I learned yesterday that a fairly recent acquaintance had died. He was 15 years younger than me, and found dead in his bed. He had joined our contradance group this year, so was in better than average health. This sort of event generally leads to sober thoughts. But, why? Lloyds…
Rod Blogojevich is not a big fish by any means. Most of the big fish remain nameless and free, according to Frank Rich of the NYT: What went down in the Land of Lincoln is just the reductio ad absurdum of an American era where both entitlement and corruption have…
You'd never know that there was an energy crisis in South St. Louis, based on the extravagant use of Christmas lighting. My family and I walked through one neighborhood that pushed the envelope even further than the usual level of extravagance, drawing dozens of cars. The tradition is apparently to…
As a writer, I've discovered over the years that surroundings contribute. I can't begin to explain how, but the space you inhabit in which to create matters. I rearranged my own office several times before I finally got it "right" to produce work. So I thought it cool to discover…
Not all social positions are equally defensible. Thus, a good journalist will call out injustice and bigotry, rather than simply nodding his or her head out of "respect" for all opinions that an interviewee cares to serve up. That's the thought I was thinking as I watched Jon Stewart conducting…