A few years back I snapped my flip-phone in half and tossed it into the Mississippi. It was one of the most liberating decisions I’d made, and felt so much more focused and content afterwards.  Once my wife got pregnant though, I found myself with another cellular shackle.
“What if something happens?” was the main argument.
Years later I’ve never [...]

As usual, I was in the backyard watching the girls play on the swingset, practice on the circus barrels and climb the apple tree.  I went inside for a glass of tea, and when I came back, Chelsea was sitting on the slide hugging something small and furry.
I went over.
What do you have honey?
Its my friend, [...]

The girls painted my toenails one night. Anna on the right foot with a vial of pink polish, and Chelsea on the left with neon green. It was a stinking mess that made us light-headed. But the little girls were happy. And I could always wear socks.
The next day I decorated my left arm at [...]

When my daughters had chicken-pox last year, I spent two sleepless nights dolloping them with calamine lotion and rubbing their backs.
It was a hard few days, but of course we all survived. And damn if we didn’t appreciate the first full night of sleep.
Looking back, it makes me think about how comfortable we have it.
Chicken [...]

Reality television has always been dubbed a “sideshow”, but not until recently has it become a description to be taken quite literally.
I’m not talking the blatantly exploitative programs like Jerry Springer. There are now several reality shows that feature little-people living, working and experiencing life in modern America. The problem is that none of their [...]

There’s  nothing like reuniting with a cherished friend. You rehash old stories and share new ones. Laugh, hug and feel a sort of relief to be together again.
Last spring one of my best friends from St. Louis came to visit me. We gave each other a handshake, exchanged pleasantries, and then sat on my patio to chat and [...]

Its common knowledge that most products in a store are Made in China.
I understand the arguments for globalization, but I still want to consume goods made in the USA or Europe, where labor standards are considerably better.
Today I got a large check for some ghost writing, and decided to splurge on a few kitchen supplies at a [...]

My friend Felix Morelo moved back to NY to make his mark on the guerilla art scene. Check it out.

(Just a rant)
The Great Recession. Who is to blame? The socialist liberals or the imperialistic neo-cons? In politics, I suppose that answer depends on which team you belong. Its easy to blame the other party. But, the more you blame the ills of the country solely on the other party, the more your own party [...]

When I was about fifteen years old, I read Larry Bird’s biography. I forget the name, but I remember it said that he started “hitting his shots” when he was fourteen…As a bench-ridden basketball player, that made me start practicing alone in a neighbors driveway everyday for the next year.
But I never did master the [...]

A few years ago my best friend Odin died. He had a heart attack at ten years of age. The morning it happened, I raced him to the fire station at 60mph through the residential streets. The paramedics couldn’t revive him.
I took his fat, furry body home and cried over it. Not wanting to let [...]

Standing on a snow-covered pond.
I leave the first and only footprints.
Validated. I wonder when they’ll melt.

I gathered a party to go check out the vagrant camp this past weekend. My dog, along with an old friend and his wolf-hybrid.
I figured two men and two dogs were enough to guarantee we wouldn’t be roped and raped by some drunken snowman.
We walked a mile through the woods to the camp, through the [...]

The snow made the maples willow.
Withered women draped in white.
Waiting for the winter procession to end.
Their last chance to say I love you.
Swallowed by the wind.

As I watched the State of the Union last night, my six year old was at my feet drawing in her sketchbook.
The President said: “It’s because of this spirit — this great decency and great strength — that I have never been more hopeful about America’s future than I am tonight.”
The audience applauded.
My little girl [...]

I had a friend forward me this video by some local artists. I love it. It sticks in your head all day.

“There’s something weird to me, daddy,” my six year old girl said.
“What’s that, baby?”
“The more I listen to directions in art. The worse it is.”
I smiled.
“When I don’t listen to directions, it’s good.”
I gave her a hug.
Another poor, yet talented, artist in the making.

Three political lessons from the 1943 Chicken Little Cartoon:
1) To influence the masses, aim first at the least intelligent.
2) Undermine the faith of the masses in their leaders.
3) By the use of flattery, insignificant people can be made to look upon themselves as born leaders.

I trailblazed through the woods today, looking for the bald eagles that migrate here each Winter. There was only one bird so far, and he flew away before I could snap a picture. So I decide to investigate the campsite I stumbled upon a few weeks ago. At that time, I had determined it to [...]

Sometimes the universe is an embryo.

Walking in the park this week, I came across a wounded birch tree.
Perhaps Mother Nature has finally surrendered.

Walking my dog in the woods is therapeutic. Especially when we’re trailblazing along the river. I find something new each trip. A beaver slapping the water with his tail. A dead duck laying in an angelic pose. Baby dolls hanging from nooses in the trees. Or a lone flower, colored a shade of purple I’ve [...]

The evolution of the modern bookstore – Borders. I took my three-year old there today to spend a giftcard.  A children’s book for her, and a novel for me.I had a shortlist in my mind: “Belly of the Beast” by Jack Henry Abbott; “The Brotherhood of the Grape” by John Fante; or anything by Jim [...]

Some people feel writing it as “x-mas” is sacrilegious.
I say, lets embrace and promote the abbreviation.
Just like in Algebra, the X can be a variable.
Then everyone can celebrate it as a time of love, charity and goodwill…