While I’m a fan of many sports, and my following of these sports is quite tidal, there are three bloodsports in my life that return time and again. I will follow these sports rigorously for a time, take a break if the talent wanes, and return again at some point to again root for my team or participant. These staple [...]
Or: Why we need frontiers to succeed as a species. One of my favorite television shows is AMC’s Mad Men. For the three people on the planet unfamiliar with the hit drama, the story revolves around the lives and work of a group of advertising executives at the height of the Madison Avenue golden age, also known as the 1960s. [...]
For years, I was one of those people who looked at the glass and steel lines of a French press sitting in the corner of a friend’s fancy-dancy kitchen with about the same look of condescension that I shot at countertop pasta machines. I mean, seriously, people. Why does a simple cup of coffee require special cups and surgical-grade pyrex [...]
Papaw’s study is perhaps the most vivid of my childhood memories. Everything about that room — the heavy oak desk, the southeastern window, every surface piled high with papers — has a mystical pull upon the deepest recesses of my mind that walking through Office Depot will frequently turn into a trip back in time. A glimps in the corner of [...]
NOTE: I’ve often heard or read of writers describing the vivid dreams that led them to write their great novels. Sadly, only twice have such dreams happened to me. The second occurred two nights ago. I’m just now writing about it. Enjoy. -md There was a great debate raging in that space that exists only in the distance between [...]
Or: Why the hell isn’t there a Bookaholics Anonymous group? I have a secret. A dark, unspoken secret. I am an addict. My addiction is not to drugs. Cocaine will you not find in any blood panel. I enjoy a good drink, but I am not an alcoholic. I don’t even smoke very often. Yet, the truth remains. I am [...]
Everyone I know has been talking about Bucket Lists since the movie of the same name came out in 2007. As if the concept of a ist of goals was new, everyone seemed to be obsessed with their own “bucket lists.” But I’ve had one for as long as I can remember, if by another name. Bob Alexander called the “life blocks,” that [...]
Note: Way back in its heyday, this blog got about 400,000 independent readers and 250,000 page views a month. My resolution for this year is to write more, write often and to exceed those numbers. Wish me luck! -md January 1, 2011 I woke up this morning with a hacking cough. I guess I earned it. I took Kya out [...]
Or: Tip? I got your tip right here! I lunched just the other day with a friend at a local buffet that also provides a la carte service. I’ve frequented this establishment since it first opened and was, in fact, the very first paying customer through the door on the day it opened. Which is not to say I’m somehow [...]
In Response to this editorial. Dear Mr. Murphy, Please forgive my intrusion into your workday. I know how difficult it must be for you to answer emails from the boonies while living the Big City Life in Denver, Colorado, population, 2.5 million and change. We here in Monroe, Louisiana, population 46,500 or so, barely know how to type…much less use [...]