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. …
Tag: writing
Two Kinds of Spam
Having a blog means having to delete all sorts of “spam” messages every day. Many of them are written by online opportunists who, given their amusing misuse of English, make it almost worthwhile, reading the fractured remarks. Some of them are mildly insulting, while, of course, generalized in a way that equally misfits thousands of …
High, Wild, and Handsome
The boy showed up at the third-turn crossover gate in the coveralls he wore while racing his go-kart. The security guard recognized him and waved him across the track in the yellow ‘55 Chevy his dad had given him for his sixteenth birthday. Beau Farnsworth was feeling his oats, having won his 35-lap feature earlier …
High, Wild and Handsome, Part Five
Word spread quickly that the great, mysterious Beau Farnsworth had deigned to grace Charlotte Motor Speedway with his presence. It was approximately a quarter to five, and he hadn’t turned a lap since winning The Winston four days earlier. The veteran Billy Hargitson, winner of exactly one race in the previous decade, had dialed …
Still Not Carolina in My Mind
I don’t travel much any more, and I was a bit surprised at how much I enjoyed my recent nine-day sojourn through ten states. What I expected was that I’d have a wonderful time on the way out to the westernmost terminus, Gainesville, then get antsy and impatient on the way home. What surprised me …
Going on a Tour
Oh, what a busy day. I’m leaving on a long trip in the morning. I’ve got lots on the plate. I’ve got to visit some loved ones this afternoon because it got postponed Sunday, which is why I was cutting the grass yesterday. I’ve filed my monthly sales tax, balanced my accounts, paid pills, caught …
Facebook Friends, Part Three
Now I’ve learned / My lesson well / There’s a price to pay / For those who insist / To rebel / A man works hard / And tries to mend / All the cracks and dents of having / Facebook friends. What in hell was wrong? Driving typically was a pleasant experience for …
One of the Books I Wrote
Why did I write The Intangibles? The first motivation was that I wanted to communicate what it was really like in the South when schools were integrated. In the midst of problems we face as a society today, I wanted to provide some perspective into the times that molded the parents – and even the …
In Search of Some Subjects
Some days are diamonds. Some days are stone. Most, though, fall somewhere in between. Yesterday, for instance. Mostly I watched the NASCAR race from Talladega, Alabama, and that was functional because it diverted my attention from an excruciating Boston Red Sox loss. I was happy that the Chicago Blackhawks won. I’m really enjoying a book …
Facebook Friends, Part One
The world is changing / Always rearranging / From birth to the end / With my Facebook friends. It’s not that Jerry Lennart was against Facebook. He spent a goodly amount of wasted time on it. It wasn’t that it was worse than Twitter or whatever new flavor inevitably followed. It was that word that …
