In the first paragraph of Deacon King Kong by James McBride, the title character, aka Cuffy “Sportcoat” Lambkin, shoots a young drug dealer on the plaza of a public housing project where they both live in 1969 New York City. The surprise is that a story with such a gritty opening turns out to be a genuine, feel-good, … Continue reading Deacon King Kong, a review
This morning I read an article about Mark and Patricia McCloskey, the couple who recently came outside their mansion to brandish loaded guns at peacefully demonstrating Black Lives Matter activists who were marching by on a public street. They claim they needed to do this; they were defending their house. The current Republican Party leadership … Continue reading Protecting Our Hives
It was pointed out to me in recent years that the Catholic Church has seven sacraments for men but only six for women. I already knew that, but I had never thought it about it in quite that way before. For all you non-Catholics out there, sacraments are sacred rituals to mark initiations, milestones, and … Continue reading Ordination
Fall On Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald is a larger than life story, a convoluted tale of family secrets and lies. At least three times in the novel the action occurs in clumps, and over the course of a few days or even a single night, there is more family melodrama than all of Shakespeare’s … Continue reading Fall On Your Knees, a book review
I wrote and published this piece six years ago, shortly after the death of a close friend. I came across it this week, and honestly, I'd forgotten that I wrote this as a Christmas meditation. The idea of surprise is becoming a theme for me this December. Life deals us all some pretty unpleasant surprises … Continue reading Loving Harvey: some Christmas musings
This is a true story. It happened several years ago, when I was still working full time. It was early on a Saturday morning when I set out with a long list of errands. First up: go to the ATM for cash so I could do the other errands! As I walked across the parking … Continue reading grace: a surprise from the universe
Varina is a beautiful book, because Charles Frazier writes some of the most beautiful, lyrical sentences of any author writing prose today. His words force the reader to slow down and savor every lovely description, to open oneself to the metaphors and allegories hidden within. And yet, the book made me uncomfortable. I don’t know … Continue reading Varina by Charles Frazier, a review
The prompt for this one was "nature's tranquilizer." This is where it led. I had one of those nights when I thought I couldn’t sleep, when I thought my mind was turning over and over again a tired thought, a hazy dream, and then I rolled over, mumbling and wondering why I couldn’t rest, and … Continue reading Dia De Los Muertos
My home town Sacramento has been in the news more often than usual lately. We received a lot of positive press when Greta Gerwig started filming her movies right here in our front yards. The Oscar-nominated Ladybird, and her earlier work Frances Ha, both included scenes filmed right down the street from where I live! … Continue reading Say His Name
I have not been the most consistent blogger in the world. If there’s anyone out there paying attention this is not such a big surprise. My last post was over a year ago. In that episode, I announced that my poor old sweet-faced kitty Angel was dying of cancer. I got all philosophical and weepy … Continue reading Greetings Blogosphere!
