handwoven in a distinctive Afghan tribal plaid pattern. I recognize the scarf as one used for wrapping a turban. It had a slight musky odor and as I looked closer, I could see that it was dirty and stained.
Microsoft Copilot Image generated by Melodie Miller
Just then the sniper reached his hand back from the front seat and said, “I’ll take that scarf, my buddy sent that to me from Afghanistan. The guy won’t be needing it anymore,” the sniper said followed by a short burst of hyena sounding laughter. Upon touching the scarf, the sniper appeared agitated and compelled to share his story. I thought it was as if he had pulled the sword from the stone, seemingly empowered as a knight, beyond reproach, entitled to kill for his kingdom.
“You’re probably wondering how I got my hands on that Afghani scarf?” he said.
“Well, OK, how?” I said reluctantly.
“Like I said. The guy didn’t need it anymore and my buddy borrowed it, so to speak, permanently,” the handler said and laughed again.
Isn’t that what he just told me I thought. I remained silent, instinctively understanding that like the spinning car, nothing good could come of where this story was going. But he pivoted to a different topic, which at first seemed like a good move but then reality went from sitting in the back of an S.U.V. driven by a trained assassin to the confessionals of a hit man.
“You’re probably wondering how I became a sniper.” He offered eagerly.
The words of my mother ran in my ears “If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” Again, I did not respond.
“I was eighteen years old and arrested for stealing a car. This time I knew it would be prison, not juvie detention. I told my attorney that I liked guns and was a perfect shot with an automatic rifle and we made a deal with the judge. The judge offered: “Prison or the Army?” I accepted the U.S. Army’s offer, and here I am, killing bad guys for my country, and I now I own my car.”
The S.U.V. raced down the small-town highway to the Natick Army Base. We passed Wellesley College, my step aunts Helen’s alma mater and my resentment boiled irrationally as I thought about the one million dollars she had given to the college. Had she given me some of that million dollars, I wouldn’t have taken this dangerous job. I reminded myself that she didn’t give any of her money to humans, only institutions like the Seattle Opera House and the Huntington’s Foundation, and that seemed to comfort my foolish subconscious mind temporarily. Besides, we weren’t really family, she was my step-aunt, and I doubt she even remembered my name on the day she died.
Billing Hall, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA (Photograph courtesy of Wellesley College)
The S.U.V. approached the gated entrance to the military base, and the sniper automatically rolled down all the windows.
“I need you to hand me your identification and exit the car,” the guard said.
I reached for my wallet nervously, pulling out the numerous cards, shuffling through them to find my driver’s license, and handed it to the guard. He scanned my license in a daunting manner, looked at me, asked me to remove my hat, and looked back at the license.
“I’ll need to see your passport,” the guard said, “and get out of the vehicle.”
“Oh, yes, of course,” I said and reached back into my purse.
I handed my passport to the guard and began to climbed out, but I was escorted from the back of the S.U.V. and stood in the freezing rain while two other guards ran two bomb-detecting wands under the body of the car will a third guard examined the undercarriage with a mirror. I watched the men examine the S.U.V. while a fifth guard physically patted me down.
“Open the trunk,” the fifth guard said, “and open your luggage.”
The guard emptied my luggage and rummaged through my intimate belongings with the unfamiliar hands of a stranger wearing an automatic rifle over his shoulder. I looked around and noticed there were no other women in sight.
My gaze shifted towards the sky but stopped at the top of the fence that surrounded the base. At the highest point on the chain-linked fence sat a wildly bundled layer of barbed wire, stacked one foot tall like the topping of a vicious birthday cake.
The guard reached out his hand slowly towards me, offering myI.DD. He looked me in the eyes and said softly, “I see your birthday is nine eleven, that sucks. Have a nice day. You’re free to go.”
Hindu Kush Mountain Range. (Explorerweb. Photo Courtesy of Tirich Mir. Photo: Abdul Rehman Joyia)
I emerged from the designated quarantine area sanctioned as a military contractor, hired to design clothing for the Special Operations Joint Services to keep them warm in the Hindu Kush mountain range of Afghanistan as they hunted the suspected perpetrator of the attack in New York City on the twin towers on Sept. 11, 2001.
The sniper and recruiter were my entrees into the dark world of covert military operations and the men that carried out their missions. I learned that Special Operations Forces consisted of an atypical type of person like the hyena man and Mr. Bengal, selected for their unique emotional traits and distinctive temperaments. They were fiercely loyal to each other and their country and slightly paranoid. They were trained in highly choreographed scenarios to extract and kill, and they were now my clients and me their collaborator.
Standing on the Natick Military base, I became overwhelmed with anxiety, conflicted by my ideology and the compromising nature of secrecy. In a split second, I rationalized that even professionally trained military killers deserved clothes that would keep them warm.
I had an important job to do for my country, which meant turning camo into fashion and I would find a way to adapt. I hoped the Glocks would remain concealed.
Natick Soldier Systems Center, Natick, Massachusetts. The U.S. Army Natick Soldier Systems Center (NSSC) is a Department of Defense (DoD) installation with the mission to protect and sustain America’s military forces. NSSC is responsible for the technology, research, development, engineering, fielding, and sustainment of our military’s food, clothing, shelters, airdrop systems, and Soldier support items
My skills were procured by the special operations office and like any true American, I needed the paycheck, so I accepted the mission.
Rob O’Neill, DEVGRU SEAL, Crye shirt. 911 Memorial Museum, New York City, New York (Melodie Miller, original designer) (Photographer Kristy Leibowitz)
[1] Eno, Brian. Frantz, Christopher. Byrne, David Byrne. Harrison, Jerry. Weymouth, Tina. “Once In a Lifetime.” Warner Chappell Music, Inc, Universal Music Publishing Group
[2] Bush, President George W. “Airline Safety,” The Washington Post. 27 September 2001.
[3] Stills, Steven. “Find the cost of Freedom,” B-side to “Ohio.”
[4] Bates, Katharine Lee. “America the Beautiful.” 1893.
When did higher education become the enemy? This is a fictional breaking news release that relays the satirical course syllabus at a fictitious Marxist business school. This satire is written in response to commentaries claiming that Marxist culture is prevalent on U.S. college campuses.
BREAKING NEWS: Underground Marxist School of Business syllabus discovered in bike satchel of arrested political dissident. Mother claims “Literary Theory and Critical Thinking studies are turning my child into a monster.” Infiltration of Marxism on college campuses proven.
Course Syllabus
MBAC 61984 Business Strategy – Innovative Management of “Profit and Means of Production”
Restricted to The Vanguard members and Master of Business Administration Candidates dedicated to overthrowing the bourgeoisie capitalist class.
Location: “SIBERIA, Gulag 13,” in the Basement of Hellems Arts and Science Building Class Time: 12:00 PM – 12:50 PM Instructor: Ivan T. Errible Office Hours: Mondays after dark Email: commi@KMSB.edu
Instructors Statement: Class struggle between the bourgeoisie capitalist and the worker stands as an iconic representation of human existence as illustrated by the continuous battle concerning the owners of the means of production and the labor power. Marx tells us that “work, thrift and greed are […] (the capitalists) three cardinal virtues,”[1] and hording is their primary goal. Workers do not own the tools or means of production. Therefore, this is an essental element in gaining control of both the labor time and surplus labor time, stripping the bourgeoisie of charms of creating profit out of nothing.
When the KMSB graduate worker emerges into the capitalistic business world, it may be difficult to find comrades in arms who will join the movement against the exploitation of the proletariat. However, as a future “leader” of the Vanguard,[2] it will become increasingly important to recognize the exploited workers through group meetings and demonstrate the opportunities by which the means of their profit can be reclaimed. This class intends to teach student comrades how to infiltrate privately owned enterprises, furthering the initial stage in the Vanguard movement.
Upon graduation from this course, students will have the skills to influence workers actions by guiding them through the process of reclaiming the “Surplus Value” of their labor through transitioning privately owned tools and factories, to a lasting state-run, ruling proletarian party with nationalized ownership of the means of production
This class intends to teach student comrades how to infiltrate privately owned enterprises, furthering the initial stage in the Vanguard movement. Upon graduation from this course, students will have the skills to influence workers actions by guiding them through the process of reclaiming the “Surplus Value” of their labor through transitioning privately owned tools and factories, to a lasting state-run, ruling proletarian party with nationalized ownership of the means of production.
[2] The Vanguard: the non-profit corporation of the KMSB proletariat movement, dedicated to avoiding taxes and operating with the use of free labor, donations from guilt ridden capitalists and state supported educational funding.
You may find, at times, that the origins of your ivy league social class lingers and unduly attempts to influence your path, however, do not let these past systems of thought conflict with the goals of the Vanguard. The Vanguard recognizes that the organization of capitalism, as Marx tells us is “vampire-like ,(and) lives only by sucking living labor,”[1] therefore it seems to muddle the socialists thinking. Believe me when I say your role in the movement will put a stake through the heart of capitalism by expanding democratic centralism and rule by all.
Additionally, through service to the philosophy of Marxism and the dictatorship of the proletariat, students in pursuit of eliminating growth and profit from the corporate structure will find this class leads to a full understanding of how to take control of the means of production by the newly established worker run apparatus.
Course Description: This course introduces students to the techniques of understanding reality, thoughts and emotions through the philosophy of Dialectical Materialism and the understanding of nature as a whole. Student struggles will be observed by the classroom collective and will be discussed in a joint ownership atmosphere with other students.
This course may not be taken concurrently with MBAC 71984 or 81984 and may not be repeated. A grade of “D” or higher in MBAC 61984 is a prerequisite for subsequent advancement in the Vanguard movement.
Required Texts and Materials:
Karl Marx, Das Kapital (1867),Engles, Marx, Communist Manifesto (1848),Kim Jung-un, Perfect Brilliance: How to Starve the Populus to Garner Loyalty
Office Hours: 1:30 am -4:30 am on Mondays located in Gulag 14, Hellems Basement (go down the east-west stairs until you reach the basement and turn left and walk in a circle until you hit the brick wall at the end of the hall). If you cannot make these hours, remember that increases in productivity results from cooperation, therefore these hours work for everyone.
Agitating Workshops: Probably the stuff you’re here for. We will perform agitating workshop readings, followed by play acting on a daily basis. You shall learn the exact words to use to gas light a crowd and cause law abiding citizens to act against their better judgement.
Each workshop will be done in groups where individuals will receive constructive critique of their power of persuasion and each round’s requirements will be provide on the day of practice. The grades for these practice trainings will be based on how quickly a student can agitated another student.
Participation / Dissent: You are required to do three participation and dissent activities and you will be given a chance to lead your own agitation rally. The length and location of the rally will be determined by the instructor. Whether the rally concerns disrupting the state apparatus or boycotting labor factories, dig in and try to find out what makes descension work. Do your best to be analytical. Outside academic cited sources should be used and are required.
Book Burnings: Most homework in this class will take the form of book burnings, particularly texts on democracy, freedom of speech, property ownership and voting rights. The specific book burnings will pertain to a counterrevolutionary piece we read that day. Your instructor may give you a creative prompt, something analytical to provide a catalyst for that day’s discussion and inspiration to begin the bonfire activities. I grade these activities on the basis of satisfactory completion of a collection of citywide book burning results.
Recruiting Activities: At times we’ll practice recruiting activities in class, to mainly test a few strategies and get us into the mood for the next event. Occasionally you will be asked to take home and flesh out your strategies, in which case they ought to be planned in great detail and executed in secrecy.
Final Portfolio: You will construct a final protest rally plan and recruit participants.
Attendance, Punctuality and Late Work: Successful work in the K. Marx School of business is dependent upon regular recruitment of comrades to support the plight of the proletariat worker. Students who are unavoidably absent should make arrangements with the collective to make up the time missed. Failure to attend class and activities regularly may result in receipt of an F in a course and food sanctions for you and your family.
Plagiarism: Everything you will need to know will be read in Das Kapital and the Communist Manifesto whose texts are well known. Plagiarism is not possible when only two books exist.
Policies,Accommodations for Disabilities: If you qualify for accommodations because of a disability, do not bother submitting an accommodation letter because it has already been predetermined that accommodations based on documented disabilities in the revolutionary environment automatically disqualify comrades from leading teams.
Religious Holidays: God does not exist.
Honor Code: All students enrolled in a KMBS course are responsible for knowing and adhering to the Honor Code of Das Kapital and the Communist Manifesto. Violations of the policy may include: praying, reading other books, thinking your own thoughts, lying about your thoughts, not accepting a bribery offer, refusing to threaten new noncompliant recruits, unauthorized access to alternative reading materials, dishonest clicker fraud, executing the same or similar agitation rally’s in more than one city without permission from the course instructors and most importantly, an unwillingness to inform on personal friends who own the means of production.
All incidents of misconduct will be reported to gulag guards who have a sixth-grade education and who happily bully any and all human beings, including women, children and infants.
Students who are found responsible for violating the Das Kapital and the Communist Manifesto integrity policies will be subject to death by poison.
Discrimination & Sexual Harassment: The KMSB remains committed to fostering intolerant acts of misconduct on the bourgeois class which includes assault, harassment, and stalking owners of means of labor. Individuals who believe they have been subject to retaliatory actions from a bourgeois owner of means of labor should report the incident to the Institutional Institute of Impartiality and Obedience (IIIO) and punitive action will be taken secretly in the dark of night.
Class Schedule Subject to change based on classroom progress. Changes will be noted in class.
Week One M. 8/27 – Introduction/Syllabus – Read syllabus out loud and sign a pledge of silence
W. 8/29 – Direct Struggle Have Read: Marx Das Kapital, Section 1 (all), Section 2 (all) + Marx “Letter from Marx to Engels” (1867). + Anonymous Proletariat’s “Grief and How to Project Your Failings onto Others”
F. 8/31 – Division of Labor Have Read: “Ford and the Assembly Line,” Chapter 3 (pg. 55-61) (Canvas) + Gehring, “The Use of Force and Dogma” + Stalin, “How to Talk to a Worker”
Week Two M. 9/3 – LABOR DAY, NO CLASS, “The instrument of labor (in) the form of a machine […] becomes a competitor of the worker,”[1] therefore, burn a factory today.
W. 9/5 – Production, Distribution and Consumption Have Read: Henry Ford’s, People as Machines, Chapter 6 (pg. 167-175) + Walt Disney, Building a Psychological Utopia, (How to fool all the people all of the time.) + Tolkien’s The Hobbit, Ch. 1 (How to recruit the unwilling with false promises.)
F. 9/7 – Consumption Have Read: George Wallace’s “Incarnations of the Burned Worker” (179-181) + Poe’s “Tell Tale Heart,” (How to hide victims of book burnings.)
Week Three M. 9/10 – The Antithesis of Use Value and Exchange Value Have Read: Hapsburg “The Czar’s Ghosts and their Jewels” (Lessons in how to use the trappings of the bourgeois to fund propaganda and agitation.) + Marx “The Poverty of Philosophy” (1847)
W. 9/12 – Democratic Centralism Have Read: Das Kapital, Section 1 and 2, (again), (This is the most important page in the book.) + Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher,” (Lessons in how to drive bourgeois friend’s mad.)
F. 9/14 – Workshop Preparation (Wear clothes and shoes you are willing to burn.) Turn in: FIRST BOOKBURNING REPORT
Week Four M. 9/17 – Religion and Wives Tales (Reasons to not waste time reflecting on spiritual ideals.) Have Read: Moscow Institute of Scientific Atheism, Chapter 9 (Pg. 1)
+ Lenin’s “How Religion Deprives People of “I” (Canvas)
Week Five M. 9/24 – Group Agitation Workshop (Bring tools of disruption, e.g. baseball bats, hammers.) Have Read: Das Kapita,l Chapter 1, (again)
+Kim Jong-un’s Propaganda and Misinformation Handbook Turn in: Agitation and Propaganda Rally Agenda, first draft
FINALS WEEK Submit Agitation and Propaganda Rally Operation, final Time/Place TBD.
Click these links to understand how Marxism and Marxist terms are used in the media.
A reimagining of Chris Marker’s Junkopia, short film shot in the Emeryville Mudflats of northern California. Story written by Melodie Miller.
I walked with hesitation down the path towards the Junktopia Alter, a place of worship that guarded The Great Bridge.
From Junkopia – A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
A montage of artifacts walked the pathway without moving a muscle. The longitude and latitude flashed transparently in the heads-up display of my spectacles.
From Junkopia – A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
I imagined the smell of lavender hovering in the bay.
From Junkopia- A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
In the distance the Bridge stood colorless, in need of recognition of its emptiness.
From Junkopia- A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
The memory hurled me to the day The Great Bridge almost collapsed.
From Junkopia – A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
The eyes of the unconscious biplane looked oppositionally at the myopic cockatoo that sat on my shoulder.
From Junkopia- A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
My bird recognized the fascist symbol painted on the wheel of the biplane as a warning to go no further.
From Junkopia- A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
My amygdala said “Run!” but I persisted onward.
In the distance the Junktopia Alter remained its original color of distressed and burnt Tuscany auburn; looking like it was primed for a top coat of blood red paint.
