Chest thumps spreading just like wildfire
An imaginary war grows
Yule-tide ornaments hang from every wire
But the outraged see only foes
Everybody knows that it’s Christmastime (more…)
Archive for the ‘Observations and Commentary’ Category
A Christmas Song
Posted: December 21, 2017 in Observations and CommentaryTags: brotherhood, Christmas, holidays, joy, peace, sisterhood, The Christmas Song, tolerance
who was that again?
Posted: October 2, 2017 in Observations and CommentaryTags: 2017, America, guns, Las Vegas, mass shootings, murder, shooting, society
Not so very long ago Americans knew who Charles Whitman was. On August 1, 1966, Charles Whitman shot 46 people from the 27th floor of the University of Texas Tower in Austin. Fifteen died. It shocked the country. The following week the cover of Life magazine was a sobering photograph of the UT Tower through a window with two bullet holes. The shooting was so horrifying and unique that the two major wire news organizations (more…)
lost
Posted: June 28, 2017 in Observations and Commentary, TrasklandTags: adventure, America, car, Deliverance, drive, lost, Oklahoma, technology, Texas, Traskland
Many years ago, I was traveling from Dallas, Texas to Norman, Oklahoma. It was the familiar interstate route, a straight shot north. It was also dull and repetitive, so I decided to hop onto the local roads and find my way across the state border at a new unknown spot, a pioneer in a Plymouth Fury. The Texas blacktop led me through small cow towns where experience told me my New Jersey accent would not be an asset. I double-checked my fuel gauge to ensure I could make it into Oklahoma without (more…)
the keg is tapped
Posted: November 16, 2016 in Observations and CommentaryTags: America, election, life, politics, presidency, Trump
Holy shit, nobody saw that coming. Forget about the blindsided pundits and the humiliated pollsters. You know the president-elect, his advisors, family, and many ardent supporters were also shocked. Let’s face it, you don’t froth at the mouth about a rigged election before the actual election if you expect to win. It is interesting to wonder what thoughts lumbered through Donald Trump’s head last Tuesday night as the results poured in. On a purely instinctive level he must have been elated; he had to be. Seriously, what better way to (more…)
tightrope
Posted: November 6, 2016 in Observations and CommentaryTags: America, democracy, election, harmony, life, politics, vote
Thankfully, Election Day is almost here. The mood is such that by now Tuesday could arrive accompanied by bushels of chocolate covered strawberries, truckloads of bouquets, puppies and kittens for all, the Rockettes, and cures for every known communicable disease – and it still wouldn’t be more welcome than it already is.
During this exhausting year we have all suffered through relentlessness, excessive levels of hate, dismissiveness, abuse, moral and intellectual superiority, highhanded behavior, lies, and degradation. Our anxiety is (more…)
beautiful
Posted: October 8, 2016 in Observations and CommentaryTags: election, politics, Trump, women
So The Washington Post got their hands on an 11 year old recording of Donald Trump where he casually talks about women as if they were his personal playthings. Is anyone surprised? If you have paid the least bit of attention to this man since he slithered into the public eye this can only be completely expected. Say what you want about his “evolving” political positions. This is the one area in his life where he has been remarkably consistent, perhaps only matched by his desire for wealth and status. If this tape shocked you…well, I’m sorry for your shock, but glad you have finally seen the truth. (more…)
wading through the muck
Posted: September 29, 2016 in Observations and CommentaryTags: election, information, life, modern life, overload, society
Are you familiar with the concept of “analysis paralysis?” It essentially means decisions and actions are delayed (or never made) because the situation is too complicated or over-analyzed and the choices seem infinite. The search for perfection is often a factor. We all know perfection, aside from ice cream on a warm summer night, never happens. Yet we still strive for it. But when we are bombarded with too much data, when it is relentless and unyielding, it is nearly impossible to (more…)
no matter how hard you try
Posted: September 11, 2016 in Observations and CommentaryTags: 9/11, life, memory, New York, NYC
Fall 1979
No matter how hard you try, you will never forget that day. You will never forget how the news emerged one piece at a time, slowly at first, and then with a rapidity which was impossible to digest. You will never forget the faces and reactions of the people you were with, disbelief which turned to gasps then to tears then to sobs. You will never forget that the world you occupied, the one a few miles north of the horror, stood absolutely still. You will never forget how (more…)
a new york story
Posted: August 8, 2016 in Observations and Commentary, PhotographyTags: life, love, Manhattan, New York, photo, Photography
Late morning I arrived on the northbound train at Penn Station. The goal was to wander wherever and take photos. I walked the Highline from 30th St. to 14th St., then meandered (cause that what I was doing, serious meandering) through the gentrified old meat packing district and West Village. Here and there I took some lackluster shots. But the day was gorgeous, temps in the low 80’s with (more…)
Trask Avenue 
2017: the year that wasn’t
Posted: January 1, 2018 in Observations and CommentaryTags: 2017, 2018, America, expectations, life, society, Tom Petty
Man, the years keep on keeping on, don’t they? It seems like just yesterday when 2016 exploded into 2017 and the prospect of the new year brought with it an impending sense of doom which lurked just around the corner of January and 20th. We use “impending” as a harbinger, a warning that it is time to prepare for bad, bad juju because it will soon be spewing from every crevice and pore. One does not think of an impending ice cream cone or an impending night out at the cinema. No sir. Impending is saved for the serious shit – an impending (more…)