I was born in San Jose, California, to a sailor in the Navy and a WAVE. Both are proud Vietnam vets. When I was one, we moved to Norfolk, Virginia. My brother was born two years later, both of us having been conceived during the Thanksgiving week while my dad was back from sea. That same year we moved to Patuxtent River, Maryland where we lived for four more years. In 1980, my dad retired and we moved to Gassaway, West Virginia, to a 120 year old farm house on 76 acres, in the middle of...

I broke down yesterday in Sam's Club. Not mentally, mind you, but financially. I bought the new offering from Norah Jones, Feels like Home. Yet another masterpiece. After immersing my mind and my soul in the warming springs of her and her band's smooth musicality I have become even more displeased with modern mainstream music. I particularly direct my ire at "music" that seems to get pushed at me from my television set, from such used car salesmen as MTV and VH1 to the crack dealers at C...

I woke up this morning at 6:45 a.m. It should have been 6:30, but it wasn't my fault, the alarm clock has a snooze feature. It works well. I put on my clothes from the day before because they still smelled of fabric softener and weren't very wrinkled. It's amazing the strides attained in laundry science, isn't it? I sauntered into the bathroom because I've never really tried to saunter, but I saw it once in a western book, maybe a Louis L'Amour book. It worked and I found a razor. It di...

I woke up this morning at 6:45 a.m. It should have been 6:30, but it wasn't my fault, the alarm clock has a snooze feature. It works well. I put on my clothes from the day before because they still smelled of fabric softener and weren't very wrinkled. It's amazing the strides attained in laundry science, isn't it? I sauntered into the bathroom because I've never really tried to saunter, but I saw it once in a western book, maybe a Louis L'Amour book. It worked and I found a razor. It di...

He went to Paris looking for answers to questions that bothered him so. He was impressive, young and agressive, saving the world on his own. The warm summer breezes, the French wines and cheeses, put his ambitions at bay. The summers and winters scattered like splinters and four or five years slipped away. He went to England to play the piano and married an actress named Kim. THey had a fine life, she was a good wife and bore him a young son named Jim. All of the answers and all of ...

This debate should long have ended. Marriage has been defined for many moons as a union between a man and a damn woman. I say damn woman because of my misogynistic tendencies. At least that's what my damn wife says. Many, many people have operated under this premise because it has been decreed. To change it for a few light in the loafer folks just rubs me the wrong way. There are probably some really good reasons for the non-heterosexuals, or fey, folk to want to get married. They...

My wife is watching American Idol. It doesn't have the same appeal to me this year as it has before. I admit though, I enjoy the first couple weeks, people slipping out of their tedium to prove their abilities or not to a few judges and the world. I play a few musical instruments and have attempted on occassion to sing. I'm a much better fish than a vocalist. I know this. But I'm not tone deaf. Note recognition I believe plays a key part in one's ability to deal with rejection. Now, thi...

I have to admit, I've finally lost it. It being my patience, though my mind may surely follow. Every few weeks I run into articles featuring stories of liberal pantywaists attempting to turn the youth of America into Stepford kids. Last week was the Nashville school system incident, removing Honor Roll from the local papers and the hallways, because the underachieving children may feel bad. That was how the story initially started. The lawyers for the school system quickly spun it to take a...