From Junkopia – A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
I thought of Catch 22 and its airplane that flew detached from the war without Yossarian on board who was long dead as a character and forgotten by middle school teachers and students.
Along the path, a false messiah perched in a lifeless tree called to me longingly, beckoning for an apostle to gather a flock of followers.
From Junkopia – A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
Her fuchsia and dark black mesh wings, torn and ravaged, desperately flapped in the turbine powered mechanical wind of capitalistic rule dominating the newly formed nationless state of Junktopia.
From Junkopia – A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
In the distance, the lime, swampy grasslands filled with abandonment stood as shelter for the birds that no longer could fly. The decibels soaring from the speakers increased, projecting the vibrational reminiscence of the biplanes menacing history preparing to drop its deadly cargo on the unsuspecting living things resting below.
From Junkopia – A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
I approached the alter and the vacant, ornamental glass bottles that guided the unlighted path began to shatter from the sonic sounds spilling overhead, the speakers positioned ubiquitously on the bridge.
Jagged fragments threatened my jugular while the unsympathetic marsh called to me with a menacing howl.
One, razor sharp, ragged edge of a fragmented bottle neck hung from the bridge rafters by a wire hangman’s noose; its rusted metal screw top like a decapitated democratic statesman, his fellow, screw top public servants looked on from the gallery.
From Junkopia- A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
I had abandoned my map on the battlefield and my cell phone no longer recognized a charged. I felt lost although I was not.
From Junkopia- A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
The Republic now rests as fragments of shattered glass reflected as graven images in the birds eye.
From Junkopia- A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
The fascist symbol painted on the tail of the biplane, a relic of the final war, roared: “the number twelve,” with the sharpness of two major league football helmets cracking in collision. “The twelfth man,” it called out silently, a rhetorical souvenir of the war. “The fans did not offer a home advantage,” I shouted back.
From Junkopia – A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
The weathered alter walls made of wooden fish bone skeletons were rotted from the salt sea air. I bowed down to the god of technology. The empty tin-soup-can minarets stood as apostates and a reminder that rations must be earned by the labors of my cellophane hope.
From Junkopia – A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
I waited for the signal to perform the requisite incantations. The white whisker entrails of the metallic stork swimming in the expansive future flapped in the mechanical breeze along with the Messiah’s wings. The five-feet tall, hand-made paper stork hovering nearby narcissistically mocked its own self-absorbed symbol of fertility.
From Junkopia – A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
No one knew how or when the Kangaroos had arrived in Junktopia.
From Junkopia – A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
But, like the nationless human inhabitants, they were there to stay, because no one else wanted them.
From Junkopia – A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
Junkopia – A short film by Chris Marker | Screenshot courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
The Heartbeat of the Powwow returned to the University of Colorado at Farrand Field on Sept. 28, 2024. (Melodie Miller | Photographer)
Listen to powwow musician Tony Crank at the University of Colorado Farrand Field Sept. 28, 2024. The Colorado American Indian Tribes In-State Tuition Act (CO SB 21-029) was passed to allow eligible students to pay in-state tuition at Colorado public universities and colleges.(Melodie Miller | Photographer)
After 23 years, the powwow returns to campus as a celebration of faith and tradition for the indigenous peoples of Colorado. The grand entry victory song and two rounds of intertribals.
Jim Caviezel stars as Jesus Christ in Benedict Fitzgerald’s and Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ. (Photo courtesy of IMBD, The Passion of the Christ).
How the Pliny’s ancient writings created a lasting impact by inspiring Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” and Charles Dickens “A Christmas Carol.”
“Pliny the Younger” refers to Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, a Roman author and lawyer who witnessed the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE is most famous for his collection of letters. “Pliny the Elder” refers to his uncle, Gaius Plinius Secundus, a renowned natural historian who died during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. Pliny the Younger is the nephew of Pliny the Elder, and both are known for their significant written works from ancient Rome.
Pliny the Elder. (Left) Pliny the Younger. (Right). Encyclopedia Britannica. Mary Evans Picture Library Ltd / age fotostock .
Pliny the Elder wrote the Natural History, an encyclopaedic work of uneven accuracy that was an authority on scientific matters up to the Middle Ages.
Kevin Reynold’s Risen (2016), set in 33 CE, stars Joseph Fiennes as Clavius, a Roman Tribune in Judea who is tasked with finding the missing body of Jesus Christ.
The presidential election ended on Tuesday. Multiple ballot drop boxes and the University of Colorado Boulder Memorial Center voting poll closed on the CU Boulder campus at 7 p.m.
Students lined up at the entrance to the Glenn Miller Ballroom inside the UMC at near-freezing temperatures, the line extended out the door. The warming tent housed many voters who waited to exercise their constitutional right.
University of Colorado, Boulder students wait in line to vote outside the Colorado Memorial Center. (Melodie Miller | Photographer)
“Colorado typically boasts one of the highest turnouts for young voters in the entire country,” said Nicole Hensel, the director of New Era Colorado.
First-time voter Haley Hastedt, a senior at CU Boulder, expressed her concerns.
“I am extremely nervous about the election today,” Hastedt said. “I believe this is the most important election of our lifetime, and at this point, I think it could go either way,.”
University of Colorado, Boulder students register to vote at the Colorado Memorial Center. (Melodie Miller | Photographer)
Many first-time voters scrambled for identification cards and asked volunteers for information about how to register and vote. In-person voters show ID and “skip the signature verification,” which speeds up the process, according to Mircalla Wozniak, a communications specialist for Boulder County. All Colorado voters can register with Ballottrax to receive confirmation text messages that their ballot was received and counted. If there is a problem, Boulder County will notify the voter.
Thomas Uroskie, a CU Boulder student, waited in line at UMC. “This is my first time voting. I am feeling kind of weird. I’d rather vote in person than a mail-in ballot and get the experience,” Uroskie said.
Election day in Boulder unfolded smoothly after concerns heightened over ballot box fires reported in Washington and Oregon by CNN on Wednesday, October 30. Ballot box security “didn’t come out of nowhere. We have mechanisms for this,” Wozniak, said. “We have a regular pick-up schedule as we get closer to the election.”
New Era volunteers positioned outside the University Memorial Center answered voters questions. (Shutterstock | Photographer)
Georgia Moreland, a senior majoring in English at CU Boulder, said, “I’m nervous for the state of the country and how divided we have become due to this election.”
The FBI positioned election coordinators and command posts nationwide to enable streamlined communication and rapid response to ensure the safety of election workers, voters, ballot boxes and polling stations.
“Every FBI field office will stand up an election command post to coordinate with their local and state partners,” FBI spokesperson Vikki Migoya said. “Our focus is on protecting elections from potential threats so Coloradans can have confidence in their democratic process.”
The CU Division of Public Safety partnered with the CU Boulder Police Department to secure the UMC polling location and the rest of campus on election day. Academic buildings were locked with a Buff OneCards required for entrance “as part of ongoing efforts to enhance campus safety and minimize disruptions,” CUPD spokesperson Christine Mahoney said.
University of Colorado, Boulder students exit the University Memorial Center. (Melodie Miller | Photographer)
“Our campus is definitely encouraging the get out the vote, and we’re very very happy students are engaging in their civic duty,” Mahoney said. “We’re here to provide safety so they can do that.”
New Era Colorado was “on eight college campuses all across the state,” Hensel said, making sure that students had their voting rights protected “until every lost voter was through the polls at 7 p.m.”
New Era Colorado volunteers answer voters questions outside the University Memorial Center. (Melodie Miller | Photographer)
New Era volunteers positioned outside the University Memorial Center answered voters questions. (Melodie Miller | Photographer)
Although safety was a priority on campus, the results of the election troubled Elena Sedin, a junior in Philosophy at CU, Boulder. “I couldn’t relate to half of the U.S. population. I felt like a lot of people hate me through their vote,” Sedin said
New Era director Hensel said she felt “confident in the integrity of campus elections and knows that Colorado student election boards all across the state were working to ensure that students have safe and secure elections.”
New Era Colorado is a non-profit 501(c) political advocacy group that aims to educate and mobilize young people where they can have the greatest impact. New Era Colorado is a free resource for voters who want to know more about the ballot initiatives.
University of Colorado, Boulder students climb the stairs to the University Memorial Center to place their vote. (Melodie Miller | Photographer)
First-time voter Arielle Buzil said “It is very nice to vote, it feels empowering. It’s a little overwhelming, but I think it’s good because we’re all coming together and making change to the world.”
The Boulder County ballot included the presidential race, CO state and local candidates, measures, and the state constitutional Amendment 79 that would protect the right to an abortion. Colorado voters passed Amendment 79 with 1,736,436 votes, an 81% ‘yes’ vote by Boulder County and a 61.9% ‘yes’ vote statewide, as of 8:35 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 7.
CUPD offers a non-emergency line at 303-492-6666 to report any concerns that violate campus policies and 911 in an emergency.
I live in Boulder, Colorado and create AI prompted images to match your story and marketing needs.
I am a writer, teacher, tutor, designer and artist. I have spent my career creating commercial products that people use to enrich their lives. I have a bachelor’s degree in English Literature from the University of Colorado. I am currently studying French there. I am also tutoring students in the Writing Center. While I working with English as a second language students I became inspired to write and illustrate simple French stories. Luc Apprend à Partager is the first in this series.
In the Luc Apprend series, my goal is to create a sympathetic mouse character. I want the character to be relatable. Children will adore and want to emulate this mouse. The stories are simple and entertaining. The mission is that Luc’s character will encourage positive behavior while readers are learning French and English words.
In Luc Apprend à Partager, Luc learns the importance of sharing after he encounters a shop keeper who wants to keep all his food for himself.
Luc Apprend à Partager – Microsoft Designer
I created this group of AI generated images with detailed word prompts to build on a model image. I worked to maintain consistency in the setting, place, and time. The character’s faces and clothing remained consistent. I used Microsoft Design.
A Sublime Experience – Microsoft Designer
These sublime ferry images were created to capture the feeling of a dark winter’s night in the Northwest. The main character commutes home from work via Seattle to Bainbridge Island, Washington. This night follows the discover of a female murder victim in the parking lot near the ferry dock. The perpetrator was still at large.
Artifacts of a Murder: The Dead Girls Paintbrushes – Microsoft Designer
These AI images were created as imagery for the introduction to my story Artifacts of a Murder. The soft brush bristles and the pale, gentle blond wood color scheme was used intending as a contrast to the violence of murder. The handles are smooth and polished as a professional killer.
The Frozen Castle, a Murderous Tale – Microsoft Designer
This is the cover image for a gothic story about a women who marries a mysterious, wealthy man who transports her to his castle in Scotland where she is imprisoned and her youth is slowly drained from her soul to keep his 200 year old mistress from aging.
My Glamourous Career: A Memoir of Designing for U.S. Special Forces – Microsoft Copilot
I generated these AI images to set the dramatic mood of danger that is captured in my memoir about designing apparel for U.S. Special Forces to hunt Osama bin Laden in the Hindu Kush mountain range.
Fiona’s paintbrushes leaned at an eighty-degree angle inside the utility jar that sat on the easel shelf. The paintbrush’s heights were uniform, made of dark blond, smooth bamboo spindles. The bamboo spindles stood eight inches tall with a diameter of seven millimeters. A dark black, copper-clad ferrule circled the top of each spindle, holding the bristles in place.
The tip of one spindle was wrapped with a 2-millimeter open loop attached inside a small hole, glued to the moon-shaped head of the brush. Each outer bristle was made of soft mink belly hairs and the core was made of firm hairs taken from the spine of a wild boar.
Printed on the original paintbrush packaging the manufacturer guaranteed the bristles would produce “smooth, dynamic strokes when both light or heavy pressure was applied.”
The bristles were clean and still damp from washing and pointed to the ceiling like boot camp soldiers falling out of rank. The name YASUTOMO BAMBOO CALLIGRAPHY BRUSH was engraved in a manually burned branding method at the lower third of the spinal. The engraving was coarse-looking and ruff to the touch, emblematic of Fiona’s temperament.
*************
Sara reached inside the bronze-colored storage shelf labeled ‘B.’ The box was wrapped in newsprint paper that was faded on the corners. Handwritten in black felt tip pen was the name ‘Fiona Xi, 2018, Evidence.”
Artwork created with Microsoft Copilot by Melodie Miller
“The Strange Kingdom” is intended as an anthology series that includes various genres of fantasy, science fiction, suspense, horror, drama, and psychological thrillers. However, all episodes have macabre and unexpected twists that tend toward amoral and antisocial themes where the anti-heroes and villains usually succeed.
In the pilot episode, The Magical Mountaintop acts metaphorically as an imaginary world. Mindy has lived there since she retired from ski racing because of an injury. The concept of a magical mountaintop alludes to a castle concept. This concept might be found in knight’s tales. Examples include Marie de France’s “The Lais of Marie de France” and Chrétien de Troyes’ “Arthurian Tales.” In these stories, knights find damsels in distress to rescue them. However, in this episode, Mindy is unknowingly attempting to rescue herself. None of the characters have altruistic natures or ambitions.
The Magical Mountaintop is inspired by Tennessee Williams’ play titled Magical Tower. In the play, two young, newly married lovers try to make a go of it. However, the hardships of life prove more potent than their love.
Downhill Racer, Gene Hackman and Robert Redford (Courtesy of IMDB.com)
Downhill Racer (1969) Movie Synopsis: David Chappellet (Robert Redford) is an arrogant and overly confident downhill skier. On the Olympic ski team but standing in as an alternate, he is called to Switzerland to compete after a teammate is injured. He quickly becomes an adversary within the team through his smug behavior and unconventional techniques on the slopes, falling into conflict with his coach (Gene Hackman).
“What’s past is prologue.”
William Shakespeare, The Tempest
An industry was born when a handsome and rugged Coloradan glamorized the sport of skiing and America began its life as a world contender on the international slopes of ski competition.
Before Gore-tex and waterproof breathable fabrics I was a young girl in search of an identity. Everything that happened up to this point will set the stage for what is to come thereafter.
It was the first day at a new school, Junior high, seventh grade. I felt small and solitary.
Marcus Whitman Junior High School, Seattle Washington (1969) (Courtesy of Marcus Whitman Junior High School Archives)
A short girl, like me, with a blond bobbed haircut, stopped me in the hall and said, “My big sister said I should find the cutest girls in the school and make them join my gang. You’re cute, you’re in my gang. Get a ride on Sunday to my house and we’ll go see Down Hill Racer? My name is Dev.”
Dev was one of the “cool girls” at school.
Sunday arrived and my mom drove me to the house of the “cool girl” named Dev with the blond bobbed haircut. She wanted to watch Robert Redford ski fast and I liked to ski so it sounded good to me.
I was in Seattle. It was raining. I didn’t know who Robert Redford was.
I wore a short dress because it was in style, and I am talented in the way of fashion. I read Vogue. My legs look good.
My mom drove very fast to Blue Ridge and stopped the car with a jerk at the foot of a very steep driveway that led to a newly, mid century modern house.
Mid-century modern house (Photograph non-accredited)
I push hard with my whole body on the heavy station wagon door that creaked open to an unstable position which I hold in place with one arm.
Plymouth Chrysler (1969) (Photograph courtesy of MyMopar.com, Youtube)
Swinging my bare legs out of the car and watching for puddles, I placed my two feet carefully onto the wet driveway. The door slammed with a crash behind me and I remember slamming my fingers in the car door when I was five. But that didn’t happen this time. My mom drove away.
I walked up the flawless path that led to the house, and along the way, I thought, “My new friend lives in a rich person’s house.” I see a gardener working outside in the rain, trimming the trees with professional tools. I thought, “That man is Japanese, and he is a long way from home, gardening for a stranger.”
He appeared to work in a very serious manner, making the boxed hedge very sharp and clipping the miniature leaves with great force.
Japanese Gardens at Cedar Hill, Roxbury Connecticut. (Photo courtesy of The Garden Conservancy.org)
I knocked on the front door, and my knuckles turned red with repeated impact. It was cold outside, and my good-looking legs wished they were covered with pants. Then I rang the doorbell. The right-hand side of the royal red lacquer-painted, double door opens mysteriously slowly, and I expect to see the black and white version of Nosferatu’s claw-like hand emerging along its edge. Instead, a grand-motherly looking person stood in front of me.
“Hello,” she said, “I’m Dev’s mother.”
“Dev’s mother looks ancient, as old as my grandmother, and she is rather plump,” I thought.
My mom was skinny and young; too young, I heard people say. Dev’s dad was a doctor; my dad lived in a different house than me and my mom was a waitress. I keep that fact to myself.
I stepped over the threshold into a colder and cavernous room that hung precariously over an ice-age ravine. It felt odd because my warm and crowded house sat firmly on the terra adjacent to a gully. This house was held in place by stilts sunk into the glacials silt.
“Might this house might slide down the hill at the next earthquake?” My neighbor’s house fell off its stilts in a mudslide and three people died: a mom, a dad and a newborn baby. I wondered when the rain would stop falling and hoped an earthquake didn’t happen now.
The clacking sound coming from my shiny new shoes hitting the slippery tile floor echoed across the room and bounced off the stark white walls.
