Tuesday 1/18/22 Sent birthday cards to my niece who is turning two, and my uncle who is turning eighty. His birthday is 1/25, which is...

1/18/22 Hit the right lick.

Monday 1/17/22 * Here's a new piece in The Smart Set on pianist Freddie Redd's 1961 album, Shades of Redd. Said piece is in The Root of...

Monday 1/17/22 Introducing another new series to this journal: Is this the best gig ever? Which I pose as a rhetorical question, not as...

Monday 1/17/22 Listen to more Nick Drake. In Nick Drake one inhabits the city and the country. Is in the shade and the sun. The spring...

Sunday 1/16/22 People who say they are all about the simple things in life, or that life is about the simple things, who are looking to...

Sunday 1/16/22 Patriots game went the way I expected it to. Saw a report from the Seth Wickensham--who I always think of as a slimy guy,...

Saturday 1/15/22 Don't die before you've read all of Shakespeare's plays, listened to all of Beethoven's string quartets, seen all of...

Saturday 1/15/22 Jon Lester retired. Not a Hall of Famer, but an excellent pitcher. A championship pitcher. If he was your best pitcher,...

Saturday 1/15/22 This was a lot of work. 6500 words for this genre proposal. Here it is if you want to see it. The Beatles book/pages and...

Saturday 1/15/22 Hey, brother man, Was wondering if I might pester you for a sec. So: I have another book coming out in the next little...

Friday 1/14/22 With Ronnie Spector’s death, we have an opportunity to redress a crucial component of rock and soul history, that’s way...

Thursday 1/13/22 I will be doing a book of fiction called Thunder and Lightning. It's about thunder and lightning, who live together....

Thursday 1/13/22 Touch the outside of buildings. All buildings have a pulse. Try and feel it.

Thursday 1/13/22 I wrote an op-ed this morning about winter walking. Really nice piece. As usual, I don't know what will become of it, if...

Wednesday 1/12/22 It feels like a minor miracle has occurred when someone gets "you're" and "your" correct. I actually do a double-take...

Wednesday 1/12/22 Tell someone you believe in them. As you say or write the words, think about their meaning. The preposition "in." You...

Tuesday 1/11/22 “How many chances do you think we get to say goodbye?” Caley’s aunt Jill asked her at the hospital. It felt like a trick...

Tuesday 1/11/22 “I’m going out back,” my father would announce when he was at his angriest and didn’t want to show it or had hurt himself...

Tuesday 1/11/22 Wrote on here the other day that it would be surprising if Georgia won, so Georgia goes out and wins. Thought that was a...

Tuesday 1/11/22 Play. It's an attitude. A willingness. Play a game. Play a sport. Make up a contest in your head. It can be silly. Play...

Monday 1/10/22 Determine what Louis Armstrong does best. Can you tell?

Sunday 1/9/22 * More work on one of the book proposals. It's been a lot of work. Ended up at 6500 words. It's done-done now. * Today...

Sunday 1/9/22 Always take the stairs. Walk around the escalator to get to them. How many stairs have you not walked because you elected...