Christmas is the time of giving and sharing. I feel especially generous this Christmas season, and I wish to give to readers of this website — scenes from my life, specifically from its past phases. As I move to new stages of my life, I wish to share with you the joy that is the vital spark that moves anyone to a new phase of life. This essay celebrates passages: personal, professional, and emotional — the transitions that are moments to affirm and to applaud and to honor, a

Making Spirits Bright: Dean’s Take on Peace on Earth The song “Peace on Earth” was written by Peggy Lee and Sonny Burke for the Disney...

“Black is the Color of My True Love’s Hair” There is no way to describe “shoe love” to a man. The emotional transport truly does defy...

Giving Thanks I am giving thanks for the godsend of consequence, the harvest of coincidence, the friend who came by happenstance and...

The American Hero For just one moment he felt the thrill of the battle the daring to go desire compelled him to face fear and know the mission was worthy of this nation so true to the concept of freedom the red white and blue. He’d wanted to touch her one fleeting last time to hold her and tell her this mission divine comes to each woman and to man: to stand and be counted — to humbly demand their place among the valiant and the heroes who tried, the victors who lived or died

20 October 2017 In honor of the Second Annual Flannel Fest at the local sporting goods store, we proudly present Flannel Hound! Chance...

Maurice Chevalier: I Remember Him Well Chevalier — the name itself fascinates. In French, it means “knight”; in English, a chevalier, the...

October 2017 Frédéric François Chopin was not fully French nor did he consider himself French. In fact (and fact is difficult to distinguish among the stories about this man), he carried an urn of Polish soil with him until his death. The sense of homecoming — of the sublime reunion with his beloved homeland — never left him. Homecoming was his most ardent desire; it became the impetus, the spirit and the muse for this man. The “Heroic" Polonaise in A-flat major, Op. 53 is,

9 September 2017 Last year, I began to read the new section in my Norton Anthology of English Literature (Eighth Edition, Volume 1). Previous readers of my website might recall the detailed, somewhat didactic zeal with which I marked my progress in this book ( mid-august-2015 ), and my sense of literary derring-do regarding medieval tales ( october-2015 ). This section of the tome begins with the introduction to “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” — and I will confess right her

I recently purchased an art treasure from Japan, a bunny created by Tokuda Yasokichi III (1933–2009). This man was one of the world’s most famous of Kutani potters. The sight of the texturally wonderful rabbit informed me why Yasokichi III was, in 1997, designated a Living National Treasure by the nation of Japan for his mastery of the saiyu glaze technique. It is difficult for me to comprehend the official designation of a human being as a national treasure in America, for a

Labor Day 2017 I have thus far not written any essay that is patently political, but I think it is time, in the name of fashion, to cry out! I have waited — for the first signs of major clothing retailers offering up the Basics — the timeless classic designs worn by Melania. Ivanka is another design matter. She’s not my style, or an easily-imitated style, but she, and Melania, certainly are not deserving of the assault rounds of ire fire they have been receiving from catty gi

Mid-August 2017 The ultimate of soul singers for me, Otis Redding idolized Sam Cooke, whose voice was more supple; and Little Richard, whose frenetic vocal drive propelled him into such an entirely new category of music that no one could imitate him without looking farcical. Redding, however, quickly surpassed his musical idols and long before his tragic death at the age of twenty-six, he possessed his own mastery of voice. That vocal talent of precision and passion is now he

Everywhere we go with Chance, which is to say everywhere that he goes with us, there are people telling beagle stories. It seems that everyone had a beagle during childhood, or a neighbor had a beagle, or an aunt . . . and the stories all sound pretty much the same. Escape artist, food thief, adorable little scamp, loves the kids - full of life! Since Chance pretty much steals the show wherever We go, I have decided to dedicate this post to him ostensibly, but also to Beagles

Shark Bait And so it happened. Patrick Marleau wore out not his welcome but those few carpets in his home in San Jose. He has jumped the Shark. He’d been spectacular shark trade bait for a few years now for any hockey team that could appreciate him. Mike Babcock certainly does. I now have a rather large shark hole to fill in my writing and personal lives. For over a decade, I was a more-than-average devoted and enthusiastic, aesthetic and active sports fan, watching Patrick M

Édith Piaf, Broken-Wing Sparrow It was always an incongruity for me, the love that my French-Algerian tutor of Parisian French held for...

This past week, Dear Husband was clearing out his desk during the final days before he got out of the Pen: Retirement after Federal Service. And he found The Crayola Letter in his Humor File. He excitedly called to tell me of his re-discovery. He was so happy. I told him that I know I have copies of this letter in a file somewhere, along with copies of the phoney announcement of the passage of the Americans With No Abilities Act . I took that paper farce to be 100% rea

Friends and Family - Summer Shopping The Death of the Mall Balzac wrote, “A flow of words is a sure sign of duplicity,” and so I shall...

The Writer Speaks: Art and the Artist It often amuses me, the idea that art just happens! It mystically comes winging out of the cloud of a dream during the night and the “artist” — seized by inspiration — takes pencil to paper or ink to page or paint to canvas or fingers to piano and — voilà! Art appears! Admittedly, I have woken up out of a sound sleep to scribble down words but, in my non-morning-person opinion, nighttime is for sleeping! Staying up all night doing anythin

6 June 2017 This day began gray, overcast, chilly, but by noon it brightened to a glimmer of sunlight. I decided to wear a tropical...

During the summer of 2012, I told my Dear Friend: “I’m not making my fortune until there is massive tax reform. And I am not flying on...