Category Archives: Uncategorized

  One evening many years from now, when Andrea is knitting a sweater by the fireside and I am sipping medium-priced wine, the college student we had over for dinner will turn to me and say, “We’ve been studying the … Continue reading →

A man was lying on the snowy sidewalk, struggling to get up. I saw him as I pulled up to an intersection on Lake Michigan Drive. No one else was stopping, so I thought I’d better. As I turned around … Continue reading →

Christmas, 1968 was a watershed for my musical evolution. Make that a tsunami. On that date I received three life-changing albums: “The Beatles” (aka the White Album), the Rolling Stones’ “Beggars Banquet,” and “Super Session,” a wonderful blues-rock amalgam by … Continue reading →

“A Grand Rapids snow” mom always called it – fat, soft flakes coming down as thick as the fall leaves still scattered dry and brown across the freezing ground. I saw them first on the road between Boston and Adams … Continue reading →

It didn’t take long to erase the gun. Greg Bokor’s ArtPrize drawing of an assault rifle at Grand Rapids’ Fountain Street Church was rubbed out Saturday, Sept. 21, after the public was invited to wield erasers imprinted with sorrow. Normally … Continue reading →

Dad always said don’t believe anything you think at 3 a.m. I mostly don’t. But that doesn’t stop me from worrying about it. Something about seeing the “3” on my digital clock radio alarms me. It means I have not … Continue reading →

A soft breeze stirred the morning air, carrying the aroma of baked goods and the faint whiff of a skunk. As I hung up each item of clothing, I noticed these smells and heard the birdsongs and other sounds of … Continue reading →

(Editor’s note: This is the first in a periodic series of blogs on notable one-hit wonders, a species of song that may well be dying. One-hit wonders became hits due to top 40 radio, which is of course itself dying. … Continue reading →

The house into which I was born, a surprisingly long time ago today, was a cracker box on a slab. It was in an unassuming neighborhood in Toledo near a school called Shoreland. We had a dog named Judy and … Continue reading →

When the Internet went black on me, I was supposed to see the light. It would be a divine revelation. “Hey, you know what? I can get along without this just fine! I am more mindful and spending my time … Continue reading →