Original anecdotes, commentary, rumination, and occasional pontification.
APRIL 21, 2025 – The semester is flying by—only three more classes of Russian History from Peter the Great to the Present led by the inimitable and indefatigable Professor Theofanis Stavrou. I am hoping that he’ll decide to sign on for yet another year of teaching at the University of Minnesota. There’s no reason to …
APRIL 20, 2025 – This being the high holy day of (Western) Christianity makes it the high holy moly day for me, given my complicated relationship with this particular brand of religion. “Holy moly” means different things to different people, but to me in the present context it means, “Yet again I’m reminded of the …
APRIL 19, 2025 – Early this afternoon I traipsed down to the capitol for Protest No. 2. Beth had preceded me by about an hour to meet a friend. I arrived as more people were leaving the site than were walking toward it, but a sizable crowd remained on hand—large enough to attract a helicopter …
APRIL 18, 2025 – Just over a year ago I took my wife and our granddaughter to see the Canadian Ballet Company perform Giselle at Northrop Auditorium on the main campus of the University of Minnesota. I featured that experience in my 3/23/24 post. I don’t remember a thing about the ballet itself, however. That’s …
APRIL 17, 2025 – This morning I woke at 6:35 and looked out the second floor bedroom windows to see what the weather was doing outside the Red Cabin. To my shock and dismay, I saw a gigantic ice floe pushing along our shoreline. Stepping on hot coals could not have spurred a quicker reaction …
APRIL 16, 2025 – During last Monday’s lecture in Russian History from Peter the Great to the Present, Professor Stavrou again stressed the importance of reading literature. When he’d given the same pitch the previous Monday he’d remarked that he himself tried to read at least one novel a week. I’m not a big reader …
APRIL 15, 2025 – This morning when I woke to another day, I checked on the world beyond my immediate horizons. I was soon reminded that our country is looking like a dirigible engulfed in flames and fast losing altitude. Whether it turns into a bomb or swan remains to be seen, though the swan …
APRIL 14, 2025 – One can’t predict how data points will line up to spell, “Abracadabra, open sesame!” straight out of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. And just as occurs in fiction, the door to the cave of knowledge and understanding opens to reveal a vast stash of loot for the taking. I love …
APRIL 13, 2025 – I harbor the hope that the reader who is about my age or beyond it will understand the sentiments expressed below. If you are my junior, the likelihood exists that at best you’ll lay my two cents aside for possible future reference. If you’re in the latter camp, I wholly understand: …
APRIL 12, 2025 – (Cont.) Although Maine borders Canada, during my four years at Bowdoin, the closest I’d gotten to the country to the north was knowing two of its citizens, Mike R. and Bernie G.[1] Both were star players on our Division III championship hockey team in addition to being excellent students and all …
APRIL 11, 2025 – (Cont.) Yet another bash—my swan song—was what I dubbed, the “2001 Party”—anticipating the distant year of our 25th reunion. If in high school George Orwell’s book, 1984, applied to the distant future, in 1976, the year of my college class, the start of the next millennium seemed to be so far …
APRIL 10, 2025 – (Cont.) To draw as many people as possible to campus wide events, I developed party themes, gimmicks, and special attractions. The “Harvest Moon Dance,” for example, featured classmate Jerry Bryant and his Bowdoin Swing Orchestra. For the Halloween masquerade party, I retained another popular student band, Plateful of Food—and sponsored a …
APRIL 9, 2025 – (Cont.) When the cheering stopped, the serious job of governing began. I say that with tongue far in cheek, of course. As I explained in Part I, there wasn’t a whole lot to the lofty position of senior class president, and the main responsibility, if one could call it that, was …
APRIL 8, 2025 – (Cont.) The big day arrived, as big days are wont to do. The (single) polling place—the reception desk of the Moulton Union—opened at 8:00 a.m. and as I recall, closed 12 hours later. The logic of our campaign was that a heavy turnout would favor my candidacy, given the overwhelming (not …
APRIL 7, 2025 – (Cont.) Since we were the “Class of ’76,” Jeff and I figured we’d play on the Bicentennial theme. Conveniently, as I pointed out to Jeff, my first name was nicely embedded in “Am(Eric)a.” In short order, we adopted a four-pronged campaign, consisting of (a) a personal outreach to every single classmate, …
APRIL 6, 2025 – Blogger’s note: When I sat down to write this series, it didn’t start where I’d planned—nor will it end where I’d expected. Part analogous, part allegorical, part anticipatory, the story is as much about the present and future as it is about the past. But then again, as we’re reminded continually, …
APRIL 5, 2025 – Late this morning, Beth and I headed down to the state capitol, site of the local “Hands Off!” protest that was part of a coordinated nationwide effort to demonstrate opposition to King Musk and the Pyrite President. In the back of our vehicle was Beth’s “STOP” sign, which she’d hurriedly painted …
APRIL 4, 2025 – One morning earlier this week I finished reading Ivan Turgenev’s masterpiece, Fathers and Sons. It was a “slow race” to the finish, meaning I couldn’t resist pressing forward at the same time I wanted to hold back to savor every morsel. A few minutes before the end, I’d told my wife …
APRIL 3, 2025 – While the investor world along with major stock indices seemed to be in a free fall today, I happily stuck my head in the sand—figuratively speaking. After all, I was driving and wouldn’t have been able to travel far with sand in my eyes. My first stop was the Asian Foods …
APRIL 2, 2025 – If money in politics were mercury in a rectal thermometer tucked between Democrat and Republican cheeks, we’d be calling 9-1-1 to save the patient. The latest example of campaign money running at a high fever level is the nearly $100 million spent on the race for the Wisconsin State Supreme Court—a …
APRIL 1, 2025 – Our sons came up with the smart idea—well over 20 years ago on April Fools Day; or more precisely, late in the evening of March 31. It was a simple but effective prank. They slipped a thick rubber band over the trigger of the sprayer on the kitchen sink and aimed …
MARCH 31, 2025 – As long-time followers of this blog site are aware, I’m capable of “serial posts”—not to be confused with “Post cereals.” The longest on record featured my “inheritance”; the runner-up was an account of my “Grand Odyssey,” travels around the world now 44 years in the rearview mirror; taking the bronze medal …
MARCH 30, 2025 – Yesterday evening we attended the opening night performance of Secret Warriors at the History Theater in downtown St. Paul. Despite the hard rain and temperature of 35F, a crowd just shy of the 587-seat capacity turned out for the production. Judging by the appearance of the attendees, I guessed that my …
MARCH 29, 2025 – There I was, just minding my own business, when “ding!”—the familiar sound emitted by my iPhone announced the arrival of another email, albeit one in my “focused” folder, meaning one that I shouldn’t ignore. It was from my good friend Mike, whose signature trait is intellectual curiosity. He’d recently caught a …
MARCH 28, 2025 – Actually, as is the case with so many things we take as gospel, the old curse attributed to the Chinese—“May you live in interesting times”—is not necessarily all that old or Chinese. Several accounts of provenance lead back to England—only one of which kinda, sorta suggests a Chinese affiliation. The most …