Opposite the front door was one large, seamless window that looked west towards Puget Sound and out to the Olympic Mountains. It was the same view I saw from the city park near my house. My new friend, Dev, with the weird blond bobbed haircut, lived in a rich person’s house in her own private park.
The Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains, from Seattle Washington (Photograph courtesy of Adobe Stock )
Dev appeared in the arched opening of the long hallway on the north side of the cavernous room.
“Come see my room,” she said.
She was wearing nice clothes, new clothes, which means something but I’m not sure what. I followed her down the hall. We entered a grand room with a garden view. She opened the top drawer of her dresser.
“Look at this,” Dev said.
I gazed at her socks, folded in pairs and arranged in groups by color, segregated by rigid dividers. It was a beautiful sight. My socks lie in a pile at the bottom of the dresser drawer that I share with my sister. Each morning we select a pair randomly, not concerned with finding its mate.
Dev was not an only child but a “surprise” she told me. She had two older sisters who were married. I couldn’t make sense of this familial arrangement.
“I get all the attention from my parents,” she said, “because I was a surprise.” I don’t understand what she means. I am the oldest of six children with a lot of surprises at my house, mostly stray dogs.
Two more “cool” girls arrived, and their clothes were nice and new. Mine were hand-me-downs from the “older girl” across the street from my grandmother. One of the “cool” girls, the one with dark hair, was wearing a button-down boy shirt with the tails hanging out over a knee length, A-line skirt made of fabric copied from a Chanel plaid. The other girl was wearing a mini, tailless shirt dress with bobby socks and brown and white saddle shoes that matched her hair. I dreamed of becoming a fashion designer so I was creating a mental archive of the clothes people wear.
“Let’s go,” Dev, the blond girl said.
We all piled into the grandmother looking mother’s German car that proudly displays an erect airplane propeller on its chest. “I Want You” from Abby Road played on the radio. We all sang along with the radio: “I want you; I want you so bad, it’s driving me mad, it’s driving me mad.” We all laugh. The rain continued falling from the sky and I am relieved to drive away from the cold, cavernous, “ready to slide down the hill in a mudslide” house where my friend Dev lives. I must be sure to never spend the night there.
Mercedes-Benz 280 SE (1969) (Photo courtesy of Carscoops.com, Youtube)
“Robert Redford, he’s so dreamy,” the dark-haired girl with the football helmet-shaped haircut said. Her name was Jan. Her dad was a doctor, and her mother was a doctor too. I’m not sure how that kind of thing happens. The other “cool” girl was named Marian and had dusty auburn color hair. She was the one whose hair color matched her shoes. Her hair was cut like a Chatty Cathy. Chatty Cathy was a long dead doll. Marian’s dad was a coroner, a “kind of a doctor” she tells me. I decide that when I get home, I will look in the dictionary for the definition of “coroner.”
Downhill Racer, Robert Redford (Courtesy of IMDB.com)
Something was happening. My new friends were smart, they had doctor dads and new clothes. I felt special.
My new friends had weird haircuts, and I wondered if I would need to cut my hair to be cool like them. My hair was long, parted down the middle, like Cher’s. All three girls had older sisters who told them “gross stories about boys.” When I babysit, I tell my younger siblings “The Tell-Tale Heart” story, and we all scream and laugh. I don’t have any “gross boy” stories. I felt young and immature with these girls. I was quiet.
The old-looking mother dropped us off at the movie theater. It was still raining. I had never heard of Robert Redford, but I don’t tell the other girls. I know that a downhill racer skis very fast on steep icy slopes and wins metals because I am a skier. Usually, the winners were French and named Claude. They wore tight suits that showed all their muscles and when they reach the bottom of the hill, they threw their arms up over their heads in surprise.
Downhill Racer, Opening Scene (Courtesy of IMDB.com)
“Down Hill Racer” started, and a violin soundtrack filled my eardrums while the camera panned over distant mountain tops that were not ski slopes. That seems strange. The soundtrack shifted to piano keys ominously plunking over a close-up of a ticking stop watch.
A faceless hand snapped a Look ski binding onto a red leather Henke boot with stainless steel buckles running up the front over the ski racer foot. The red leather boot stopped just above his unprotected ankle. The webbing ski strap pulled tight around the boot.
Downhill Racer, Opening Scene (Courtesy of IMDB.com)
A snug suit and nothing more covered the ski racer’s legs. A violin played dramatically as the camera zoomed in on a pair of long, narrow skis slicing back and forth like two hands carving a Thanksgiving turkey. The camera panned to the smooth face of a man who pulled his goggles over his eyes while the soundtrack shifted to the sound of a beeping heart. The man was wearing a USA Olympic ski team bib.
He launched from the starter’s gate crouched in a tuck then the frame froze and the title DOWNHILL RACER flashed onto the screen. The skier immediately caught his ski edge on a chunk of ice and crashed.
Downhill Racer, Opening Scene(Courtesy of IMDB.com)
“There is an accident on the course,” the voice over said in English with a French accent. A helicopter landed, taking the broken skier away.
Downhill Racer, Opening Scene(Courtesy of IMDB.com)
A man with freckles, bushy blond eyebrows and long shaggy hair arrived to replace the crashed USA Olympic team downhill racer. The new racer wore a pair of cowboy boots and chewed gum with an open mouth. His attitude seemed strange; maybe arrogant. He looked like someones dad.
“That’s him,” the three girls whisper in unison. “Robert Redford.” The arrogant dad looking man with freckles and bushy hair, wearing cowboy boots and chewing gum with an open mouth was Robert Redford.
I looked at my new friends in wonderment.
“Where is the dreamy guy?”
Downhill Racer, Robert Redford (Courtesy of IMDB.com)
An exploration of the poet’s depiction of nature and beauty.
The Chandos portrait is an oil painted portrait thought to depict William Shakespeare (1564–1616). Painted between 1600 and 1610, it may have served as the basis for the engraved portrait of Shakespeare used in the First Folio in 1623. Attributed to John Taylor. (Courtesy of Wikipedia.org)
The Elbow Room is a situational comedy series set in 1984 at the birth of tech in Seattle, Washington. The Elbow Room is a fictitious bar on a Washington State Ferry where young commuters hang together during their battle to and from Bainbridge Island to their jobs in Seattle. Their friendships exist only inside the world of their commute and every effort is made to keep their personal lives separate from their ferry boat adventures.
The term “starter home” has a new meaning. The average price of a home in Boulder jumped from $166,000 in 2000 to $966,000 in 2025. Boulder’s cost of living is 41% higher than the national average. This means a dozen eggs that costs $4 in Jackson, Mississippi, will cost $5.64 in Boulder, Colorado. What does that mean for housing?
The median sale price of homes in Boulder County, Colo. in 2024 was $970,000, according to Zillow.com. To match a house payment with the average rental price of $2,300 per month, a buyer needs $725,000 for a down payment.
With a median household income of $84,840 and expenses of $77,280 yearly, an excess of $7,560 per year will require ninety-five years to save the downpayment.
The Common Sense Institute of Colorado reported in January of 2023 that voters passed Proposition 123 with a 54 percent majority to fund affordable housing programs statewide.
Data USA. Adobe Express. (Melodie Miller / Creator)
Data USA reported similar data for Boulder, Colorado, in 2022, with a higher median household income of $99,700 and a lower median property value of $671,100. This additional $14,860 yearly income means a buyer could buy a house in 25 years.
“During my time in the state senate, I have been trying to find ways to lower the cost of living,” Senator Dylan Roberts said, “and this starts first and foremost with housing.”
Proposition 123 dedicated a total of $290 million toward housing equity in the first year. Willoughby Corner at 120th and Emma Street in Lafayette is part of the Boulder County Housing Authority (BCHA) 400 affordable housing project using some Proposition 123 funding.
“It takes a lot of funding. It takes federal funding, state funding, and a lot of it is funded by the low-income housing tax credits,” Bill Cole, housing partnership and policy manager for Boulder County. “It’s a federal program run through the state.”
According to Cole, the Willoughby Corner construction takes three phases. The first phase is 90 units of senior housing. The second phase is multifamily apartments totaling 200 units. “The third phase is actually going to be homeownership opportunities, townhomes, about 80 units,” Cole said. All units except the senior housing have a waiting list.
Boulder County’s affordable housing imposes income limits that exclude many people from government benefits. The average Boulder County resident earning a salary of $84,840 will not qualify for this benefit.
Some potential home buyers find that there is no solution for home ownership. These buyers earn more than the income base to qualify for affordable housing but do not earn enough to make a substantial down payment.
“With 6% interest rate right now, how does a new home buyer afford that?” Boulder County realtor Ernie Sica said. “They have to have a really substantial income. That is really hard.”
With a mandatory high down payment, future homeowner Elena Sedin said, “My parents are already paying for my college. They can’t help me buy a house.”
According to Cole, those individuals who qualify for affordable housing should “Look at Prop 123. There’s gonna be a lot of the state funding for the foreseeable future,” Cole said. “Boulder County plans to build multifamily, senior and single-family developments as it tries to “increase the housing in the city of Boulder.”
According to the archeological dating of the Morocco Jebel Irhoud animal fossils and the Homo sapiens who ate them, humans have hunted game animals for over 300,000 years. Although humans are omnivores, they did not start farming until 23,000 years ago, according to the Ohalo II archaeological site in Israel. This means that humans needed to hunt for 277,000 years for food security.
Kelly Maher, an avid Coloradan hunter and mother, said part of her family ethic is “we hunt to eat and we eat what we hunt.” During the Covid 19 shutdown, her family ate deer meat stored in the freezer from the previous hunting season. Maher said she believes hunting is a core part of “understanding our place in the world.”
American wildlife suffered at the end of the nineteenth century from mismanagement, according to the Audubon Society. The bison population had diminished from 60 million to 300 in 100 years due to lack of management and overhunting according to All About Bison. Together, President Theodore Roosevelt, George Bird Grinnell and John Muir along with the Audubon Society, established a conservation movement to preserve nature.
Roosevelt, the “conservation president,” used his authority in 1906 to protect public lands and wildlife by creating the United States Forest Service (USFS). This service established 150 national forests and 18 national monuments through the American Antiquities Act. This act protected over 230 million acres of open public space for citizens of the United States use.
With the advent of city living, increased public criticism, and reduced barriers to food security, hunting has declined in the United States. The decline of hunters is problematic state-wide for wildlife conservation efforts that depend on funding from hunting license sales.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service manages nationwide conservation funding through the collection of hunting license revenue and firearms and ammunition excise sales tax from each state. The funding is distributed back to the state parks and wildlife departments that manage public land conservation and animal populations.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau. Wildlife for All. U.S Fish and Wild Life Service Hunting licenses issued between 1960 and 2020 compared to the U.S. population.
“There are 180 hunting units that Colorado has divided into Game Management Units (GMUs),” Cody Heneghan, a hunt planner for Colorado Parks and Wildlife said. “These units designate which part of the state your particular license permits you to hunt in.”
Hunting licenses for Colorado’s Western GMUs with higher elk populations are in high demand with a limited number available per year. A hunter must apply for these types of licenses through a “big game draw,” or purchase a leftover license after the draw if one is available.
“I’m not hunting as much now because the last time I bought a license, it was in a unit with a low population and I didn’t get an elk that time,” Wally Light, a 21-year-old hunter said. “It was a lot of work without a payoff. It didn’t seem worth it.” According to Colorado Parks and Wildlife, the Federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) manages 8 million acres of public land in Colorado. However, non of the 23,000 acres of open space and trails in rural Pitkin County are open for hunting. Open space hunting in Pitkin County Colorado is prohibited according to the Pitkin County Open Space and Trails program. However, private land is huntable with permission.
According to wildlife advocates, limiting hunting units in Colorado become problematic for wildlife management. “Management of ecosystems is important,” Maher said. “By virtue of the fact that humans are here, we must manage this system” to ensure the well-being of animals and the environment.
Between 1970 and 2000, hunting license sales revenue increased from $600 million to $1.1 billion according to The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reports. However, revenue remained stagnant over the next two decades.
Data from the Congressional Research Service reports that between 2017 and 2022, excise tax collected from the sale of firearms increased from $600 million (inflation adjusted) to $1.1 billion due to increased sales during the pandemic but not to sales for hunting equipment. However, funding from the U.S. Congress has decreased since 2015.
Hunting is an integral part of maintaining a stable deer and elk population. Lands maintained by hunting license revenues distributed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are more likely to support natural wildlife.
The “availability of food sources in the wilderness is a factor in monitoring the population,” wildlife advocate Mark Surls said. This becomes a closed-loop, sustainable ecosystem.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service operating budget, is partially funded through congressional appropriations. In 2024, the operating budget was $4.1 billion with $1.722 billion allocated by the government and the balance coming from grants, excise tax revenue and hunting license sales.
Sources: Congressional Research Service Funding requested to manage Fish and Wildlife Services, and congressional funding enacted to finance conservation in all 50 states and 16 territories.
Public opinion contributes to the hunter’s image in the U.S. On Nov. 5, voters were given a choice through “Cats Aren’t Trophies” Proposition 127 to decide whether Colorado Parks and Wildlife would continue to manage the mountain lion population by issuing hunting licenses.
“Hunting deer is fair chase,” wildlife advocate Carol Monaco said. But hound hunting “mountain lion is cruel.” It isn’t helping anyone and “very few big cats are dressed for consumption. We need to learn to coexist with wildlife.”
Surls advocates that hound hunting is unethical and should be removed from the hunting license options because “it gives our hunters a bad name for violations of fair chase,” integrity in hunting.
Some critics combine hunting for food with “trophy hunting.” Trophy hunting is hunting wild animals for sport and keeping body parts for display, not food. Mesa County Commissioner Cody Davis commented that this type of rhetoric is needless with an “end route to limit hunting” and “trophy hunting is already illegal in Colorado.”
Proposition 127 aimed to remove mountain lion population management from the Colorado Parks and Wildlife. In Nov. 290,000 voters rejected the proposition. In a compromising effort at a public engagement meeting critics of mountain lion hunting demanded that “guaranteed kill” be removed from hunting outfitter’s advertising because it is illegal in Colorado and a violation of CPW’s policy.
“We want to work with Colorado Parks and Wildlife,” Monaco said, “in every way so they can do their job” managing wildlife population.
As hunting license sales decrease, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service funding must be replaced with a new source. Hunting licenses are an important source of revenue.
“Colorado Parks and Wildlife are brilliant at managing the wildlife population and it should stay that way. It is a scientific method of conservation,” Davis said
This is a creative non-fiction story about designing apparel for U.S. Special Operations troops to hunt for Osama bin Laden in the Hindu Kush mountain range between Afghanistan and Pakistan. I finished this project in 2003.
While the events and core truths are based on real experiences, some details may have been altered. This includes names, identifying characteristics, and sometimes even timelines. These changes protect privacy or enhance the narrative. Any resemblance to places, real people, or situations is not intended to be exact.
The New York-New York Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada is home to a Statue of Liberty replica.(Photo Courtesy of Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
I was willingly recruited into the world of covert operations by a Special Operations officer dressed all in black. It happened at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Any fan of “Casino” and the “God Father” would rather meet the mob bosses, Sam Rothstein and Michael Corleone than Joubert of “Three Days of the Condor,” or Jason Bourne, the trained assassins. At the least the Rothstein and Corleone characters embraced brotherhood like a family of gorillas.
As long as you never refused an offer, they would always make room for compromise. But assassins are a different kind of animal. With assassins, things are over before you know what happened. Like mountain lions, assassins hunt alone. Assassins do not negotiate. On that day in Las Vegas I meet an assassin.
Disguised as a procurement office for the Army, the assassin was dressed impeccably in the best-selling and most important color in any apparel collection, black. I thought I was meeting a fellow couturier. With the erroneous knowledge that clothes make the man, I started the project thinking I was working with a compadre; better yet, a man who knew how to dress.
Microsoft Copilot Image generated by Melodie Miller
This misconception filled me with a false security. I thought this would bridge the gap between me, the designer, and Eddie, the hitman. I knew he would be ‘pack’n.’ I wasn’t afraid of guns; I grew up in a family of hunters. However, hopefully, I wouldn’t become the prey.
It all started at 8:45 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on that fateful morning in September 2001, when I woke from a dream where red balls of fire chased me down an endless hallway. When I turned on the television and saw the burning tower in New York City, my dream made sense.
I didn’t know it yet, but life would never be the same. The next thing I knew, I was in Las Vegas on a sweltering January day in 2002 when the country still shared a collective fear that a terrorist could live on their street and be attending flight lessons at their municipal airport preparing for another attack.
“How did I get here,”[1] I asked myself, “by letting the days go by without thinking, pursuing the American dream, and designing clothing for the self-absorbed,” I said.
I watched as gamblers followed the presidents advice to “enjoy life,”[2] so they headed to the slots and blackjack tables. They spent their money on entertainment. This helped them forget about the problems of the world. But I was not enjoying myself. I was working.
Microsoft Copilot Image generated by Melodie Miller
The long, hot walk from my hotel along the Boulevard, seem to become longer and warmer as I passed the miniature replica of the Statue of Liberty. I wondered if freedom, like the statue, would shrink following the attack on New York City. Congested with noisy taxis, people rushing to their gambling destinations, and neon lights flashing at all times of the day and night, Vegas epitomized the ideal of the U.S.A., get rich. The black gold on the ground seemed to radiate under my feet as if the heat was coming from the underworld. I felt like I was walking on red hot lava.
