A collection of miscellaneous weekly blog posts below!
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The art of foreign policy is quite simply: it’s a good guy, making a deal with a bad guy, to get rid of a worse guy. Then, afterward, you’re left with a dilemma: Can the “good guy” control the bad guy? Can he rein him in when he acts up, and if so, will the…
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My mission? It depends on which stage of life one is in when asked the question. In a spiritual sense and in a practical one, my twenty-four-year-old self had a much different mission than the man writing these words. Then my mission was to build a career that would help me rise to what I…
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I am a blogger. I am also a novelist. More importantly, I am a devoted husband, loving father, and a recent grandfather. But I couldn’t be a, b, c, d, or e, with any measure of effectiveness, if not for f: Being a friend of physical fitness. Thus far, in my life and times, I’ve…
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The following is a piece that I swiped from my “Perspectives” page. I wrote it as a thought exercise to help me process the impact of technological advances on the five generations currently living. As we’re about to say goodbye to the first quarter of the 21th century, the words seem more relevant than when…
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Yeah, I know, in retrospect, the red and white ’77 Cadillac Eldorado was a classic pimp-mobile. But what can I say? I was fifteen—a tasteless teen who had yet to develop any sense of sophistication. I grew up in inner-city Philadelphia in a neighborhood whose curbsides were littered primarily with Chevrolets. But my around-the-corner neighbor…
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The video below is from a 1982 British film and symphonic poem adapted from a picture book by Raymond Briggs. Howard Blake composed the score. The song “Walking In The Air” is performed by Peter Auty. Some of you may already know this seldom-heard treasure. If you’re hearing it for the first time, it’s a…
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Recently, my publisher reached out and alerted me to a blog contest they thought I should enter. The theme was anything Christmas-related, be it holiday traditions or an original story. I chose to write an original story. It’s short, somewhat poignant, but ends well. I hope you enjoy it. The Roadside Oasis by Michael DeStefano…
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Many years ago, on December 18th at approximately 7:00 p.m., two particles, spiraling through the universe, collided. No one (myself included) believes in love at first sight until it happens, and then suddenly anything feels possible. Without a second’s compunction, I would have married Kathy that very night. As it would come to pass, we…
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For years, I wanted to write a short story in the vein of Robert Lawson’s Rabbit Hill, but with a Fielding theme and a Dickensian vibe. It was one of those projects I thought would remain a wish—an ambition to stimulate my mind on long car trips and sleepless nights, but would never come to…
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Often, inspiration can hide in plain sight. Our minds take in thousands of images per day, and our ears pick up clusters of words, whole thoughts, and fragments. Amid such a mishmash, it’s difficult to determine our true influences: that which stands at the forefront of our minds or what lurks in the depths of…
Michael's Corner 