About four years ago, I wrote a song called "Stuck in a Rut." A couple weeks ago, I decided to expand it into a short story. I wrote it and posted it in seven installments. Here's the whole story of Josie Swenson and Tripp Fallaw, at least for a week. It was a Thursday, but …
Tag: beer
Left to My Own (Poetic) Devices
“Love your liver with Liverite Liver Aid.” I just saw that on TV, right after, “Carolina. Duke. The rivalry continues.” That’s a juxtaposition. It’s about as juxtaposed as it gets. Why would Liverite be placed right after a basketball promo? Was it a matter of some programmer just popping in – or whatever they do …
Stuck in a Rut, Part One
This is an extension of a song I wrote. It was a Thursday, but she didn’t have a class until eleven on Friday, and then she had to go to Lake Murray to spend the weekend with the family, and next week was Spring Break, so Josie Swenson didn’t see any reason she couldn’t have …
Phases and Stages
I’m going through a phase. It’s not numbered. It wasn’t “phased in.” It’s not a change of life. It’s decades past puberty and, I hope, a good deal ahead of dementia. I’m probably the last person on earth who would declare it maturity, a concept about which I have been in denial since it seemed …
Winnowing Out the Bad Words
Every writer makes a transition in which he goes from being bold and erratic to precise and accurate. I don’t mean facts. It’s the words, stupid. It used to be the economy back before it became a football to be tossed back and forth between political parties. Everyone has memories that cause shudders of regret. …
World Is Crazy, Wrong Reason
Occasionally I hear someone ask, “Why should marijuana be legal?” It seems obvious the question should be, “Why shouldn’t it?” The status quo is more stupid than the Vietnam War, and it didn’t cost us 58,000-and-something lives. It definitely cost us 58,000-and-something happy lives. It’s equally as stupid as Prohibition, and marijuana, as President Obama …
Latest Tale of the Wild, Wild South
I do a lot of sighing lately. It’s against the law, at least in most places, to smoke in bars. I’m okay with that. There’s a part of me that thinks it’s sort of strange that, in a place people come to drink, they can’t smoke. I’m sort of a “life is fatal” adherent. I …
The Stupor Bowl
God. I’m glad I’ve got stuff to do. It’s Super Bowl Sunday. The game doesn’t begin till sometime long after 6:30, which is when it allegedly starts on TV, which isn’t the same as when the game starts. The game will take an abnormally long time, but it’s a drag race compared to the pregame …
Suddenly Crazy for Coffee
I’d hate to face the barren waste without a cup of coffee. Hot, black, coffee (coffee). I apologize for besmirching the reputation of the Sons of the Pioneers and, for that matter, water. Cool, clear, water (water). For the majority of my life, I didn’t drink coffee. Then I started drinking it on those rare …
The Height of Stupidity
Could we talk about … weed?Look, it can be bad for you. I’ve known people who have smoked entirely too much marijuana. I’ve known people who have drunk entirely too much liquor. (Drinking too much beer is a little harder, but it happens.)The alcoholics were much worse off.At this point, the argument sometimes morphs into …
Nightrider's Lament 