I thought have I “found the “cost of freedom” [3] buried in my soul?
Microsoft Copilot Image generated by Melodie Miller
Regardless of the danger ahead, I continued moving forward. While the oder of hot oil mixed with concrete filled the air, I convinced myself that I believed in the pledge of allegiance to the republic that had sheltered me all my life, but really I needed the money, so I continued walking towards the meeting. I was sweating, and the moisture under my arms was dripping down my skin inside my crisp white business shirt, puddling at the belt buckled tightly at my waist.
I arrived at the stairs to the convention complex and looked up to see the building towering over me like a colossal statue of Commodus, the blood sport-loving emperor of Rome who was assassinated by his gladiatorial trainer.
“One can never be too careful,” I thought.
The Greek columns seemed to be holding up my world. They reminded me that even a military power like the great Roman Empire did not guarantee eternal supremacy. This is true even for a country like America. The gargantuan doors seemed to suck me into the maze-like complex. The oversized tiger statues that flanked the doors looked at me with large hungry eyes.
Microsoft Copilot Image generated by Melodie Miller
I entered the convention hall and temporarily disappeared into the self induced State of Vegas coma were no clocks, windows, or light of daylight existed. Suddenly I lost track of the time of day, leaving my old life behind outside the doors closing slowly behind me, and I wondered if the gods would “shed their grace”[4] on me.
Microsoft Copilot Image generated by Melodie Miller
The grandeur of the oatmeal-colored walls towered above me like ramparts of granite, and the cornfield maze hallways seem to intentionally distort my location like walking in a field of “amber waves of grain.”[5] I continue moving forward as if the meeting beckoned with a silent signal, “walk this way.” The artificially bright and ominously cavernous room mocked the “purple mountains majesty”[6] with massive signage overhead like “star-spangled banners”[7] precariously hanging from the sky.
Outdoor Retailer set up (Photograph courtesy of Outdoor Retailer)
The names on the signage represented capitalism in the outdoor industry whose canons preached verses of optimism for the planet’s soul. Still, in reality, most of their products’ raw materials were made from petroleum and polluted along with every other industry on earth. “Just do it,”[8] “Never Stop Exploring,”[9] and “Reject Fast Fashion”[10] are not words to live by; they merely exchange one narrative for another.
Outdoor Retailer set up (Photograph courtesy of Outdoor Retailer)
The truth is that there is simply no way around making consumer products without polluting the earth; it’s still a rose that stinks no matter its name, no matter its slogan.
The hallways, filled with gas-powered forklifts, raced sinisterly down the aisles, transporting large, hazardously sized crates to locations marked by a small white number painted on the concrete floor. The crates that could instantly crush a human sat twelve feet in the air, precariously positioned atop the fork, as they sprinted down the aisles towards their temporary plot of “land of the free.”[11]
Microsoft Copilot Image generated by Melodie Miller
The crates held the makings of houses where no one would ever live. Two-hundred-thousand, four-hundred-thousand, six-hundred-thousand-dollar homes were used for four days, two times per year, and no one even slept there.
The first sheet music publication of The Star Spangled Banner (Thomas Carr, 1814) (Photograph courtesy Wikipedia.org)
These were not the” home(s) of the brave”[12] instead; they were temporary day quarters for the brands and sales representatives to sell their wares to professional buyers who then sold the goods to the consumers who had more money than they would ever spend.
Along the cavernous compound walls, numerous oversized garage doors were standing wide open, welcoming the warm air in and allowing the cold air out. It was the only daylight in the room, and the open doors acted as a mirror if the businesses would only look at themselves.
The Outdoor Retailer trade show returns to Salt Lake City Utah. (Photograph courtsey of Salt Lake Tribune)
The outdoor industry collectively claims they will save the planet by building the best products yet cause no unnecessary harm.
We will “use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis,”[13] one leader who will go unnamed said. ‘Then close the damned garage doors and stop wasting the energy that is producing this air conditioning,” I thought.
As I walked to meet my contact, I though, “maybe he’s short,” or “handsome” like Matt Damon’s character in Bourne Identity’. Or, maybe he’s “scary,” like a special operations soldier.
I arrived at a small, unmarked booth, unencumbered with slogans or signage. I met the man dressed all in black.
“I am a procurement officer,” he said.
‘That’s strange, I thought, I was told he was a Special Operations officer.”
The “procurement” officer freshly shaven and smelled of the clean fragrance of soap. He was much younger than I had expected. I found it odd that he never stood up from his chair.
He ran the back of his hand seductively down his smoothly shaven muscular cheek. He told me he had just cleaned up after his workout. ‘Cleaned up, after work, that doesn’t sound good,” I thought.
He stuck his hand out and said, “I’m Michael, but everyone calls me Mr. Bengal. You can call me Mr. Bengal.”
“OK, like the cat?” I asked.
“Yes, actually like the tiger.”
And without taking a breath, he launched into describing the Army assignment.
“The Army has a classified mission. If you accept it, you will work on a need to know basis,” Bengal said.
“OK,” I said, thinking this must be a cosmic joke.
“Your mission, if you accept it,” he said.
Was he practicing his lines for the next “Mission Impossible” movie, or did he talk this way? I pretended to understand what the hell he was talking about regarding “on a need to know basis.”
I thought, ‘well I’ll need to know your physical measurements if you expect me to fit you with clothing.’
Sept. 11, 2001 airplane attacks on the Twin Towers (Dan Howell Phtographer / Shutterstockcom)
“I am allowed to share just a bit with you,” Bengal said. “The mission will occur in a frigid, mountainous place. We will be hunting the man linked to something in New York City.” “I can’t tell you anything more.”
“The attack on September eleventh,” Bengal whispered.
“Oh,” I said. This time I understood perfectly well who Bengal’ was referring to.
‘Shit,’ I thought. ‘Now Jason Bourne has shared the biggest secret in the world with me. I knew what happened to people that know too much.’
“We need warm clothes for the troops to wear in order to catch this guy. We need you to build them for us,” Bengal said. “Can you do that?”
Osama bin Laden. (Photograph courtesy of The Associated Press)
“Of course,” I said, “that’s what I do, but actually, I design them.”
“What’s the difference?” Bengal asked.
That question frightened me more than the realization that his Glock was hidden in his gym bag under the table. Now I realized he was wearing black as a symbol of the covert nature of his profession, not because he was a fellow couturier. He didn’t understand the apparel industry and that made my job more dangerous.
“Think about the money,” I said to myself, “you can do this.”
“How soon can you get to Natick?” Bengal asked.
“Soon,” I answered.
__________________________________________
Seattle Tacoma Airport to Boston Logan Airport flight route (Image courtesy of Direct Flights.com)
It was a long flight “from sea to shining sea”[14] the night I flew from Seattle to Boston. Actually, the lyrics should go ocean to ocean or in this case “from Puget Sound to Massachusetts Bay,” but this isn’t a geography class.
I arrived late and was the last person to pick up my rental car before the office closed. The ice-cold evening was moonless and black, sporting the best-selling color in fashion, maybe things are going my way. I walked alone through the parking garage searching for my car, looking side to side hoping no one would jump out and grab me.
As I climbed into the unfamiliar vehicle the parking garage echoed a reminder that I was alone on this mission and I had accepted it knowing full well the dangers. I fumbled for the overhead light and quickly surveyed the location of the crucial instruments to navigate my drive to the hotel.
Black Ice (Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.com)
The roads were covered with splotches of thin black ice. I recalled the time station wagon spun a complete 360 degrees on the road to Skykomish. My mom simply righted the car and continued without saying a word while the kids screamed in terror.
I drove alone on the snowy road to the small town that housed the military base. I was feeling apprehensive about the trip. The project was clandestine, and I had never held a gun. Shooting a gun was something I had never done. Not that I would be expected to participate in the mission, it’s just that guns are known to kill people and now I would be close to the people that did that sort of thing.
I checked into the hotel and climbed into the bed with crisp, fresh, white sheets that smelled of bleach. No chemicals were strong enough to clean away the reality of the task I’d taken on and I restlessly fell to sleep.
The next morning came fast. It left me groggy at the “dawn’s early light”[15]. I rushed to get dressed, feeling unsure of myself and what to wear. I decided to wear black, how could I go wrong in black?
I covered my head with a baseball cap sporting a U.S.. Army chenille patch of red, white and blue and headed out the door. I was told to be in the lobby of the hotel at 0800. The message was, ‘he would find me.’ The written communication had stated that a Special Operations soldier would contact me at the hotel. This gave me visions of a six feet four-inch linebacker-sized man.
I allowed my libido to get the best of me for a brief moment. However, to my disappointment, a small figure approached me. He stood five feet four inches tall and was slightly hunched at the shoulders. He had the face of a hyena and smiled with a deceptive looking sneer. He too was dressed all in black including his baseball cap, large combat boots, and wrap around Ray-Ban sunglasses. It was eight in the morning and it wasn’t sunny outside.
Microsoft Copilot Image generated by Melodie Miller
“You can tell everything about a subject by looking into their eyes,” he said, “always wear your Ray-Bans.”
I wondered how he recognized me through his shades when we had never met before this moment and the idea triggered an adrenaline rush, making my heart race and I began to sweat.
“Did they already have a file on me?” I thought. bl
Then I remembered reading a scientific study about the smell of fear and struggled to calm my mind with the type of deep, long breaths I’d learned in yoga practice. I knew that animals could smell fear and I wondered if he had sniffed the panic dripping under my clothes. I pulled my sunglasses from my purse and covered my eyes.
Walt Disney’s Fantasia (1940 film) (Photograph courtesy of The Whitney Museum)
My contact signaled a command. He ordered me towards the exit with his short, gloved pointer finger. I felt as if the evil sorcerer from Fantasia had taken me under his powers like Sorcerer’s Apprentice Mickey Mouse’s marching brooms. . My hyena-like handler’s power pulled me through the revolving glass doors. I stepped out into the below zero-degree morning.
SUV similar to the Tour de (special force: How the Army and Chevy team up on the front lines by Kirk Bell (Motor Authority. 2017 Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban Midnight Editions at The Range Complex in Raleigh, North Carolina) (Image generated with Microsoft Design / Melodie Miller AI Graphic Engineer)
Feeling like the protagonist in a Disney movie I floated towards the oversized, black S.U.V. that awaited us. Nearly invisible patches of black ice covered the concrete and I felt encouraged that I could still recognize reality. Trying to act casual, I asked my contact about his position in the Army and he answered without hesitation.
“I’m a sniper, and I’m good. I never miss and I always win.” He said proudly like he was bragging about being an Olympic gold medal winner.
My mind began to fight itself with crazy ideas as I realized I was climbing into the black S.U.V. with a trained killer.
“Don’t worry, we’ll take care of you.”
I hadn’t said I was worried, and I didn’t like the idea of being “taken care of” by a professional hitman who was trained by the U.S. military. But I reminded myself again that the Army’s “C-notes” were just as honest as any other clients money and what’s more, the government paid on time.
I climbed into the imposing, blacked-out windowed Chevrolet Suburban and slid across the frigid leather seat. I was conscious of the fact that I could see out of the S.U.V., but no one could see in. I buckled the hard metal seat belt and cinched it tightly around my small waist. I looked to my right side and there lay a long scarf, handwoven in a distinctive Afghan tribal plaid pattern. I recognize the scarf as one used for wrapping a turban. It had a slight musky odor and as I looked closer, I could see that it was dirty and stained.
Microsoft Copilot Image generated by Melodie Miller
Just then the sniper reached his hand back from the front seat and said, “I’ll take that scarf, my buddy sent that to me from Afghanistan. The guy won’t be needing it anymore,” the sniper said followed by a short burst of hyena sounding laughter. Upon touching the scarf, the sniper appeared agitated and compelled to share his story. I thought it was as if he had pulled the sword from the stone, seemingly empowered as a knight, beyond reproach, entitled to kill for his kingdom.
“You’re probably wondering how I got my hands on that Afghani scarf?” he said.
“Well, OK, how?” I said reluctantly.
“Like I said. The guy didn’t need it anymore and my buddy borrowed it, so to speak, permanently,” the handler said and laughed again.
Isn’t that what he just told me I thought. I remained silent, instinctively understanding that like the spinning car, nothing good could come of where this story was going. But he pivoted to a different topic, which at first seemed like a good move but then reality went from sitting in the back of an S.U.V. driven by a trained assassin to the confessionals of a hit man.
“You’re probably wondering how I became a sniper.” He offered eagerly.
The words of my mother ran in my ears “If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” Again, I did not respond.
“I was eighteen years old and arrested for stealing a car. This time I knew it would be prison, not juvie detention. I told my attorney that I liked guns and was a perfect shot with an automatic rifle and we made a deal with the judge. The judge offered: “Prison or the Army?” I accepted the U.S. Army’s offer, and here I am, killing bad guys for my country, and I now I own my car.”
The S.U.V. raced down the small-town highway to the Natick Army Base. We passed Wellesley College, my step aunts Helen’s alma mater and my resentment boiled irrationally as I thought about the one million dollars she had given to the college. Had she given me some of that million dollars, I wouldn’t have taken this dangerous job. I reminded myself that she didn’t give any of her money to humans, only institutions like the Seattle Opera House and the Huntington’s Foundation, and that seemed to comfort my foolish subconscious mind temporarily. Besides, we weren’t really family, she was my step-aunt, and I doubt she even remembered my name on the day she died.
Billing Hall, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA (Photograph courtesy of Wellesley College)
The S.U.V. approached the gated entrance to the military base, and the sniper automatically rolled down all the windows.
“I need you to hand me your identification and exit the car,” the guard said.
I reached for my wallet nervously, pulling out the numerous cards, shuffling through them to find my driver’s license, and handed it to the guard. He scanned my license in a daunting manner, looked at me, asked me to remove my hat, and looked back at the license.
“I’ll need to see your passport,” the guard said, “and get out of the vehicle.”
“Oh, yes, of course,” I said and reached back into my purse.
I handed my passport to the guard and began to climbed out, but I was escorted from the back of the S.U.V. and stood in the freezing rain while two other guards ran two bomb-detecting wands under the body of the car will a third guard examined the undercarriage with a mirror. I watched the men examine the S.U.V. while a fifth guard physically patted me down.
“Open the trunk,” the fifth guard said, “and open your luggage.”
The guard emptied my luggage and rummaged through my intimate belongings with the unfamiliar hands of a stranger wearing an automatic rifle over his shoulder. I looked around and noticed there were no other women in sight.
My gaze shifted towards the sky but stopped at the top of the fence that surrounded the base. At the highest point on the chain-linked fence sat a wildly bundled layer of barbed wire, stacked one foot tall like the topping of a vicious birthday cake.
The guard reached out his hand slowly towards me, offering myI.DD. He looked me in the eyes and said softly, “I see your birthday is nine eleven, that sucks. Have a nice day. You’re free to go.”
Hindu Kush Mountain Range. (Explorerweb. Photo Courtesy of Tirich Mir. Photo: Abdul Rehman Joyia)
I emerged from the designated quarantine area sanctioned as a military contractor, hired to design clothing for the Special Operations Joint Services to keep them warm in the Hindu Kush mountain range of Afghanistan as they hunted the suspected perpetrator of the attack in New York City on the twin towers on Sept. 11, 2001.
The sniper and recruiter were my entrees into the dark world of covert military operations and the men that carried out their missions. I learned that Special Operations Forces consisted of an atypical type of person like the hyena man and Mr. Bengal, selected for their unique emotional traits and distinctive temperaments. They were fiercely loyal to each other and their country and slightly paranoid. They were trained in highly choreographed scenarios to extract and kill, and they were now my clients and me their collaborator.
Standing on the Natick Military base, I became overwhelmed with anxiety, conflicted by my ideology and the compromising nature of secrecy. In a split second, I rationalized that even professionally trained military killers deserved clothes that would keep them warm.
I had an important job to do for my country, which meant turning camo into fashion and I would find a way to adapt. I hoped the Glocks would remain concealed.
Natick Soldier Systems Center, Natick, Massachusetts. The U.S. Army Natick Soldier Systems Center (NSSC) is a Department of Defense (DoD) installation with the mission to protect and sustain America’s military forces. NSSC is responsible for the technology, research, development, engineering, fielding, and sustainment of our military’s food, clothing, shelters, airdrop systems, and Soldier support items
My skills were procured by the special operations office and like any true American, I needed the paycheck, so I accepted the mission.
Rob O’Neill, DEVGRU SEAL, Crye shirt. 911 Memorial Museum, New York City, New York (Melodie Miller, original designer) (Photographer Kristy Leibowitz)
[1] Eno, Brian. Frantz, Christopher. Byrne, David Byrne. Harrison, Jerry. Weymouth, Tina. “Once In a Lifetime.” Warner Chappell Music, Inc, Universal Music Publishing Group
[2] Bush, President George W. “Airline Safety,” The Washington Post. 27 September 2001.
