Door-knocking blues
Knock, knock. Hello, my name is Joe Weeg, and I’m here to encourage you to vote in the upcoming school board election. Listen, I HATE door-knocking for candidates. Always have. [...]
Read More →
Posted November 06, 2024in Joe's Neighborhood
Posted October 02, 2024in Joe's Neighborhood
An unlikely oasis
It’s 3 a.m. I’ve tossed and turned since going to bed four hours earlier. The sheets are twisted around my feet and tying me to the bed in some obscure [...]
Read More →
Posted September 04, 2024in Joe's Neighborhood
Lost in a big box store
Well, here I am in a big box store, and it’s happened again. The start is simple enough. My wife goes one direction to get granddaughter clothes, and I go [...]
Read More →
Posted July 31, 2024in Joe's Neighborhood
A pedestal for a good cop
“I’m not gonna do that,” the Des Moines police officer says from the middle of the classroom. I fix him with a cold smile. “Listen, that’s the law for a [...]
Read More →
Posted July 03, 2024in Joe's Neighborhood
Why a religion major?
I sat in the back of Macbride Hall for a reason. I wanted to be invisible. I wanted to slink in early unseen and slink out in the crowd unnoticed. [...]
Read More →
Posted June 05, 2024in Joe's Neighborhood
On the road in the Netherlands with a 5-year-old
I spent most of my adult life trying to get my kids out the door. “Begone children,” was my motto. When they were young, I’d wonder if it was too [...]
Read More →
Posted May 01, 2024in Joe's Neighborhood
Two characters and a dog in Woodland Cemetery
The graves sprawl over the bright green and faded brown grass like grazing cattle over the stubble of an Iowa corn field. Narrow blacktop roads meander here and there across [...]
Read More →
Posted April 03, 2024in Joe's Neighborhood
Expedition to the top of the head
My dermatologist slowly goes over my bald head with gentle fingers and a calm voice. He dictates to his assistant as he goes — much like an explorer taking notes [...]
Read More →
Posted March 06, 2024in Joe's Neighborhood
Best loser — a new CITYVIEW Best of Des Moines category?
CITYVIEW Best Beaverdale Area Store Once again taking home Best Beaverdale Area Store … Beaverdale Books. Runner-up: Back Country We do love to compete, don’t we? Probably due to some [...]
Read More →
Posted January 31, 2024in Joe's Neighborhood
Bad luck as… comedy?
Bad luck is bad luck. True enough. But there are certainly different types of bad luck. There’s the really bad luck of being in the wrong place at the wrong [...]
Read More →
