Archive for July 2014
Serious geography geek material
I am a geography geek. When I was eight years-old, I was given an atlas and a globe for my birthday. I was in heaven. Unfortunately, this was also was the first and only birthday party that I ever hosted for friends, so the three boys who attended my party stared in disbelief as I…
Read MoreThe boys at the Big Swim Meet had no idea how fleeting boyhood is. Once gone, you will long for it forever.
This bit of newspaper was printed circa 1930. It describes the “Big Swimming Meet” at Yawgoog Scout Reservation, the same place where I would spend my summers half a century later. As a boy, I also participated in swimming meets as the paper describes. Every Saturday afternoon, troops would gather at the waterfront to compete…
Read MoreSomeone ruined cookies, too.
Yesterday is was bastardized ice cream. Now someone has gone and ruined cookies, too. Actually, I don’t think these qualify as cookies anymore.
Read MoreVegetable ice cream is wrong.
Look. Some artisanal jackass managed to find a way to ruin ice cream.
Read MoreSometimes a cell phone holster can tell you a lot about a person
I know. I shouldn’t’ judge. At least that’s what I am told. I’m not really sure why judging is bad. I think the general feeling is that by abstaining from judging others, you promote kindness, compassion, and cultural sensitivity. You also don’t arbitrarily place your lifestyle choices ahead of others. But judging isn’t always bad.…
Read MoreMy wife is annoyed by our 10% deal. I’m so glad.
My friend and I struck a deal about ten years ago at the poker table. In the unlikely event that either one of us earns one million dollars or more on a single deal, he will give the other 10 percent of the earnings. At the time, I had yet to publish a novel. I…
Read MorePosthumous vindication sucks.
On this date in 1456, Joan of Arc was declared innocent for heresy. Unfortunately, she was declared innocent 25 years after she was burned at the stake. Being incorrectly burned to death is certainly worse than losing your bout with cancer and dying just hours before being announced as the winner of the Nobel Prize…
Read MoreCarte Blanche Summers: My first column
Look what showed up at the house today! Seasons magazine, and my first column, entitled Carte Blanche Summers. The magazine publishes in four different markets (soon to be six), which explains the different color covers. You can subscribe to the magazine, of course (and you should), or you can read it online.
Read MoreThe payoff for a writer or a performer is an infinitesimal sliver of the job. Too many forget this and aren’t willing to do the work.
Saturday was a good day for me. It began with the first performance ever of “Caught in the Middle,” the tween musical written by writing partner, Andy Mayo, and myself. It was produced at a performing arts camp in Bloomfield, Connecticut, and like our previous musical, The Clowns, I fell in love with the show…
Read MoreThe best clause in any contract ever
Samuel L. Jackson has a clause in all his movie contracts stating that he gets two days off a week to play golf and the producers must pay for it. I have always respected Jackson. His acting skills are superb. He’s been an ardent civil right’s and political activist for his entire life. His work…
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