Category: Humor

DAY 12: BEING RASH

SEPTEMBER 4, 2022 – (Cont.) When my mother got older she became obsessed (apparently) about her kids being rash. “Don’t do anything rash,” was a regular part of her farewell after every visit at “the home.” I won’t speak for my generally well-behaved sisters, but I’ll readily acknowledge that at an earlier stage of life, …

“HALF A DOZEN”

AUGUST 29, 2022 – (Cont.) Day Six. Yesterday’s appointment was another visit to the “MERCY CLINIC,” rather abandoned on the weekend, except for skeletal staff to administer to transplant patients like me—a two-day patient, a three-day, a six-day patient, I was informed. The wait was long enough for me to log a 10-minute walk up …

NOT YET OVER THE ROCKIES

AUGUST 25, 2022 – (Cont.) Roll back yesterday’s “video” of my LAX – LGA flight after take-off, climbing out of L.A. Having repeated my silent entreaty to the aviation gods for a “safe and uneventful take-off, a safe and uneventful flight, and a safe and uneventful landing” (four times, for extra efficacy–after all, airline safety …

BLAST-OFF!

AUGUST 23, 2022 – Blogger’s note: Wife is a sweetie. And I apologize for blowing way past my self-imposed daily word quota (of yore). (Cont.) Late Sunday evening my wife and I were still in the throes of preparing our abode for “cancer con”—short for “convalescence from the effects of cancer chemo treatment.” She had …

CAMPING SUPPLIES (FOR REAL, THIS TIME)

AUGUST 20, 2022 – Blogger’s note: The gracious reader will accept my apologies for the poor self-editing of yesterday’s post. The explanation (versus excuse) is that our hyper-imaginative granddaughter was under our day-long charge. Among her plays, musical performances, story-telling, painting sessions, and backyard expeditions, all of which required audience/spectator participation, I assembled very few …

“GOTTA GO!”

AUGUST 17, 2022 – (Cont.) I once had a friend, a close friend, a work colleague, whom I met my first day on the job as the lucky recruit to manage the “work-out” (deals gone bad) division of bank’s corporate trust department. The guy who hired me, it turned out, would later be escorted ignobly …

GENGHIS KAHN AND FRANKENSTEIN

AUGUST 15, 2022 – (Cont.) “Is it okay if he drives himself to the appointment this afternoon?” my wife asked the physician’s assistant. “Sure,” said the PA. “Well, actually,” I said, “because of the sedation this morning, I’ve been instructed not to drive or make any important decisions for the rest of the day.” The …

THINKIN’ “THANKS”

NOVEMBER 25, 2021 – Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday. First, its centerpiece is culinary abundance, and at the center of the centerpiece is a stuffed turkey, my favorite land-based food. Second, I enjoy the story of the Original Feast, which occurred exactly four centuries ago this year. However mythicized and romanticized, it’s a …

MY WALK ‘N TALK WITH K.O.

NOVEMBER 21, 2021 – I’ve mentioned him before—our neighbor, “K.O.,” exactly my age, a retired high school honors English teacher, a Twins scout, and a former Republican. Yesterday he joined me on my walk to “Little Switzerland,” where we hiked hills for the equivalent of 41 flights of stairs. Every encounter with K.O. is filled …

THE SUPPLY CHAIN “DELIVERS”

OCTOBER 14, 2021 – “Supply chain” problems plague us. Reasons abound for shortages of parts, materials, dock space, truck drivers, and other disruptions. Recently, however, my wife the discriminating consumer, stumbled upon a simple solution: stop junking up the system with . . . “crap.” Her revelation led us to hysterical laughter, but this required …

F-BOMBING

OCTOBER 13, 2021 – While driving across rural Wisconsin Monday, I saw an enormous sign that screamed, “F_ _ _ BIDEN.” The blue background, white lettering, and big white stars on the sides mimicked “[YOU-KNOW-WHO]/PENCE” and “YOU-KNOW-WHO]/2020” signs on display during last year’s presidential campaign and “YOU-KNOW-WHO]/2024” signs during this year’s “stop the steal” effort. …

“WHAT ARE WE LOOKING AT?”

SEPTEMBER 30, 2021 – Yesterday I talked about celestial majesty—the beauty of the Milky Way, the wonder of the cosmos. Today, the subject is . . . your anus. I’m joking, of course. I meant “urine—us,” which is how astronomers pronounce the problematic name of the seventh planet of our solar system, spelled U-r-a-n-u-s. I’ve …

“OH . . . HENRI!”

SEPTEMBER 26, 2021 – Little imagination is required to grasp the paradox of AI: machines ruling their makers. Of course, this condition existed long before Bill Gates invented the computer or Al Gore, the internet. Yet, while visiting our son Byron and his wife, Mylène, last month, my wife and I watched with amusement, the …

OF WORLDLY WOES

SEPTEMBER 24, 2021 – To divert myself from worldly woes, I leap to the future when all of earth is scorched earth and “alien” visitors search for evidence that water once flowed here. Then I return to the present for a fresh look at . . . worldly woes. Take, for example, packaging. Why should …

REIMAGINING BEETHOVEN

SEPTEMBER 17, 2021 – Recently I had a singularly strange experience, one that try as I might, I’ll never be able to replicate. It occurred late one afternoon while I was alone in our living room, surrounded by familiar objects: rug, furniture, decorative items adorning the mantel above the fireplace, and various pictures and wall-hangings …

WHEN “THINGS GO SOUTH”

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021 – Recently, in the outdoor seating of Boca Rica, a local Mexican restaurant popular for its authenticity, I heard a remarkable story. While ordering, I wore a bright blue, cloth mask bearing the slogan, Make America Intelligent Again. I’d been invited to lunch by W______, a retired banking client of mine, with …

NILSSON SIBLINGS’ SERIOUS SESSION

AUGUST 10 2021 – Yesterday my sisters and I gathered for one more long visit together before dispersing to our respective “corners.” The last time we’d assembled like this was a full four years ago. With my wife and a brother-in-law as patient observers, my sisters and I sat on the veranda of the place …

KAFKA IN A NUTSHELL (PART II OF II)

JUNE 24,2021 – (Cont.) “Once you pay,” Steve said, “go directly to DPS (department of public safety) four blocks away, and for 20 bucks, your son can get his license re-instated immediately.” I wondered what Steve knew about the bloody history of the Committee of Public Safety during the French Revolution. Instead, I thanked Steve—too …

KAFKA IN A NUTSHELL (PART I OF II)

JUNE 23, 2021 – Sunday evening, our son Cory (with five-and-a-half-year-old daughter) was pulled over. No one except the cop knows why she ran Cory’s plates, but in the process she learned that his license had been suspended three months ago. Cory called me to say, “I have a slight emergency.” Based on the prospect …