For some reason, April 8th has been a date that has stuck out in my mind like a sore thumb. I’ve never quite had a great handle on why this is the case. There are certain inherent numeric properties to…
Tag: But the Past Isn’t Done with Us
I Got Your April Right Here
A first day – no joke. A joke in the bathroom. A dental visit. A decision: no anesthesia. A walk home. A phone call, somewhere between banter and the most important decisions of our lives. A poker game, where a…
Chaos (Theory?)
Authorities revealed Tuesday that a man carrying a loaded shotgun was arrested in January near the U.S. Capitol, and explosives left in his truck nearby went undetected for three weeks. –CNN/AP, 26 March 2008 If we all comprehended all that…
What’s in a Year?
Wait near the end of September. Wait for some stars to show. Try so hard not to remember what all empty playgrounds know: that sympathy is cruel. Reluctant jester or simpering fool. But six feet off the highway, our bare…
The Wheels on the Bus Fall Off and Off
Did you feel that? Monday was sort of cruising along and everything was going pretty swimmingly. Then morning became afternoon and soon, the day hit a wall like so many bugs catching up to a speeding automobile windshield. Wham. And…
It’s Always Tuesday
It’s 4:30 A.M. on a Tuesday It doesn’t get much worse than this In beds in little rooms in buildings in the middle of these lives which are completely meaningless -Counting Crows, “Perfect Blue Buildings” I have 20 minutes to…
The Noon Gun
I grew up with stories of “When Daddy was a little boy…”, tales of my father’s childhood lived across adventures from Nevada to DC to Afghanistan to Korea. The preferred setting for these narratives had to be the streets of…
I Ain’t Gonna Work on Maggie’s Farm No More
I have yet to see “I’m Not There,” allegedly a very good film about the many sides of Bob Dylan. And maybe “I’m Not There” is all the message one needs. I have written so much about being there or…
Be There Then: 2007 in Review
2007, I miss you already. I don’t often do full-scale year-in-review pieces, but I have always enjoyed reading them. In particular, my work-friend Pete’s 2007 in review was particularly striking to me. I liked his idea of top ten moments…
Snow Chance
It’s the last day of the year called 2007. I am the last one awake in a cabin at Shaver Lake, California. Most all of the Garin Clan is here, save one component family. It is late, and there are…