Odds and Ends
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And then God said, “Let there be Baby Boomers.” Apparently, God thought the world lacked grievances. Naturally, I’m being ironical. I’m also referring to the second wave of Boomers, the ones born after 1955, the sect I belong to; I was born in 1962 – the “Boomer” generation officially extends to 1964. Recently, when in…
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Many years ago, I departed from a situation, hunkered down in an apartment, and mapped out a plan for my life going forward. Funny things happen when one maps out a plan; the world sends all sorts of distractions to knock one from their axis or derail them. Nevertheless, I remained laser focused; I worked,…
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I shall begin with a novel I’ve already read three times and plan to traverse again. For me, John Irving’s “A prayer for Owen Meany” ranks as a quintessential modern classic. Irving turns humor, irony, and dysfunction into pure poetry. There is no character, in modern and classic literature, quite like Owen Meany. Next, is…
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I get poked fun at every time I mention it as my favorite Olympic sport. But what the hell: Cross Country Skiing! There’s something about swishing through a snow-covered, pristine wilderness, combined with target shooting, that hits me the right way. If you haven’t done so, check out this concert, The Universe in Keys 04/01/2025,…
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Ever since the advent of the twenty-four-hour-a-day cable news cycle, America has altered her visual trajectory: we no longer look inward at are communities; all eyes, since the late 1990s, are focused on Washington D.C.; it’s up with macro and down with micro. The result? Communities have gone uncared for, reduced to localities our houses…
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The art of foreign policy is a good guy, making a deal with a bad guy, to get rid of a worse guy. The dilemma? Can the “good guy” live with an ideologically misaligned “bad guy” as a bedfellow? Perhaps as important: do we know for sure who‘s who? It’s always more complex and nuanced…
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The above is what I ride. I’ve always had Cannondale’s; there’re terrific bikes and handmade right here in America. I always dreamed of cycling across the country. Back when my legs were capable of making the journey, it would’ve required a six-week vacation. Now that I can afford the time, my legs would prove stubbornly…
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Dear Michael, Stop what you’re doing, go to a mirror, look into it, and say thank you: Thank you for all the hikes, bike rides, and runs. Thank you for all the times you shook off the stress and adversity life unfailingly offers and exercised your way to a clear head. Thank you for understanding…
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My goodness, we are a complex and peculiar species, and I have lived nary a day without contributing to our complexities and peculiarities; I am a living breathing manifestation of all that’s wondrous and weird—a shiny thread in a quilt of ever-expanding madness, enriched by every encounter that has accounted for my miserly endowment of…
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Fate? Destiny? Who doesn’t enjoy grappling with issues and questions sure to induce a sneer from Richard Dawkins and a grin from Jordan Peterson? Once when asked, “Do you believe there is a God?” Jordan Peterson replied, “I live as though I do.” It was the perfect answer. Destiny, spirituality, and the deific: they tend…
Michael's Corner 