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HUSTLER MAN FAIL AT DINNER TABLE

I watched a hustler man work the magic one night at a dinner table. He was alone, wife out of town, with a few married couples. One woman caught his attention. Hustler: You seem very happy tonight.

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:

FART AROUND LIKE KURT VONNEGUT, IT’S GOOD FOR YOU

Fart around like you mean it: Kurt Vonnegut tells his wife he’s going out to buy an envelope: “Oh, she says, well, you’re not a poor man. “You know, why don’t you go online and buy a hundred envelopes and put them in the closet?“ And so I pretend not to hear her.

OREGON BLUES ON A FATHER / SON DAY

Oregon blues are a different blues. I blame the clouds. But no clouds on Waterfront Blues Festival Saturday, which is why I wore a rash-guard hoodie instead of layers of sunscreen. It was a no cloud Saturday awash in family time:

FEARFUL LIFE SOLUTIONS?

A fearful life is riding a NYC subway at night in the Seventies. This is what my ride looked like. I took the train from Brooklyn, up Manhattan, and over to Queens. It seemed like scary ride at night. Why the fear?

COLLEGE DANCE IN HIGH SCHOOL, 1972

A college dance had a special allure to high school kids. We were high school homers in 1972; the college was Southwestern Oregon Community College, or: SWOCC. The campus was in Coos Bay, Oregon, a city of mystery and sawdust. I’d never been to a college dance, but I was a high school junior and […]

LOVE LIFE WITH NO LOVE IN SIGHT?

A love life for rising generations comes with so many choices. And questions. With so many alternatives, some guys just give up. Then what?

GYM LADIES AT REST? NO, THEY NEVER REST

Do gym ladies miss the gym more than gym guys? They probably don’t miss gym guys as much as gym guys miss them. Taking a shot here. Why is that?

REAL THIRD PLACE LIVING SPACE

For a brief time I was an athlete with potential. I’d learned how to not get pinned in wrestling, how to lose by decision, how to win by decision, and finally how to stall to victory. It’s the last one people like referees didn’t understand. They hated it, told me to stay on the mat, […]

BABY BOOMER ALERT: YOU’RE OLD AND YOU CAN’T HIDE IT ANYMORE

A question for readers in the baby boomer demographic: when did you realize you can’t hide your age? Was it when you first made a skin tent on the back of your hand? The first dark spot that looked just like the one you remember on your grandma’s arm? When you noticed something going on […]