Am reading about England of 1000 AD. The book by Robert Lacey and Danny Danziger is an enjoyable read of the conditions of life in the Middle Ages, dealing with Viking raids, settlements by the Norsemen, and the development of Christianity. I imagine the story as a time capsule sent to me from my…
Yeah, I know the word “luck” is totally plebeian, tarnished with the soil of ignorance and superstition. We may resist using the term preferring instead gussied up circumlocutions such as “in sync with the universe.” Is there any difference? Does not luck in all of it’s variations touch the finite nature of our knowledge,…
The primal law that governs all living: not love not hate not hope but fear Its universality is the cause of every abomination in the shitty chaos called human history. The trick is not to become unbalanced, punished, ruled by it. Any fool can be a pessimist; it takes no imagination, no guts. Remember…
Is this how a member of a bomber crew felt upon return from a WWII mission upon sighting the cliffs of Dover and England below? Maybe. At the end of a visit to my home town, I hope to board the American Airlines jet shortly, for transport back to Chicago. A visit to my…
We have a foreboding of an America in my children’s or grandchildren’s time— when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest…
Our first day in town featured dinner at Dame’s Chicken and Waffles on Main Street. The rather small restaurant-bar delivers on it’s promise. “Southern fried perfection meets sweet European decadence.” The menu reflects an era when jazz musicians would finish their gigs in New York City. They’d find a Chicken and Waffles joint open till…
By noon I will be boarding an American Airlines plane at O’hare. After enclosure, sardine like, in the silver-aluminum tube, with good fortune, I will emerge two hours later in North Carolina. I expect the air to be warmer and scented with pine needles. The people will be vaguely familiar with respect to voice…
Just felt like considering the message, or better, the zeitgeist of this song. I don’t usually mourn the passing of an actor, more than just making a mental note of their absence. With the passing of Patrick Swayze in 2009 it was different. I felt that an artist of rare ability, a dancer, had…
Reno is a friend who stops by to say hello nearly every morning, as I contemplate my computer screen at Starbucks. A bit of small talk is exchanged and sometimes a good story. Reno with a wry smile and irony in his voice told me of an experience on the job yesterday. He works…
Did you ever read about a frog Who dreamed of bein’ a king And then became one Well except for the names And a few other changes If you talk about me The story’s the same one… Heard this song played today and I knew that I had to write about it. It is…
