Category

James Neil Hamilton (1899-1984) rose through the ranks of acting to star in the silent movies of Hollywood, and then successfully transitioned to talkies. Alas, by the 1940s, he was out of work and out of money, and (according to some sources) close to suicide. Faith and grace carried him through, however, and eventually he found a second act to his career in the new medium of television, taking on supporting parts i

Please keep in mind that I took the shower at my friends’ house very innocently, by myself and unaware. Only months later did I learn the history. The husband was a contractor who worked in Manhattan. After he refurbished the apartment of one of his more celebrated clients, Ms. Julie Andrews, he salvaged the pried-off shower tiles from the dumpster. Later, he installed the tiles in the guest bathroom of his own home.

The whimsical side of me wants to argue that a place still holds for stories about kids, baseball, acorns, Seinfeld, and other childish pursuits. Nevertheless, all of us adults must reckon with the 200-pound orange-skinned stink bug that currently is thrashing about the highest office of the land. This essay will have at least one paragraph devoted to an adorable acorn story, I can assure you, but otherwise will focu

Dear Honorable President Trump: We were so sorry to hear that your (outstanding, excellent, bitchin’ good idea) deal to buy Greenland fell through. The island would have made for some lovely golf courses. And we can imagine luxurious Trump Towers dotting the coast, offering vistas of both sea and greens. You’re such an amazing and successful businessman because you recognize a really smart investment when you see it.

St. Louis Park High School, Minnesota, 1979, on the strange and stormy night of our graduation ceremony. A gypsy fortune teller sets up her tent in a small corner of the parking lot, and she offers glimpses of an event 40 years into the future. We newly-minted graduates see our older selves gather at a gleaming Colossus of Football, built over the ruins of a more prosaic facility for which construction would commence

If you want to justify not getting out of bedthis morning or yesterday and also give hopeto people who use pebbles and shells for money, start a winery in your backyard. Call it The FaintingGoat and make pinot noir that’s available only for barter. First obstacle: your backyard  is a narrow strip of concrete and broken homebrewgrowlers, overturned tomato crates, gnawed chicken  bones, crumpled To-

His spoon rises sparkingat my near peripheral. Dessert: dainty custard, vanilla, whip-creamed & coveredin cookie crumbles. He doesn’t see the flames as I do, attuned to the accidental. Each blaze passes bristly lips,snuffs. How does fire taste? I glance down at the centerpiece candle.It looks delicious, candied. At my side, the convex mirrorstreaks, a willow-o’-wisp. I’m a fool to believe in dragon kisses,though

The game proves to be a closely contested, nip-and-tuck affair, with the outcome on the line in the bottom of the ninth and assorted Rangers on the basepaths. The Twins’ reliever managed to find the third out, though, securing the visitors a 4-3 victory. Highlights were monstrous home runs by Twins’ batsmen Jonathan Schoop and Max Kepler, the former of which deposited into section H of the bleachers, where it bounced

Last February in New England. The snow, as predicted, falls all night. I wake with the alarm at 5 AM, don the warm and crappy clothes, and in the darkness I rev up the snowblower and proceed to clear the driveway. One hour later I am driving the Saturn Vue southward and westward. The morning snowfall is wispy and fog-like, and it collects in undulating patterns on the highway. Eventually I arrive in New Haven, Connec