Politics | Politics
Aug.29.2012
Sometimes I sit down to write and I swear some spirit of righteousness overtakes me. I go from being perfectly reasonable to being perfectly intolerable. A magical soapbox slides under my tush and suddenly I'm on top of all the legitimate arguments in this world. I wonder what goes on inside me?...
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Aug.28.2012
Deir-Ez-Zur in the Syrian desert, near the Iraqi border, not so many years ago: a modern hotel filled with muscular, sunburned American men working in the oil fields. A few European businessmen were staying there, too. No other Americans, except us.
Each evening, shirt sleeves...
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Aug.27.2012
The Atlantic, September 2012
This is as close to a themed issue as I’ve seen from The Atlantic, and as you might expect, the focus is on this year’s Presidential election. For someone who follows politics, there’s little new here, despite James Fallows’ gaming of the Romney/Obama...
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Aug.23.2012
Getting off the train in Prague in 1988 was stepping into a Kafka story – or a film noir of dark streets, decaying buildings, aggressive shadows, and a constant suspicion that hidden eyes watched. The old train station near the top of Wenceslas Square spilled us onto a flight of grimy steps...
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Aug.23.2012
I’ve been wondering what the members of the Cypress Point Golf Club think of the news that Augusta National has opened its doors to women.
Twenty-two years ago Cypress Point, in Pebble Beach, California, was on the opposite side of a story about discrimination in golf. To quote a news article by...
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Aug.22.2012
In an age of visual stimulation I start to fear that novels themselves might become considered elitist. Stories and story-telling are not restricted to a sliver of the population. Movies, television and various denominations of videos are almost universal. Music probably is universal. But the novel...
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Aug.19.2012
Why, people ask, do I wander the world? Why do my wife and I spend time in other countries, seek out places that are different from those we’re used to and are comfortable in?
To start with, traveling gives us perspective. As we engage with the world, we come to realize that our...
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Aug.18.2012
So, researching John Steinbeck for a play. I looked into Sally Bates Lorenz. She had been one of four character witnesses when Steinbeck applied for a New York State pistol license in 1941. Sally listed herself on the application as a housewife and homeowner, though she was also a New York actress...
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Aug.14.2012
Generally, I don't like to get into political discussions especially in a pivotal election year, especially when the sides are as polarized as they are. It's not that I am against civil discourse, nor am I apolitical or without political opinions. I am willing to listen to others'...
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Aug.13.2012
The acrylic Coke bottles brazenly alternating with inverted Havana Club bottles couldn’t help but snag the attention of passersby. It was just one of the paintings, drawings, handicrafts, and other works of art being hawked by their creators at the weekly...
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