Am I Who They Think I Am? I was watching on television either the national political campaigners or the Olympic synchronized swimmers.  I forget which, although both were pretty funny.  Both made a lot of splashes, were upside down most of the time, and, despite their efforts, did not get very far in the pool. My mind drifted and I wondered if I was wise.  How does one know if one is wise? ...

  “Lights, Camera, Action, Squat.” Tastes change over time.  When I was a ten year old, the idea of sliding a raw oyster down my gullet had all the appeal of licking a movie theater floor.  During my collegiate career any form of edible substance was acceptable.  A Slim Jim was a highly touted study treat.  The same is true with taste in movies.  Re-watching The Creature from the Black...

Frankly, My Dear, I Give a Damn My back was hurting from the Parkinson’s or from the humidity or from the way I slept last night. Who the heck knows?  So I tried to find a comfortable position in my easy chair and searched through my six hundred television channels when I hit gold.  The Creature from the Black Lagoon, the 1954 cinematic gem starring Richard Carlson, Julia Adams, and Richard...

Button It!  It’s Not Easy As It Sounds I remember reading about a matador preparing to enter the bullring to begin the “dance of life and death” referred to in Hemingway’s stories as the “moment of truth.”  The matador may have an aide who ritualistically helps him dress; tight white pants with a lime-green stripe, shirt with ruffled collar, jacket, wide brimmed black hat, blood red sash--all...

We’re a Little Testy, Aren’t We? It is August so the nightmares will begin.  I have had these beginning-of-the-school-year teaching nightmares since my first assignment in 1970.  The venues and people in the dreams may change but the themes are usually the same:  unpreparedness or lateness.  I am late for one of my five classes, or I can’t find the right room to teach in or I forgot my notes or...