https://www.retinaboy.com/retina-boy daily 0.75 2026-10-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5cb637e5e666690851c418b5/1793108014412-E9R53Z2EVWAKXV4FB7OK/imgg-gg3p-BC-DQ-C-9c939cc8.png Retina Boy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5cb637e5e666690851c418b5/1793108014419-O9A678OBUMNYD0PN3PA4/imgg-gg3p-BC-DQ-Y-0570a11c.png Retina Boy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5cb637e5e666690851c418b5/5bf5907b-3101-4e4e-8055-1f9ce9c355a3/Retina+Boy+Cover+Draft.png Retina Boy - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5cb637e5e666690851c418b5/1793108038634-KWROKLCLUH4MU8L2JCBM/Retina+Boy+Cover+Draft.png Retina Boy - Retina Boy: An adventure of friends, aliens, retinas, and rock & roll The Adventure Researchers were mystified by the boy from Des Moines born without retinas. Strangers and friends were mesmerized by his luminescent, aquamarine eyes. Retina Boy grew up to be a carefree teenager. He played amazing lead guitar in an awesome, classic rock cover band. His girlfriend, Marcy, though unable to walk, was the smartest kid in their school. They were a perfect pair—she was his eyes and he was her legs. Never did Retina Boy imagine he was from another planet, and that he and Marcy would be called upon to save the Earth and an alien world of blind inhabitants on the brink of environmental collapse. https://www.retinaboy.com/home daily 1.0 2026-10-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5cb637e5e666690851c418b5/1793107772089-IZU9Z6LJ2VF0VJXRPQVM/6ad3cee098beb1633b139e44 Home - Ben Shaberman’s books include: Retina Boy (fiction), Jerry's Vegan Women (fiction) and The Vegan Monologues (collected essays). His new book The Kicker is now available through Broken Tree Press. Ben’s essays, articles, and commentaries have been carried by several prominent media outlets including: The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, The Baltimore Sun, Des Moines Register, VegNews, Sky and Telescope Magazine, and NPR. His fiction and creative non-fiction have been published in a number of journals and blogs including: The Artist Unleashed, Empty Mirror, Months to Years, The Good Men Project, and Clean Sheets Erotica Magazine. Ben earned a master of arts in writing (poetry) from Johns Hopkins University, a master of science in systems management from the University of Maryland University College, and a bachelor of science in computer science from Cleveland State University. He is the president of Ben Shaberman Consulting LLC specializing in science communications, advocacy, and education in the retinal disease community. Ben is also a science communication advisor for Hope in Focus. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5cb637e5e666690851c418b5/1793107771908-M3MNHEF5Q760WW0SC0CY/6ad3d0755b9ae83419de8fba Home New https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5cb637e5e666690851c418b5/1793107774575-JACFHW9DWGTO1UJKQTGE/6ad3d08da42e6a69e105a9bc Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5cb637e5e666690851c418b5/1793107776299-T8D8FIUL3JIOAEEOHBB9/6ad3d0a81a489f3bd3bebaad Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5cb637e5e666690851c418b5/1793107777760-RO4ECGI3N71FATB7JKE9/6ad3d0b9f7619847784cc042 Home https://www.retinaboy.com/about daily 0.75 2026-10-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5cb637e5e666690851c418b5/1793107934266-98IPI62WE4KELGJMTVSD/u3h23iti8vq6fn6cq6klfjp99f.jpg About - Ben’s books include: Retina Boy (fiction), Jerry's Vegan Women (fiction) and The Vegan Monologues (collected essays), all of which were published by Apprentice House, Loyola University Maryland. Ben’s essays, articles, and commentaries have been carried by several prominent media outlets including: The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, The Baltimore Sun, Des Moines Register, VegNews, Sky and Telescope Magazine, and NPR. His poetry has been published in NYC Poetry Magazine, Broken Tribe Press Review, The Soliloquist, and other journals. Ben earned a master of arts in writing (poetry) from Johns Hopkins University, a master of science in systems management from the University of Maryland University College, and a bachelor of science in computer science from Cleveland State University. He is the president of Ben Shaberman Consulting LLC specializing in science communications, advocacy, and education in the retinal disease community. Ben is also a science communication advisor for Hope in Focus. Email: benshaberman@gmail.com Phone: 1-410-499-9158 https://www.retinaboy.com/the-kicker daily 0.75 2026-10-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5cb637e5e666690851c418b5/1793108197173-3943Q5U22UA7WSG2VT9F/6ad40d6ea75b2b6c7e330d9a The Kicker - After Lennie Lippman’s parents were killed in a car crash, his world changed forever. Forced to move in with his curmudgeonly Grandpa Maury and Grandma Minnie in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, Lennie was lost in a new neighborhood with no friends and on the brink of flunking sixth grade. But the drama of Scott Norwood’s game-deciding, field-goal attempt at the end of Super Bowl XXV in 1991 inspired Lennie to turn to kicking as a refuge from his struggles. Kicking and the local Jewish bakery became Lennie’s escape from his languishing grades, boring home life, and bottled-up emotions. The Kicker is a story of grief, loneliness, the quagmire of adolescence, and the unexpected heroes and allies in our