Suprise Me

I have a notorious black thumb. I killed a philodendron in my college dorm room and those things are indestructible. I killed all my house plants, so replaced them with good-looking silk ones. No fuss, no muss. But that is indoors. The great outdoors is less and more capricious. Back home in Newton, MA, my… Read More

Years ago, while visiting my sister, one Sunday I went to church with her and her family. I remember the pastor delivering his thoughts about how many times in our lives we are faced with choices. Choices which cause us to make decisions as to what path in life we might choose to take and… Read More

Understand that my Mom loved all animals, and was absolute death on animal cruelty of any kind. Read More

Who was Harold Mendelson? He’s a guy who grew up in the Fillmore District of San Francisco and went on to become a famous actor and game show host. He was also a lifelong buddy of my father’s. You never heard of Harold? But does the name Hal March ring a bell? Even though he… Read More

Unleavened Passover is a joyous holiday when we Jews celebrate our freedom from bondage in Egypt.  Every year at the Seder we retell the story of our ancestors who followed Moses across a desert in search of a new home in the Promised Land. The Bible tells us that these ancient Hebrews left in such… Read More

Here is where we find out if you can keep my Guilty Pleasures secret. Q-Tips; I stick the Q Tip into my ear canal, not too far. I always (always) keep my Q Tips away from children. Feline Videos; I have a thing for cat videos and when I like a particular video I attach… Read More

In the summer of 1961, I left my job in Harlem where I was working with gang members as a community worker, for a student life at Yale that catapulted me from clamorous chaos to hushed academia. Read More

The late ’60s were exciting, turbulent times, especially for a young man growing up in a Catholic seminary.  When I entered the Juniorate of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart in Pascoag, RI in 1966, there were 24 of us guys (most of whom were gay, I now realize), from all parts of New York/New… Read More

It was dark, dark, dark, for days, and the bad air made walking outside impossible for nearly six weeks. And BAM, I was clobbered by SAD symptoms--in the middle of summer. Read More

    A Modest Proposal to Address the Problem of Homelessness in the Modern World By Jonathan Swift’s Ghost I am Jonathan Swift, and I have returned from the dead to address the most pressing issue of our time: homelessness. I am not here to offer a serious solution, but rather to satirize the absurdity… Read More