"What may seem depressing or even tragic to one person may seem like an absolute scream to another person, especially if he has had between four and seven beers." ~ Dave Barry Life is! That may seem like a rather mundane statement, but as humdrum as it may appear to be, the statement is true nonetheless. Life is! Life is funny. Life is sad. Life is beautiful. Life is ugly. But no matter your situation, irrespective of your current point of view; regardless of your present state of mind; life is! Life exists. Yes, life changes; it’s capricious. But it is. I'm a big proponent of laughter. It…
“In the name of the best within you, do not sacrifice this world to those who are its worst. In the name of the values that keep you alive, do not let your vision of man be distorted by the ugly, the cowardly, the mindless in those who have never achieved his title. Do not lose your knowledge that man's proper estate is an upright posture, an intransigent mind and a step that travels unlimited roads. Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark, in the hopeless swamps of the approximate, the not-quite, the not-yet, the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish, in …
If it weren't for the coffee, I'd have no identifiable personality whatsoever.” ~ David Letterman I’m not a morning person; never have been; probably never will be. The only good thing about the morning is coffee; lots and lots of coffee. Other than that - mornings stink! My animosity toward the morning hours isn’t grounded in an explicit aversion for getting out of bed. I’m up fairly early every day, even on the weekends I’m up between 5:45 and 6:00. If I happen to sleep until 6:30 on Saturday or Sunday, I consider that sleeping-in. No, I don’t mind getting out of bed. But I do mind being…
"One of the dangers of Facebook--really, the entire Internet--is that it enables people to post quotes and falsely attribute them to the wrong people." -- Abraham Lincoln I don’t remember where I found this quote or misquote, as the case may be, but I do remember I laughed out loud when I read it. I’m laughing right now. Oh, and just so you’ll know; this bogus quote has absolutely nothing to do with what I’m writing about today – at least I don’t think it does. Confused? Me too, but let’s not let a little confusion on my part, or yours, put the brakes on the creative process, which I’m …
A lot of people like snow. I find it to be an unnecessary freezing of water. ~ Carl ReinerIt’s 7 a.m. on Friday as I write this and there seems to be some sort of strange white powdery stuff on the ground this morning. I’m not quite sure what it is, although it does look vaguely familiar. Sure is pretty though! I got up at 5:45 this morning, went downstairs, grabbed my coffee, flipped on the TV and tuned in to The Dennis and Callahan Show on NESN. For those who aren’t familiar with this show, it’s a NESN simulcast of the D & C sports talk show on WEEI radio. Good, mindless banter that fits …
Each has his past shut in him like the leaves of a book known to him by heart and his friends can only read the title. ~ Virginia Woolf We are the sum total of all that we’ve experienced to date; the things we’ve done; the things we’ve failed to do; the people with whom we’ve interacted; the places we’ve been; everything in our lives is a cohesive building block in the marvelous creation that is us. Granted, some of us are more marvelous than others, and then there are always those who think they’re more marvelous than others but truly are not, but all in all we’re all spectacular …
“Children live in a world of dreams and imagination, a world of aliveness… There is a voice of wonder and amazement inside all of us; but we grow to realize we can no longer hear it, and we live in silence…….” ~ Mike Yaconelli Between the years 1952 to 1970, Art Linkletter’s House Party was one of the most popular programs on television. Each show ended with a rip-roaringly funny segment entitled, Kids Say The Darndest Things. And believe me – they did! One of the questions Art asked the kids on a fairly regular basis was, “What did your mommy or daddy tell you not to say on the show …
Every American child should grow up knowing a second language, preferably English. ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic's Notebook, 1960 I have one endearing trait that I’m extremely proud of. I have an innate ability to write about things that other people think, but are afraid to say for fear of retribution. I hold to the philosophy of, Retribution be damned! Full speed ahead! But as proud as I am to be an up-front kind of guy; this attribute has caused me my share of problems in the past. When I lived in Arizona back in the mid to late seventies, my brother-in-law and I were frequent …
"Let Christmas not become a thing merely of merchant's trafficking, of tinsel, bell and holly wreath and surface pleasure, but beneath the childish glamour, let us find nourishment for heart and mind. Let us follow kinder ways through our teeming human maze, and help the age of peace to come from a dreamer's martyrdom." -Madeline Morse It’s hard to believe Thanksgiving has passed and Christmas is merely a few days away. Of course I say that every year. Right around the beginning of September someone will say, “I can’t believe the summer’s gone. It’s going to be Christmas before we know it…
“…..Even the seasons form a great circle in their changing, and always come back again to where they were. The life of a man is a circle from childhood to childhood, and so it is in everything where power moves.” ~ Black Elk Oglala Sioux Holy Man (1863-1950) This past week was rather thought-provoking. I won’t go into detail but suffice to say I feel I took a giant step forward on the long, bumpy road that is my writing career. I’d struggled with some personal issues over the past few weeks that had me questioning myself, my motives – just about everything. But a few setbacks and a couple…
