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Let us now examine the life of the German singer and entertainer Gottlieb Wendehals, who was the invention of a real person with a much less interesting name. Wikipedia describes Gottlieb Wendehals as an “art figure”, which strikes me as generous. The character sports a black-and-white checked jacket with matching spats, pink shirt and bow tie and thick eyeglasses, and he sings like your wife’s drunk uncle at the fam

READERS might expect Fergus Falls to offer charming, heartwarming tales from the title outpost, a town turned city on the Minnesota prairie, and the self-proclaimed Mushroom Capital of America. ALAS… …long-time mayor Francis Mingalone suffers from vivid hallucinations, real-estate tycoon José Hosea kidnaps innocent tourists, and Moira, the bad artist, inflicts her suspect talent on anyone, on any occasion

I am sequestered in my office during the workday, and I need to negotiate with my wife if I want to exit for, say, a snack in the kitchen, or a trip outside to breathe a little air. Why? Because I am under surveillance by—and highly susceptible to the whims of—the 2-year old. The boy likes his Dad, perhaps a little too much. When I am around, he wants my undivided attention for piggy back rides, playing with toy cars

Within less than a week, my synagogue progressed from “We’ll be slicing the challah instead of everyone tearing off chunks” to “We’re closing the building, except for the rabbi and cantor who will lead services online.” In my guise as editor of textbooks and related products, I have developed lessons about the dangers of social media and other internet inventions, and how they are no substitute for actual socializing

Their names into the wilderness, in our vanity andAnguish, to summon them from the ether, or to Startle them from the underbrush, where theyHave no business hiding? I’d ask another way. Did the ancestors know that we would whisperTheir names into the ocean curls at dusk or soon After, when the blue water gives way to the void,Cold and black, but still as noisy and full of mystery? They held us as babes, you kno

NOW THAT creaky old dude 19 has given way to bouncy baby 20, allow me to announce my one and only New Year’s Resolution, which is to do whatever I can to defeat Donald Trump in the November election. That’s it, and that’s enough. All other potential resolutions are negotiable and put-off-able. The re-election of this miserable excuse of a multicellular organism, however, would be unforgivable. If you agree, please jo

A current favorite picture book of the two-year old is “Claude’s Big Surprise”, by David Wojtowycz. (Spelling quiz next Tuesday!) Claude is an anthropomorphic polar bear who lives with his family in the suburbs. The story is that the parents ship Claude to the North Pole to stay with a relative, while Mom heads to the hospital to give birth to the new baby, which is the ‘Big Surprise’ referenced in the title. My comp

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.