Born in the USA – Is Springsteen anti-war? (video)
We present here the lyrics and a video of Bruce Springsteen performing ‘Born In The U.S.A.’ Here is the question – is this anti-war, anti-American, anti-insanity? This writer believes Springsteen is...
View ArticleWicked – A Garden of Good and Evil
You can’t beat a good story in the hands of a skilled craftsman. Gregory MaGuire has crafted a Fabula story in “Wicked, The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West.” The story has the freshness...
View ArticleWicked, The Snape Effect, and Storytelling
There is a reason that we humans are fascinated with stories. There is a deep connection that we have with the stories of others. From history to social studies to literature, all learning is founded...
View ArticleWicked: A marriage of literature, art, and music
We marvel att the marriage of art and technology and the ingenuity of those who can master that integration. Steve Jobs and his folks at Apple are prime examples. In the same vein, there is a...
View ArticleWorld Without End – Ken Follett
Ken Follett has pulled off another fine story. The depiction of life in 14th Century England is so well done that I consider this work a historical novel. Like his previous masterpiece, Pillars of the...
View ArticleCisco – A Tale of Addiction, Justice, and Redemption
People are dying. Our Prisons are full. Families are being destroyed. Government sponsored religion in the Criminal Justice System is not working. Federal, State, and Local funds are rewarding bad...
View ArticlePeople at Wal-Mart Video
I can not help it. Most of these pictures were taken at the South Belt Wal-Mart in St. Joseph, Missouri. Two of the people are my siblings – but I will not say which.
View Article“Life Has Killed The Dream I Dreamed”
Have you ever felt like Fantine? Remember her – that forlorn girl of Victor Hugo’s imagination? Hugo was a master of the forlorn, of les miserables. We live in an unfair world. That has been the...
View ArticleWhy Bother With Grammar?
I write. But that does not mean that I write correctly. I am a college graduate, but that does not mean that I use proper grammar. I write intuitively – meaning that my sense of grammar drives my...
View ArticleThe “Shoulds” of Life Have Me Down
I have been a responsible man for most of my life. Some would challenge that point – because my failures have stood out like atomic bombs. As a Senior Citizen I don’t face too many life changing...
View ArticleOh Lord Won’t You Give Me?
I loved and love Janis Joplin. I like the song she sang, Mercedes Benz, because it reminds me of a Church I attended with a friend when I was about 16. It was located in South St. Joseph. There was a...
View ArticleMy First Tattoo
Oceanside, California, is located on the border of Camp Pendleton, that really big Marine base. I was there. Not Camp Pendleton, Oceanside. It was 1969 and I was doing what I would later learn was...
View ArticleKansas City City Market, Beignet, and Moody Football Fans
We invested a day at the Kansas City City Market. Today, in fact. A Sunday and the Chiefs are playing – but we have a DVR and are recording the game. We are at the market to meet family and are...
View ArticleThomas Franklin, New Fireside Contributor
Thomas Franklin and I became friends in 2006. He was an inpatient at a Substance Abuse Treatment Center where I served as a counselor. That program was a 21 day residential care. There was a stipend...
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Formal vs Self Education
Not many days ago… I was engaged in political debate with a person, who was quick to point out their higher learning and acquisition of a Bachelors and Masters, in something or other fields. I’m next...
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