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The Night They Pulled The Plug in Louisiana
It was a long time ago–perhaps the late 1960’s or early 1970’s. It was the wrong time, the wrong place and the wrong evening to be holding a pair of tickets to a Steppenwolf concert. I attended college in the deep south in the mid-1960’s. In itself, there’s nothing strange about that. The problem was…
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The Scrabble Game at the End of the World
This title of this post is something of a misnomer. On an oblate spheroid like the earth, there is no “end”. It’s been said that an ant crawling around on a basketball can do so forever…infinity…it’s just stuck on one dimension, but still. Don’t get me wrong, I think the concept of the “end of…
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Dad
On this day, January 24, my father was born. I don’t know the day of the week or the time of day. All I know for sure is that it was 100 years ago. My guess is that it was a home birth. My grandfather, Michael, would likely have been pacing the floor of their…
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Losing King–Losing Thea
The email from my daughter, Erin, came on the evening of January 16. It’s title was short and full of foreboding: “Thea’s gone.” A few hours earlier she had written that she and her husband had taken Thea to the “doggie hospice”. Now this. She described how her big black lab mix, Thea, had to…
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The Maltese Stylus
I looked out of the port-hole and saw the contrails of 757’s heading east, toward LA or Frisco, most likely. So, good for them, I thought, let them get somewhere fast. Me? I’m happy right here, in the small cabin of a tramp steamer heading straight into Nowheresvilleport. Once I get there, I’m heading for…
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Percentages
It’s very cozy in an Upper West Side apartment on New Years Day. In a short time I was to sit down to a late afternoon dinner of goose. That’s right, goose. Our hostess is a doctor. She was born in Belgium. Also present was a teacher friend of mine who instructs high school students…
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Throw The Lady a Sweater
Normally I’m not averse to looking onto a rooftop of a building and seeing an unclothed female. Normally. However, here it is on New Years Eve and the temperature in New York City is about 20 F, with a wind chill of -36 F. The wind from the Hudson River a few blocks away can…
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How I Forgot My Pain While Walking Down Broadway
I took a baby step over the curb and onto the sidewalk. I poked along like an aged dog. Several days after my back surgery…they said: “Get up. Get out. Walk a little. You’ll get stronger.” My back hurt. It was a #7.5 on the Great Medical Scale of 1 to 10. My only thoughts…
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Coal For Christmas: A Holiday Story For You
My father grew up poor. Not the kind of poor where he would walk through ten inches of snow barefoot or go from house to house asking for bread. Just the kind of poor that would keep his father one step ahead of the rent collector. His parents provided the best they could, but, by…
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A Random Meeting On The Famous Steps
I’m in New York City on or about December 6, 2013. We happen to be staying at the Hotel Pennsylvania, located on Seventh Ave. just across from Madison Square Garden. Our hotel is booked solid, so we must move to another place in order to extend our stay for two more days. We go out…
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patrickjegan 