MAY 18, 2019 – Generally, I’m a fairly good judge of character. Throughout my careers as a practicing lawyer and a manager inside a large bank, I’ve had to place bets on many people. Most bets have turned out as I’d hoped or better. But a few years back a bet went wrong. I misjudged …
A GUY NAMED GUY
MAY 17, 2019 – Yesterday was our lawnmower’s first outing of the season. I poured fresh gasoline into the tank, pressed the choke button nine times, pulled the starter cord just once, and VRROOOOM! With such luck I imagined being the starting pitcher of the season opener, at home, throwing my first pitch; a 98.7 …
WHO IN THE WORLD . . .?
MAY 16, 2019 – We who despise the president struggle to answer this: “Who in the world are the people who continue to support him?” Joining now thousands of other armchair pundits, diviners, and opinion purveyors, I proclaim the answer! (Drum roll . . .) The president’s supporters fall into one of four groups: ANTI-TAX, …
THE RETRIEVER, THE DOBERMAN, AND . . . THE FELINE
MAY 14, 2019 – Yesterday afternoon I spent two-and-a-half hours holed up in a conference room with another lawyer, an accountant, and a business guy. Our goal was to agree on a number as we pored over financials, struggling to find the source of a discrepancy. By the meeting’s end, we agreed only that we …
THE HEART OF THE MATTER
MAY 14, 2019 – Today is bright and sunny. That wasn’t the case nine years ago. Dark, thick clouds darkened the day, and a hard rain fell most of the morning and into the afternoon. It was the day of Dad’s funeral. He had played a prominent, positive role in my life, and I was …
TRASH AND STASH
MAY 13, 2019 – Among our idiosyncrasies are the dichotomous traits of “trashing” and “stashing.” On one hand, we design obsolescence into our “durable” goods’ to ensure that they won’t be that durable, and all the other stuff we buy comes with loads of packaging, which winds up in the trash . . . along …
IRREGULAR MOTHER (Part II of II from INHERITANCE by Eric Nilsson)
MAY 12, 2019 [See Part I] . . . Shortly after that, I had another experience, which also made a lasting impression on me as to Mother’s willingness to see what I saw, as well as taste what I tasted. For dessert one hot summer evening, Mother had served each of us half a grapefruit …
“IRREGULAR MOTHER” (Part I of II from INHERITANCE by Eric Nilsson)
MAY 12, 2019 – When you’re a kid, it’s the random, passing experience of little apparent consequence that can leave a lasting impression about a person. One such experience with Mother occurred for me on a warm, sunny, summer afternoon before I was school age. With her small-boned arms, Mother turned hard on the wheel …
FUTURE SCREENPLAY?
MAY 11, 2019 – In earlier times, I was more intense. Each day I’d crawl into the cage, jump on the wheel, and make it go round and round. I was sure the wheel drove a generator, because a little light bulb inside the cage blinked as soon as the wheel began to turn and …
THE BEST TEST: A GOOD LANDING
MAY 10, 2019 – I once had a flight simulator computer program that allowed me to “fly” all sorts of aircraft, big and small, fast and slow, old and new. Taking off was the easy part. I adjusted the flaps, powered up and away I flew. The toughest part was always landing the damn plane. …
IMPEACHIM’
MAY 9, 2019 – I think the producers of The West Wing should do an encore called, IMPEACHIM’. The show would mimic what’s unfolding today—mostly on CNN—but provide depth and context. The first season would feature the president behaving within a full range of what people of taste would find distasteful. Some of the infractions …
FRAME OF REFERENCE
MAY 8, 2019 – I once heard an historian say that a probative history can’t be written until the subject matter is at least 50 years in the past. By extension, I suppose, the historian would caution us against making any judgments about the (always) tumultuous present. If you think hard enough about those correlative …
FROM “DE MINIMIS” TO “DEEP DO-DO”
MAY 7, 2019 – We hear and read regularly that we’re slip-sliding into ever deeper ecological do-do. The latest cause for alarm: a U.N. report on the imminent disappearance of a million species. I count myself (smugly) among the 63% of Americans who accept what’s believed by 97% of actively publishing climatologists: human activity threatens …
