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Orange please
I have already told you of how my life of crime was over before it began thanks to an ill-fated attempt to steal a flashing orange traffic barricade in the dead of night with a bunch of friends when we were teenagers. But that was not my only brush with the law. In my 30s,…
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From Madeleines to Saltines
My first encounter with Marcel Proust was not academic, or even literary. As a teenager, I was obsessed with Monty Python, which I’d come to know through a dedicated, bordering on religious, listening to Dr. Demento every Sunday night on 94.7 KMET (“the Mighty Met”), at the time the most listened-to Sunday evening radio program…
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A plug for Matt
Modern life is nothing less than amazing. Take a look around the room you’re sat in right now. You are surrounded by more technology than accompanied Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins to the moon! I think that is remarkable. But one thing that is undeniable is these wonderous things which make our lives…
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Directing Traffic
“Hollywood” as an industry goes through cycles. Of course, you have the big studios which each have the facilities to complete an entire television show or film “in house.” But economic conditions sometimes dictate outsourcing to specialty studios that can often provide work at a more cost-effective price point. It was during one of these…
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I am not weird
For years, I thought I was weird. You see, I go to bed between 9 and 10 o’clock in the evening, wake up in the middle of the night (actually the early morning – between 1 and 2 am), I am wide awake till roughly 4 am, and then I go back to bed and…
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The Penguin Lessons
Last March, I wrote a movie review here. I mentioned how I tend to steer clear of recommending movies (or tv shows, or albums, or books) because I realize that tastes vary and what I think is good you might regard as rubbish, and vice versa. I could tell you my favorite tv show right…
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Rock of Ages
This is the story of a rock. Not a metaphorical rock. And we could argue whether the rock would more accurately be called a stone, or a boulder. And I just made a note in my journal to write a post in the future about rocks, stones, and boulders, specifically the characteristics of each and…
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Never a truer friend was there
I have a friend who is going to die shortly. I know this not because of his diagnosis or some prescience on my part. I know it because in light of his diagnosis he has made the choice to end his life using the California EOLOA – the California End of Life Option Act –…
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Books for Looks
In my apartment, I have a small credenza sitting under a window that faces north and offers me a stunning view of San Gorgonio Mountain, which, at 11,500 ft., is the tallest mountain in Southern California. On the credenza sits a plant, a photo of Gordon, a tchotchke, a Mexican ironwood (the Olneya tesota tree…
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Cotillion
As a young boy I showed little interest in the things boys generally show interest in. But if there was one thing I was fascinated by, it was kitchens – the cupboards, the appliances, the counters. While Chris, and Dave, and Brock were out riding skateboards, I was usually in my mom’s kitchen. I would…
Your mileage may vary.