The Life in My Years

An anthology of life

“That’s not who we are,” said the politician. It may have been a member of Congress, a governor or a local sheriff. Certainly I’ve heard Barack Obama say it. “That’s not who we are.” That statement of denial, a far too late attempt to pick up the shattered and scattered pieces of our national reputation, …

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Welcome back my friends to the show that never endsWe’re so glad you could attend,come inside, come insideThere behind a glass stands a real blade of grassBe careful as you pass, move along, move along* *Karn Evil 9.Keith Emerson, Greg Lake, Peter Sinfield. A forecast of sunny and bright weather belies my mood this morning. …

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16, October, 2024Munich has been dank and gloomy throughout our visit. It’s the risk the traveler runs when choosing to vacation in autumn. It’s part of the trade off; you’ll take dodging raindrops in exchange for dodging the hordes of travelers. The irony of being a traveler and wanting to avoid the hordes of my …

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It was an unusually large crowd at the Oakland Coliseum on the final day of the Oakland Athletics home season. Some came for the love of baseball. Some came as fans of the team. Others came to pass a sunny afternoon at the ball yard. The rest? The rest was most of the crowd, and …

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“Do they see the lethal insanity of a race to the brink of oblivion, and then over the edge? Apparently not. If they did, surely they wouldn’t be racing to begin with.”― Stephen King, The Dark Tower Disclosure: This past June, I left the Democratic Party and registered as an Independent. I have no intention …

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You can always recognize the road warrior by looking at his arms. The right one, the one that rests on the center console is pale. The left one, the one that rests on the frame of the open window is weather beaten and bronze. October 15th, 2022The morning sun leaps angrily off the concertina wire …

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October 14th, 2022I’m on a one night layover in Prison Town, USA. No, I’m not staying in a 6 x 8 concrete studio, courtesy of the great State of California. I am a less than satisfied guest of the Super 8 Motel, in Susanville, California. It ain’t all that super but we’ll leave the details …

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I declared my Independence last Monday. That is, I resigned from the Democratic Party and registered as an Independent. For years, usually after another Dem disappointment, the idea of leaving the party would cross my mind, but it was a combination of my own laziness and the reality that, as an Independent, I wouldn’t be …

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There’s a scene in an episode of the drama/comedy, The Bear, in which Sydney, the young sous chef, knocks on the papered over glass door of the restaurant that she and her partner and crew have been remodeling – just a simple makeover, really. She’s spent the day bouncing around Chicago, visiting various restaurants, sampling …

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It shouldn’t have come as a surprise that the six right wingnuts on the Supreme Court would pave an autobahn towards autocracy, closing out the SCOTUS session and in effect, closing out the scattered remains of democracy. The timing was both ironic and convenient. Ironic in that SCOTUS issued its decision shit canning the whole …

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