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Every life is rich in its own way. Whether we play out our lives on grand stages or small, all of us have fascinating stories to tell — of love won and lost, of adversity overcome or somehow accommodated, of triumphs and…

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As I write this, their burglar alarm has been disturbing the whole neighborhood for 40 of the last 45 minutes.

A dapper older gentleman with silver hair to match his necktie and a doublebreasted pinstriped blue blazer sang 'way off key in between growlingly exhorting his audience to catch the fervor. The audience ignored him in favor of their huge platefuls of delicious-looking food, served buffet-style.



Exiting the place, I wrote the last verse of a little gospel song of my own I'll finish by and by about a divorcing couple:



She stood up in court in her harlot's red blouse.

I… Continue

Right after the election, Our Worst President Ever appeared on TV to say he and Laura were looking forward to showing the Obamas the White House. After he made his statement, the camera remained on him as he turned and walked away. For a brief moment, the sag of his shoulders and the absence of anyone else in the picture made me feel sorry for him. But what a very brief moment!



In any event, I have composed and recorded a little song that attempts to express some small part of my… Continue

Not a week after the end of the presidential campaign, I'd have imagined myself pretty well inured to bullshit. Our first visit to Dia:Beacon, though, made me realize that no such thing was the case. As Claire and I walked around, considering the work of artists who, for the most part, lack perceptible skill, wit, or imagination, but who are absolutely bloated with audacity and pretentiousness, we found ourselves marveling ever more slack-jawedly at the laminated pages of curator commentary… Continue

Friends who were forcibly expelled from the CIA's short-lived Cuisine of the Third World program tell me that the RT's menu is likely to come to include bamya, kofta, basbusa, swarma, or kishk. I, for one, believe Beacon needs some good kishk, but not as much as the River Terrace needs a new sign. The present one is no less offensive in its own way (it's hideous!) than were McCain Palin lawn signs, and very much more enduring. Max on Main's branding could use some work too, if you ask me, and… Continue

3. The baristas at the Muddy Cup can be incredibly surly. Last week, a friend of mine, visiting from Tampa, went in one morning and nearly had her hot latte flung at her by the snarling young woman who'd deigned to make it. My wife Claire had a comparable experience the first time we ventured into the place, this past May. On neither occasion was the barista harried; there was no one else in the place! So far as I am able to ascertain, such shenanigans don't offend Charlene any more than they… Continue