[3] Stills, Steven. “Find the cost of Freedom,” B-side to “Ohio.”
[4] Bates, Katharine Lee. “America the Beautiful.” 1893.
When did higher education become the enemy? This is a fictional breaking news release that relays the satirical course syllabus at a fictitious Marxist business school. This satire is written in response to commentaries claiming that Marxist culture is prevalent on U.S. college campuses.
BREAKING NEWS: Underground Marxist School of Business syllabus discovered in bike satchel of arrested political dissident. Mother claims “Literary Theory and Critical Thinking studies are turning my child into a monster.” Infiltration of Marxism on college campuses proven.
Course Syllabus
MBAC 61984 Business Strategy – Innovative Management of “Profit and Means of Production”
Restricted to The Vanguard members and Master of Business Administration Candidates dedicated to overthrowing the bourgeoisie capitalist class.
Location: “SIBERIA, Gulag 13,” in the Basement of Hellems Arts and Science Building Class Time: 12:00 PM – 12:50 PM Instructor: Ivan T. Errible Office Hours: Mondays after dark Email: commi@KMSB.edu
Instructors Statement: Class struggle between the bourgeoisie capitalist and the worker stands as an iconic representation of human existence as illustrated by the continuous battle concerning the owners of the means of production and the labor power. Marx tells us that “work, thrift and greed are […] (the capitalists) three cardinal virtues,”[1] and hording is their primary goal. Workers do not own the tools or means of production. Therefore, this is an essental element in gaining control of both the labor time and surplus labor time, stripping the bourgeoisie of charms of creating profit out of nothing.
When the KMSB graduate worker emerges into the capitalistic business world, it may be difficult to find comrades in arms who will join the movement against the exploitation of the proletariat. However, as a future “leader” of the Vanguard,[2] it will become increasingly important to recognize the exploited workers through group meetings and demonstrate the opportunities by which the means of their profit can be reclaimed. This class intends to teach student comrades how to infiltrate privately owned enterprises, furthering the initial stage in the Vanguard movement.
Upon graduation from this course, students will have the skills to influence workers actions by guiding them through the process of reclaiming the “Surplus Value” of their labor through transitioning privately owned tools and factories, to a lasting state-run, ruling proletarian party with nationalized ownership of the means of production
This class intends to teach student comrades how to infiltrate privately owned enterprises, furthering the initial stage in the Vanguard movement. Upon graduation from this course, students will have the skills to influence workers actions by guiding them through the process of reclaiming the “Surplus Value” of their labor through transitioning privately owned tools and factories, to a lasting state-run, ruling proletarian party with nationalized ownership of the means of production.
[2] The Vanguard: the non-profit corporation of the KMSB proletariat movement, dedicated to avoiding taxes and operating with the use of free labor, donations from guilt ridden capitalists and state supported educational funding.
You may find, at times, that the origins of your ivy league social class lingers and unduly attempts to influence your path, however, do not let these past systems of thought conflict with the goals of the Vanguard. The Vanguard recognizes that the organization of capitalism, as Marx tells us is “vampire-like ,(and) lives only by sucking living labor,”[1] therefore it seems to muddle the socialists thinking. Believe me when I say your role in the movement will put a stake through the heart of capitalism by expanding democratic centralism and rule by all.
Additionally, through service to the philosophy of Marxism and the dictatorship of the proletariat, students in pursuit of eliminating growth and profit from the corporate structure will find this class leads to a full understanding of how to take control of the means of production by the newly established worker run apparatus.
Course Description: This course introduces students to the techniques of understanding reality, thoughts and emotions through the philosophy of Dialectical Materialism and the understanding of nature as a whole. Student struggles will be observed by the classroom collective and will be discussed in a joint ownership atmosphere with other students.
This course may not be taken concurrently with MBAC 71984 or 81984 and may not be repeated. A grade of “D” or higher in MBAC 61984 is a prerequisite for subsequent advancement in the Vanguard movement.
Required Texts and Materials:
Karl Marx, Das Kapital (1867),Engles, Marx, Communist Manifesto (1848),Kim Jung-un, Perfect Brilliance: How to Starve the Populus to Garner Loyalty
Office Hours: 1:30 am -4:30 am on Mondays located in Gulag 14, Hellems Basement (go down the east-west stairs until you reach the basement and turn left and walk in a circle until you hit the brick wall at the end of the hall). If you cannot make these hours, remember that increases in productivity results from cooperation, therefore these hours work for everyone.
Agitating Workshops: Probably the stuff you’re here for. We will perform agitating workshop readings, followed by play acting on a daily basis. You shall learn the exact words to use to gas light a crowd and cause law abiding citizens to act against their better judgement.
Each workshop will be done in groups where individuals will receive constructive critique of their power of persuasion and each round’s requirements will be provide on the day of practice. The grades for these practice trainings will be based on how quickly a student can agitated another student.
Participation / Dissent: You are required to do three participation and dissent activities and you will be given a chance to lead your own agitation rally. The length and location of the rally will be determined by the instructor. Whether the rally concerns disrupting the state apparatus or boycotting labor factories, dig in and try to find out what makes descension work. Do your best to be analytical. Outside academic cited sources should be used and are required.
Book Burnings: Most homework in this class will take the form of book burnings, particularly texts on democracy, freedom of speech, property ownership and voting rights. The specific book burnings will pertain to a counterrevolutionary piece we read that day. Your instructor may give you a creative prompt, something analytical to provide a catalyst for that day’s discussion and inspiration to begin the bonfire activities. I grade these activities on the basis of satisfactory completion of a collection of citywide book burning results.
Recruiting Activities: At times we’ll practice recruiting activities in class, to mainly test a few strategies and get us into the mood for the next event. Occasionally you will be asked to take home and flesh out your strategies, in which case they ought to be planned in great detail and executed in secrecy.
Final Portfolio: You will construct a final protest rally plan and recruit participants.
Attendance, Punctuality and Late Work: Successful work in the K. Marx School of business is dependent upon regular recruitment of comrades to support the plight of the proletariat worker. Students who are unavoidably absent should make arrangements with the collective to make up the time missed. Failure to attend class and activities regularly may result in receipt of an F in a course and food sanctions for you and your family.
Plagiarism: Everything you will need to know will be read in Das Kapital and the Communist Manifesto whose texts are well known. Plagiarism is not possible when only two books exist.
Policies,Accommodations for Disabilities: If you qualify for accommodations because of a disability, do not bother submitting an accommodation letter because it has already been predetermined that accommodations based on documented disabilities in the revolutionary environment automatically disqualify comrades from leading teams.
Religious Holidays: God does not exist.
Honor Code: All students enrolled in a KMBS course are responsible for knowing and adhering to the Honor Code of Das Kapital and the Communist Manifesto. Violations of the policy may include: praying, reading other books, thinking your own thoughts, lying about your thoughts, not accepting a bribery offer, refusing to threaten new noncompliant recruits, unauthorized access to alternative reading materials, dishonest clicker fraud, executing the same or similar agitation rally’s in more than one city without permission from the course instructors and most importantly, an unwillingness to inform on personal friends who own the means of production.
All incidents of misconduct will be reported to gulag guards who have a sixth-grade education and who happily bully any and all human beings, including women, children and infants.
Students who are found responsible for violating the Das Kapital and the Communist Manifesto integrity policies will be subject to death by poison.
Discrimination & Sexual Harassment: The KMSB remains committed to fostering intolerant acts of misconduct on the bourgeois class which includes assault, harassment, and stalking owners of means of labor. Individuals who believe they have been subject to retaliatory actions from a bourgeois owner of means of labor should report the incident to the Institutional Institute of Impartiality and Obedience (IIIO) and punitive action will be taken secretly in the dark of night.
Class Schedule Subject to change based on classroom progress. Changes will be noted in class.
Week One M. 8/27 – Introduction/Syllabus – Read syllabus out loud and sign a pledge of silence
W. 8/29 – Direct Struggle Have Read: Marx Das Kapital, Section 1 (all), Section 2 (all) + Marx “Letter from Marx to Engels” (1867). + Anonymous Proletariat’s “Grief and How to Project Your Failings onto Others”
F. 8/31 – Division of Labor Have Read: “Ford and the Assembly Line,” Chapter 3 (pg. 55-61) (Canvas) + Gehring, “The Use of Force and Dogma” + Stalin, “How to Talk to a Worker”
Week Two M. 9/3 – LABOR DAY, NO CLASS, “The instrument of labor (in) the form of a machine […] becomes a competitor of the worker,”[1] therefore, burn a factory today.
W. 9/5 – Production, Distribution and Consumption Have Read: Henry Ford’s, People as Machines, Chapter 6 (pg. 167-175) + Walt Disney, Building a Psychological Utopia, (How to fool all the people all of the time.) + Tolkien’s The Hobbit, Ch. 1 (How to recruit the unwilling with false promises.)
F. 9/7 – Consumption Have Read: George Wallace’s “Incarnations of the Burned Worker” (179-181) + Poe’s “Tell Tale Heart,” (How to hide victims of book burnings.)
Week Three M. 9/10 – The Antithesis of Use Value and Exchange Value Have Read: Hapsburg “The Czar’s Ghosts and their Jewels” (Lessons in how to use the trappings of the bourgeois to fund propaganda and agitation.) + Marx “The Poverty of Philosophy” (1847)
W. 9/12 – Democratic Centralism Have Read: Das Kapital, Section 1 and 2, (again), (This is the most important page in the book.) + Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher,” (Lessons in how to drive bourgeois friend’s mad.)
F. 9/14 – Workshop Preparation (Wear clothes and shoes you are willing to burn.) Turn in: FIRST BOOKBURNING REPORT
Week Four M. 9/17 – Religion and Wives Tales (Reasons to not waste time reflecting on spiritual ideals.) Have Read: Moscow Institute of Scientific Atheism, Chapter 9 (Pg. 1)
+ Lenin’s “How Religion Deprives People of “I” (Canvas)
Week Five M. 9/24 – Group Agitation Workshop (Bring tools of disruption, e.g. baseball bats, hammers.) Have Read: Das Kapita,l Chapter 1, (again)
+Kim Jong-un’s Propaganda and Misinformation Handbook Turn in: Agitation and Propaganda Rally Agenda, first draft
FINALS WEEK Submit Agitation and Propaganda Rally Operation, final Time/Place TBD.
Click these links to understand how Marxism and Marxist terms are used in the media.
A reimagining of Chris Marker’s Junkopia, short film shot in the Emeryville Mudflats of northern California. Story written by Melodie Miller.
I walked with hesitation down the path towards the Junktopia Alter, a place of worship that guarded The Great Bridge.
From Junkopia – A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
A montage of artifacts walked the pathway without moving a muscle. The longitude and latitude flashed transparently in the heads-up display of my spectacles.
From Junkopia – A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
I imagined the smell of lavender hovering in the bay.
From Junkopia- A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
In the distance the Bridge stood colorless, in need of recognition of its emptiness.
From Junkopia- A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
The memory hurled me to the day The Great Bridge almost collapsed.
From Junkopia – A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
The eyes of the unconscious biplane looked oppositionally at the myopic cockatoo that sat on my shoulder.
From Junkopia- A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
My bird recognized the fascist symbol painted on the wheel of the biplane as a warning to go no further.
From Junkopia- A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
My amygdala said “Run!” but I persisted onward.
In the distance the Junktopia Alter remained its original color of distressed and burnt Tuscany auburn; looking like it was primed for a top coat of blood red paint.
From Junkopia – A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
I thought of Catch 22 and its airplane that flew detached from the war without Yossarian on board who was long dead as a character and forgotten by middle school teachers and students.
Along the path, a false messiah perched in a lifeless tree called to me longingly, beckoning for an apostle to gather a flock of followers.
From Junkopia – A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
Her fuchsia and dark black mesh wings, torn and ravaged, desperately flapped in the turbine powered mechanical wind of capitalistic rule dominating the newly formed nationless state of Junktopia.
From Junkopia – A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
In the distance, the lime, swampy grasslands filled with abandonment stood as shelter for the birds that no longer could fly. The decibels soaring from the speakers increased, projecting the vibrational reminiscence of the biplanes menacing history preparing to drop its deadly cargo on the unsuspecting living things resting below.
From Junkopia – A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
I approached the alter and the vacant, ornamental glass bottles that guided the unlighted path began to shatter from the sonic sounds spilling overhead, the speakers positioned ubiquitously on the bridge.
Jagged fragments threatened my jugular while the unsympathetic marsh called to me with a menacing howl.
One, razor sharp, ragged edge of a fragmented bottle neck hung from the bridge rafters by a wire hangman’s noose; its rusted metal screw top like a decapitated democratic statesman, his fellow, screw top public servants looked on from the gallery.
From Junkopia- A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
I had abandoned my map on the battlefield and my cell phone no longer recognized a charged. I felt lost although I was not.
From Junkopia- A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
The Republic now rests as fragments of shattered glass reflected as graven images in the birds eye.
From Junkopia- A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
The fascist symbol painted on the tail of the biplane, a relic of the final war, roared: “the number twelve,” with the sharpness of two major league football helmets cracking in collision. “The twelfth man,” it called out silently, a rhetorical souvenir of the war. “The fans did not offer a home advantage,” I shouted back.
From Junkopia – A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
The weathered alter walls made of wooden fish bone skeletons were rotted from the salt sea air. I bowed down to the god of technology. The empty tin-soup-can minarets stood as apostates and a reminder that rations must be earned by the labors of my cellophane hope.
From Junkopia – A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
I waited for the signal to perform the requisite incantations. The white whisker entrails of the metallic stork swimming in the expansive future flapped in the mechanical breeze along with the Messiah’s wings. The five-feet tall, hand-made paper stork hovering nearby narcissistically mocked its own self-absorbed symbol of fertility.
From Junkopia – A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
No one knew how or when the Kangaroos had arrived in Junktopia.
From Junkopia – A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
But, like the nationless human inhabitants, they were there to stay, because no one else wanted them.
From Junkopia – A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
Junkopia – A short film by Chris Marker | Screenshot courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
Fiona’s paintbrushes leaned at an eighty-degree angle inside the utility jar that sat on the easel shelf. The paintbrush’s heights were uniform, made of dark blond, smooth bamboo spindles. The bamboo spindles stood eight inches tall with a diameter of seven millimeters. A dark black, copper-clad ferrule circled the top of each spindle, holding the bristles in place.
The tip of one spindle was wrapped with a 2-millimeter open loop attached inside a small hole, glued to the moon-shaped head of the brush. Each outer bristle was made of soft mink belly hairs and the core was made of firm hairs taken from the spine of a wild boar.
Printed on the original paintbrush packaging the manufacturer guaranteed the bristles would produce “smooth, dynamic strokes when both light or heavy pressure was applied.”
The bristles were clean and still damp from washing and pointed to the ceiling like boot camp soldiers falling out of rank. The name YASUTOMO BAMBOO CALLIGRAPHY BRUSH was engraved in a manually burned branding method at the lower third of the spinal. The engraving was coarse-looking and ruff to the touch, emblematic of Fiona’s temperament.
*************
Sara reached inside the bronze-colored storage shelf labeled ‘B.’ The box was wrapped in newsprint paper that was faded on the corners. Handwritten in black felt tip pen was the name ‘Fiona Xi, 2018, Evidence.”
Artwork created with Microsoft Copilot by Melodie Miller
“The Strange Kingdom” is intended as an anthology series that includes various genres of fantasy, science fiction, suspense, horror, drama, and psychological thrillers. However, all episodes have macabre and unexpected twists that tend toward amoral and antisocial themes where the anti-heroes and villains usually succeed.
In the pilot episode, The Magical Mountaintop acts metaphorically as an imaginary world. Mindy has lived there since she retired from ski racing because of an injury. The concept of a magical mountaintop alludes to a castle concept. This concept might be found in knight’s tales. Examples include Marie de France’s “The Lais of Marie de France” and Chrétien de Troyes’ “Arthurian Tales.” In these stories, knights find damsels in distress to rescue them. However, in this episode, Mindy is unknowingly attempting to rescue herself. None of the characters have altruistic natures or ambitions.
The Magical Mountaintop is inspired by Tennessee Williams’ play titled Magical Tower. In the play, two young, newly married lovers try to make a go of it. However, the hardships of life prove more potent than their love.
Downhill Racer, Gene Hackman and Robert Redford (Courtesy of IMDB.com)
Downhill Racer (1969) Movie Synopsis: David Chappellet (Robert Redford) is an arrogant and overly confident downhill skier. On the Olympic ski team but standing in as an alternate, he is called to Switzerland to compete after a teammate is injured. He quickly becomes an adversary within the team through his smug behavior and unconventional techniques on the slopes, falling into conflict with his coach (Gene Hackman).
“What’s past is prologue.”
William Shakespeare, The Tempest
An industry was born when a handsome and rugged Coloradan glamorized the sport of skiing and America began its life as a world contender on the international slopes of ski competition.
Before Gore-tex and waterproof breathable fabrics I was a young girl in search of an identity. Everything that happened up to this point will set the stage for what is to come thereafter.
It was the first day at a new school, Junior high, seventh grade. I felt small and solitary.
