Blogroll

This blog is old enough to vote

Eighteen years ago tonight, the first post appeared on this blog. It addressed how George W. Bush was the only president other than Nixon to cause me so much anger and fear.

Before Dubya, I never thought I could despise a president more than Nixon. I certainly never thought I could hate a president more […]

I be officially old

Today brings proof I’m old — I’m eligible for Medicare. At least initially, though, it seems like a good thing.

My wife (who was eligible earlier this year) and I aren’t on Medicare itself, opting to purchase a Medicare Advantage insurance policy. Even then, we will be paying more than $2,000 a month less than […]

Reading in Trump’s American dystopia

For a voracious reader like me, retirement should be close to nirvana. In fact, before I retired at the end of 2016 I had a magnet on a file cabinet in my office saying, “Born to Read, Forced to Work.” And a self-imposed COVID lockdown should add even more time for reading. Yet as the […]

The day 343 was my lucky number

I recently finished an oral history of the period from August 1969 through September 1970, one of the most tumultuous of 20th century America. The first chapter dealt with the draft and the draft resistance movement and, as would be expected, the Vietnam war infused the other topics in the book, which I recommend reading. […]

Ruminations of an old dog

Today is my 60th birthday so I declare myself officially OLD.

While I’m far from the brightest bulb, I’ve not been oblivious over the six decades. Particularly over the last couple years, hindsight’s allowed me to assess what is important in life. It amounts to four things: family, dogs, books and music — in that […]