Category: Wheedle in my Rearview
Sat 29 Sep 2007
I was raised to be rational, encouraged to dissect and debunk the mysterious. Wait. Let me re-phrase that. I was raised to think of myself as rational, encouraged to dissect and debunk the mysterious beliefs held by other people. Jehovah’s Witnesses have this self-image which positions them as the lone scholars in a benighted world [...]
Mon 17 Sep 2007
1: Co-Worker, Early Thursday Morning “Over in Longmeadow, some buddies and me useta have a poker game. We played on the last Friday of every month, at the house of the former Chief of Police, no less! One of our co-workers was a Black guy, and the first time we invited him, we had to [...]
Wed 5 Sep 2007
I’m having a lot of nightmares recently, but not nightmares about falling from a great height or showing up at the office without my pants on. Actually, they’re less like traditional nightmares and more like scenes from florid Spanish-language soap operas: upsetting and awkward confrontations with old friends, deeply inappropriate interludes with former lovers, always [...]
Thu 23 Aug 2007
ANOTHER THING THAT IS DIFFERENT ABOUT MASSACHUSETTS Anybody remember the book “Less Than Zero“? The 1986 breakout novel by Bret Easton Ellis (later of “American Psycho“ notoriety) depicted four weeks in the lives of a bunch of rich Los Angeles kids trying to drown out their existential despair with cocaine, fast cars, and various forms [...]
Wed 22 Aug 2007
During a brief stint volunteering in a hospice, I was witness to a whole range of extreme and unpredictable human behavior. As far as I was concerned, folks who were in the last stages of a terminal illness were entitled to be cranky when I raised the bed up too high or spilled a bedpan [...]
Sun 19 Aug 2007
Washington, DC to Agawam, MA Too many words; just ask Jeff Lageson. Back about 20 years ago, Jeff kindly sent me a book of his poetry. I responded with a scathing written critique of his work in which I enumerated every ill-considered metaphor and misplaced comma. My response was not only pompous and sorta mean-spirited, [...]
Thu 16 Aug 2007
Washington, D.C. Friday morning we woke up at the Washington, D.C. Courtyard Marriott, rested and prepared to embark on our D.C. Museum Marathon, but there was one bit of business we had to take care of first. We definitely wanted to take pictures, but the batteries in my camera were dead. Also, we wanted to [...]
Tue 14 Aug 2007
Cleveland, OH to Washington, D.C. Thursday morning we woke up early and, with no Panera in sight, contented ourselves with breakfast in the Holiday Inn restaurant. Apparently, I hadn’t made too much of a scene the previous night with my repeated demands for a “REAL Lemon Drop – not just vodka with a lemon slice!” [...]
Thu 9 Aug 2007
Chicago, IL to Cleveland, OH EDITOR’S NOTE: Obviously, Max and Robin did a fine job maintaining this blog yesterday, but let’s be clear: This is MY blog. As of now, I am seizing the reins. Unless I get tired again, in which case I’ll make Max do it. Robin and I have this game we [...]
Wed 8 Aug 2007
Onalaska, WI to Chicago, IL EDITOR’S NOTE: After staying up until 3:30AM writing this blog two nights ago, I told Max he had to write today’s post. Amazingly, he agreed to do just that. Following is Mr. Max’s summation of Day 5: As of now, I sit typing this in a cozy, modestly adorned urban [...]