FLIGHT
MAY 6, 2019 – Since I was a kid, I’ve been fascinated by flight, fueled by three early impressions: First, during my earliest school days, I’d look skyward whenever a North Central Airline Convair turbo-prop droned overhead—“NOR” in large black letters on the bottom of one silver wing and “CEN” on the underside of the …
OLMSTED WAS ON TO SOMETHING
MAY 5, 2019 – An urban gem lies near the center of St. Paul, Minnesota. Founded in 1873 and now encompassing hundreds of acres, Como Park includes a zoo, pools, fountains, picnic grounds, mini-golf, a ski center, a butterfly garden, a vintage carousel, a kids amusement park, an 18-hole golf course, athletic fields, miles of …
I WORRY ME
MAY 4, 2019 – When the 448-page Mueller Report was made public, I actually attempted to read it. Instead of relying on Barr’s interpretation, let alone his client’s—wait a second, the president is not his “client”!—or anyone else’s take, I figure I’d read and interpret carefully the contents myself. I’d be the good citizen and …
A MILE HIGH
May 2, 2019 – I used to be a compulsive runner. In my prime, I logged 110 to 120 miles a week, full tilt. I worked out twice, sometimes thrice a day. Between workouts, I analyzed my running data, devoured running magazines and . . . carbohydrates. I ran the Boston Marathon years in a …
“ALL ABOARD!”
MAY 1, 2019 – Life is like a long rail journey—across India or Australia, let’s say, or the length of Egypt, or from L.A. to St. Paul. At the starting point, the train is clean, fresh, and ready to roll. The crew is welcoming, and as you will soon discover, your fellow passengers are quite …
REDEMPTION IN RESILIENCE?
APRIL 29, 2019 – Yesterday evening I watched on Netflix, a PBS documentary about the horrific Battle of Chosin Reservoir fought in the Korean War. The battle started the day after Thanksgiving, 1950 and extended well into December. I’d heard and read about it, but the extensive interviews with American veterans—the “Chosin Few,” as they …
THE “BIG HOLD”
APRIL 28, 2019 – Western Civilization has endured for more than 2,500 years. The Wild West, has roared for less than 250. By “Wild West,” I don’t mean only the Great Plains, the Rockies, or the deserts of the Southwest, though they are fetching symbols of “wild” and “West.” I mean strains of American culture …
WAR AND PEACE
APRIL 27, 2019 – Last night I pulled from the shelf a small volume of short stories by Nikolai Gogol, translated into English. Inside the front cover I’d written, “Purchased in Moscow – October 3, 1981.” That was the day before the start of my seven-day rail journey across Russia—and seven days back—with layovers in …
WHAT ELSE WORRIES YOU?
APRIL 26, 2019 – Worry is a survival instinct, especially among descendants of Swedish immigrants to Minnesota in the first 12 years of the 20th century. This explains why I worry a lot. About what? Examples include: distracted drivers; misuse of big data; computer hackers; the surge in deadly, drug-resistant bacteria; climate change on the …
DREAM STATE
APRIL 25, 2019 – Recently, my wife and I saw Sherlock, Jr., a Buster Keaton film (with music composed by Stephen Prutsman and performed live by Mr. Prutsman and Accordo (https://schubert.org/concerts/accordo/)). A dream sequence in the film parodied a common dream theme of acrophobia. The sequence was hilarious as the Keaton character teetered over one …
YEAH, BUTT . . .
APRIL 24, 2019 – My wife recently read me a FB political meme that went something like this: I get home from vacation and find my basement full of rabid raccoons. I call the city, I call several exterminators, but no one can or even wants to try to clean my basement of these awful …
PRESIDENTIAL QUALIFICATIONS
APRIL 23, 2019 – Yesterday, Seth Moulton announced that he too is running for president. I’d never heard of him either (he’s a second term Congressperson from Massachusetts). What gives? Do Democrats think they increase the odds of defeating Trump if they increase the number of people seeking to oppose him? What qualifies each of …