Sunday Bag o’ Antipasto

The second meeting of our cooking club is tonight. This time we’re preparing Italian recipes from Mario Batali cookbooks. Donna and I drew the appetizer course, so we’re making a simple antipasto tray with meats, olives, peppers, and cheeses. The host for tonight’s dinner is in charge of the main course; other members are bringing salads, […]

Some Needed Nuance

Yesterday’s comment was harsh: I don’t have many fucks left to give today, but I can always muster one up for the Republicans, the party of assholes and assholism. I turned irrevocably against them sometime during the Clinton administration, and everything they’ve done since has hardened my contempt, which by now is so dense and compressed […]

Voices and Votes

A visitor from outer space would describe Congress as a place where bribery is both legal and encouraged. I guess it’s always been that way; maybe I am naive. Still, you have to try. We can’t say we’re a representative democracy if we quit believing our voices and votes mean something.

Friday Bag o’ Unwanted Birthdays

My 16th birthday was a red letter day. I remember how excited I was to be old enough to drive. Getting my first draft card when I turned 18 was a big deal too. The traditional milestone, 21, came and went without any special celebration … Donna and I had been married almost two years by that point, and […]

Birds, Bikes, & Bands

Friday, 13 days after it hatched, one of our hummingbird chicks left the nest. I think I saw it go … as I walked underneath the nest that afternoon I saw something fly away out of the corner of my eye. I thought at first it was the mother, but when I looked up at the nest only […]