-
“IT DON’T MEAN I DON’T”
It has been 71 years and three months since I last saw Miss Maxwell, my eighth grade teacher. That period has passed with little lament from your old essayist. For most of the boys in Miss Maxwell’s eighth grade class, I think it would be fair to say that if the lamentable and regrettable period…
-
FOUL TIPS
In a recent essay entitled “Passed Balls and Wild Pitches,” I recorded three incidents that were really gaffs that have marked my life in recent years. In this essay I will continue the baseball metaphors by using the title of “Foul Tips.” Passed balls and wild pitches ordinarily have an impact on the outcome of…
-
SO BP HAS IGNORED GRUBER’S LAW
The title suggests that there are two principles involved in this humble essay. The first is, of course, British Petroleum (BP), an organization that is now hip deep or chest deep in grave trouble. The second principle is the dermatologist named Gruber, whom you will come to know before this essay is finished. Taking the…
-
SEND IN THE CLOWNS
Steven Sondheim is a magnificent composer of music. A few years back he wrote a Broadway play called “A Little Night Music.” The most prominent song in the play “A Little Night Music” is called “Send in the Clowns.” I will not bother you with the full lyrics but I must tell you that the…
-
GIVING A (Insert Adjective) RAT’S ASS
In 1942, we were at war with the Axis powers of Germany, Italy, and Japan. In the summer of that year, I joined or enlisted in the American Army. During that period dating back to 1940, there was a draft system in place which compelled young men to submit to military discipline in, most likely,…
-
GRUBER’S LAW
I suspect that by this time every American must have an idea of the enormity of the oil spill that is taking place in the Gulf of Mexico. The spill is of such proportions that we should consider it before long a cataclysmic event. All of which brings me to “Gruber’s Law” that I would…
-
WHEN IT IS ASS-KICKING TIME ALONG THE POTOMAC
My efforts recently have been consumed by writing a song, which is the title of this essay. Sometimes the song seems to be a lullaby and at other times it becomes a dirge. But with the President now in the ass-kicking mode, perhaps it becomes a march or a patriotic song, such as “America the…
-
A PROUD SAXON
From January 1936 until January of 1940, it was my duty to attend the Clayton High School in pursuit of a diploma. At that time, Georgia Walker was the director of vocal music. George Best was the director of instrumental music. For the four years that I attended Clayton High School, one of the mainstays…
-
OH SAY CAN YOU SEE…
According to historical facts, this country declared its independence from the English monarchy some 235 years ago. But judging from the comments about a wedding taking place on Friday of this week, it would be hard to discern that we were at last free of the constraints of the English monarchy. From what I can…