We live in an age when we want immediate, downloadable media at our fingertips, yet we are still entertained in an increasingly old-fashioned manner by actually sitting down and glueing our eyes to a TV screen.   Yet, we don't want to be bothered by having to truly be in our recliners… Read full post »

to my daughter on her ninth 

Nine.

the moments I wrestle, unwinning

missing the hugs.

Eight.

the precise number of tears

gouging my cheeks at night.

Seven.

the stares of my heart

into the void, unseeing.

Six.

the curses I fling

sticking like tar to my thoughts.

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Wrapped up like a baby, comforted and warm,

You bring peace to me more than I to you.

I.  You.  We.  The trinity.  Fuller of love.

You should never want for tranquility,

Despite my true north.

Languid eyes, so childishly secure, fresh as blanketing snow.

Saving grace? … Read full post »

That tamped down dirt road

Wandering down the delta

Lingering through the swamp.

Can’t get there from here,

All trash and trauma.

Plastic bag ugly.

And the dirt--streaked grime

On your socks once white

Now detritus-specked.

The mocs and the coppers

Just laying ambush,… Read full post »

Guacamole recipes are ubiquitous, and I've tried dozens of them.  Most of the time they're bloated and full of crap that has no business being in the mix.  After years of experimenting, the nearly naked truth hit me squarely between my beady eyes--simpler is better.  I love avocados--t… Read full post »

Sleep doesn't come easily to me, so I sit here in near darkness and solitude listening to my young daughter snore gently.  She's tucked into her grown-up sleeping bag, sprawled haphazardly on the carpeted floor of the den, just beneath the plasma tv her Dada just had to have. … Read full post »

I'm sitting here as is my normal morning routine, sipping a cup of Honduran coffee with just a touch of half and half and a teaspoon of turbinado sugar, and the story of Father Cutie' splashes across my television screen.  Surely you've heard of him.  He's the very charimatic priest who… Read full post »

My curlylocks daughter had never fished before two weeks ago.  Now?  She's fished three times and is becoming a veritable Van de Kamp.  She doesn't live with me, though I see her most days:  picking her up from school three times a week, eating a school lunch with her every Thursd… Read full post »

You really want to know what small town folks in the Bible Belt  think about?  Well, read up below.  I've taken actual calls to the local paper's Hotline and published them word for word (my editorial notes, if any, will be noted within [brackets]).  I swear--I'm not making these… Read full post »

Sweet limpid tear’d drop

Kissing areola’s lip

Purest arcing curve Read full post »

It struck me the other day, that our world is a'changin'.  Now, I know some have told me that I'm behind the times, and other have downright accused me of bigotrymism and homophobitism.  And that just ain't so.  But, such blowhard kerfuffle did get me thinking. … Read full post »

This just in to the MBN news desk:  apparently, men in the United Kingdom, specifically England, are more likely to wash their hands after urinating than do men in the United States.  We turn to our traveling correspondent W. E. Johnson for a report.

WEJ:  Thanks.  After numerous… Read full post »

I never thought it could happen:  a TV show that taught me how to handle the crises with which I find myself continually struggling.  NCIS is the best show on the boob tube, supplanting classics from the past such as THE $64,000 QUESTION, MR. ED, CANNON, ALF, BEVERLY HILLS 90210, and A… Read full post »

The following linked video has been seen by millions--no doubt most of you who find this post will have viewed the clip on YouTube or watched it repeated ad nauseum on a parade of TV shows.  If you haven't seen it, take a quick look:

 Susan Boyle - Britains Got Talent… Read full post »

I have pet peeves.  Many of them.  Today, on the top of my list, are alarmist tracts masquerading as health studies.  Let me digress briefly to say that health reports which state the obvious ("News flash!  Overeating can lead to obesity!") are equally nefarious, but that's a… Read full post »