life journeys. https://www.retinaboy.com/jaw daily 0.75 2026-10-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5cb637e5e666690851c418b5/1793108430853-SDYG5SO7GMERQJM0DMFO/6ad3cdc40177dd1db1f3c94e Jerry's Vegan Women - An Entertaining Homage in 10 Stories Jerry’s Vegan Women is a fun, poignant, and occasionally steamy collection of fictional stories that follows the adventures of Jerry Zuckerman as he makes his way through the shelters, sanctuaries, and bedrooms of an eclectic assortment of vegan women. The book begins with Jerry as a sixth grader who has never given any thought about the welfare of animals or the food he eats. But his chance encounters with vegan women — friends, lovers, acquaintances, and colleagues — change all that. The book is by no means a vegan manifesto. Rather, it reveals the virtues, imperfections, and idiosyncrasies of those who choose the meat-free lifestyle. And, it explores universal themes such as love, work, and most of all, the search for identity and meaning. It’s a journey that both herbivores and omnivores will enjoy. https://www.retinaboy.com/tvm daily 0.75 2026-10-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5cb637e5e666690851c418b5/1555714736366-E3M99GFUZG2IS7ZFV7ZH/benbook6+squarespace.jpg Vegan Monologues - Shaberman’s Vegan Monologues asks the Burning Question: Is that a Carrot in your Pocket? The Vegan Monologues guides readers through the world of being vegan, traveling life’s path as an herbivore in a treacherous world of carnivores. Whether explaining how vegetarian guys get the girls, exploring an addiction to Chinese takeout, or being sequestered in the “garden salad zone,” Author Ben Shaberman’s gentle sense of humor sheds light on what it means to go meatless. But Shaberman also reflects on his Jewish heritage, Pink Floyd concerts, fornicating grasshoppers, and being chased by wild dogs. The Vegan Monologues collects Shaberman’s essays in a first book that will put a smile on the faces of tofu-huggers and meat-eaters alike. From social absurdities to his own foibles, Shaberman balances reflections on life as a vegan with, well, just life. https://www.retinaboy.com/essays daily 0.75 2026-10-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5cb637e5e666690851c418b5/1793108848814-4FKAWB32HXDT0J89TPCS/6ad3d2d608fce64f52e01f8b Essays Gay Men Like Me The Good Men Project Ben Shaberman discovered something interesting about himself when he moved to Miami Beach in the late 1990s. Women don’t notice me. I’m short. I often have red blotches of eczema on my forehead. And, I’m not quick witted during random encounters with the opposite sex at a coffee shop or the dry cleaners. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5cb637e5e666690851c418b5/1793108854131-5PIB9BTGQ0NO4EM43W1I/6adb77fe4cad436e854cd6b2 Essays This High Empty Mirror My first attempt at rolling a joint was rather pathetic. It looked more like a small turd covered in paper than something to be smoked. And not knowing to remove the twigs and seeds — of which it had many — the loosely rolled number disconcertingly popped and crackled each time I took a hit of it. Was there something wrong with the pot? Had I been ripped off by the dropout with a scraggly beard and small Japanese motorcycle who sold nickel bags every morning behind the high school library? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5cb637e5e666690851c418b5/33afa5fd-6691-4be7-bcab-2d3a7917f4b6/unsplash-image-BZ6JN0ejwmk.webp Essays Commentary: Worthless National Public Radio: Morning Edition Commentator Ben Shaberman says his recent experience with the stock market has allowed him to deal with reality and move on. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5cb637e5e666690851c418b5/1793108848795-YP112TZQVP2N1HHJP5IE/6ad40393a75b2b6c7e3276b3 Essays Small Talk With The Dying Months to Years When I first walked into Joe’s room, all I could think was, “Why the hell did I sign up for this gig?” He was one of my first patient encounters as a hospice volunteer, and he was barely clinging to life. I was asked to read to him. He was a large-framed, middle-aged, lightskinned African-American, likely to pass away within the next day or so. Sadly, he had no friends or family visiting him. He just lay motionless and unconscious on the bed, drawing slow, shallow breaths. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5cb637e5e666690851c418b5/1793108851069-VGPNK205W1VD01SD1B0D/6ad40232ed148d02b7bbfef4 Essays Dangling Testicle Signals Doom for the Universe The Good Men Project While Ben Shaberman is not a big believer in signs, this recent one got this attention. After pulling off my undies one night recently, I noticed that my left testicle was hanging considerably lower than my right. Well, this was a cause for concern, given that my balls had, up to this point, always lived harmoniously, side-by-side. This asymmetry conjured the image of Leonardo DeCaprio (left testicle) slowly sinking into the North Atlantic as Kate Winslet (right testicle) can’t hold on to him any longer. “Good bye, lefty,” she cries. Then, a fade out as Celine Dion yowls in the background. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5cb637e5e666690851c418b5/1793108852790-QPZMHPFHDPXJGJKPZ068/6adfc42eecd9574cd1c6c02f Essays Hardcore Entomology By Ben Shaberman From The Vegan Monologues Originally published in Clean Sheets Erotica Magazine https://www.retinaboy.com/poetry daily 0.75 2026-10-27