There is a longstanding phrase that sums up the impulsivity of youth: Young and stupid. It was likely suggested by some parent dazed by their child’s disregard for personal safety and lack of good judgment in the face of the obvious. I’m not saying that those in the older ranks can’t come up with...
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The noise and clouds of rising smoke have left this year’s 4th of July celebration in their wake but it seems that every Independence Day I’m reminded of my endless fascination with blowing up shit when I was a kid. I was a pyrotecnic nutball, just wondering, mind you, what would happen if this or that...
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“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Remember that golden moldy from Franklin Roosevelt’s 1933 inauguration speech in the midst of a bank panic (run on banks)? This was sage advice from a leader who was talking the country down off the ledge. Rather a contrast from a recent administration that...
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I routinely pump my mother for stories of my biological father (#1) because I never got to know him and I think that knowing something of his character gives me an insight into mine. Of course, ‘warts and all’ is the only worthy approach since good without the bad would present a distorted portrait...
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I ask you this in all sincerity because it’s important that somebody get you; understand your special crazy shit, your neurotic tendencies, your failings, your successes. It is psychologically beneficial that somebody, somewhere knows the you behind the facade. So, who gets you? Usually, this other person is a mate, otherwise why would somebody...
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As anyone who knows me knows (is it you, dear reader?) I am nothing if not perfectly accurate in my recollection and honest to a fault. Knowing, in my mind, this truth, I’ve set forth the following account of a particular Mother’s Day in 1954 where, wishing to make it a truly special day,...
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I seriously doubt that many young men would have resisted a just and necessary cause but it was clear, except to those with a blind allegiance, that the Vietnam War, this clash between the Communist-run North and the U.S. backed South, was a civil war unworthy of our intervention and loss of life. Like...
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In the summer of 1973, preceding my senior year in college, I arranged a special sociological field work project to take place in and around Duluth, Minnesota. The topic of my research paper was the American Indian and the recent cultural clashes with U.S. authorities and, moreover, the current state of reservation affairs. For...
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It’s probably unnecessary to publish a formal correction to an earlier essay since that’s really only applicable if you’re a news reporting agency. In addition, this corrects a case of misremembered identity of a dead dog so I’ve probably got no obligation there either. However, my since of fairness in a universe that doesn’t...
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The late, great, John Hartford (bluegrass/songwriter) was an early musical inspiration of mine and in 1972 we were both working on our hippie persona, mine in college and his as a recording artist, releasing some of his most clever and creative albums. One of the songs on his Morning Bugle album of that year...
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