Marcus Whitman Junior High School, Seattle Washington (1969) (Courtesy of Marcus Whitman Junior High School Archives)
A short girl, like me, with a blond bobbed haircut, stopped me in the hall and said, “My big sister said I should find the cutest girls in the school and make them join my gang. You’re cute, you’re in my gang. Get a ride on Sunday to my house and we’ll go see Down Hill Racer? My name is Dev.”
Dev was one of the “cool girls” at school.
Sunday arrived and my mom drove me to the house of the “cool girl” named Dev with the blond bobbed haircut. She wanted to watch Robert Redford ski fast and I liked to ski so it sounded good to me.
I was in Seattle. It was raining. I didn’t know who Robert Redford was.
I wore a short dress because it was in style, and I am talented in the way of fashion. I read Vogue. My legs look good.
My mom drove very fast to Blue Ridge and stopped the car with a jerk at the foot of a very steep driveway that led to a newly, mid century modern house.
Mid-century modern house (Photograph non-accredited)
I push hard with my whole body on the heavy station wagon door that creaked open to an unstable position which I hold in place with one arm.
Plymouth Chrysler (1969) (Photograph courtesy of MyMopar.com, Youtube)
Swinging my bare legs out of the car and watching for puddles, I placed my two feet carefully onto the wet driveway. The door slammed with a crash behind me and I remember slamming my fingers in the car door when I was five. But that didn’t happen this time. My mom drove away.
I walked up the flawless path that led to the house, and along the way, I thought, “My new friend lives in a rich person’s house.” I see a gardener working outside in the rain, trimming the trees with professional tools. I thought, “That man is Japanese, and he is a long way from home, gardening for a stranger.”
He appeared to work in a very serious manner, making the boxed hedge very sharp and clipping the miniature leaves with great force.
Japanese Gardens at Cedar Hill, Roxbury Connecticut. (Photo courtesy of The Garden Conservancy.org)
I knocked on the front door, and my knuckles turned red with repeated impact. It was cold outside, and my good-looking legs wished they were covered with pants. Then I rang the doorbell. The right-hand side of the royal red lacquer-painted, double door opens mysteriously slowly, and I expect to see the black and white version of Nosferatu’s claw-like hand emerging along its edge. Instead, a grand-motherly looking person stood in front of me.
“Hello,” she said, “I’m Dev’s mother.”
“Dev’s mother looks ancient, as old as my grandmother, and she is rather plump,” I thought.
My mom was skinny and young; too young, I heard people say. Dev’s dad was a doctor; my dad lived in a different house than me and my mom was a waitress. I keep that fact to myself.
I stepped over the threshold into a colder and cavernous room that hung precariously over an ice-age ravine. It felt odd because my warm and crowded house sat firmly on the terra adjacent to a gully. This house was held in place by stilts sunk into the glacials silt.
“Might this house might slide down the hill at the next earthquake?” My neighbor’s house fell off its stilts in a mudslide and three people died: a mom, a dad and a newborn baby. I wondered when the rain would stop falling and hoped an earthquake didn’t happen now.
The clacking sound coming from my shiny new shoes hitting the slippery tile floor echoed across the room and bounced off the stark white walls.
Opposite the front door was one large, seamless window that looked west towards Puget Sound and out to the Olympic Mountains. It was the same view I saw from the city park near my house. My new friend, Dev, with the weird blond bobbed haircut, lived in a rich person’s house in her own private park.
The Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains, from Seattle Washington (Photograph courtesy of Adobe Stock )
Dev appeared in the arched opening of the long hallway on the north side of the cavernous room.
“Come see my room,” she said.
She was wearing nice clothes, new clothes, which means something but I’m not sure what. I followed her down the hall. We entered a grand room with a garden view. She opened the top drawer of her dresser.
“Look at this,” Dev said.
I gazed at her socks, folded in pairs and arranged in groups by color, segregated by rigid dividers. It was a beautiful sight. My socks lie in a pile at the bottom of the dresser drawer that I share with my sister. Each morning we select a pair randomly, not concerned with finding its mate.
Dev was not an only child but a “surprise” she told me. She had two older sisters who were married. I couldn’t make sense of this familial arrangement.
“I get all the attention from my parents,” she said, “because I was a surprise.” I don’t understand what she means. I am the oldest of six children with a lot of surprises at my house, mostly stray dogs.
Two more “cool” girls arrived, and their clothes were nice and new. Mine were hand-me-downs from the “older girl” across the street from my grandmother. One of the “cool” girls, the one with dark hair, was wearing a button-down boy shirt with the tails hanging out over a knee length, A-line skirt made of fabric copied from a Chanel plaid. The other girl was wearing a mini, tailless shirt dress with bobby socks and brown and white saddle shoes that matched her hair. I dreamed of becoming a fashion designer so I was creating a mental archive of the clothes people wear.
“Let’s go,” Dev, the blond girl said.
We all piled into the grandmother looking mother’s German car that proudly displays an erect airplane propeller on its chest. “I Want You” from Abby Road played on the radio. We all sang along with the radio: “I want you; I want you so bad, it’s driving me mad, it’s driving me mad.” We all laugh. The rain continued falling from the sky and I am relieved to drive away from the cold, cavernous, “ready to slide down the hill in a mudslide” house where my friend Dev lives. I must be sure to never spend the night there.
Mercedes-Benz 280 SE (1969) (Photo courtesy of Carscoops.com, Youtube)
“Robert Redford, he’s so dreamy,” the dark-haired girl with the football helmet-shaped haircut said. Her name was Jan. Her dad was a doctor, and her mother was a doctor too. I’m not sure how that kind of thing happens. The other “cool” girl was named Marian and had dusty auburn color hair. She was the one whose hair color matched her shoes. Her hair was cut like a Chatty Cathy. Chatty Cathy was a long dead doll. Marian’s dad was a coroner, a “kind of a doctor” she tells me. I decide that when I get home, I will look in the dictionary for the definition of “coroner.”
Downhill Racer, Robert Redford (Courtesy of IMDB.com)
Something was happening. My new friends were smart, they had doctor dads and new clothes. I felt special.
My new friends had weird haircuts, and I wondered if I would need to cut my hair to be cool like them. My hair was long, parted down the middle, like Cher’s. All three girls had older sisters who told them “gross stories about boys.” When I babysit, I tell my younger siblings “The Tell-Tale Heart” story, and we all scream and laugh. I don’t have any “gross boy” stories. I felt young and immature with these girls. I was quiet.
The old-looking mother dropped us off at the movie theater. It was still raining. I had never heard of Robert Redford, but I don’t tell the other girls. I know that a downhill racer skis very fast on steep icy slopes and wins metals because I am a skier. Usually, the winners were French and named Claude. They wore tight suits that showed all their muscles and when they reach the bottom of the hill, they threw their arms up over their heads in surprise.
Downhill Racer, Opening Scene (Courtesy of IMDB.com)
“Down Hill Racer” started, and a violin soundtrack filled my eardrums while the camera panned over distant mountain tops that were not ski slopes. That seems strange. The soundtrack shifted to piano keys ominously plunking over a close-up of a ticking stop watch.
A faceless hand snapped a Look ski binding onto a red leather Henke boot with stainless steel buckles running up the front over the ski racer foot. The red leather boot stopped just above his unprotected ankle. The webbing ski strap pulled tight around the boot.
Downhill Racer, Opening Scene (Courtesy of IMDB.com)
A snug suit and nothing more covered the ski racer’s legs. A violin played dramatically as the camera zoomed in on a pair of long, narrow skis slicing back and forth like two hands carving a Thanksgiving turkey. The camera panned to the smooth face of a man who pulled his goggles over his eyes while the soundtrack shifted to the sound of a beeping heart. The man was wearing a USA Olympic ski team bib.
He launched from the starter’s gate crouched in a tuck then the frame froze and the title DOWNHILL RACER flashed onto the screen. The skier immediately caught his ski edge on a chunk of ice and crashed.
Downhill Racer, Opening Scene(Courtesy of IMDB.com)
“There is an accident on the course,” the voice over said in English with a French accent. A helicopter landed, taking the broken skier away.
Downhill Racer, Opening Scene(Courtesy of IMDB.com)
A man with freckles, bushy blond eyebrows and long shaggy hair arrived to replace the crashed USA Olympic team downhill racer. The new racer wore a pair of cowboy boots and chewed gum with an open mouth. His attitude seemed strange; maybe arrogant. He looked like someones dad.
“That’s him,” the three girls whisper in unison. “Robert Redford.” The arrogant dad looking man with freckles and bushy hair, wearing cowboy boots and chewing gum with an open mouth was Robert Redford.
I looked at my new friends in wonderment.
“Where is the dreamy guy?”
Downhill Racer, Robert Redford (Courtesy of IMDB.com)
An exploration of the poet’s depiction of nature and beauty.
The Chandos portrait is an oil painted portrait thought to depict William Shakespeare (1564–1616). Painted between 1600 and 1610, it may have served as the basis for the engraved portrait of Shakespeare used in the First Folio in 1623. Attributed to John Taylor. (Courtesy of Wikipedia.org)
The Elbow Room is a situational comedy series set in 1984 at the birth of tech in Seattle, Washington. The Elbow Room is a fictitious bar on a Washington State Ferry where young commuters hang together during their battle to and from Bainbridge Island to their jobs in Seattle. Their friendships exist only inside the world of their commute and every effort is made to keep their personal lives separate from their ferry boat adventures.
The term “starter home” has a new meaning. The average price of a home in Boulder jumped from $166,000 in 2000 to $966,000 in 2025. Boulder’s cost of living is 41% higher than the national average. This means a dozen eggs that costs $4 in Jackson, Mississippi, will cost $5.64 in Boulder, Colorado. What does that mean for housing?
The median sale price of homes in Boulder County, Colo. in 2024 was $970,000, according to Zillow.com. To match a house payment with the average rental price of $2,300 per month, a buyer needs $725,000 for a down payment.
With a median household income of $84,840 and expenses of $77,280 yearly, an excess of $7,560 per year will require ninety-five years to save the downpayment.
The Common Sense Institute of Colorado reported in January of 2023 that voters passed Proposition 123 with a 54 percent majority to fund affordable housing programs statewide.
Data USA. Adobe Express. (Melodie Miller / Creator)
Data USA reported similar data for Boulder, Colorado, in 2022, with a higher median household income of $99,700 and a lower median property value of $671,100. This additional $14,860 yearly income means a buyer could buy a house in 25 years.
“During my time in the state senate, I have been trying to find ways to lower the cost of living,” Senator Dylan Roberts said, “and this starts first and foremost with housing.”
Proposition 123 dedicated a total of $290 million toward housing equity in the first year. Willoughby Corner at 120th and Emma Street in Lafayette is part of the Boulder County Housing Authority (BCHA) 400 affordable housing project using some Proposition 123 funding.
“It takes a lot of funding. It takes federal funding, state funding, and a lot of it is funded by the low-income housing tax credits,” Bill Cole, housing partnership and policy manager for Boulder County. “It’s a federal program run through the state.”
According to Cole, the Willoughby Corner construction takes three phases. The first phase is 90 units of senior housing. The second phase is multifamily apartments totaling 200 units. “The third phase is actually going to be homeownership opportunities, townhomes, about 80 units,” Cole said. All units except the senior housing have a waiting list.
Boulder County’s affordable housing imposes income limits that exclude many people from government benefits. The average Boulder County resident earning a salary of $84,840 will not qualify for this benefit.
Some potential home buyers find that there is no solution for home ownership. These buyers earn more than the income base to qualify for affordable housing but do not earn enough to make a substantial down payment.
“With 6% interest rate right now, how does a new home buyer afford that?” Boulder County realtor Ernie Sica said. “They have to have a really substantial income. That is really hard.”
With a mandatory high down payment, future homeowner Elena Sedin said, “My parents are already paying for my college. They can’t help me buy a house.”
According to Cole, those individuals who qualify for affordable housing should “Look at Prop 123. There’s gonna be a lot of the state funding for the foreseeable future,” Cole said. “Boulder County plans to build multifamily, senior and single-family developments as it tries to “increase the housing in the city of Boulder.”
According to the archeological dating of the Morocco Jebel Irhoud animal fossils and the Homo sapiens who ate them, humans have hunted game animals for over 300,000 years. Although humans are omnivores, they did not start farming until 23,000 years ago, according to the Ohalo II archaeological site in Israel. This means that humans needed to hunt for 277,000 years for food security.
Kelly Maher, an avid Coloradan hunter and mother, said part of her family ethic is “we hunt to eat and we eat what we hunt.” During the Covid 19 shutdown, her family ate deer meat stored in the freezer from the previous hunting season. Maher said she believes hunting is a core part of “understanding our place in the world.”
American wildlife suffered at the end of the nineteenth century from mismanagement, according to the Audubon Society. The bison population had diminished from 60 million to 300 in 100 years due to lack of management and overhunting according to All About Bison. Together, President Theodore Roosevelt, George Bird Grinnell and John Muir along with the Audubon Society, established a conservation movement to preserve nature.
Roosevelt, the “conservation president,” used his authority in 1906 to protect public lands and wildlife by creating the United States Forest Service (USFS). This service established 150 national forests and 18 national monuments through the American Antiquities Act. This act protected over 230 million acres of open public space for citizens of the United States use.
With the advent of city living, increased public criticism, and reduced barriers to food security, hunting has declined in the United States. The decline of hunters is problematic state-wide for wildlife conservation efforts that depend on funding from hunting license sales.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service manages nationwide conservation funding through the collection of hunting license revenue and firearms and ammunition excise sales tax from each state. The funding is distributed back to the state parks and wildlife departments that manage public land conservation and animal populations.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau. Wildlife for All. U.S Fish and Wild Life Service Hunting licenses issued between 1960 and 2020 compared to the U.S. population.
“There are 180 hunting units that Colorado has divided into Game Management Units (GMUs),” Cody Heneghan, a hunt planner for Colorado Parks and Wildlife said. “These units designate which part of the state your particular license permits you to hunt in.”
Hunting licenses for Colorado’s Western GMUs with higher elk populations are in high demand with a limited number available per year. A hunter must apply for these types of licenses through a “big game draw,” or purchase a leftover license after the draw if one is available.
“I’m not hunting as much now because the last time I bought a license, it was in a unit with a low population and I didn’t get an elk that time,” Wally Light, a 21-year-old hunter said. “It was a lot of work without a payoff. It didn’t seem worth it.” According to Colorado Parks and Wildlife, the Federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) manages 8 million acres of public land in Colorado. However, non of the 23,000 acres of open space and trails in rural Pitkin County are open for hunting. Open space hunting in Pitkin County Colorado is prohibited according to the Pitkin County Open Space and Trails program. However, private land is huntable with permission.
According to wildlife advocates, limiting hunting units in Colorado become problematic for wildlife management. “Management of ecosystems is important,” Maher said. “By virtue of the fact that humans are here, we must manage this system” to ensure the well-being of animals and the environment.
Between 1970 and 2000, hunting license sales revenue increased from $600 million to $1.1 billion according to The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reports. However, revenue remained stagnant over the next two decades.
Data from the Congressional Research Service reports that between 2017 and 2022, excise tax collected from the sale of firearms increased from $600 million (inflation adjusted) to $1.1 billion due to increased sales during the pandemic but not to sales for hunting equipment. However, funding from the U.S. Congress has decreased since 2015.
Hunting is an integral part of maintaining a stable deer and elk population. Lands maintained by hunting license revenues distributed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are more likely to support natural wildlife.
The “availability of food sources in the wilderness is a factor in monitoring the population,” wildlife advocate Mark Surls said. This becomes a closed-loop, sustainable ecosystem.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service operating budget, is partially funded through congressional appropriations. In 2024, the operating budget was $4.1 billion with $1.722 billion allocated by the government and the balance coming from grants, excise tax revenue and hunting license sales.
Sources: Congressional Research Service Funding requested to manage Fish and Wildlife Services, and congressional funding enacted to finance conservation in all 50 states and 16 territories.
Public opinion contributes to the hunter’s image in the U.S. On Nov. 5, voters were given a choice through “Cats Aren’t Trophies” Proposition 127 to decide whether Colorado Parks and Wildlife would continue to manage the mountain lion population by issuing hunting licenses.
“Hunting deer is fair chase,” wildlife advocate Carol Monaco said. But hound hunting “mountain lion is cruel.” It isn’t helping anyone and “very few big cats are dressed for consumption. We need to learn to coexist with wildlife.”
Surls advocates that hound hunting is unethical and should be removed from the hunting license options because “it gives our hunters a bad name for violations of fair chase,” integrity in hunting.
Some critics combine hunting for food with “trophy hunting.” Trophy hunting is hunting wild animals for sport and keeping body parts for display, not food. Mesa County Commissioner Cody Davis commented that this type of rhetoric is needless with an “end route to limit hunting” and “trophy hunting is already illegal in Colorado.”
Proposition 127 aimed to remove mountain lion population management from the Colorado Parks and Wildlife. In Nov. 290,000 voters rejected the proposition. In a compromising effort at a public engagement meeting critics of mountain lion hunting demanded that “guaranteed kill” be removed from hunting outfitter’s advertising because it is illegal in Colorado and a violation of CPW’s policy.
