|
|
Archive for 'Slush'
On my way to Chicago last weekend, we stopped to get some gas in Dixon, IL. The childhood home of Ronald Reagan. I pulled into the Wal-Mart parking lot to snap this photo, thinking that it summed up our American war efforts perfectly. Defending the “American way.”
As I took the picture, one of the soldiers [...]
Posted: July 28th, 2010 under Slush.
Comments: none
Its the perfect days that are most painful. Those days I get up and make breakfast for the girls…bacon and eggs and waffles sweetened wiith strawberries from the garden. The days at the park, teaching them tennis or letting them pelt me with water balloons. A small lunch as I listen to their impromptu songs, [...]
Posted: July 22nd, 2010 under Slush.
Comments: none
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 [...]
Posted: May 23rd, 2010 under Slush.
Comments: none
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, [...]
Posted: May 13th, 2010 under Slush.
Comments: none
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 [...]
Posted: May 3rd, 2010 under Slush.
Comments: none
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 [...]
Posted: April 20th, 2010 under Slush.
Comments: none
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 [...]
Posted: April 8th, 2010 under Slush.
Comments: none
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 [...]
Posted: March 16th, 2010 under Slush.
Comments: none
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 [...]
Posted: March 8th, 2010 under Slush.
Comments: none
My friend Felix Morelo moved back to NY to make his mark on the guerilla art scene. Check it out.
Posted: March 5th, 2010 under Slush.
Comments: none
(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 [...]
Posted: March 3rd, 2010 under Slush.
Comments: none
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 [...]
Posted: February 23rd, 2010 under Slush.
Comments: none
Posted: February 19th, 2010 under Slush.
Comments: none
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 [...]
Posted: February 19th, 2010 under Slush.
Comments: none
Standing on a snow-covered pond.
I leave the first and only footprints.
Validated. I wonder when they’ll melt.
Posted: February 16th, 2010 under Slush.
Comments: none
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 [...]
Posted: February 16th, 2010 under Slush.
Comments: none
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.
Posted: February 2nd, 2010 under Slush.
Comments: none
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 [...]
Posted: January 28th, 2010 under Slush.
Comments: none
I had a friend forward me this video by some local artists. I love it. It sticks in your head all day.
Posted: January 23rd, 2010 under Slush.
Comments: none
“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.
Posted: January 14th, 2010 under Slush.
Comments: none
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.
Posted: January 4th, 2010 under Slush.
Comments: none
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 [...]
Posted: January 4th, 2010 under Slush.
Comments: none
Sometimes the universe is an embryo.
Posted: January 4th, 2010 under Slush.
Comments: none
Walking in the park this week, I came across a wounded birch tree.
Perhaps Mother Nature has finally surrendered.
Posted: January 4th, 2010 under Slush.
Comments: none
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 [...]
Posted: January 4th, 2010 under Slush.
Comments: 1
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 [...]
Posted: January 4th, 2010 under Slush.
Comments: none
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…
Posted: January 4th, 2010 under Slush.
Comments: none
|
|