I dragged my tired butt out of bed at 5:45 this morning and believe me, when I say dragged; I mean that quite literally. I am not now nor have I ever been a morning person. I always get up fairly early, by 6:00 or 6:15, even on the weekends, but that doesn’t mean I’m happy about it. I just can’t sleep in any later than that, even if I go to bed late. It’s quite a dilemma. My wife knows better than to talk to me until I’m fully awake. But of course that doesn’t mean she actually adheres to that practice. I’m not sure if it’s just that she enjoys annoying me or that she likes living on the …
If I'd known I was gonna live this long. I'd have taken better care of myself. ~ Composer/Pianist Eubie Blake at age 100 Ladies and gentlemen! Boys and girls! Step right up! Don’t be shy! Let your hair down and let it all hang out! Black Friday is passé and Cyber Monday was just another wasted day spent vegging out in front of your computer. But today is different! Today is the day you’ve all been waiting for! Today is The View From Here Tuesday! I’m not sure that intro worked the way I’d envisioned. I’m not really a hype kinda guy. I’m more a meat and potatoes guy. I lay out what I …
"People have often told me I said the things they are thinking themselves. I probably haven't said anything here that you didn't already know, or have already thought. That's what a writer does. There aren't too many original thoughts in the world. A writer's job is to tell the truth." ~ Andy Rooney On Oct. 2, Andy Rooney delivered his final commentary for 60 Minutes in his own, inimitable style; with the panache he had developed over a career that spanned some 70 years. One month later, at the ripe old age of 91; he died in a New York hospital from complications that developed after minor …
Education is a shared commitment between dedicated teachers, motivated students and enthusiastic parents with high expectations. ~ Bob Beauprez Okay, let me see if I have this straight. According to an article on Nov. 4 in Easton Patch, the Easton School Committee, in its collective wisdom, has appointed an exploratory committee to look into the impact of changing start times for Easton Public Schools. This action, as stated in the article, was prompted by concerns that high school kids learning capabilities may be adversely impacted by the fact that they may not be getting enough sleep. …
Hypocrisy is the essence of snobbery, but all snobbery is about the problem of belonging. ~ Alexander Theroux There was a standard pick-up line from back in the late sixties and early seventies. A guy would walk into his favorite drinking establishment, take a seat at the bar next to a lady sitting alone and say, “Hi, what’s your sign?” As corny as that may sound, and it was; it pales in comparison to what happened to my friend and me at Maguire’s the other day. We had stopped in for a drink and were sitting at the bar when a young lady walked over, sat down next to my friend and asked, “So…
Author’s Note: This isn’t the column I set out to write. As a follow-up and a way to bring closure to The Great Five Corners Caper, I’d intended to write about the importance of standing up for what you believe in; the significance of taking up a cause, no matter how small, and the importance of following through on a promise. Then I’d planned to continue by providing my classic tongue-in-cheek perspective regarding some of the goings-on in Easton in my inimitable facetious, sarcastic, humorous way; woven cleverly with a just little touch of wisdom. I even went as far as to begin writing …
“Some people see things that are and ask, Why? Some people dream of things that never were and ask, Why not? Some people have to go to work and don't have time for all that.” ~ George Carlin Okay, now I’ve seen it all. Well, I suppose I haven’t really seen it all. I’ve seen a lot in my lifetime, but ‘all’ may be a slight exaggeration. In reality, that’s just a figure of speech. I suppose it’s better defined as hyperbole; an exaggeration to create emphasis or effect; like saying, “I’m so hungry I could eat a horse.” I’m fairly certain no one has ever been so hungry that they could actually…
The universal aptitude for ineptitude makes any human accomplishment an incredible miracle. ~ Stapp’s Ironical Paradox This past week was less than productive. I did a lot and got nothing done. Do you know what I mean? Have you been there? It’s not that I procrastinated. I really did do a lot. It’s just that I did a lot of things other than what I should have been doing. Or maybe I did a lot of things I should have been doing, but there were other, more important things I should have done first. Confused? I’ll explain in a minute. I’m a very organized person. If you ask my wife, she’d tell …
The way I understand it, the Russians are sort of a combination of evil and incompetence... sort of like the Post Office with tanks. ~ Emo Philips Something disturbing came to my attention this past week, quite by accident. Is the football field at Oliver Ames High School still named Valentine P. Muscato Stadium? I wasn’t paying that much attention as I passed through the school parking lot the other day, but I believe I saw that the name of the stadium had been covered by an advertising banner. Am I wrong? I certainly understand the need for revenue generation in these tough financial …
Have you driven East on Route 106 in Easton lately? If you have and you’ve turned left at the intersection of Routes 106 and 123 at five, or six, or seven, or however many corners there are there now; you had to have noticed the bright, shiny, brand-spanking new left turn signals that were recently installed. Yes, I said signals – plural. There are two of them. Two signals would indicate to me that there are now two left turn lanes on Route 106 from which to make your turn on to Route 123. There’s one small problem though. Although there are, in fact, two left turn signals (arrows) and two ‘…