“We want to work with Colorado Parks and Wildlife,” Monaco said, “in every way so they can do their job” managing wildlife population.
As hunting license sales decrease, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service funding must be replaced with a new source. Hunting licenses are an important source of revenue.
“Colorado Parks and Wildlife are brilliant at managing the wildlife population and it should stay that way. It is a scientific method of conservation,” Davis said
This is a creative non-fiction story about designing apparel for U.S. Special Operations troops to hunt for Osama bin Laden in the Hindu Kush mountain range between Afghanistan and Pakistan. I finished this project in 2003.
While the events and core truths are based on real experiences, some details may have been altered. This includes names, identifying characteristics, and sometimes even timelines. These changes protect privacy or enhance the narrative. Any resemblance to places, real people, or situations is not intended to be exact.
The New York-New York Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada is home to a Statue of Liberty replica.(Photo Courtesy of Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
I was willingly recruited into the world of covert operations by a Special Operations officer dressed all in black. It happened at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Any fan of “Casino” and the “God Father” would rather meet the mob bosses, Sam Rothstein and Michael Corleone than Joubert of “Three Days of the Condor,” or Jason Bourne, the trained assassins. At the least the Rothstein and Corleone characters embraced brotherhood like a family of gorillas.
As long as you never refused an offer, they would always make room for compromise. But assassins are a different kind of animal. With assassins, things are over before you know what happened. Like mountain lions, assassins hunt alone. Assassins do not negotiate. On that day in Las Vegas I meet an assassin.
Disguised as a procurement office for the Army, the assassin was dressed impeccably in the best-selling and most important color in any apparel collection, black. I thought I was meeting a fellow couturier. With the erroneous knowledge that clothes make the man, I started the project thinking I was working with a compadre; better yet, a man who knew how to dress.
Microsoft Copilot Image generated by Melodie Miller
This misconception filled me with a false security. I thought this would bridge the gap between me, the designer, and Eddie, the hitman. I knew he would be ‘pack’n.’ I wasn’t afraid of guns; I grew up in a family of hunters. However, hopefully, I wouldn’t become the prey.
It all started at 8:45 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on that fateful morning in September 2001, when I woke from a dream where red balls of fire chased me down an endless hallway. When I turned on the television and saw the burning tower in New York City, my dream made sense.
I didn’t know it yet, but life would never be the same. The next thing I knew, I was in Las Vegas on a sweltering January day in 2002 when the country still shared a collective fear that a terrorist could live on their street and be attending flight lessons at their municipal airport preparing for another attack.
“How did I get here,”[1] I asked myself, “by letting the days go by without thinking, pursuing the American dream, and designing clothing for the self-absorbed,” I said.
I watched as gamblers followed the presidents advice to “enjoy life,”[2] so they headed to the slots and blackjack tables. They spent their money on entertainment. This helped them forget about the problems of the world. But I was not enjoying myself. I was working.
Microsoft Copilot Image generated by Melodie Miller
The long, hot walk from my hotel along the Boulevard, seem to become longer and warmer as I passed the miniature replica of the Statue of Liberty. I wondered if freedom, like the statue, would shrink following the attack on New York City. Congested with noisy taxis, people rushing to their gambling destinations, and neon lights flashing at all times of the day and night, Vegas epitomized the ideal of the U.S.A., get rich. The black gold on the ground seemed to radiate under my feet as if the heat was coming from the underworld. I felt like I was walking on red hot lava.
I thought have I “found the “cost of freedom” [3] buried in my soul?
Microsoft Copilot Image generated by Melodie Miller
Regardless of the danger ahead, I continued moving forward. While the oder of hot oil mixed with concrete filled the air, I convinced myself that I believed in the pledge of allegiance to the republic that had sheltered me all my life, but really I needed the money, so I continued walking towards the meeting. I was sweating, and the moisture under my arms was dripping down my skin inside my crisp white business shirt, puddling at the belt buckled tightly at my waist.
I arrived at the stairs to the convention complex and looked up to see the building towering over me like a colossal statue of Commodus, the blood sport-loving emperor of Rome who was assassinated by his gladiatorial trainer.
“One can never be too careful,” I thought.
The Greek columns seemed to be holding up my world. They reminded me that even a military power like the great Roman Empire did not guarantee eternal supremacy. This is true even for a country like America. The gargantuan doors seemed to suck me into the maze-like complex. The oversized tiger statues that flanked the doors looked at me with large hungry eyes.
Microsoft Copilot Image generated by Melodie Miller
I entered the convention hall and temporarily disappeared into the self induced State of Vegas coma were no clocks, windows, or light of daylight existed. Suddenly I lost track of the time of day, leaving my old life behind outside the doors closing slowly behind me, and I wondered if the gods would “shed their grace”[4] on me.
Microsoft Copilot Image generated by Melodie Miller
The grandeur of the oatmeal-colored walls towered above me like ramparts of granite, and the cornfield maze hallways seem to intentionally distort my location like walking in a field of “amber waves of grain.”[5] I continue moving forward as if the meeting beckoned with a silent signal, “walk this way.” The artificially bright and ominously cavernous room mocked the “purple mountains majesty”[6] with massive signage overhead like “star-spangled banners”[7] precariously hanging from the sky.
Outdoor Retailer set up (Photograph courtesy of Outdoor Retailer)
The names on the signage represented capitalism in the outdoor industry whose canons preached verses of optimism for the planet’s soul. Still, in reality, most of their products’ raw materials were made from petroleum and polluted along with every other industry on earth. “Just do it,”[8] “Never Stop Exploring,”[9] and “Reject Fast Fashion”[10] are not words to live by; they merely exchange one narrative for another.
Outdoor Retailer set up (Photograph courtesy of Outdoor Retailer)
The truth is that there is simply no way around making consumer products without polluting the earth; it’s still a rose that stinks no matter its name, no matter its slogan.
The hallways, filled with gas-powered forklifts, raced sinisterly down the aisles, transporting large, hazardously sized crates to locations marked by a small white number painted on the concrete floor. The crates that could instantly crush a human sat twelve feet in the air, precariously positioned atop the fork, as they sprinted down the aisles towards their temporary plot of “land of the free.”[11]
Microsoft Copilot Image generated by Melodie Miller
The crates held the makings of houses where no one would ever live. Two-hundred-thousand, four-hundred-thousand, six-hundred-thousand-dollar homes were used for four days, two times per year, and no one even slept there.
The first sheet music publication of The Star Spangled Banner (Thomas Carr, 1814) (Photograph courtesy Wikipedia.org)
These were not the” home(s) of the brave”[12] instead; they were temporary day quarters for the brands and sales representatives to sell their wares to professional buyers who then sold the goods to the consumers who had more money than they would ever spend.
Along the cavernous compound walls, numerous oversized garage doors were standing wide open, welcoming the warm air in and allowing the cold air out. It was the only daylight in the room, and the open doors acted as a mirror if the businesses would only look at themselves.
The Outdoor Retailer trade show returns to Salt Lake City Utah. (Photograph courtsey of Salt Lake Tribune)
The outdoor industry collectively claims they will save the planet by building the best products yet cause no unnecessary harm.
We will “use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis,”[13] one leader who will go unnamed said. ‘Then close the damned garage doors and stop wasting the energy that is producing this air conditioning,” I thought.
As I walked to meet my contact, I though, “maybe he’s short,” or “handsome” like Matt Damon’s character in Bourne Identity’. Or, maybe he’s “scary,” like a special operations soldier.
I arrived at a small, unmarked booth, unencumbered with slogans or signage. I met the man dressed all in black.
“I am a procurement officer,” he said.
‘That’s strange, I thought, I was told he was a Special Operations officer.”
The “procurement” officer freshly shaven and smelled of the clean fragrance of soap. He was much younger than I had expected. I found it odd that he never stood up from his chair.
He ran the back of his hand seductively down his smoothly shaven muscular cheek. He told me he had just cleaned up after his workout. ‘Cleaned up, after work, that doesn’t sound good,” I thought.
He stuck his hand out and said, “I’m Michael, but everyone calls me Mr. Bengal. You can call me Mr. Bengal.”
“OK, like the cat?” I asked.
“Yes, actually like the tiger.”
And without taking a breath, he launched into describing the Army assignment.
“The Army has a classified mission. If you accept it, you will work on a need to know basis,” Bengal said.
“OK,” I said, thinking this must be a cosmic joke.
“Your mission, if you accept it,” he said.
Was he practicing his lines for the next “Mission Impossible” movie, or did he talk this way? I pretended to understand what the hell he was talking about regarding “on a need to know basis.”
I thought, ‘well I’ll need to know your physical measurements if you expect me to fit you with clothing.’
Sept. 11, 2001 airplane attacks on the Twin Towers (Dan Howell Phtographer / Shutterstockcom)
“I am allowed to share just a bit with you,” Bengal said. “The mission will occur in a frigid, mountainous place. We will be hunting the man linked to something in New York City.” “I can’t tell you anything more.”
“The attack on September eleventh,” Bengal whispered.
“Oh,” I said. This time I understood perfectly well who Bengal’ was referring to.
‘Shit,’ I thought. ‘Now Jason Bourne has shared the biggest secret in the world with me. I knew what happened to people that know too much.’
“We need warm clothes for the troops to wear in order to catch this guy. We need you to build them for us,” Bengal said. “Can you do that?”
Osama bin Laden. (Photograph courtesy of The Associated Press)
“Of course,” I said, “that’s what I do, but actually, I design them.”
“What’s the difference?” Bengal asked.
That question frightened me more than the realization that his Glock was hidden in his gym bag under the table. Now I realized he was wearing black as a symbol of the covert nature of his profession, not because he was a fellow couturier. He didn’t understand the apparel industry and that made my job more dangerous.
“Think about the money,” I said to myself, “you can do this.”
“How soon can you get to Natick?” Bengal asked.
“Soon,” I answered.
__________________________________________
Seattle Tacoma Airport to Boston Logan Airport flight route (Image courtesy of Direct Flights.com)
It was a long flight “from sea to shining sea”[14] the night I flew from Seattle to Boston. Actually, the lyrics should go ocean to ocean or in this case “from Puget Sound to Massachusetts Bay,” but this isn’t a geography class.
I arrived late and was the last person to pick up my rental car before the office closed. The ice-cold evening was moonless and black, sporting the best-selling color in fashion, maybe things are going my way. I walked alone through the parking garage searching for my car, looking side to side hoping no one would jump out and grab me.
As I climbed into the unfamiliar vehicle the parking garage echoed a reminder that I was alone on this mission and I had accepted it knowing full well the dangers. I fumbled for the overhead light and quickly surveyed the location of the crucial instruments to navigate my drive to the hotel.
Black Ice (Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.com)
The roads were covered with splotches of thin black ice. I recalled the time station wagon spun a complete 360 degrees on the road to Skykomish. My mom simply righted the car and continued without saying a word while the kids screamed in terror.
I drove alone on the snowy road to the small town that housed the military base. I was feeling apprehensive about the trip. The project was clandestine, and I had never held a gun. Shooting a gun was something I had never done. Not that I would be expected to participate in the mission, it’s just that guns are known to kill people and now I would be close to the people that did that sort of thing.
I checked into the hotel and climbed into the bed with crisp, fresh, white sheets that smelled of bleach. No chemicals were strong enough to clean away the reality of the task I’d taken on and I restlessly fell to sleep.
The next morning came fast. It left me groggy at the “dawn’s early light”[15]. I rushed to get dressed, feeling unsure of myself and what to wear. I decided to wear black, how could I go wrong in black?
I covered my head with a baseball cap sporting a U.S.. Army chenille patch of red, white and blue and headed out the door. I was told to be in the lobby of the hotel at 0800. The message was, ‘he would find me.’ The written communication had stated that a Special Operations soldier would contact me at the hotel. This gave me visions of a six feet four-inch linebacker-sized man.
I allowed my libido to get the best of me for a brief moment. However, to my disappointment, a small figure approached me. He stood five feet four inches tall and was slightly hunched at the shoulders. He had the face of a hyena and smiled with a deceptive looking sneer. He too was dressed all in black including his baseball cap, large combat boots, and wrap around Ray-Ban sunglasses. It was eight in the morning and it wasn’t sunny outside.
Microsoft Copilot Image generated by Melodie Miller
“You can tell everything about a subject by looking into their eyes,” he said, “always wear your Ray-Bans.”
I wondered how he recognized me through his shades when we had never met before this moment and the idea triggered an adrenaline rush, making my heart race and I began to sweat.
“Did they already have a file on me?” I thought. bl
Then I remembered reading a scientific study about the smell of fear and struggled to calm my mind with the type of deep, long breaths I’d learned in yoga practice. I knew that animals could smell fear and I wondered if he had sniffed the panic dripping under my clothes. I pulled my sunglasses from my purse and covered my eyes.
Walt Disney’s Fantasia (1940 film) (Photograph courtesy of The Whitney Museum)
My contact signaled a command. He ordered me towards the exit with his short, gloved pointer finger. I felt as if the evil sorcerer from Fantasia had taken me under his powers like Sorcerer’s Apprentice Mickey Mouse’s marching brooms. . My hyena-like handler’s power pulled me through the revolving glass doors. I stepped out into the below zero-degree morning.
SUV similar to the Tour de (special force: How the Army and Chevy team up on the front lines by Kirk Bell (Motor Authority. 2017 Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban Midnight Editions at The Range Complex in Raleigh, North Carolina) (Image generated with Microsoft Design / Melodie Miller AI Graphic Engineer)
Feeling like the protagonist in a Disney movie I floated towards the oversized, black S.U.V. that awaited us. Nearly invisible patches of black ice covered the concrete and I felt encouraged that I could still recognize reality. Trying to act casual, I asked my contact about his position in the Army and he answered without hesitation.
“I’m a sniper, and I’m good. I never miss and I always win.” He said proudly like he was bragging about being an Olympic gold medal winner.
My mind began to fight itself with crazy ideas as I realized I was climbing into the black S.U.V. with a trained killer.
“Don’t worry, we’ll take care of you.”
I hadn’t said I was worried, and I didn’t like the idea of being “taken care of” by a professional hitman who was trained by the U.S. military. But I reminded myself again that the Army’s “C-notes” were just as honest as any other clients money and what’s more, the government paid on time.
I climbed into the imposing, blacked-out windowed Chevrolet Suburban and slid across the frigid leather seat. I was conscious of the fact that I could see out of the S.U.V., but no one could see in. I buckled the hard metal seat belt and cinched it tightly around my small waist. I looked to my right side and there lay a long scarf, handwoven in a distinctive Afghan tribal plaid pattern. I recognize the scarf as one used for wrapping a turban. It had a slight musky odor and as I looked closer, I could see that it was dirty and stained.
Microsoft Copilot Image generated by Melodie Miller
Just then the sniper reached his hand back from the front seat and said, “I’ll take that scarf, my buddy sent that to me from Afghanistan. The guy won’t be needing it anymore,” the sniper said followed by a short burst of hyena sounding laughter. Upon touching the scarf, the sniper appeared agitated and compelled to share his story. I thought it was as if he had pulled the sword from the stone, seemingly empowered as a knight, beyond reproach, entitled to kill for his kingdom.
“You’re probably wondering how I got my hands on that Afghani scarf?” he said.
“Well, OK, how?” I said reluctantly.
“Like I said. The guy didn’t need it anymore and my buddy borrowed it, so to speak, permanently,” the handler said and laughed again.
Isn’t that what he just told me I thought. I remained silent, instinctively understanding that like the spinning car, nothing good could come of where this story was going. But he pivoted to a different topic, which at first seemed like a good move but then reality went from sitting in the back of an S.U.V. driven by a trained assassin to the confessionals of a hit man.
“You’re probably wondering how I became a sniper.” He offered eagerly.
The words of my mother ran in my ears “If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” Again, I did not respond.
“I was eighteen years old and arrested for stealing a car. This time I knew it would be prison, not juvie detention. I told my attorney that I liked guns and was a perfect shot with an automatic rifle and we made a deal with the judge. The judge offered: “Prison or the Army?” I accepted the U.S. Army’s offer, and here I am, killing bad guys for my country, and I now I own my car.”
The S.U.V. raced down the small-town highway to the Natick Army Base. We passed Wellesley College, my step aunts Helen’s alma mater and my resentment boiled irrationally as I thought about the one million dollars she had given to the college. Had she given me some of that million dollars, I wouldn’t have taken this dangerous job. I reminded myself that she didn’t give any of her money to humans, only institutions like the Seattle Opera House and the Huntington’s Foundation, and that seemed to comfort my foolish subconscious mind temporarily. Besides, we weren’t really family, she was my step-aunt, and I doubt she even remembered my name on the day she died.
Billing Hall, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA (Photograph courtesy of Wellesley College)
The S.U.V. approached the gated entrance to the military base, and the sniper automatically rolled down all the windows.
“I need you to hand me your identification and exit the car,” the guard said.
I reached for my wallet nervously, pulling out the numerous cards, shuffling through them to find my driver’s license, and handed it to the guard. He scanned my license in a daunting manner, looked at me, asked me to remove my hat, and looked back at the license.
“I’ll need to see your passport,” the guard said, “and get out of the vehicle.”
