"Why do they [write] for their money? Why do they [work] for short pay? They ain't getting nowhere and they're losing their share. They must have gone crazy back there." — Michael Burton (paraphrased)
Clinton, South Carolina, Tuesday, February 14, 2017, 11:45 a.m. It’s closing in on noon, and my chief accomplishment is half-watching Polly Bergen play the first woman president in a movie made in 1964. Also, I prepared and consumed breakfast, and delved deeply into the latest doings of Twitter and Facebook. As is the case 99 …
Continue reading Something About Nothing, or, Some Things About No Things
Clinton, South Carolina, Friday, January 20, 2017, 11:47 a.m. The new president is about to take office. In a moment, I’m going to listen to what he has to say. I’m not going to write about politics. It has left me weary. I hope for the best. Instead, I’m going to write about something frivolous. …
I've had much to think of, and yet I've learned gradually that I'm living in a world that seldom thinks. It tweets. It texts. It posts. It links. It sinks. But it seldom thinks. It's turnt af. Nowumsayin? Saturday was unexpected. I was pecking away at something at least as nonsensical as this when …
I try to learn something, even while I am watching TV, where it is difficult. Last week I was working, just as I am now, while the House Committee on Damning the Democrats was in session, and I found something in its chairman, Trey Gowdy, with which I could relate. Every time I play my …
I’m sentimental at times. In 1983, when my baseball hero, Carl Yastrzemski, said farewell to Boston and trotted around the perimeter of the Fenway Park field shaking hands, I cried when I watched the video. I never felt more stupid. It was a highlights video of Yaz’s career, and I didn’t expect to cry. Watching …
SEVEN YEARS IF IT’S A DAY The walk down to the mailbox wasn’t far, but it was hilly. The right knee, operated on so long ago, was wearing out again, and there wasn’t a damn thing Riley Mansfield could do about it. He now understood what was meant by the term “trick knee.” One morning, …
I just made a difficult decision. I passed up an opportunity to watch Captain Phillips. It won’t air again until Friday. You see, I don’t play the record/save/watch later game. I don’t watch Netflix, either. I know that seems silly, but I think there’s a place for retro, not to mention protecting me from myself. …
Baseball is relaxing. It’s not relaxing when the Red Sox are playing the Yankees. It’s not relaxing in extra innings or when there’s a no-hitter in the late ones. Most of the time, watching it is relaxing, though. This cannot be said of football or basketball or hockey. On Monday, the Red Sox were …
Political correctness. You’d think it was something new. Talented writers were blacklisted by Hollywood during the 1950s because they had dabbled in radicalism, mostly when they were much younger. The agency that runs the prisons is called the Department of “Corrections.” It may be the “pisser” or the “shitter,” but, officially, it’s the “restroom.” Cousin …
Nightrider's Lament 