Here at Burnside, we’ve had no shortage of opinions about Anne Rice’s recent rejection of Christianity.  Is three articles enough? we asked.  Probably not, we decided.  So here’s Olivia, age 7 and 1/2, and her open letter to Anne Rice. Dear Anne, What’s up?  Nothin’...

Successful comedians are always smarter than their audiences. They make the people in the crowd think that they’re clever for getting the jokes. Comedians purposefully do this. Well, okay, Dane Cook is up for debate. But David Cross is one smart comedian. He knows exactly what will make his niche audience...

Jordan Green and I had an idea to put together an album of short conversations between us.  We may receive some angry comments. We call it The Christian Speakeasy. You can listen to the entire piece (40 minutes) in the player below, pp_flashembed( 'powerpress_player_3986', {src: 'http://burnsidewriters.com/wp-content/plugins/powerpress/FlowPlayerClassic.swf',...

#10: 2001 Our country took a hit this year. The hit was so bad, it was enough to define the rest of the decade as the ‘Post-9/11 Era.’ P.O.D. also released their album Satellite on September 11th. Their song ‘Alive’ became America’s anthem for the rest of the year. It should...

“Show me a hero and I will write you a tragedy” – F. Scott Fitzgerald Maybe I’m too old to have heroes… Maybe, but in my defense I first read about Tiger Woods in a March, 1991 issue of Sports Illustrated.  He was 15.  I was 13.  For the next 19 years I watched in awe as he...

We have a Christmas tradition around these parts.  Every year, shortly after Thanksgiving, we re-post Burnside’s most popular article of all time: “The Abominable ‘O Holy Night’”.  Along with the Advent Conspiracy, this insanely awful little diddy gets us in the Christmas...

Wandering downstairs to the corner coffee shop, I looked for a freshly poured mug to take from someone while they weren’t looking so that I might start my day. Fortunately I found a blind man getting ready to drink just such a cup. Stepping quickly outside, the air seemed as brisk and clean as a...

While on vacation on the beautiful, southern coast of Maine, my wife and I embarked on our annual pilgrimage to find the most inexpensive lobster in the area; a ritual that involves the expenditure of twenty dollars worth of gas in the expectation of saving fifty cents per pound on the purchase of a...

Aaron Donley, the esteemed creator of these awesome things, and a contributor to this site, is also a good friend. One time, he came up and stayed with me in Portland. We talked about the Enneagram, and tried to write a book, only he’s far funnier than me. He also calls from time to time, and...

Aaron Donley, the esteemed creator of these awesome things, and a contributor to this site, is also a good friend. One time, he came up and stayed with me in Portland. We talked about the Enneagram, and tried to write a book, only he’s far funnier than me. He also calls from time to time, and...