Once upon a time, sports were an escape. All that mattered were the results on the field and how we got to that final score. The personal lives and politics of players, no matter how despicable, were not topics to be covered on the sports pages. Readers turned to the sports pages to forget about… Continue reading Sports and SOB’s
Month: September 2017
The Endzone View
Since the Eagles home opener is coming up Sunday, I am sharing a memoir piece I wrote a few years ago. It was published in Green Hills Literary Lantern SEAT 9 In the best of times, we see each other six, seven, eight times a year. Nine at most. I look forward to the meetings.… Continue reading The Endzone View
Low Expectations and Diapers
Today’s Eagles game was not a white-knuckle event. Ben Franklin, an adopted Philadelphian who presciently anticipated the psychology of the contemporary Philadelphia sports fan, said, “If you expect the worst, you will never be disappointed.” Perfect. Just about every angst-ridden Eagles’ fan knew, from the moment the schedule came out, that today’s game in Kansas… Continue reading Low Expectations and Diapers
The Novel View
For six years, I have been working on a novel. The setting is a high school during a prolonged internal lockdown. Prolonged is four hours in the novel. For various reasons, first responders cannot get into the building. Partially, the point of view is from isolated classes stuck in the school who do not have access… Continue reading The Novel View
9/11
It seemed blasphemous to be sitting on the beach today, especially since the beautiful weather was a carbon copy of the conditions in New York on 9/11/01. This was the first time I was not sharing the anniversary with the students in my classes. Even if 9/11 fell on a weekend, we’d pause the curriculum… Continue reading 9/11
White-Knuckle Viewing
The Eagles kicked off the season in Washington today. The first Sunday of white-knuckle viewing, analogous to having your eyelids taped open while taking a 16-year-old driver on his first trip on the Schuylkill Expressway: a steady diet of “what did you do that fors?” and “oh my Gods” and “watch outs” and “I’m gonna… Continue reading White-Knuckle Viewing
Lost Pennies
About 100 people showed up for the Memorial to Overdose Victims on Friday night. While it was heartbreaking to see loved ones in mourning, it was inspiring to hear words of hope especially from those who had experienced loss firsthand. One of our sharers was a young lady who lost both parents within a few… Continue reading Lost Pennies
Views of Overdose Deaths
My local drug task force–Project Live–is sponsoring a memorial to overdose victims tonight. This is part of an article I wrote for the local paper about grieving family members and friends. Stereotyping addiction serves no purpose except to make it easier to ignore. Bob and Winnie Houk’s son, Joseph, fatally overdosed less than a… Continue reading Views of Overdose Deaths
The Surreal View
We started our trek to Baltimore on Saturday at around 2 o’clock, a journey seven years in the making and seemingly destined to fall short of expectations. Seven of us were going to see Tim Mayza, a 2010 graduate of the high school, pitch for the Toronto Blue Jays in a major league baseball game. Tim… Continue reading The Surreal View
The Q-View 