“Oh, yes, of course,” I said and reached back into my purse.
I handed my passport to the guard and began to climbed out, but I was escorted from the back of the S.U.V. and stood in the freezing rain while two other guards ran two bomb-detecting wands under the body of the car will a third guard examined the undercarriage with a mirror. I watched the men examine the S.U.V. while a fifth guard physically patted me down.
“Open the trunk,” the fifth guard said, “and open your luggage.”
The guard emptied my luggage and rummaged through my intimate belongings with the unfamiliar hands of a stranger wearing an automatic rifle over his shoulder. I looked around and noticed there were no other women in sight.
My gaze shifted towards the sky but stopped at the top of the fence that surrounded the base. At the highest point on the chain-linked fence sat a wildly bundled layer of barbed wire, stacked one foot tall like the topping of a vicious birthday cake.
The guard reached out his hand slowly towards me, offering myI.DD. He looked me in the eyes and said softly, “I see your birthday is nine eleven, that sucks. Have a nice day. You’re free to go.”
Hindu Kush Mountain Range. (Explorerweb. Photo Courtesy of Tirich Mir. Photo: Abdul Rehman Joyia)
I emerged from the designated quarantine area sanctioned as a military contractor, hired to design clothing for the Special Operations Joint Services to keep them warm in the Hindu Kush mountain range of Afghanistan as they hunted the suspected perpetrator of the attack in New York City on the twin towers on Sept. 11, 2001.
The sniper and recruiter were my entrees into the dark world of covert military operations and the men that carried out their missions. I learned that Special Operations Forces consisted of an atypical type of person like the hyena man and Mr. Bengal, selected for their unique emotional traits and distinctive temperaments. They were fiercely loyal to each other and their country and slightly paranoid. They were trained in highly choreographed scenarios to extract and kill, and they were now my clients and me their collaborator.
Standing on the Natick Military base, I became overwhelmed with anxiety, conflicted by my ideology and the compromising nature of secrecy. In a split second, I rationalized that even professionally trained military killers deserved clothes that would keep them warm.
I had an important job to do for my country, which meant turning camo into fashion and I would find a way to adapt. I hoped the Glocks would remain concealed.
Natick Soldier Systems Center, Natick, Massachusetts. The U.S. Army Natick Soldier Systems Center (NSSC) is a Department of Defense (DoD) installation with the mission to protect and sustain America’s military forces. NSSC is responsible for the technology, research, development, engineering, fielding, and sustainment of our military’s food, clothing, shelters, airdrop systems, and Soldier support items
My skills were procured by the special operations office and like any true American, I needed the paycheck, so I accepted the mission.
Rob O’Neill, DEVGRU SEAL, Crye shirt. 911 Memorial Museum, New York City, New York (Melodie Miller, original designer) (Photographer Kristy Leibowitz)
[1] Eno, Brian. Frantz, Christopher. Byrne, David Byrne. Harrison, Jerry. Weymouth, Tina. “Once In a Lifetime.” Warner Chappell Music, Inc, Universal Music Publishing Group
[2] Bush, President George W. “Airline Safety,” The Washington Post. 27 September 2001.
[3] Stills, Steven. “Find the cost of Freedom,” B-side to “Ohio.”
[4] Bates, Katharine Lee. “America the Beautiful.” 1893.
When did higher education become the enemy? This is a fictional breaking news release that relays the satirical course syllabus at a fictitious Marxist business school. This satire is written in response to commentaries claiming that Marxist culture is prevalent on U.S. college campuses.
BREAKING NEWS: Underground Marxist School of Business syllabus discovered in bike satchel of arrested political dissident. Mother claims “Literary Theory and Critical Thinking studies are turning my child into a monster.” Infiltration of Marxism on college campuses proven.
Course Syllabus
MBAC 61984 Business Strategy – Innovative Management of “Profit and Means of Production”
Restricted to The Vanguard members and Master of Business Administration Candidates dedicated to overthrowing the bourgeoisie capitalist class.
Location: “SIBERIA, Gulag 13,” in the Basement of Hellems Arts and Science Building Class Time: 12:00 PM – 12:50 PM Instructor: Ivan T. Errible Office Hours: Mondays after dark Email: commi@KMSB.edu
Instructors Statement: Class struggle between the bourgeoisie capitalist and the worker stands as an iconic representation of human existence as illustrated by the continuous battle concerning the owners of the means of production and the labor power. Marx tells us that “work, thrift and greed are […] (the capitalists) three cardinal virtues,”[1] and hording is their primary goal. Workers do not own the tools or means of production. Therefore, this is an essental element in gaining control of both the labor time and surplus labor time, stripping the bourgeoisie of charms of creating profit out of nothing.
When the KMSB graduate worker emerges into the capitalistic business world, it may be difficult to find comrades in arms who will join the movement against the exploitation of the proletariat. However, as a future “leader” of the Vanguard,[2] it will become increasingly important to recognize the exploited workers through group meetings and demonstrate the opportunities by which the means of their profit can be reclaimed. This class intends to teach student comrades how to infiltrate privately owned enterprises, furthering the initial stage in the Vanguard movement.
Upon graduation from this course, students will have the skills to influence workers actions by guiding them through the process of reclaiming the “Surplus Value” of their labor through transitioning privately owned tools and factories, to a lasting state-run, ruling proletarian party with nationalized ownership of the means of production
This class intends to teach student comrades how to infiltrate privately owned enterprises, furthering the initial stage in the Vanguard movement. Upon graduation from this course, students will have the skills to influence workers actions by guiding them through the process of reclaiming the “Surplus Value” of their labor through transitioning privately owned tools and factories, to a lasting state-run, ruling proletarian party with nationalized ownership of the means of production.
[2] The Vanguard: the non-profit corporation of the KMSB proletariat movement, dedicated to avoiding taxes and operating with the use of free labor, donations from guilt ridden capitalists and state supported educational funding.
You may find, at times, that the origins of your ivy league social class lingers and unduly attempts to influence your path, however, do not let these past systems of thought conflict with the goals of the Vanguard. The Vanguard recognizes that the organization of capitalism, as Marx tells us is “vampire-like ,(and) lives only by sucking living labor,”[1] therefore it seems to muddle the socialists thinking. Believe me when I say your role in the movement will put a stake through the heart of capitalism by expanding democratic centralism and rule by all.
Additionally, through service to the philosophy of Marxism and the dictatorship of the proletariat, students in pursuit of eliminating growth and profit from the corporate structure will find this class leads to a full understanding of how to take control of the means of production by the newly established worker run apparatus.
Course Description: This course introduces students to the techniques of understanding reality, thoughts and emotions through the philosophy of Dialectical Materialism and the understanding of nature as a whole. Student struggles will be observed by the classroom collective and will be discussed in a joint ownership atmosphere with other students.
This course may not be taken concurrently with MBAC 71984 or 81984 and may not be repeated. A grade of “D” or higher in MBAC 61984 is a prerequisite for subsequent advancement in the Vanguard movement.
Required Texts and Materials:
Karl Marx, Das Kapital (1867),Engles, Marx, Communist Manifesto (1848),Kim Jung-un, Perfect Brilliance: How to Starve the Populus to Garner Loyalty
Office Hours: 1:30 am -4:30 am on Mondays located in Gulag 14, Hellems Basement (go down the east-west stairs until you reach the basement and turn left and walk in a circle until you hit the brick wall at the end of the hall). If you cannot make these hours, remember that increases in productivity results from cooperation, therefore these hours work for everyone.
Agitating Workshops: Probably the stuff you’re here for. We will perform agitating workshop readings, followed by play acting on a daily basis. You shall learn the exact words to use to gas light a crowd and cause law abiding citizens to act against their better judgement.
Each workshop will be done in groups where individuals will receive constructive critique of their power of persuasion and each round’s requirements will be provide on the day of practice. The grades for these practice trainings will be based on how quickly a student can agitated another student.
Participation / Dissent: You are required to do three participation and dissent activities and you will be given a chance to lead your own agitation rally. The length and location of the rally will be determined by the instructor. Whether the rally concerns disrupting the state apparatus or boycotting labor factories, dig in and try to find out what makes descension work. Do your best to be analytical. Outside academic cited sources should be used and are required.
Book Burnings: Most homework in this class will take the form of book burnings, particularly texts on democracy, freedom of speech, property ownership and voting rights. The specific book burnings will pertain to a counterrevolutionary piece we read that day. Your instructor may give you a creative prompt, something analytical to provide a catalyst for that day’s discussion and inspiration to begin the bonfire activities. I grade these activities on the basis of satisfactory completion of a collection of citywide book burning results.
Recruiting Activities: At times we’ll practice recruiting activities in class, to mainly test a few strategies and get us into the mood for the next event. Occasionally you will be asked to take home and flesh out your strategies, in which case they ought to be planned in great detail and executed in secrecy.
Final Portfolio: You will construct a final protest rally plan and recruit participants.
Attendance, Punctuality and Late Work: Successful work in the K. Marx School of business is dependent upon regular recruitment of comrades to support the plight of the proletariat worker. Students who are unavoidably absent should make arrangements with the collective to make up the time missed. Failure to attend class and activities regularly may result in receipt of an F in a course and food sanctions for you and your family.
Plagiarism: Everything you will need to know will be read in Das Kapital and the Communist Manifesto whose texts are well known. Plagiarism is not possible when only two books exist.
Policies,Accommodations for Disabilities: If you qualify for accommodations because of a disability, do not bother submitting an accommodation letter because it has already been predetermined that accommodations based on documented disabilities in the revolutionary environment automatically disqualify comrades from leading teams.
Religious Holidays: God does not exist.
Honor Code: All students enrolled in a KMBS course are responsible for knowing and adhering to the Honor Code of Das Kapital and the Communist Manifesto. Violations of the policy may include: praying, reading other books, thinking your own thoughts, lying about your thoughts, not accepting a bribery offer, refusing to threaten new noncompliant recruits, unauthorized access to alternative reading materials, dishonest clicker fraud, executing the same or similar agitation rally’s in more than one city without permission from the course instructors and most importantly, an unwillingness to inform on personal friends who own the means of production.
All incidents of misconduct will be reported to gulag guards who have a sixth-grade education and who happily bully any and all human beings, including women, children and infants.
Students who are found responsible for violating the Das Kapital and the Communist Manifesto integrity policies will be subject to death by poison.
Discrimination & Sexual Harassment: The KMSB remains committed to fostering intolerant acts of misconduct on the bourgeois class which includes assault, harassment, and stalking owners of means of labor. Individuals who believe they have been subject to retaliatory actions from a bourgeois owner of means of labor should report the incident to the Institutional Institute of Impartiality and Obedience (IIIO) and punitive action will be taken secretly in the dark of night.
Class Schedule Subject to change based on classroom progress. Changes will be noted in class.
Week One M. 8/27 – Introduction/Syllabus – Read syllabus out loud and sign a pledge of silence
W. 8/29 – Direct Struggle Have Read: Marx Das Kapital, Section 1 (all), Section 2 (all) + Marx “Letter from Marx to Engels” (1867). + Anonymous Proletariat’s “Grief and How to Project Your Failings onto Others”
F. 8/31 – Division of Labor Have Read: “Ford and the Assembly Line,” Chapter 3 (pg. 55-61) (Canvas) + Gehring, “The Use of Force and Dogma” + Stalin, “How to Talk to a Worker”
Week Two M. 9/3 – LABOR DAY, NO CLASS, “The instrument of labor (in) the form of a machine […] becomes a competitor of the worker,”[1] therefore, burn a factory today.
W. 9/5 – Production, Distribution and Consumption Have Read: Henry Ford’s, People as Machines, Chapter 6 (pg. 167-175) + Walt Disney, Building a Psychological Utopia, (How to fool all the people all of the time.) + Tolkien’s The Hobbit, Ch. 1 (How to recruit the unwilling with false promises.)
F. 9/7 – Consumption Have Read: George Wallace’s “Incarnations of the Burned Worker” (179-181) + Poe’s “Tell Tale Heart,” (How to hide victims of book burnings.)
Week Three M. 9/10 – The Antithesis of Use Value and Exchange Value Have Read: Hapsburg “The Czar’s Ghosts and their Jewels” (Lessons in how to use the trappings of the bourgeois to fund propaganda and agitation.) + Marx “The Poverty of Philosophy” (1847)
W. 9/12 – Democratic Centralism Have Read: Das Kapital, Section 1 and 2, (again), (This is the most important page in the book.) + Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher,” (Lessons in how to drive bourgeois friend’s mad.)
F. 9/14 – Workshop Preparation (Wear clothes and shoes you are willing to burn.) Turn in: FIRST BOOKBURNING REPORT
Week Four M. 9/17 – Religion and Wives Tales (Reasons to not waste time reflecting on spiritual ideals.) Have Read: Moscow Institute of Scientific Atheism, Chapter 9 (Pg. 1)
+ Lenin’s “How Religion Deprives People of “I” (Canvas)
Week Five M. 9/24 – Group Agitation Workshop (Bring tools of disruption, e.g. baseball bats, hammers.) Have Read: Das Kapita,l Chapter 1, (again)
+Kim Jong-un’s Propaganda and Misinformation Handbook Turn in: Agitation and Propaganda Rally Agenda, first draft
FINALS WEEK Submit Agitation and Propaganda Rally Operation, final Time/Place TBD.
Click these links to understand how Marxism and Marxist terms are used in the media.
A reimagining of Chris Marker’s Junkopia, short film shot in the Emeryville Mudflats of northern California. Story written by Melodie Miller.
I walked with hesitation down the path towards the Junktopia Alter, a place of worship that guarded The Great Bridge.
From Junkopia – A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
A montage of artifacts walked the pathway without moving a muscle. The longitude and latitude flashed transparently in the heads-up display of my spectacles.
From Junkopia – A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
I imagined the smell of lavender hovering in the bay.
From Junkopia- A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
In the distance the Bridge stood colorless, in need of recognition of its emptiness.
From Junkopia- A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
The memory hurled me to the day The Great Bridge almost collapsed.
From Junkopia – A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
The eyes of the unconscious biplane looked oppositionally at the myopic cockatoo that sat on my shoulder.
From Junkopia- A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
My bird recognized the fascist symbol painted on the wheel of the biplane as a warning to go no further.
From Junkopia- A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
My amygdala said “Run!” but I persisted onward.
In the distance the Junktopia Alter remained its original color of distressed and burnt Tuscany auburn; looking like it was primed for a top coat of blood red paint.
From Junkopia – A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
I thought of Catch 22 and its airplane that flew detached from the war without Yossarian on board who was long dead as a character and forgotten by middle school teachers and students.
Along the path, a false messiah perched in a lifeless tree called to me longingly, beckoning for an apostle to gather a flock of followers.
From Junkopia – A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
Her fuchsia and dark black mesh wings, torn and ravaged, desperately flapped in the turbine powered mechanical wind of capitalistic rule dominating the newly formed nationless state of Junktopia.
From Junkopia – A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
In the distance, the lime, swampy grasslands filled with abandonment stood as shelter for the birds that no longer could fly. The decibels soaring from the speakers increased, projecting the vibrational reminiscence of the biplanes menacing history preparing to drop its deadly cargo on the unsuspecting living things resting below.
From Junkopia – A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
I approached the alter and the vacant, ornamental glass bottles that guided the unlighted path began to shatter from the sonic sounds spilling overhead, the speakers positioned ubiquitously on the bridge.
Jagged fragments threatened my jugular while the unsympathetic marsh called to me with a menacing howl.
One, razor sharp, ragged edge of a fragmented bottle neck hung from the bridge rafters by a wire hangman’s noose; its rusted metal screw top like a decapitated democratic statesman, his fellow, screw top public servants looked on from the gallery.
From Junkopia- A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
I had abandoned my map on the battlefield and my cell phone no longer recognized a charged. I felt lost although I was not.
From Junkopia- A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
The Republic now rests as fragments of shattered glass reflected as graven images in the birds eye.
From Junkopia- A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
The fascist symbol painted on the tail of the biplane, a relic of the final war, roared: “the number twelve,” with the sharpness of two major league football helmets cracking in collision. “The twelfth man,” it called out silently, a rhetorical souvenir of the war. “The fans did not offer a home advantage,” I shouted back.
From Junkopia – A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
The weathered alter walls made of wooden fish bone skeletons were rotted from the salt sea air. I bowed down to the god of technology. The empty tin-soup-can minarets stood as apostates and a reminder that rations must be earned by the labors of my cellophane hope.
From Junkopia – A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
I waited for the signal to perform the requisite incantations. The white whisker entrails of the metallic stork swimming in the expansive future flapped in the mechanical breeze along with the Messiah’s wings. The five-feet tall, hand-made paper stork hovering nearby narcissistically mocked its own self-absorbed symbol of fertility.
From Junkopia – A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
No one knew how or when the Kangaroos had arrived in Junktopia.
From Junkopia – A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
But, like the nationless human inhabitants, they were there to stay, because no one else wanted them.
From Junkopia – A short film by Chris Marker | Courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
Junkopia – A short film by Chris Marker | Screenshot courtesy of Criterion and Youtube
Melodie Dawn Miller 