Ramblings of a badly aged Baby Boomer who went from Rebel Without a Cause to Bozo Without a Clue in, seemingly, the same afternoon.
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It was Shakespeare's Macbeth, who may have been the first literary figure to offer an argument on the virtue of planning your work and then working your plan, when he offered, " Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow creeps in this petty pace from day to day... " In addition to its eloquence, it's memorable for both its utility and applicability-though in an era of diminished expectations and…
Today, August 28, 1963, The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stood on a hastily constructed platform in front of the Lincoln Memorial at The National Mall in Washington, D. C.. For a moment on that day, America stopped to listen. Today we can be forgiven if some wonder how much any of us have heard. Dr. King was the final speaker at what was, at the time, the largest day-long civil rights…
Tariffs and trade wars. The not-quite-a-war-with-Iran. Abduction of the President of Venezuela. The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) improving the performance of the Federal government. A TV weekend anchor as Secretary of Defense War. Self-dealing in government contracts, stock market manipulations, and nepotistic business arrangements. And what seems like literally hundreds of other…
I took advantage of blue skies and low humidity on Monday to visit Mohegan Park . After a rainy weekend kept most visitors away, the chipmunks and squirrels were stopping passersby on the trail around Spaulding Pond looking for handouts. I forgot to take peanuts with me. The looks of disappointment, disdain, and dismay were plainly visible on their faces as I tried to explain that my decision to…
It's a fine line between childlike and childish, and I ride on it balanced like Duna on a bike in a John Irving novel. I was born months before Eisenhower was elected president and remember (without fully understanding) how sad everyone was when John F. Kennedy was murdered. My family used to watch Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color on Sunday evenings, but we made an exception the night of…
For a large number of reasons too boring and maudlin to get into here today, I've developed a more than healthy respect for the passage of time and its effects on me as a traveller here on the Big Blue Marble. I rediscovered a video over a rainy Sunday afternoon that I find both soothing AND disquieting (sort of like the Doublemint Twins). Hope you enjoy . That it's called "Existence" is surely…
I keep a wallet filled with foolscap, absolutely crammed. It works out well, unless you were to rob me, as there's rarely any money in it, though not necessarily because of all the foolscap. Many years ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I was a little too tightly wound. That gasp of incredulity you may have heard from people who've known me for decades is legit. The me of Back Then makes the me of…
Not the most cheering of news headlines yesterday at so many levels I won't bore you with the specifics . Being a half-full glass kind of guy, I'd point out the Navy is considering doing something it should have done decades, if not a lifetime, ago, recommending MA2 Miller for the Medal of Honor . But the grey cloud around that silver lining is the suggestion that the renaming would honor our…
In the Late Sixties/Early Seventies, one of the first jobs I ever had was as a stockboy in a grocery store (a Shop-Rite in South Bound Brook, as I recall). I had my own box cutter and price stamper, as we had to 'throw the truck,' that is, unload a tractor-trailer delivery, route the boxes to the correct aisles, cut open each box, price every item (can, bag, or box), and put them on the store's…
I don't have a particular politics, especially when we're talking about my local zip code. When cornered, I will admit to being a Relentless Pragmatist . I think if you look at the correspondence between the Founders, the documents they used to create this nation through to The Federalist Papers, they weren't too keen on ivory tower concepts, preferring down-to-earth as they built this Republic. I…
Welcome to a quick demonstration of how I think, assuming you have any belief I actually think at all. And thank you for the extension of that kindness, or, if you have doubts but remain silent, for that courtesy as well. For the last few days, I've been thinking about a marvelous piece of nonsense by Edward Lear that I had to memorize as a child and willingly remember to this day. I know from…
When I write about national politics, something is going on. Either I have become incredibly insightful, erudite, and educated on electoral dynamics and the psychology of the crowd. I'll pause until the laughter subsides- in space they can't hear you scream, but in cyberspace I can hear you mock me- or we went from knee deep in the stupid to hip deep in the last decades. I'm thinking it's the…
I love living in a society where everyone believes we should take turns (probably because, as a now-elderly white heterosexual man, I was born on third base and have spent my life thinking I hit a triple). As long as the entitled get to go first. I, too, believe the Lord helps those who help themselves, which is why He/She gave me two hands to grab it all and two pockets to put it away. But…
On my way into an office building the other day, I saw a sign on (what proved to be) the only working elevator in the facility that read "OOC." I must have been raised by hermit crabs or something, since most of the stuff everyone else seems to know automatically I not only never knew but, upon learning react very badly in responding to. This elevator thing was both the former and the latter. I…
These are dog days politically in Norwich this summer. So many of us are angry about so many things; it's truly a target-rich environment here in the Rose of New England. Our current top blood boiler (or close) is the ongoing operational and jurisdictional tug of war between/among four of the five volunteer fire companies in the Town Consolidated Districts, who, together with the paid fire…
Thanks to smartphones, everyone and anyone can be a photographer. Not necessarily an Ansel Adams , or in my case, Gomez Addams , but we can dream, can't we? I admire great pictures. FULL DISCLOSURE: I consider any photograph I like 'great,' so there's a circular circulation thing going on there, and I have known some very talented photographers willing to be seen in public with me. But today, I…
There's been a generational changing of the guard with (illegal) drugs in America. When I was a wee slip of a lad, not that I or anyone I knew ever partook of The Herb, in the late Sixties and early Seventies "drugs" was marijuana and if you were flush, hashish. Stop asking about those Uriah Heep and Lothar and the Hand People albums in my collection, okay? It was all very social and sociable,…
I came across a thought from Dr. Robert Anthony , who enjoys a reputation as a relentless optimist, prompting an acquaintance to offer wryly, 'he's never been to Norwich.' That would be funny if it were not also true. I've adopted the good Doctor's mentality as my own, because in the dog days of summer, I can use all the help I can get and because the last time I had an original idea, it died of…
I was taking a shortcut last Tuesday afternoon, looking for Triscuits in my grocer's. I assume stores in big cities have aisles reserved just for specific products, in my case, Cheerios , Cheez -Its (only the originals; NONE of the variations), and seedless grapes, but then I remember that I live in a small town and we can't have all the amenities we want. Some settling and sharing of contents may…
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