Original anecdotes, commentary, rumination, and occasional pontification.
AUGUST 8, 2022 – (Cont.) Seventh grade took me to Anoka Junior High on the other side of town and a block south of the most happening part of Main Street. Boys who’d attended Lincoln Elementary added a whole new dimension to “cool”—manifest in their . . . shoes: English walkers, English “boots,” Clark suede …
JULY 9, 2022 – Blogger’s note: The duty of friendship mandates that yesterday’s tribute be supplemented by another, this time in honor of two more people who’ve celebrated “big, if numerically unspecified, birthdays.” My self-imposed, single-post word limit has been doubled to match. Tomorrow will bring back the series, “True Story: An Explanation of Life …
MARCH 26, 2021 – When images of houses blown to bits by tornadoes flash across the screen, most people see . . . images of houses blown to bits by tornadoes. What I see is cheapskate construction, even in upscale neighborhoods. I see in the wreckage behind the on-site reporter, lots of OSB (oriented strand …
JUNE 23, 2020 – People reacting to the recent rash of statue sackings fall into three groups. First: angry folks pulling down symbols of racism—symbols erected by very white, very dead white . . . women (surprise!) who’d organized themselves in 1894 as the United Daughters of the Confederacy, primarily to build all those statues. …
SEPTEMBER 9, 2019 – Unless your name is “Benjamin Button,” when you’re young, everything you know about being older is vicarious. You watch your parents, grandparents, maybe great-grandparents, and wonder how you’ll appear, think and act when you’re an old geezer. More likely, you’ll proclaim how you won’t appear, think or act. Good luck with …
SEPTEMBER 5, 2019 – When I was young and ambitious, I wanted to influence the world. Now that I’m old and contemplative, I want to understand it. But how? I’ve developed a three-part prescription: READ GOOD BOOKS. In the first place, a non-fiction book, as opposed to most any other media (e.g. podcast; film documentary) …
JULY 17, 2019 – Last week while walking the neighborhood, I encountered a new neighbor. I stopped to chat. We soon discovered many common interests. In the course of talking, the neighbor told a “small world” story. Then I told two, sufficiently linked to count as one. They (it) went like this: For high school, …
JUNE 17, 2019 – Elizabeth Warren has become the “ideas” candidate for president. One of her ideas is forgiveness of student debt, paid for by taxing the assets of the super-rich, not the merely rich. I love the electoral simplicity of this idea: free stuff for the masses, ergo lots of political benefit; whopping price …