Some miscreants have been spray-painting penises on the streets of our neighborhood. The Facebook reactions have been interesting. Some decry vandalism and the harmful effects on children who may pedal by. Others see vibrant guerrilla art, part of the rich tapestry of life in a supremely chill neighborhood. I’m somewhere in the middle. Not really vandalism, since nothing is broken. And I doubt it’s going to corrupt […]
Not throwing away
my shot
Whenever I go to a Wal-Mart, I am reminded that whatever you save there in dollars you eventually surrender in dignity. But it happened to be the first place with available appointments for the Covid vaccine, so my vigilant wife arose early and booked it online. When I arrived at the appointed hour, a number of lines had already formed at the understaffed pharmacy counter. In the […]
February fugue
In Barry Levinson’s 1990 movie “Avalon,” there’s a scene where the aging patriarch sits down in his easy chair in front of the TV. The camera remains stationary, but there’s a slow cross-fade, and at the end of it we see that several years have passed. The old guy is in the same chair, still watching TV, but he has gotten much older. He hasn’t moved, but […]
None the wiser
Hard times need good songs. The Great War had “Over There.” The Great Depression had “Brother Can You Spare a Dime.” World War II had “We’ll Meet Again.” And now, with Covid-19 roaring back, it feels like we need an anthem too. I nominate “Wise Up,” by Aimee Mann. The song came back to me yesterday, just after I canceled the family vacation rental I’d booked for […]
The shit keeps coming
‘Well, that was some weird shit.” President George W. Bush’s reaction to Trump’s 2017 inauguration speech was apt then and describes pretty well everything Trump has done since. Weird shit indeed! It never ends, does it? Last night (July 3) at Mount Rushmore, Trump was reveling in dystopian fantasies of culture war and forced-perspective photographs suggesting his own smirking visage would look pretty good chiseled alongside the […]
Unmasked annoyance
I used to not mind grocery shopping. But now every trip to the store involves a certain amount of resentment and homicidal rage. That’s one more effect of the pandemic: It makes me uncomfortable with my thoughts. Here in Jacksonville, the Republican mayor has finally decided that maybe masks aren’t so bad after all, and recently announced a citywide requirement that masks must be worn in any […]
Two steps back
For us, the pandemic started March 13. We went out for pizza. No masks then, but no hugs or handshakes either. Seated well apart. Talking about the coronavirus, I opined that we might get together again in a month or so, when things eased up. I thought we’d have a clearer picture on how long this thing might last. More than three months later, a clearer picture […]
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