I was born on a Friday in the blaze of an Arizona summer afternoon. 60 years later, it’s the wee hours of a Tuesday morning in the chilly travail of winter. Today is Isaac’s birthday. Not mine. Isaac Steven. Alexis is my hero. She is great with Isaac. Aaron is my hero, too. He is great with Alexis. Aaron was 19 years-old when he met Alexis, then 18. He had never been … [Read more...]
The Horror of ‘The Blog Age’
So, I’m bored on a Saturday morning. Should be exercising. Instead, I’m channel surfing, and I stumble on the movie “George A. Romero’s Diary of the Dead” (2007.) I am SO not recommending this film. But I do have to give it high marks for Bad Horror Film Providing A Stage For Apt, Timely Social Commentary. Specifically, Mr. Romero revisits the recipe of his cult classic … [Read more...]
Make No Mistake: Evil is Real
Evil is real. There are plenty of things to be embarrassed about as I observe my own life, but somewhere towards the top of the list is remembering the years when I insisted that “there’s no such thing as evil, only the absence of good.” Silly boy. Denying evil is naïve. But, oh that it were only naïve. It’s worse than that. It’s dangerous. Denying evil makes evil more … [Read more...]
Highest Calling: Standing Up to Evil
Here’s a pithy truth: All bullies are cowards, but not all cowards are bullies. Notwithstanding my father, I met my first official bully when I was six years-old. First grade. For weeks I’d been making my mom a present for Mother’s Day. The teacher had us make a ‘bowl’ out of Playdough, then take real sea shells and push the imprint all around the inside. We removed the … [Read more...]
Women and beauty: It’s complicated
Julie sits and stares. Then she stands and stares. She tries the light to her left, then to her right. Close up, then from a distance. Something is happening inside her that, for the time being, apparently makes blinking unnecessary. Or breathing, for that matter. Julie is pondering two paintings. She’s the subject in both. The quite naked subject. Julie is 48. She’s a … [Read more...]
The Girl Questions…the Guy Brain
My mother asks where I’ll be having Thanksgiving dinner. I tell her my friends Pete and Rhonda have invited me and my youngest son over to join their family. My mother asks, “What are you bringing?” And I laugh out loud. It is a perpetual gender cliché. Phone rings. A husband answers. On the other end is another husband inviting you over for dinner. Recipient husband … [Read more...]
The Holidays: Perfect Storm for Those Who Grieve
You first feel the breeze of it a few days before Halloween. Like that subtle sense that the barometer is dropping. Like a tide is ever so slightly beginning to turn. Something changes in the air. Excitement dances with dread. The momentum is exponential. Inexorable. Faster and faster, and there’s nothing you can do about it. Planning. Shopping. Cooking. The post office. … [Read more...]
Sorry, Mr. Trump, My Honor is Non-Negotiable
I’ve just been told it’s time “to bind the wounds of division.” The man who told me this just became our 45th president in large part due to his singular, unprecedented genius for provoking and exploiting division. So you’ll pardon me if I’m near paralyzed by the irony. I’ll decide for myself what’s it’s time to do and be, thank you very much. I tend to be fluid/ Eager to … [Read more...]