This clip has over 40 million views so It would seem I am late to discover it.
Blown away by the talent and the humanity on display here.

Hi Ren.

Happy Birthday to the great Art Pepper. (1925-1982)

Here he is on his signature tune Straight Life.

From my state. Somebody’s gotta do it.

How a small group of nuns in rural Kansas vex big companies with their investment activism.

Thank you Russell Malone. Go easy.

Loss of Russell Malone

Well done Joe Biden. #dncspeech

I made this video for my dad in celebration of his 90th birthday back in April. I look like I’ve been at sea for months.

It was the birthday of Mary Oliver two days ago. Oliver passed in 2019. I am just now discovering the wealth of poetry she left for us.

Read more…

One of the sexiest faces I’ve ever seen.

I imagine her attention falling to me, just for a moment, in this crowd, out on the street. I feel her size me up, a knowing critical gaze. Is she instantly writing my story behind those eyes?

She finds me…acceptable.

It’s enough.

Currently re-reading Slouching Towards Bethlehem.

Lawrence Ferlinghetti, champion of Beat Generation writers passed away this week at 101 years of age.

Here’s the last line of “I Am Waiting” from A Coney Island of the Mind (1958.)

”…and I am awaiting perpetually and forever a renaissance of wonder.”

The Final Sentence website contains some riches. It’s handy if you are looking for something you’ve already read, but beware of spoilers. Use the search feature instead of browsing. Or not.

The Coneheads never left. They’ve been hiding out in SoCal for decades.

Among my many faults, I count a certain baseline cynicism as one I would like to overcome.

I can excuse myself to some extent by pointing out that many humans I share this planet with seem capable of a never-ending stream of selfishness and awful behavior.

But then, a fellow human steps up and gives the lie to all my negativity.

It’s a shame that news of the moronic exploits of our nation’s worst citizens, and the leaders who manipulate them into those behaviors, so often overshadows the heroism and faith of someone like Stacey Abrams.

What Ms. Abrams and her organization Fair Fight Action accomplished in Georgia last week, and in the many months of work leading up to the Georgia election run-offs, is the sort of accomplishment that should not be quickly forgotten.

You can dress up like a nut job, scream and yell and hurt people, smash windows and furniture, and call for the blood of your opponents, or, you can be a true patriot and work to make people’s lives better.

Stacey Abrams believes in our democracy and she has demonstrated that by doing the real work of trying to preserve it. I love her for that, and I love her for keeping my cynicism at bay.

We can and should learn from her example.

To quote Patrick Rhone, “Maybe what we need most is to have our minds blown.”