Currently Listening: Sweet Beginnings (Marlena Shaw, 1977)

Currently Listening: Sweet Beginnings (Marlena Shaw, 1977) Another one of my mom's albums that was woven into the fabric of my childhood. A lifetime favorite, not a clunker on it. Marlena is amazing.  When I was little I memorized "Yu Ma/Go Away Little Boy", which is a song that starts with a long compelling narrative (Yu Ma) that blends into a song (Go Away Little Boy). This is a send-up of a Nancy Wilson song, barely resembling the original, peppered as it is with Marlena's sign…

NOT MY PEOPLE / MY PEOPLE

NOT MY PEOPLE / MY PEOPLE It's a beautiful day in Boston, and a good day for this excerpt from my blog essay "Yes, I UnFriended You 'Over Politics."  Have a blessed day, Friends. -------------------------------- NOT MY PEOPLE Here's who I simply don't care to know. Greedy people. Mean people. Nasty people. Manipulative people. Selfish people. Hurtful people. Small-minded people. Cheaters. Liars. Thieves. Bullies. Pretenders. Gaslighters. People who …

The Absolute Weirdness of Mar-a-lago Face

The Absolute Weirdness of Mar-a-lago Face Look, everyone is free to do as they like. But when I was a little kid, my aunt Sharon summed up a *certain woman on TV in one simple word, and I never forgot it. “She’s over-processed.” I knew exactly what she meant, somehow. That’s what I think of whenever I see one of these MAGA women, especially when they’re putting down beautiful women of color. Because "over-processed" is not judging or saying anything pejorative about thei…

800 Pounds Of Peanut Butter...On The Floor? Avant-Dumb.

800 Pounds Of Peanut Butter...On The Floor? Avant-Dumb. That's a lot of peanut butter wasted unnecessarily, in my opinion. Could have "honored" the dead artist, Wim T. Schippers, another way. Like an installation of big blown-up photos of the first TWO times he covered the floor in peanut butter (1967 and 1997) and a free jar of peanut butter to families visiting the museum. Did this really need to happen?  More than 800 pounds of peanut butter — enough for around 15,000 sandwiches — has…

Currently Listening: Roll the Bones (Rush, 1991)

Currently Listening: Roll the Bones (Rush, 1991) I woke up today and listened to Roll the Bones (Rush). Man that's Neal Peart (RIP) at his finest, both lyrically and technically. I love the drums on the whole album. Mostly acoustic drums, a departure for Neal, and his hits and fills are exquisite. The lyrics explore the role of "chance" in our lives. Speaking of chance. I don't specifically remember the first Rush I ever heard, but I know it was high school, in Hub's beat …

Art On The Walls: Boston Neighborhood

Art On The Walls: Boston Neighborhood Isn’t this beautiful? There happen to be some nails already in the walls of the new place, so I hung this piece on one of them. I love it. It looks like a painting, but it’s a stylized photograph, printed onto canvas. Joe bought it for me from our friend Bill years ago. Bill hung out on this corner for awhile until he got the perfect shot. It was chilly. I think everyone in Boston will recognize what part of town this is...your thoughts?😋

Life in the Lower 99, Revisited: A 2026 Commentary on the Wealth Gap From 2012 (A #throwbackthursday Essay)

Life in the Lower 99, Revisited: A 2026 Commentary on the Wealth Gap From 2012 (A #throwbackthursday Essay) “So many of my friends post about how they feel about the present economy. I wonder how they would feel if, in the future, they were one of the fortunate ones who was earning a lot more money. Would you still be angry with them for having more than you? Would you still think they should pay more than they are now? Would you still think your money should support those who don’t have, because they aren’t ambitious as you?” (August 24th, 201…