Original anecdotes, commentary, rumination, and occasional pontification.
JUNE 12, 2020 – I’m grateful for my Trump-supporting clients. They bring out the better angels of my nature, and perhaps this rapport models how our nation might avoid wholesale rupture. There is no magic to my conversations; no special formula, no complicated blueprint. Just two things: 1. Money; and 2. Mutual respect. First, the …
JUNE 10, 2020 – . . . young kids will still ask long before the halfway mark of a long road-trip. Likewise, two weeks into the post-George Floyd, Jr. era, we white-liberals behind the wheel can’t help but ask the same: “Are we there yet” in ending our nation’s legacy of discrimination? It’s the inevitable …
JUNE 8, 2020 – As the train of justice hurtles down the track and we privileged folks decide whether to (a) jump aboard; (b) jump out of the way; or (c) get run over, I must sing the praises of the baked potato. The track isn’t smooth, so in walking through the carriages toward the …
JUNE 6, 2020 – On the way to our cabin recently, we saw a huge, road-side sign that read, “HOME OF THE FREE BECAUSE OF THE BRAVE.” Honestly, the sign didn’t remind me of today–the anniversary of D-Day, start of the Allied invasion of Normandy to drive Hitler’s Wehrmacht back to Germany; an operation that …
JUNE 4, 2020 – Recently, my wife’s extended family lost one of its elder stateswomen—Carol Piper, married to my mother-in-law’s late brother, Bob Piper. Carol was a favorite of mine, of everyone in the ever-expanding family. She died at 93 after a life well lived. Born in the U.P., she moved “south” to Chicago for …
MAY 31, 2020 – Instead of Netflix over the last three evenings, my wife and I have watched “Riots in the Street,” starring . . . people in the streets. Fortunately, thanks to Governor Walz’s leadership, last night ended differently from the previous two. Exhausted by the ongoing crisis, my wife retired early. I stayed …
MAY 28, 2020 – Yesterday evening in my chair of privilege I faced the stark, tragic reality of America: Grant’s defeat. Two nights before, Netflix had been acting up, depriving me of my regular fix of The Medicis. I switched to the History Channel and chanced upon a three-part documentary about Ulysses S. Grant, produced …
MAY 23, 2020 – Last night I hit the halfway mark of a “pre-galley” copy of my bro-in-law’s memoir, That Time of Year. I don’t want to prejudice the three, four people who have been assigned the task of critical review of the work . . . you know who you are; if you’re reading …
MAY 21, 2020 – From the perspective of isolation at the Red Cabin, the outside world seems even more cartoonish than when we’re back in the city surrounded by the cacophony of civilization. Up here spring is at least a couple of weeks behind, the effect of which is similar to what you experience when …
MAY 18, 2020 – When I was a kid, whistling was common. My dad was a virtuoso whistler. The forte and mezzo-forte allegro and allegretto parts he whistled conventionally, that is, through puckered lips. The piano and mezzo-piano andante and largo pieces he whistled through his teeth. He was the only whistler I ever heard …
MAY 15, 2020 – I’m now in week four of my Garage Clean-up Project. It’s a puzzle for which the solution keeps changing; an art studio of endless possibilities—all accompanied by . . . radio. In this regard I could be more creative, more productive. I could assemble a playlist of favorite “songs” . . …
MAY 10, 2020 – Yesterday was Mom’s Day, so I couldn’t much talk about Dad, who’d died a decade ago yesterday. For the first year after his death, I dreamt about him every single night. Then, consistent with the tradition of so many cultures, my one-year of mourning was completed. Dad’s nightly appearance in my …
MAY 8, 2020 – On the 75th Anniversary of V-E Day, I wonder: should I think of “V-E” as “Victory in Europe” and dwell upon its lessons or . . . should I view today as “Very Easy” and live obliviously? If like Simon the Simpleton I don’t care about the portents of history and …
MAY 7, 2020 – I’ve lost track of the days, let alone hours, I’ve spent on my Garage Clean-up Project—not to mention the times I’ve cited it on this blog. I’m so deep into the project I’ll suffer the bends if I emerge too quickly. Apparently garage clean-ups and clean-outs have become the new norm. …
MAY 6, 2020 – I write this from the back porch, where I can see the slow, then sudden progress of spring in this part of the world—the greening of the grass, a small insurgency of dandelions, blossom buds on the neighbor’s apple tree, lilacs showing visual hints of future fragrance, small tender leaves emerging …
MAY 5, 2020 – The most influential book of my life is If I Ran the Circus by Dr. Seuss. This book still fires my imagination as no other . . . literature . . . does. The story: A happy-go-lucky kid named Morris McGurk plays by the high, rickety, wooden fence surrounding a vacant …
APRIL 26, 2020 – Recently, down our alley I encountered our hotshot lawyer-neighbor sweeping furiously his garage floor—and immersing himself in a cloud of dust. I imagined him trying to destroy a hostile witness on cross-ex(amination). I also imagined my grandfather disapproving the way Mr. Hotshot was handling the broom. Born in 1895 Grandpa Holman …
APRIL 25, 2020 – Feeling outraged that America’s led by a village idiot, I think about this day in Portugal in 1974. That’s when the military initiated the largely bloodless “Carnation Revolution”—named so because citizens stuck carnations into rifle barrels of soldiers guarding the streets. It signaled the end of Estado Novo—the “New State”—under the …
APRIL 24, 2020 – Recently, Minnesota Governor Walz (one of America’s great governors) cautiously modified his “stay in place” order and allowed golf courses to open—but with appropriate restrictions aimed at The Virus. As a result, “Little Switzerland,” the hilly golf course where I hike/ski daily, is now crawling with golfers. Before the “stay put …
APRIL 22, 2020 – Besides my daily excursion to the “mountains” of “Little Switzerland” (a local golf course), I take daily walks in the opposite direction. The route leads down our quiet block and the next, past a small park and to the edge of what I call the Ruhr Valley—in reality a busy route …
APRIL 20, 2020 – In these upside-down times, explanations abound as to which way is up and which is down; the differences among black, white, and gray; that “up” is “down,” green is red, and black is bad. Math, anti-math, math models, science, non-science, news, “fake news,” fake “fake news,” and information—baked, half-baked, misperceived, misstated, …
APRIL 19, 2020 – Last night I reached episode 45 (of 60) in my binge-watch of the Netflix series, Bolívar. As with most any film treatment of historical figures, Bolívar includes much material that opens the work to criticism by historians—everything from inaccurate details to over-emphasized character strengths to under-stated character weaknesses to politically motivated …
APRIL 17, 2020 – Yesterday evening my book club gathered via Zoom. Up for discussion was The Plague by French existentialist author, Albert Camus, winner of the 1957 Nobel Prize for literature. It had been selected by the physician of our group, the inimitable Ravi Balasubrahmanyan. (Decades ago, I learned to spell his name by …
APRIL 16, 2020 – As the world struggles with The Virus, we’re learning that the spread of an invisible, highly contagious pathogen is as big a threat to humans as humans are to humans. But this attention-grabbing contagion is doing lots more than making people sick. It’s revealing in stark fashion many of the flaws …
APRIL 14, 2020 – Today marks the one-year anniversary of my blog. This is my 337th posting—so far. (The “missing” entries were from a two-week wedding sojourn in Portugal last June and another fortnight wedding extravaganza (same matrimonial couple) stateside in August.) At 500-words per post, the total wordage piles up to 168,500 (not counting …