Sometimes the scale is tipped by a heavy-handed grip. I recently reported on Facebook that a book I wrote is about to be published. I received my printed copy —the first off the press—at the beginning of this week, and its availability is scheduled to be announced in a week to ten days. I have been working on rounding up names of family and friends, along with their email and postal addresses, to whom I’ll ask the [...] READ MORE
"I don't know about you, but the only rocking I'll be doing is in a chair!" When it comes to my favorite music, I live in the past with classic rock. Classic rock is struggling to remain relevant. In fact, CNN recently proclaimed that this summer “marks the twilight of classic rock.” Bob Dylan is 81. Paul McCartney is 80. Carlos Santana, one of the youngest rock icons at 74, was rendered unconscious by heat stroke at [...] READ MORE
Why are pea-brained horses dubbed as creatures with common sense while more intelligent species are known for the silliness of monkey business and monkeying around? We hear a lot about common sense whenever disagreements occur nowadays. When someone is cornered to defend some position he or she takes, the source of this knowledge is often credited to common sense. I’ve explored this topic before, because common sense, judging by what we as individuals choose to believe, is [...] READ MORE
Camels were cool in the old days and reportedly the favorite bad habit of doctors who would walk a mile for one. As a member of the jingle generation, I have all kinds of stuff cluttering my mind. Blame it on TV commercials— the most pervasive purveyor of advertising slogans and jingles. I had a good time with this subject a few years back, and some bear repeating— along with a few others in this updated version. [...] READ MORE
Are we looking the gift horse of American Democracy in the mouth? As much as I try to pretend that our Democracy (capital D intended) is not in jeopardy, the harder it is to ignore clear signs that the majority of the people in one of our two dominant political parties claim allegiance to a powerful cult of personality that won’t go away. Truth and facts no longer mean anything in what I feel is a dangerous [...] READ MORE
Jake, our smiling Corgi and the last chapter of my seven-dog life. When I get to thinking I’m old and approaching senility, I try to remember that in dog years I’m barely ten. In many ways, dogs are like milestones along my life’s journey. A dog’s life isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Dogs are over the hill, or under the ground, before they reach 16. When you’re lazy, people accuse you of dogging it. When [...] READ MORE
Reading can be a challenge to your attention span. Then again, it’s a way to get one back — if you ever had one. Mary and I have another day of isolation before we can venture out into the real world. We both tested positive for Covid earlier this week while on a family vacation at a beautiful home on the shore of Lake Champlain just a handful of miles below the Canadian border. It was a [...] READ MORE
Is there a difference between old and too old? Looking ahead to becoming a centenarian. Eight years ago, when I was a wet-behind-the-ears age of sixty-six, I wrote about “joining the legions of 90-and-older” one day, which was still almost two dozen years into the future. Well, that one day would have been October 7, 2037, which doesn’t seem so far away now. Therefore, with increasing optimism, I have expanded my goal to breaking the 100-year age [...] READ MORE
Roger Ailes transformed FOX News into a voice of Republican conservatism. The whole thing is insulting. In fact, it’s deranged. And we’re not playing along. This is the only hour on an American news channel that will not be carrying their propaganda live. They are lying, and we’re not going to help them do it. —Tucker Carlson, FOX News Commentator on why his network did not cover the opening prime time hearing of the January 6 Committee. [...] READ MORE
Chowing down while the dogs fight over a bone of contention. I’ve spent of good deal of my life dealing with words. We all use them. At least all of us who speak or write, but even illiterate people, who may not know how to spell them, use them, and people who are unable to speak or hear must think them. I think about words and how they came to mean what they do. You use them [...] READ MORE
