Lord of the Dance In 48 hours I will be arriving in Shannon, Ireland, gathering up a gaggle of family and friends (19 to be exact) and we will drive in two rented 9-passenger vans and one 4-passenger car the three hours to Westcove, where we have a peaceful and large (operative word is large…as in sleeps 26) manor house and grounds on the Ring of Kerry, right on a lovely cove that looks…
Boyled in Love Kim is a member of SAG/AFTRA through some obscure back-door caused by her long membership in Actor’s Equity. She was in an Italian film starring Daryl Hannah (the movie was called Ole!), but that episode didn’t figure into the equation. What did figure in was paying several thousands of dollars for the back dues for initiation or whatever it was. I remember the discussion about it at the time and we…
Too Much, Too Often, Too Funny I have a problem. I over-communicate. I talk too much I’m sure, but what I really do too much is write. It takes form in all aspects of my life, both personal and business. Self awareness is a good thing, but recognition without solution may not be all that valuable. Not that many of the people I run with are in Wikipedia, but I am. It states a number…
Wake Up, Maggie, I Think I Got Something to Say to You It was late September, 1978 and Steve really thought he should be back at school. He could collect his books and get on back to school. Or steal his daddy’s cue and make a living out of playing pool. Or find himself a rock ‘n’ roll band that needed a helping hand. If that reminds you of Rod Stewart, it’s not coincidental. …
Victimized Resentment Why does a person choose a path in life that places themselves as a pitiful victim? We humans are always prone to a bit of self-pity. We never completely feel we get our due and the strange thing is that when we do get good things, we ignore the balancing aspect of all that and reinforce our view that we deserve to get more than we do, when, in fact, we may…
Father’s Day Blues I have three children who are all grown and out of the house at this point. This is the last Father’s Day when they know for sure I am in the neighborhood, as we have been planning to move to Sam Diego in about eight months. I’m sure we will be back regularly and I will probably even try to be back for Father’s Day. For one reason or another I have…
The World Can Use a Guy Like You Yesterday, I was getting my hair cut at my favorite $17 Albanian/Uzbeki barbershop on Broadway. I was in a spaced-out frame-of-mind, given my long day of transatlantic travel, followed immediately by a movie birthday party for my granddaughter and her dad. They were showing that 1985 classic, Back to the Future. I got to see the flux capacitor go from needing plutonium to generate 1.21 Gigawatts of…
Sideshow What is the main event of one’s life? I think we would all have a hard time not agreeing that it is love. And that means that the love we give not the love we get. As the saying goes, think about loving, not being loved. If we would all agree to that, why is there so much hatred all around us? The obvious reason is that how we express our love is…
PYO Years ago I found some prints done by an artist that concentrated on old barns and clouds. I liked the barn prints, but I loved the cloud prints. There are few things I like as much as a big sky. It may be what appeals to me most about being out west. I guess because there are fewer trees and small hills, there always seems to be a big sky. Lately I have realized…
23 Skidoo You can always tell when a cartoon character is about to run off-screen. The music speeds up and then ends with some flourish. I always think of Snagglepuss saying with an affected accent, “exit, stage left!” And off he would go with the waggle of a leg and yo-dee-do-do. Since the turn of the last century, both 23 and skidoo or skedaddle, meant to get out while the getting was good. 23 is…