Starting Out Late

I was talking to my friend A. at dinner last night about getting older as an artist & about the way age & reputation interact in the culture of the arts. A. is a sculptor. We started out by agreeing that in the current artistic culture, one has to “make it” at a fairly young [...]

Lifestyle Polling

The Rasmussen Group just called (Carole answered, but relayed the questions) & among the things they asked were:

Have you ever eaten pet food?
Does your partner have a nickname for your private parts?
If you had a duel with Dick Cheney, would you shoot him or would he shoot you?
Do you think Drew Carey is sexy?
Should men [...]

Understanding Vietnam (Online Version)

The website for my online version of Understanding Vietnam went live today. I asked each student to post something about themselves in the discussion forum. This is what I wrote to get the discussion started:

I first got interested in Vietnam in 1968 when I had to sign up with the Selective Service & became eligible [...]

I Had to Laugh

I know it makes me a bad person, but I just laughed & laughed when I read this:
Charleston Southern is a university of about 3,000 students, and Ward described it as a supportive community, with shared Baptist values. “We all just can’t believe it,” Ward said. “It’s just terrible. We’re completely at a loss for [...]

The President of Sleep

I wrote the other day about waiting out winter. Today I caught part of the president’s speech on the war & I got the distinct impression that he has, in some part of himself, realized he is out of his depth, that his few, simple ideas about the world have proved inadequate, & that he [...]

Cold

There’s a poem in my book Customs that begins, “The oldest words are those invented for weather.” I had a note from a friend on the west coast yesterday who is selling his house. When he was building it twenty years ago, we put that line into the concrete forms when a retaining wall was [...]

Salmon Red Flannel Hash

I’m reduced to writing about what I cook for dinner because if I think about the profound & ongoing crisis in American society & politics, I just want to cry. For the moment, at least, I still like to eat. Red flannel hash is hash with beats in it. Last night I made salmon cakes: [...]