Sloppy behind the wheel, too broad on the turns at the intersections, the caravan came wild toward its destination – a karaoke bar attached to a strip club. Artificial lights had taken over the city streets with a brown-orange hue muddying the crosswalks and building sides. Another intersection and the cars swung wide, the passenger-side tires coming up to the pavement and veering off. The windshield glass started beading light rain, an occasional heavy drop falling hard and streaming through the smaller ones. But they kept their windows down, their heads looking out and their arms reaching, waving drunk hellos to foot traffic on the sidewalks, waiting for lights to change or sitting under umbrellas and sipping café drinks.
l fell back in my seat and concentrated on following the taillights. I did my best to keep up, but sober, I wasn’t nearly as good a driver as them. Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: Bars
Sometimes, this happens. I almost gave up on this piece. I spent an afternoon writing it. I sent it to a friend for editing when I thought I’d come too close to it (thank you, Jenni). But here it is, a mercy posting. Whittled down to its essence, the most beautiful words here and the others dicarded, so that what I meant to say is more evident – and relevant. Good. Now I can move on to something else.
In the back bedroom, I cleared some space on a desk for my things. I set some private papers written in lawyer language there, my keys, my wallet and filled the drawers with cash and some writing that I’d composed on loose pages a year ago. This is my confidant now. The place where I have absolute faith – this room with the desk and its tall mirror. The subtle hint by its interior designer must be introspection. On every wall, a mirror shows me back to myself and my life in legal records. Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: Me
These streets are New York streets. In the spring, the trees and the sidewalks out front could be in a clearing in Central Park. The warm sun on the pavement could just as easily fall on old men’s shoulders and cast angles on chessboards and wrought iron tables. The sounds are almost identical, too – light conversation interwoven with the swishing leaves and squirrels jumping invisible in the darkest spots in the highest branches. Our neighborhood is half-a-continent away – further if measured by state of mind. The Heartland people are supposedly not as vocal and more practical as New Yorkers, but the calmness in all the activity makes the pleasure in it are the same for both. Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: City
Swashbuckling photography was something I thought was relegated to comic books. You know, something for the funny pages – the always on-the-spot photographer, like Jimmy Olsen or Peter Parker – good natured and fun, but definitely talented and hard-nosed when he needs to be. Aaron Lindberg taught me that those caricatures come from real life photojournalists, and that they weren’t derived from comic strip frames. (Here are some kind words he posted about me this week). Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: People
At times on this blog, I’ve taken liberty with a few names. For example, last week I used the name Valerie to refer to a lead character in a story I told about Ponak’s on Southwest Boulevard. Valerie is a real person, except her name is not Valerie.
I don’t know anyone named Valerie. I chose the name at random in case the subject at hand might be uncomfortable with me writing about her. This probably says something about me. I’m not sure what, but something. I felt I should clarify this in case someone asked me who Valerie was or what she meant to me. My truthful response would have been: “There is no Valerie and we mean nothing to each other. We’re just friends.” That wouldn’t have made sense to anyone but me.
I don’t see any reason why changing a name here or there would impact my credibility as a storyteller. I am writing this blog for me – for further writing practice – and maybe to land a side gig here and there. In this economy, the side gigs are either drying up or going to journalists who have lost their jobs. The pool of freelance talent available write now is pretty deep, so I’m told. I am not sure if the most talented writers out there would use real names or not. Probably so. Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: Random
