page contents Google

GOOD TIMES GOING FORWARD

The good times ahead aren’t for everybody. They may not be for the people who voted for the good timing man. Getting on toward seventy this year, I expect to hear all about it. What’s it going to sound like going forward? You’ve heard it before:

YOUNG MEN LEARNING TO VOTE

Young men can do their own math on voting, but I’ll help: One man, one vote; one woman, one vote. You have one vote, bro, and it may not seem like much, but that’s what it is. One. Vote. Does it even matter enough to bother with? One vote may not seem like much, but […]

GUITAR PLAYERS OF THE PAST

My guitar friends say guitar players are the same from every era. Unlike current critics of the NBA who say past greats played against milkmen and plumbers and wouldn’t survive in today’s game, musicians from the past are just a request away. Or a documentary. I recently saw The Wrecking Crew.

MICRO MEMOIR II: LEAVING TOWN CHRISTMAS PARTY

Leaving town used to be easy, if I remember right. Pack a bag, get in a car, hop on bus, and leave. “I’ll be there in a few days.” Same story going out to Brooklyn as leaving:

LEAVING TOWN IN THE 70’S, A MICRO MEMOIR

When you say you’re leaving town for good it doesn’t start with a packed bag. You need to let the landlord know, the boss know, your friends. The best town I ever left was the Brooklyn borough of New York City. See ya, suckers.

TEFLON DON TO VELCRO DON

Teflon Don was the name given to John Gotti for his slipperiness with law enforcement. Nothing stuck. They had the old gangster right up until it mattered. But he didn’t fit the old gangster mold. The big guy worked another angle. For this post I use only the most impeccable sources.

MARRIED LIFE GOING LONG, LONGER, KEEP GOING

Married life seems long when you think how long you’ve been married. Then someone else says they’ve been married longer and calls you newly weds. Newly weds after thirty-seven years? That’s it? I keep it more basic: Every day has a first date feel. You remember first dates?

‘BACK HOME’ IS THE SADDEST PLACE

“Back home we don’t call it that.” Those are the words I overheard at Tapphoria. Two people at another table were going over things. They weren’t from here and the more they talked the more each mentioned their own ‘back home.’ I know homesick when I hear it.

DRAWING LINES TO LIVE BY?

Who is drawing lines to live by? Picasso did. Unfortunately, you’re no Picasso, I’m no Picasso, so why bother? We bother with lines and borders for a sense of control like, “Don’t go there, girlfriend.” The big Question Of The Day: Who draws borders when they’re on the same side of the line you’re on?

HOLDING GRUDGES TAKES A SPECIAL KIND OF STRENGTH

Holding grudges is a time honored tradition between races, religions, nations, and families. “We don’t like them.” “Why don’t we like them?” “Why would we?” This exchange gets played out between young and old, men and women, brothers and sisters. Eventually holding grudges turns into something completely different than how it started because no one […]