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In memory of Tim Curry
When I tell people I worked in the entertainment industry, I think they assume I rubbed elbows with a lot of famous people. I did. But not the way you, or they, might think. I was a computer programmer for most of my career. The “talent” – which was the way we referred to people…
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Goodbye Jackie
For almost a week now, I have been struggling to write about Jackie, a bald eagle that lived in a nest with a live webcam trained on it 24/7 high above Big Bear Lake, California, in the mountains just north of me. You see, she died last Monday, and I have been profoundly sad. There…
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More Than This
Ok. I know how ridiculous this is going to sound. And I don’t believe in this sort of thing. But this really happened. Really. There is always a rational explanation for these things. But I never found one. And sat here today, 37 years later, I still haven’t. As an undergraduate, I attended the California…
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Clear the Shelters
August is not just the month I irrationally believe the universe has it in for me. It is also the month of the nationwide Clear the Shelters event. Shelter pets are very near and dear to my heart – and I’ll tell you why: they saved my life! Since becoming ill, and retiring to the…
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This is not what it looks like!
Throughout my career, I can honestly say I never dipped my pen in the company ink, if you get my meaning. I came close, once, at a Christmas party, with a recordist from the Sunset-Gower lot, but some friends realized I was making a total ass of myself and intervened. I was really drunk. I…
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What the f**k do you want?
People love to talk about the time they met [insert_name_of_famous_person_here]. My mom had a story about running into Jerry Lewis at an ice cream parlor she told for years. And given where I worked, I had plenty of “sightings,” if you want to call them that, but for me they were just another day at…
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One Ringy Dingy
I often if not always tell the story of my working life as the heartwarming rags-to-riches tale of the boy who left the seminary, got a job in the entertainment industry as a secretary, and retired 17 years later (for health reasons) as a facilities, logistics, and infrastructure vice president. And while that is true,…
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This is a raid!
When I wore a younger man’s clothes, Martin, Paul, and I were the three musketeers; we had all been Franciscans and Catholic seminarians studying for the priesthood, but after college found ourselves an unlikely posse. Martin was a high school principal – black and overweight, Paul was in federal law enforcement – quite muscular and…
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Brain Surgery
A man walks into a party. Guests are milling around. There is a low hum from the combined conversations of the partygoers, and over it can be heard some faint music. I think it is “Songbird” by Kenny G. Yah, it is. I’d know that song anywhere. Remember 1987? You couldn’t get away from it. …
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Sometimes I lie
Last week, I was having a conversation with the esteemed director of my residence here at Stonewall Gardens Assisted Living in my apartment, me seated, her standing in my open doorway. Under normal circumstances, I think the world of Brittany – she is intelligent, experienced, professional yes, but perhaps more importantly she is kind, compassionate,…
Your mileage may vary.